Final Assembly of Major Components
At this point you will have completed the wing, tailplane, fuselage, propeller assembly and landing gear. It is time to put all these together and make an airplane.
Put a small drop of glue on the tops of the tailplane spars, just inside the pencil marks you made earlier to locate the fuselage. Here I am using the point of a toothpick to apply the glue. The glue should extend across the spar and be wide enough to extend across the 1/16″ fuselage spar. You want just enough glue to wet the wood without big gobs of glue squeezing out when you put the parts together.
Join the tailplane to the underside of the fuselage with the paper side down, so there is a wood to wood glue joint and the fins point up. Use a block of wood to get the tailplane square to the fuselage and make sure the fuselage is within the pencil marks.
The back of the sternpost and the back of the trailing edge spar should be in the same plane. You will need a flat surface to which to glue the tailskid. Hold the parts together until the glue sticks. You can put the plane down on the flat building board with some 1/16″ wood under the nose, to space it up the same height as the thickness of the tailplane, and put a small weight, like your sanding block, on top of the rear end of the fuselage to hold it down while the glue dries. Let the glue dry before handling it again.
Similarly spread glue on the wing spars inside the fuselage locating pencil marks.
Place the wing on top of the fuselage over the opening so the wing spars rest directly on the longerons with the wing perpendicular to the fuselage and the fuselage centered between the locating marks. Hold it in place until the glue sets.
You can put the plane down on the building board with small weights on the leading and trailing edges to hold them down until the glue dries.
If you plan to fly your Big Pussycat with the landing gear, you will need a tailskid to keep the tailplane from dragging on the floor. Place a piece of 1/16″ x 1/8″ hard balsa over the tailskid on the plan and mark it to cut to length.
Sand the end square across the narrow direction while maintaining the 45 degree angle of the cut. This face must be flat to get a good, straight, strong joint.
Round the bottom end of the tailskid.
Apply glue to the round bottom that will contact the ground, to harden it.
The finished tailskid. You may compare yours to the plan.
Apply glue to the straight face of the tailskid and…
Stick it to the center of the back of the sternpost. It will extend a little over the tailspar. This is one place where a little extra glue is good. After the glue dries, put a little more in the angle between the tailskid and the sternpost, forming a fillet of glue. Let it dry thoroughly before allowing anything to touch it.
Insert the motor peg into one of the plates. This is a 1 5/8″ long piece cut from a round toothpick. You can also use 1/16″ diameter aluminum tube. It should be a snug friction fit in the hole. If it won’t go in, lightly sand the peg or file the hole. If it is too loose, apply glue around the hole to fill it in a bit. If that does not work, try gluing tissue paper inside the hole. Or see if you can find a slightly larger toothpick.
to see the post on this site “Making a Rubber Motor”. Make a 20″ loop of 1/16″ rubber strip. Make sure that the opening in the propeller hook is wide enough to admit the O-ring.
Here we see the motor attached to the hook with an O-ring.
Hold the airplane with the nose pointing straight up and insert the motor down into the fuselage until the end appears inside the window below the motor peg.
Push the motor peg through the loop, out the other plate and center the motor and peg.
You can hand wind some turns into the motor to shorten it until it pulls inside the fuselage. Here I am using a 20″ loop of 1/16″ wide rubber strip for test flights. The distance from the propeller hook to the motor peg is 10″, so the motor is twice that length.
Fit the noseblock into the nose to check fit. You may want to pencil mark one surface as the top to be sure you insert it the same way for each flight.
The fit is good. It should go in with slight friction and not fall out when the motor goes slack. Let the motor turn to check that there is no friction and nothing rubbing inside. You can put a tiny drop of light machine oil on the prop shaft and washers.
Squeeze the landing gear legs together slightly and slide the top into the slot under the fuselage.
Check that the landing gear is properly fitted.
The wheels should be slightly ahead of the slot.
The payoff for all your work! Your airplane is now ready to fly. Put it in a safe place until you can get it to the Gym.
Winding the Motor, Trimming and Flying
The Big Pussycat motor takes a few thousand turns, more than you want to put in by hand. You will use a winder. Stretching the motor during winding allow more turns to be put in. Commonly winders put in 10 or 15 turns per crank of the handle. It is easiest to keep track of cranks if you count by tens, like this “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ONE, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, TWO, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, THREE, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, FOUR, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, FIVE.” At this point you have fifty cranks in, five hundred turns on the 10:1 winder or seven hundred fifty turns on the 15:1 winder. Start with about 70% of maximum winds to check that the plane flies well in a circle that will fit within the Gym. It should be turning left, climbing only slightly. Watch how it comes down when the power runs out. It should glide slowly to the floor. If you built the plane according to the directions, it should fit within the usual basketball gym. You may want to adjust the turn if you are in a smaller or larger space. Make the necessary turn adjustments before increasing power. Turn adjustments are made by placing a shim between the nose block and the front of the fuselage, to point the propeller more to one side. Thin shims may be made from something like postcard or business card paper. Thicker shims may be made from 1/32″ balsa or 1/16″ balsa. Place the shim on the right side to make the plane turn more tightly to the left. Place the shim on the left side to open the circle. Gradually add turns, going to 80% to check climb and 90% to see how closely the plane approaches the ceiling. If the plane hits the ceiling, back off half way to the last number of turns that did not hit the ceiling. By going half way up and down you will eventually get as close to the ceiling as possible without hitting it. This gradual increase will also break in the motor so it will take a few more turns. Once you have a flight close to the ceiling, try another flight with the same number of turns, but measure the torque. Check that the plane still gets close to the ceiling. Next flight, wind the motor up as much farther as you dare than the last time, then back off winds until you reach the torque of the previous flight. You will find that you will have more turns in the motor at the same torque. This will allow you to get more time using that motor. After a couple windups to near capacity the motor will become fatigued. Let the motor rest over night before using it again.
For best duration, the Big Pussycat is flown without landing gear, using the 1/16″ motor. For flying with the landing gear, use a slightly thicker motor for more power to lift he extra weight and overcome the drag.
Record each flight in a notebook. You can write down the date and location, the name of the plane, the weight of the plane, the size and weight of the motor, the center of gravity location, the number of turns put in, the number of backwinds if any and any trim adjustments. Describe the flight pattern, diameter of circle, rate of climb, estimate how close it got to the ceiling. Record the flight time and the number of turns left on the motor upon landing. You may also want to record the torque at launch and landing.
Big Pussycat Motors Turns Tables
Turns tables give a rough guide to how many turns to put into a motor. Every batch of rubber is different. Different winding conditions and techniques have different results. With experience, you will develop a feel for how many turns to put into a rubber motor.
20″ Loop of 1/16″
1.6 Grams, 146.8 tpi
%Max, 10:1 Winder, 15:1 Winder, Notes
100 293 196 Breaks motor
90 264 176 Check approach to ceiling
80 235 157 Check climb
70 206 137 Check trim, circle
25″ Loop of 1/16″
2.1 Grams, 146.8 tpi
%Max, 10:1 Winder, 15:1 Winder, Notes
100 367 244 Breaks motor
90 330 220 Check approach to ceiling
80 294 196 Check climb
70 257 171 Check trim, circle
For flying with the landing gear, use a slightly thicker motor for more power to lift he extra weight and overcome the drag.
20 1/2″” Loop of 3/32″
2.6 Grams, 119.9 tpi
%Max, 10:1 Winder, 15:1 Winder, Notes
100 245 163 Breaks motor
90 221 147 Check approach to ceiling
80 197 131 Check climb
70 172 115 Check trim, circle


NATIONAL PARK chiefs are aiming to capitalise on the growing popularity of star-gazing after the Yorkshire Dales was named as one of the best locations in the country to witness celestial wonders.
The most detailed satellite maps of England’s light pollution and dark skies released yesterday by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) show that the Yorkshire Dales National Park is ranked as the third darkest behind Northumberland and Exmoor.
According to the ‘Night Blight’ maps – which were produced using satellite images captured at 1.30am throughout last September – 98 per cent of the skies in the Yorkshire Dales National Park are in the darkest two categories.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s member champion for promoting understanding, Judith Donovan, said: “This latest research confirms that this national park is one of the best places in the country to appreciate the wonders of the night sky.
“We think that there is a real opportunity for local businesses to exploit the potential of our dark skies to expand their ‘offer’ to our millions of visitors and attract people to the Dales at quieter times of the year. We want to build on the success of our first Dark Skies Festival held in February and we will be running further workshops for businesses later in the year.”
The CPRE research comes at a time of growing awareness of the harmful effects light pollution can have on the health of people and wildlife.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s new planning blueprint, called the Local Plan, contains policies to minimise the impact of light pollution by monitoring street lighting and new developments.
The CPRE’s senior rural policy campaigner, Emma Marrington, said: “Dark skies are a key characteristic of what makes the countryside so different from urban areas.”


Neuroscientist David Eagleman hatched an experiment to learn about why our sense of time slows to a crawl in near-death situations (such as a free fall from a significant height). Disappointingly, it’s not because our abilities of perception kick into Matrix-style hyperdrive. NPR reports:
“Turns out, when you’re falling you don’t actually see in slow motion. It’s not equivalent to the way a slow-motion camera would work,” David says. “It’s something more interesting than that.”
According to David, it’s all about memory, not turbo perception. “Normally, our memories are like sieves,” he says. “We’re not writing down most of what’s passing through our system.” Think about walking down a crowded street: You see a lot of faces, street signs, all kinds of stimuli. Most of this, though, never becomes a part of your memory. But if a car suddenly swerves and heads straight for you, your memory shifts gears. Now it’s writing down everything — every cloud, every piece of dirt, every little fleeting thought, anything that might be useful.
Because of this, David believes, you accumulate a tremendous amount of memory in an unusually short amount of time. The slow-motion effect may be your brain’s way of making sense of all this extra information. “When you read that back out,” David says, “the experience feels like it must have taken a very long time.” But really, in a crisis situation, you’re getting a peek into all the pictures and smells and thoughts that usually just pass through your brain and float away, forgotten forever.


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ISBN Essential Grammar in Use with Answers . This book is for elementary (and lower intermediate) students who want extra practice. [Cambridge] English Grammar In Use (3rd Edition With Answers).pdf - Free ebook download as PDF File .pdf) or read book online for free. English. Grammar in Use. THIRD. EDITION. Raymond Murphy. A self-study reference and practice book for intermediate students of. English with answers.
When do we say used to do and when do we say used to doing? When do we use the? What is the difference between like and as?
These and many other points of English grammar are explained in the book and there are exercises on each point. Some advanced students who have problems with grammar will also find the book useful. The book is not suitable for elementary learners.
Each unit concentrates on a particular point of grammar. Some problems for example, the present perfect or the use of the are covered in more than one unit. For a list of units, see the Contents at the beginning of the book English Grammar in Use 4th Edition. Some problems for example, the present perfect or the use of the are covered in more than one unit. For a list of units, see the Contents at the beginning of the book. Each unit consists of two facing pages. On the left there are explanations and examples; on the right there are exercises.
At the back of the book there is a Key for you to check your answers to the exercises page There are also seven Appendices at the back of the book pages — These include irregular verbs, summaries of verb forms, spelling and American English.
Finally, there is a detailed Index at the back of the book page If you are not sure which units you need to study, use the Study guide on page Study the explanations and examples on the left-hand page of the unit you have chosen. Do the exercises on the right-hand page. Check your answers with the Key. If your answers are not correct, study the left-hand page again to see what went wrong.
You can of course use the book simply as a reference book without doing the exercises. These exercises bring together some of the grammar points from a number of different units. For example, Exercise 16 brings together grammar points from Units 26— You can use these exercises for extra practice after you have studied and practised the grammar in the units concerned.
There are also 1, test questions, and you can use these to make your own tests. The CD Rom can also be bought separately. I I listen to it. She's on holiday in France. I I eat lunch. I I get tired. I need a rest.
He's taken the day off. I I look for Sophie. Do you know where she is?
Things never stay the same. Every year things are more expensive. The rai n has stopped, and the wind isn'tas strong.
He is not driving a bus. He is asleep. He is a bus driver. We use the present simple to talk about things in general. Remember: They teach I work For spelling -sor -es , see Appendix 6. Where do you come from? In the following examples, do is also the main verb do you do I doesn,t do etc.
He doesn't do anythi ng to help. We use the present simple to say how often we do things: '--' I get up at 8 o'clock every morning.
C1 julie doesn't drink tea very often. I promise I I apologise etc. Sometimes we do things by saying something. For example, when you promise to do something,you can say 'I promise I I advise I I insist I I agree I I refuse German very well.
Put the verb into the correct form. Ricardo I come from?
How long Use the following verbs to complete the sentences. Sometimes you need the negative:believe eat flow make nse tell translate1 The earth goes round the sun. You ask Lisa questions about herself and her family.
Write the questions. You want to know how often. Ask her. How often.. You want to know. Ask Lisa. You want to know which one. You want to know wha t he does. You wan t to know. We use the continuous for things happening at or around the time of speaking.
The action is not complete. I am doing. Can you turn it ' Water boils at degrees Celsius. What language c lt doesn't rain very much in summer.
Let's go and eat. Learning Italian. They haveWe use the continuous for temporary situations: lived there all their lives. C I'm Living with some friends until I find a place of my own. C joe isn,t lazy. He works hard most of 0 A: You're working hard today. B: Yes, I have a lot to do.
See Unit 2 for more information. See Unit 1 for more information. For example: I'm always losing things. More examples: 0 You're always playing computer games.
English Grammar in Use (4th Edition) Book with Answers & CD-ROM
You should do something more active. He's always complaining. Correct them where necessary. Q 2 The water boils. Can you turn it off? That man tries to open the door of your car. What do they talk about? How do you get on? He's always getting to work on time. They're always arguing. Put the verb into the correct form 1 present continuous or present simple.
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I think I I start to feel tired. I I learn. My father I I finish work at five, but this week I I work until six to earn a little more money. They were born there and have neverlived anywhere else.
Essential Grammar In Use 4th
I I usually enjoy parties, but Finish B's sentences. Use always -ing. YotA 're o.. You've made the same mistake again. Some verbs for example, know and Like are not normally used in thisway. We don't say 'I am knowing' or 'they are liking'; we say 'I know', 'they Like'. The following verbs are not normally used in the present continuous: Like want need prefer know realise suppose mean understand believe remember belong fit contain consist seem 0 I'm hungry. I want something to eat.
English Grammar in Use PDF with Answers
ThinkWhen think means 'believe' or 'have an opinion ', we do not use the continuous: lJ I think Mary is Canadian, but I'm not sure. When think means 'consider', the continuous is possible: U I'm thinking about what happened.
I often think about it. Lefs open a window. Can you hear it? Look feelYou can use the present simple or continuous to say how somebody looks or feels now: U You Look well today.
Compare: J I can't understand why he's being so selfish. He isn't usually like that.
He is very selfish. I I use it. I I not I remem ber it now. I I think of sell ing my car. Would you be interested in buy ing it? I I think you shou ld sell your car. Use the words in brackets to make sentences. You should also study Unit 3 before you dothis exercise. Is t here anything to eat?
Am I right?
Complete the sentences using the most suitable form of be. I wonder w hy. He Lived from to He started composing at the age of five and wrote more than pieces of music.
He was only 35 years old when he died. Very often the past simple ends in -ed regular verbs : 0 I work in a travel agency now. Before that I worked in a department store. For spelling stopped, studied etc. But many verbs are irregular.
The past simple does not end in -ed. For example:write wrote 0 Mozart wrote more than pieces of music. I didn't enjoythey saw did she see? Units 14 rcisesRead what Laura says about a typical working day: I usually get up at 7 o'clock and have a big breakfast.
I walk to work, which takes me about half an hour. I start work at 8. I never have lunch. I finish. I'm always tired when I get home.The differences between this edition and the second edition are: There are eight new units on phrasal verbs Units — My father Some problems for example, the present perfect or the use of the are covered in more than one unit.
I I look for you. Cl Check your answers with the Key.
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According to fossil evidence lions and cheetah were the first of the modern cats, appearing around six million years ago with the leopards and jaguars emerging around one million years ago. Most regions of the world are home to more than one cat species, however a majority are native to only one continent, with the oceans of the world acting as a natural barrier. The species are labelled Old World and New World species, whilst the Lynx is found in both. At present there are five regions of distribution:
*North Africa & Southwest Asia
It would seem though that Britain has just as much variety as areas such as Asia with all manner of exotic cats being reported.
There are some 230 bones in the cat body (humans have 206). The short and rounded skull joins to the spine which supports the body. Vertebrae protect the spinal cord which is the main nerve cable.
The cats teeth are designed for chewing although not all cats teeth are as ferocious as one might think, but they can puncture with ease. The teeth and basic frame of the animal is designed on strength and agility, with powerful hind legs, strong front limbs to absorb impact of landing from great leaps and seven short neck vertebrae. Sharp curved claws grow from all of their digits – one of these is the dew claw, held off the ground to keep it sharp.
Felids are warm blooded animals which basically means that their body temperature stays consistent whatever the climate may be like. This is certainly an advantage when cats such as leopard and puma exist in countries they shouldn’t! And when they are too hot they are able to sweat through their paw pads and noses.
Cats always retract their claws but this does not always mean that paw-prints in the British countryside are easy to identify, however as dogs are the only real contender with regards to size there are certain differences. However, if terrain is extremely muddy and a cat cannot grip, there are times when claws are used. Cats prints will also show three-lobes at the heel whilst being more rounded in shape. Cats toes are more spaced, are asymmetrical and there seems to be more of a pointedness in the toe as compared to the more blunted shapes of the dog toe. However, identifying such detail is easier said than done in some cases. Fortunately in Kent, attacks on livestock are far easier to identify. Mainly due to the fact that there are hardly any wild dogs roaming the county, foxes are messier and will certainly have trouble bringing down a seventy-pound goat and apart from those two only a badger has the ability to claw. Of course, large exotic cats do not have to leave signs at all of their kills, for rabbits, rodents, birds and lambs can be completely devoured. Sheep and goats will show signs such as puncture marks, suffocation, claw marks and dislocation with the neck.
Senses and Territory
Many people believe that all cats have slit eyes which is incorrect. A leopard has binocular vision during the nocturnal hours and can see in black and white, as well as rely on its hearing which is far better than a human. During daylight hours cats can view colours but not as well as a human, however, during the day the pupils will become small, only to appear as small circles whilst during the night an animal like the leopard will absorb extra light. A reflective layer behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum allows this and when the cats eyes are caught in headlights they glow. The lens focuses light rays to produce a sharp image on the retina. Impulses from the retina are carried to the brain by the optic nerve. Cats also have a membrane which can cover the eye to prevent dust.
All cats need to drink. Many sightings in Kent have taken place along the line of rivers, streams and ponds. Although they use such waterways to navigate their routes, they also need an area to quench their thirst. The leopard will take several laps at a puddle or waterhole before gulping it down. The cats main sense though is its ability to smell and they have a unique area on the roof of their mouth to actually taste smells, especially if they are coming from another felid. This special area is known as the Jacobson’s organ and can be seen in action when a cat lifts its head to smell the air, in turn curling its lips and wrinkling its nose to allow the scent to hit the area.
The colour of a cats coat is meant to depend on where it lives, e.g. the snow leopards is thick, off-white and with darker marking to blend in with the rocky terrain, however, a black leopard in Britain is hardly camouflaged by day to the terrain although hunting at night makes it practically invisible. However, the domestic cat has a wider range of markings and colour than the various species of wild cat.
If enough cats exist in the wilds of Kent then they need to find each other. Bizarrely enough, a cat can communicate with another in order to tell a mate how old it is, where it lives, what sex it is and what mood they are in! Scratches, smells and sounds enable cats to find one another. By rubbing against a tree or rock a cat can leave a scent. Felids have scent glands on their chins, heads, base of their tails and between their toes. Not much is known about the cat language but like a dog their ears and tails can react to certain things. Those in the British countryside will know if a cat is angry by the way it hisses and flattens its ears back against its neck.
Whilst lions live in prides, most large cats are solitary hunters, only meeting with others to mate. There isn’t usually enough prey in one area to sustain a group of large cats but some cats do have overlapping territories with other solitary hunters. Females generally have a smaller territory than the male, but either can have a territory ranging from a few kilometres to over one-thousand kilometres.
A female cat will have a den to give birth in. A female puma can give birth to up to six kittens, these will be spotted and suckle her milk for up to four months and after six weeks will eat meat. The leopard can give birth to non-identical twins, one with a spotted coat, the other much darker. Cubs will mature quickly and can crawl before they can open their eyes. By six months old cubs will have learned how to keep safe, how to catch food and what not to catch! For the next year or so they will practice how to kill, balance and live. When such cubs leave their mothers they establish a territory nearby whereas the male tends to move away.
In Britain the exotic cat population has no enemies. It is sufficiently equipped to be the top predator, the ultimate killing machine and not bothered by scavengers such as the jackal, wolf or hyena. Whilst foxes are scavengers, the last animal they want to get involved with is a hungry puma.
Throughout the world humans have become the prey of big cats. In Britain attacks have been rare, often triggered by surprise or injury to the animal. The main concern is that hunters will take to the woodlands of Britain for the thrill of the chase, in turn they may injure a big cat, turning it into a dangerous animal which can no longer hunt smaller, quicker animals such as rabbits. And so it will go for the slowest animal of the lot. Man!
The name KENT BIG CAT RESEARCH refers to the study of large exotic cats roaming the countryside, and not just ‘big cats’. Only one species of ‘big cat’ roams Kent, as well as Britain and that is the black leopard.
It was Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist (1707 – 1778) who proposed that animals of the same kind should be placed in the same species and the same genus as other similar species. Genera were put into orders and each order was put into classes and so on. All cats were originally put under the genus Felis but in more recent times the taxonomic subdivisions divided the cat family further, although the generic and subgenera status’ have caused much confusion and disagreement.
Linnaeus believed that because cats were so similar (although they have also been proven to be very dissimilar) they could be grouped together as Felis but no longer are animals merely classified on the basis of similarity of structure, they must also be related and have the same ancestors to become part of a specified group. Cats form the Felidae family within the Carnivora order. Zoologists have sorted out many of the felids into other groups. The ‘big’ cats form the Panthera which is a species distinguished by the structure of the larynges, instead of mere size, with the smaller cats still contained within the Felis group although rather confusingly to some, the puma felis concolor) can grow to the size of the Leopard which is in the Panthera category, however, the Puma cannot roar and is the largest of the Lesser cats. The cheetah however, which was once believed to only partially retract its claws, was put alone in the genus Acinonyx, a Greek word meaning ‘non-movement’ and ‘claw’ although it is understood that the claws of the cat are only slightly hooked with a less prominent sheath, whilst the Clouded Leopard, perceived as a large descendant of the small cats and considered a link between the larger and smaller cats, belongs to the Neofelis with the Snow Leopard of the genus Uncia.
Panthera leo, tigris, pardus, and once describe the big cat family of leopard, tiger, lion and jaguar, with the fossil species of the extinct European jaguar included. All these cats are able to roar although the Snow Leopard has never been known to (the hyoid – a small group of bones in the great cats, is described elsewhere) whilst the smaller cats are only able to purr and sometimes chirp, and even scream. Large cats which purr pause for breath before continuing.
There are between 36 and 38 species of feline depending on the way some are classified as species or sub-species. During the Tertiary period, the ‘age of the mammals’, five periods were divided and given the names Palaeocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene. The first of these periods beginning over sixty million years ago. Animals the size of small civets existed when the Eocene merged into the Oligocene, such long-limbed creatures appeared as cat-like animals and remains show large upper canines which many of the sabre-toothed cats had. All the present day ‘big cats’ derive from the fossils of Neofelids which date back to over thirty million years ago, during the Oligocene period. Evolution progressed from the Aeluroidea carnivores which included the Nimravidae paleofelids, which evolved on a parallel with the neofelids. Cougar-sized Pseudaelurus are believed to be the ancient ancestors to the modern cats as well as the sabre-toothed felids which first appeared around fifteen-million years ago in the form of lion-sized cats, and up until the Pleistocene era with the Smilodons. Fossil remains have never been found outside the New World and date back no further than two-and a half million years ago, and it seems that these cats with eleven-inch long teeth existed as scavengers, and also preyed on slow moving herbivores. Treacherous water-holes trapped many of these monster cats, where remains are found, yet one misconception of these cats that exists, is the belief that sabre-toothed tigers were direct ancestors of the modern tiger…however, the pre-historic forms probably became extinct long before hand. The Smilodon existed until some fifteen thousand years ago in the Americas.
Large cats emerged in India, China and all over Europe as ancestral forms, and the Lynx has ancestors also from the Pliocene, large cats which existed across Europe and China. By the Ice Age, cave lions and leopard-like felines inhabited Europe, with other huge felines inhabiting the rest of the world, where in time the cat family then spread all over areas of Africa, America and Eurasia although some areas which have cats have neighbouring islands which do not support any species.
Lions and cheetahs ( which existed in the Pliocene ) roamed freely around five million years ago with the Leopards, Tigers, Jaguars and the now extinct Martelli’s Wild Cat (felis lunensis). This particular cat was the size of the modern wild felid and may well have evolved into the wildcat although little else is known about it. The Pallas Cat is the oldest cat within the genus felis.The European Wildcat emerged between the two great Ice Ages, with a variety of subspecies forming, although not all surviving. Cats such as the Black Footed Cat, the Forest Cat and the Chinese Desert Cat spanned various continents with our own domestic cats developing from the African Wild Cats.
Many large and small cat species have become extinct over the millions of years, whilst other species have flourished. Prey for some had dwindled, whilst in other areas during periods around seven million years ago land bridges were formed, meaning that feline species crossed into different habitats, to places that were abundant with wildlife and prey. North and South America became inhabited by large cats in the forest areas, whilst other cats roamed vast desert lands created by extreme winters during the Miocene. Many cat species died out around five million years ago but restoration of species occurred around two million years later when large-toothed cats emerged in the form of Megantereon. However, extreme changes in land fauna meant that predatory cats rose and fell in population and the sabre-toothed cats were unable to catch fleet-footed prey such as antelopes, which felids such as the Cheetah, Lion and Jaguar were able to hunt.
Around five-thousand years ago most of the ancient large cats were extinct and up until fifteen-thousand years ago the Lions and Cheetahs of North America had vanished with the sabre-tooth’s, whilst the Leopard no longer lurked in the shadows of Eurasia. Leopards last roamed Britain around twelve-thousand years ago whilst the Lynx existed up until some four-thousand years ago.
Only have the last one-hundred and fifty years or so enabled cat species to inhabit areas they are not indigenous to. With the amount of large cats roaming areas of Australia and Britain, and seemingly in abundance, is there a possibility that new species could, or already have evolved?
Large cats such as lions and leopards have been crossed whilst in captivity, but to suggest that such new species roam Britain is absurd, despite the many reports from witnesses of cats that they simply cannot identify. Although eye-witness reports are valuable to research, whether they be supposedly credible witnesses such as doctors and policemen, or just general folk walking their dogs, it is surprising to note just how many people cannot recognise or identify an exotic cat in the British countryside. Across Exmoor in the 1980s many descriptions of roaming cats were vague, unsure and certainly did not seem to point to any known species of wild cat. Of course, some of the reports may well have been of domestic cats, dogs and other animals distorted in certain shade and light, and more so of animals that indeed were large and exotic, but were in fact the normal species such as prowling puma and ‘panther’. However, many people are insistent that they had seen black puma, which are rare, to the extent of non-existent although sightings in the U.S. could suggest otherwise, as it is so to imagine hordes of these cats roaming the west-country also seems absurd. The black leopard is actually one of the most commonly sighted felids in Britain although many people do not realise what a black leopard is, or even know that it exists at all. Some witnesses describe animals too small to be of leopard size although these animals produce between two to four cubs which could well explain many sightings of smaller, darker coloured cats. However, melanin also occurs in some other species such as the caracal – indeed, this is another beautiful cat unknown to much of the public.
The thought of bizarre mutant cats stalking the rural settings of Kent is exciting, but complete rubbish and can be dismissed by the fact that hybrids will only occur on a common basis with the Asian Jungle Cat (felis chaus) which are able to interbreed with feral cats as the DNA of the Jungle Cat and domestic cat are practically the same. Felids such as the Jungle Cat can roam Britain without detection, living in marshland in a similar way to the native Wildcat which now roams only Scotland, and also producing cross-species that the general public will not be able to identify. However, many of the sightings across Kent describe large black animals, reaching some four-feet in length with, to many witnesses, "..puma-like characteristics”, but the reality is they are seeing black leopards. Black leopard parents will only give birth to black young, it is a recessive gene which causes this and it continues through the species. However, spotted leopards can produce black offspring causing a mixed litter, but a black leopard cannot produce a 'normal' spotted youngster. This melanism also occurs in other cats such as the Jaguar, servals and ocelots, once again making it very difficult for eye-witnesses to identify what they are seeing. However, with the black leopard being the most known of the melanistic cats, and most likely cat to be part of someone’s collection in the 1970s, it is this cat which roams Kent. Puma’s have also been seen sighted across the world showing spots on their coat, the young of the puma are born with spots but adults with such markings are certainly unusual but fascinating, just as white tigers are. With many sightings across Kent of black leopards, witnesses fail to pick out the ‘spots’ under the dark coat and often describe the felid as being jet-black. Of course, in the distance these cats can appear jet-black but any close sightings should reveal the rosettes. Black servals have been observed in Kenya, and white lions along with 'blue' tigers are known to exist – but thankfully, not in Britain!
The occasional one-off report of a cross-bred cat may occur but the hybridisation between different species will result in infertile young. In Britain there are a number of different exotic cats roaming the rural lanes and rolling woodlands. Some behave differently to one another whilst others would not usually share the same area, let alone country and so immediately a pairing of two different cats would no doubt produce a cat that could not further produce consistent offspring, and certainly not provide Britain with its own mutant lynx-leopard! Again, something forced within a captive environment is possible as a one-off, but in the wild the chromosomes of different mother and father would not match. These chromosomes are naturally exchanged by the mother and father to go into the egg and sperm but if the two parents are differing species then their will be a problem with the alignment of chromosomes, in some cases where the genes within the chromosomes may not add up or may be missing, thus causing species unable to produce young. In Scotland, the Kellas Cats were the offspring of domestic cats on farms and Scottish Wildcats but whether such a cat can be mistaken for the much larger black leopard seems doubtful, but then again, and as stated before, some people really do not know what they are seeing.
Whilst there is always the possibility that hybrid cats have been created in captivity and released into the wilds, it seems very unlikely that these few animals would have produced many kittens, especially to the extent of a new population of hybrids roaming the country. Some eye-witnesses have reported black cheetahs and cats, dark coloured but with white chests but until more sightings occur these possible cats will have to be taken with a pinch of salt.
It could be said that there are as many pumas in Britain as there are black leopards yet maybe there seems to be more melanistic leopards simply because with such dark coats they are sighted more in daylight hours, strolling across fields etc. A cat's coat is a fur consisting of many individual hairs of differing thickness and length yet on the whole each, individual hair contributes to the splendour of a animals colour. Most of the big cats have a background colouration of fawn or gold – nature enables these cats to become camouflaged in their own environment due to their colouration, as the puma with its fawn coat patrols the rocky crevices and the jaguar sits motionless in the glades of the rainforest. It is possible that many of the original cats were spotted or striped, or at least of a pattern that merged the two. However, like many other animals, the markings of the specific species enables it to survive in its particular habitat, firstly to conceal itself from other predators, but secondly, and most importantly in the case of the cats, to remain hidden whilst stalking prey.
Hairs grow from the base of follicles and their structure is of a complex nature, as is the body covering of many mammals. Shorter and longer hairs provide thermal insulation and each hair is replaceable due to the fact that it has limited life. Moulting may occur during particular times of the year which may explain strange coat colours of certain cats.
The puma, although known as ‘one colour’, has a variety of colours in its coat which range from silvery-brown to reddish-grey, whilst a cat which lives at high altitude, such as the Snow Leopard as feet covered with hair, whilst the various types of lynx can appear almost shaggy and grey with spots, to reddish.
The tail of the various cats acts as a balancing tool although a cat such as the lynx or bobcat has a far shorter tail. Cats such as the leopard will use its tail for climbing as a kind of balancing pole whilst the lion and its dark tufted tail has a signalling intention as it waves it around in long grass.
Despite their grace and silent stalking cats are considered cursorial although much of the time they sleep and quietly prowl. The leopard is the ultimate predator, it stalks quietly and closely to prey before ambushing it and going for the throat or at first bringing it down by the nape before strangling. Smaller cats kill with a bite into the back of the neck, lynx go for the head and others have disembowelled with their hind legs but none of the cats pursue prey for a lengthy time except for the cheetah which usually catches its prey rapidly due to its speed. Most cats silently stalk.
In Kent, as well as most of Britain, smaller animals which are preyed upon by these large cats are eaten to the extent where not a lot remains as to identify which animal actually killed it in the first place. Also, there are times when animals such as rabbits are left and scavengers do increasing damage to the body, as birds peck at the eyes and foxes eat the rest. Thankfully in Kent, wild dogs do not roam the fields. These rogue canines tear at sheep, nipping and ripping, making a bloody mess, but large cats kill entirely differently.
Claw marks can be found on the head and shoulders and the neck is often bereft of meat. In the case of smaller prey some are decapitated whilst lambs may be completely devoured except for their hoofs. Sheep have been found lying on their side, some with ears missing and the rib-cage exposed and picked clean. Sometimes innards are eaten but in other cases shoulders are ripped and the scene is usually bereft of blood spill. Rib-cages are usually ‘rasped’ and up to 70 lb of meat has been taken from local goat kills. In their countries of origin large cats such as the leopard drag their prey into trees or conceal it from scavengers, but in Kent such kills have remained in the vicinity, enabling the cat to drink its blood before clotting and to gorge itself on the crimson even if already full from a meal. In some cases, attacks on foxes have resulted in cracked bones and examination of sheep carcasses have been found with punctured rib-cages where an animal has hit them with force. In most cases though, with regards to sheep kills, the victim is leapt upon, usually unexpectedly, puncture marks are evident around the neck. In Kent though, rabbit is the ideal prey and a couple a day provide sufficient food source for a puma-sized cat. Smaller cats such as caracal and lynx can consume a pheasant or two, but during the winter the cats will scavenge, feeding off scraps thrown-out in built up areas and clawing at sacks of rubbish.
The foxes which enter farmland and built-up areas to take chickens or other small prey tend to make a mess of it. A large cat is swift and silent, plucking prey from the night air without leaving a trace and targeting one animal at a time instead of causing a massacre. Wild dogs are full of bloodlust, beginning in a playful frenzy which decimates the victim whilst the Leopard is an invisible assassin that kills for food.
A cats claws are constructed of keratin which enables them to grab their prey, and it is the middle (second) phalanx feature which enables them to retract the third phalanx upwards and inwards to lie alongside the second. Ligaments, whilst the cats are resting, draw the claws into the fur in order to protect the claws but to extend their claws cats rely on their third phalanges and the swivelling action which enables the third phalange to pivot at the joint of the second phalange to be thrust forward and in conjunction the claws are made to point downwards by a flexor muscle which tugs on the third phalange underneath. This way the ‘toes’ spread and anything which has fallen prey to the felid will find it difficult to get away as the rake-like claws are embedded. These amazing claws also enable certain cats not only to climb well, but to climb trees although descent can be difficult and not as casual.
The only other animal in the British countryside that leaves a paw-print roughly the same size of a large cat is the dog. Paw-prints are difficult to come across, especially as pathways in our countryside’s are often disturbed, and anything from horses to cars can churn up mud, sand or any other layer which may have originally preserved a print so well. Many people can be confused by tracks, especially under different conditions where a print may have thawed in the snow or been distorted by dog tracks on a muddy pathway. Cats aren’t stupid, they would much rather stroll along a hedgerow instead of traipse through a quagmire, and in some cases a cat will extend claws to grip at slippery surfaces, but dogs cannot retract their claws and usually leave a print that is elongated as compared to the cats more rounded shape, and at the rear of the heel a cat track will usually show three lobes. Indeed, there are many other differences but tracking a cats movements by way of searching for tracks is extremely difficult, especially as there are so many different breeds of dog being walked through the country lanes, indeed it is very much a complex matter which requires further analysis and explaining – far more than I have the room for. However, do not always assume that a print you have found, which shows claw marks, is that of a dog. A dogs claws are blunt in nature, but the claw indentations left from an animal such as a puma are narrow and sharp. If you are convinced that you have discovered a cat print, either film or photograph it and always put an object such as a pen, coin or tape measure next to it for size comparison , but also attempt to take a cast or attempt to trace the outline accurately on a clear sheet of plastic. One other characteristic of the puma, is that when the cat walks slowly the rear feet have been known to slightly overlap the prints of the front feet. Finally, it must be said that the best time to find cat prints, is next to a kill. When something like this occurs, it is just a question of finding out which cat instead of wondering if it is a cat.
Cats do not crush food. Their scissor-like teeth and rasping tongue are put into action when a feline form turns its head from side to side allowing the flesh of the victim to be cut up and dissected by the carnassials. In each jaw the cats have six incisors with one canine on each side in both jaws, three premolars on each side of the upper jaw and two below and one molar on each side above. The sharp canines puncture prey by way of severing the spinal chord and then the smaller incisors in-between manipulate the food until the cat is able to swallow it. For the leopard the incisors are rather small yet enable the animal to gnaw bones and puncture skin, but it is the tongue which does most of the work. Its surface is layered with a rough texture, a carpet of pointed bumps which scrape meat from the bone of prey, as well as coming in useful for grooming and lapping at water.
In areas such as the western United States it is legal (at the time of writing )to hunt the Mountain Lion. Attacks on humans have been recorded, in fact a puma can kill prey, such as elk, six times its own size and across the North numbers are increasing, as they are here. The puma is a polygamous felid which has been known to copulate over fifty times a day during a breeding period. The female will not have a den as such, but find shelter for kittens and for giving birth under tree branches or rocky crevices. Whilst hunting, the puma will find cover, moving with stealth until in reasonably close range before dashing at its prey and leaping onto its back. The initial impact can often be enough to kill some prey outright or at least knock it out. It is then that the puma goes for the throat. The cat may remain in the vicinity of the kill site for a number of days, sometimes burying the victim and then returning to uncover it for another meal.
There are many people who contact us who have a natural and genuine fear of cats such as leopard and puma prowling the local fields. They fear for their pets, they fear for their children and they fear for themselves. However, the facts are that right through the last century there were just over fifty recorded attacks on humans by cougar in North America, albeit with over ten deaths. However, the puma is way down the league of dangerous animals and stands in the shadow of snakes, bees and even domestic dogs. It could be said that children are in danger – they are relatively small, and when riding a bicycle they could be perceived by a cougar as something similar to a moving sheep or domestic cat, especially if vision is obscured and the child is on the other side of undergrowth. Large cats are coming into town, especially in Britain where woodlands are not vast when compared to the forests of Africa and the woodlands of British Columbia however, they are secretive cats and so will not be taking to the streets in search of a butcher’s shop! It is advised that you face a cat if you encounter one, and move back slowly, making yourself almost large but many people when put in this situation cannot perform such cool heroics. Indeed, they DO freeze…but in terror. Many people will turn and run, others are just put under a spell as they watch this beautiful creature which on most occasions will slink away casually.
There are some who theorise that the cats which people have seen for many decades in Britain are a species that have always lived here, and that only now are people more aware of these animals hence the more reported sightings. There is far too huge a gap between now and the period when animals such as the leopard roamed Britain, but a cat such as the lynx may well have hung on in some form as it would not have needed to venture into the territory of man to snatch sheep, and strangely enough, the earliest reports of large cats on the loose concerned lynx. People of credibility have put forward beliefs of unknown species of felid, mainly based on eye-witness reports that do not fit in with any known species of cat. In Kent, the possibility that ancient cats exist is basically nil due to the fact that most witnesses are describing known species of large cat, ranging from the black leopard to the caracal. I believe that many of the questionable details are simply down to the fact that most witnesses do not know what many of the exotic cats of the world look like. I have mentioned this before, but it is true. There is a possibility that certain cats have adapted to Britain and their coat and size variation simply reflects the evolutionary adaptation to our climate, which can be said for the jaguar and the leopard. The leopard is known to be considerably larger in mountainous regions whilst in the jungles and remote savannahs it is smaller. Females are two thirds the size of the male, so once again we have a size difference and with the British leopard it seems as though we are only playing host to the melanistic version. This variation in colour is considered rare with regards to the African species but the forest dwelling leopards who have the darker coats are quite common. The jaguar is a larger animal than the leopard, which is slimmer and longer in the leg. In Britain there are reports of black cats with very large heads like that of the j– however, if more details were observed in daylight encounters, we could determine as to what people are seeing because the rosette markings of the jaguar have a central dot. Melanism does occur in the jaguar but it is rarer than in the leopard, and with this felid being the third largest of the big cats, at least some eye-witness reports would support its existence here. During the 1980s in the West-country it was believed that many people were seeing felids not recognised by science, however, there has been no further evidence to suggest we are dealing with large, undiscovered species of cats, although as mentioned before, limited hybridisation is possible and there have been a few unique specimens discovered.
Hunter or the Hunted?
Killer cats are created by the lumbering lunatics who hunt them. Those that hang out in rural hideaways with their air-rifles at the ready, those who set up snares in the hope of finding a manacled prize, and those who rampage across the fields with shotguns after a local pet dog is eaten by an animal that is only doing what it does naturally. Sheep losses in Kent are not a worry when there are so many rabbits around, so prey is in abundance and variety and can be obtained with ease. Kent is not a vast area, nowhere near as vast and remote as the Cornish moor lands, let alone the African plains, yet there is sufficient cover for a handful of large predators, each having its own territory whilst smaller, undetected cats mooch behind the hedgerows. They are harmless but like most animals they can be aggressive, especially when they are protecting young or confronted by maniacal, gun-toting psychotics. The biggest concern is the lack of so-called government interest, or examination from professional body. After the Exmoor and Bodmin ‘beast’ flaps, sightings of large exotic cats across Britain have become almost everyday life. Once, the Marines were concealed in the ditches and now with no further results the petty politics and minor squabbles are clouding an intriguing occurrence, in that large and very exotic cats are inhabiting this island. For some it is an alarming thought – for others one of excitement. It is already too late to even attempt to track one or two of these cats down, it is a situation not quite out of control but it could end up that way if many of us stick our fingers in the pie without the knowledge or understanding of these animals and their way of life.
The authorities are ignorant to the situation and for the felids in question ignorance is bliss. Yet when it comes down to it, what are the authorities going to do anyway? Wipe them out? Accidentally injure one for it to become an irritable man-eater? Spend thousands of pounds stalking the countryside, only once again to be eluded by a creature that would always remain one step ahead? And if these animals are left to their own devices, what happens when the local woodlands and even towns are inhabited even more so by these cats? Can we afford to go with the flow with so many people fearing that large cats will spring from the trees and eat them alive? Well, for now, yes. There is no evidence to suggest that these cats are preying on children and any incidents that do take place are in a minority, and there are certainly more attacks by domestic dogs on youngsters. These cats won’t just go away though – evidence suggests they are breeding healthily all over Britain, and there are more people who respect them as an out of place and very beautiful animal rather than despise them for being here. Unfortunately there are the selected few who continue to rampage through possible habitats, hide in the undergrowth ready to fire at any sign of movement and who blame these cats for every livestock loss. It is these people who will turn at least a handful of cats into dangerous, irritable animals. But for the moment the only wild and truly dangerous animal out there is the one in the mirror.
The cats which roam Kent and Britain should be naturalised, and many are despite being ignored, let alone classed as unofficial residents. Corpses of dead cats will be extremely difficult to find, especially when we consider the lack of badger and fox bodies found. When these two animals die, the remains are gradually ground away by other, smaller scavengers, bones as well. Some animals die underground too, such as the badger, but a cat such as the Leopard, would if injured, crawl to foliage if it were to die, and unless these felines are killed by cars, then it is unlikely that bodies will be found. Although the population of cats in Britain is large, and certainly rising, searching for a body of one would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Finally, it has been estimated that one female leopard, in fifteen to twenty years can produce an alarming number of young. Over the course of these fifteen or so years, many more will be produced by those offspring. So, the future is bright for the British big (and smaller) cats. They must be protected.
It was once believed that only a few large cats inhabited Britain, and that somehow these certain individuals were scouring the whole country, looking for the opposite sex in order to produce offspring. Of course, despite these animals having vast territories, especially in their countries of origin, but not so much in Britain, such claims nowadays are absurd, although it is quite possible cats from Kent are slinking into neighbouring counties, although extensive research seems to prove that the cats in question patrol territories of anything up to eighty-square miles, but some of these hunting grounds will be scarred by obstacles, such as wide rivers, although during darkness motorways are not a problem for these highly intelligent cats.
Each cat out there establishes its own territory but it is very likely that in Britain territories will overlap, the ground of a puma has been proven to fade into the hunting ground of a black leopard, and that’s simply down to the nature of the land and the obstacles these animals face, because in some instances some of these dissecting intrusions are even too much for a cat to conquer, but a number of different species of cat are sharing habitat. This however does not mean they will breed, but they will certainly be aware of each other, but does not mean cat fights will be in abundance.
The territory of a male leopard could well cover the smaller territories of a handful of females, and scent marking will attract attention for mating although aggression can also be displayed in some encounters. Male cats can determine whether or not a compatible partner is a potential female. Sexual hormones are present in female urine and other secretions, and the female cats will often call to attract the attention of a male, or more than one, and even then the female may not be ready and will tend to lash out and become aggressive toward the male, and this can take days, but then finally they will mate, with the females ova only becoming released from the ovary after being stimulated by the actual mating procedure. The mating game is certainly a well constructed practice which attempts to be devoid of any kind of aggression, with the male often making tentative advances in which eventually the female cat will raise her hindquarters, whilst crouching on her stomach, lifting her tail to one side in order for the male to penetrate easily whilst he ‘treads’ her. The male may grip the nape of the female, something which mother cats do to ‘still’ their cubs, although he will be very aware of the power of the females bite in such instances.
Mating is usually over in seconds, there is no pelvic thrust as such, the excitement amounts quickly, and the male is often out of the way before he gets a frightful nip from his ‘lover’. However, the male and female may copulate many times a day, up to one-hundred times in fact, although cats such as the ocelot not so much.
The male penis contains a bone called the bacula which is used to caress and stimulate the female's vaginal walls, and mating may last up to four days on heat, and cats are happy to mate in trees, as well as in shallow water, but such cats mate often simply because one session may not be sufficient to produce young. However, cats such as the l, rely on the availability of prey in order to ovulate, and only become induced ovulators when prey is scarce.
Female cats will seek other males, but in smaller counties of England this is not always possible, but it certainly seems that mating does occur hence the thriving population of cats and reports of large cats with apparent young.
Thankfully, in Britain, there is not much threat to young cats, and they should be able to adapt to terrain quite easily, although in some areas the roaming female may struggle to provide food for them, despite the abundance of rabbits, birds, rodents in the British countryside. The female felid will bring prey to young in order for them to play with, and practice their hunting techniques which they will also develop by playing amongst themselves. A female cat will often return to a certain den to raise young, and the young will leave the den permanently after around six weeks although the ‘family’ remains intact for a couple of years. Larger cats do remain dependant on their mother more so than the smaller cats, possibly because in their countries of origin larger cats such as the leopard are able to develop hunting skills and gain strength which enables them to bring down heavy, yet often dangerous prey, whereas smaller felines take to hunting more easily simply because they hunt prey smaller than themselves.
So, if so many leopards roam Britain, cats which, in their native countries bring down large prey, then why aren’t they attacking humans ? Well, just like any animal, it becomes used to its environment, and recognises prey from a young age. Cases in Britain that appear to show humans that have been attacked by exotic cats are dubious to say the least. Cats have an acute sense of hearing, so it would not be that easy to disturb a cat at close quarters or step upon it, or approach it easily and this has been proven with our own encounters with Lynx and black leopard. Domestic cats are not going to be frequent prey, simply because they are not too different from their relatives, they have acute senses and so are unlikely to sit around and wait for a large cat to come and consume them. Even so, if such an encounter occurred, any exotic cat isn’t going to want to risk getting clawed when there is much easier prey around. The same could be said for us humans. These cats are not starving felines that will come into our villages and tear us from our gardens, they have adapted perfectly to the countryside that we believe does not provide sufficient habitat or fodder despite the fact that there are more animals out there than we realise, and enough livestock which provides a twenty-four hour restaurant.


The Reading Horizons method delivers engaging, explicit, systematic phonics instruction through a multisensory approach based on Orton-Gillingham principles. Instruction is cumulative and organized in a sequence that enhances learning and simplifies teaching. Each sound of the English language is explicitly taught along with the letter(s) that represent the sound. Five Phonetic Skills are taught to help students recognize short and long vowel patterns in words and syllables. Two Decoding Skills are presented to show students how to decode multisyllabic words.
The multisensory approach used with the Reading Horizons method enhances learning and memory by engaging auditory, visual, and kinesthetic modalities simultaneously during instruction. A unique marking system is employed to draw student attention to the features and patterns of English as well as to give visual cues for pronunciation. Throughout the course of instruction, students are provided with engaging activities for practice and application of the skills learned.
Reading Horizons Discovery™ was designed to teach the Reading Horizons method to students in kindergarten to third grade. Reading Horizons Elevate™ was designed for students who are ages fourth grade to adult.


Earth relief: what is the altitude ratio?
I would like to create a small application that generates a map. For this I need to find out the natural relief ratio as we know it on earth.
Suppose I divide the altitute in a scale of 0 to 10---where 0 is the sea bottom---and suppose the map is divided into tiles. How likely is the subsequent tile to deviate from or remain as the previous one.
My assumption is that there are less mountains than they are oceans, and that the higher the altitude gets, the less likely is the neighbouring area to be equally high or higher.
I'd like to have some figures though, based on real data. Do you have any idea? I've been looking on the internet but didn't find what i wanted.
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I am happy to attach the text which will be published soon by the Society for Medieval Archaeology Newsletter about our 2016 season in the Azores (6-27 September). This is a collage of pictures taken during our fieldwork in Vila Franca.
Under the volcano: excavating in the Azores (Vila Franca do Campo 2016)
The islands of the Azores, far out in the middle of the North Atlantic, are subject to frequent seismic and volcanic activity because of their location at the junction of three tectonic plates. On the night of 22 October 1522 the settlement of Vila Franca do Campo, the early capital of the archipelago on São Miguel, was almost completely destroyed by an powerful earthquake and then by a huge landslide which followed a few minutes later. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to have died when a massive debris flow swept through the houses and streets and out into the sea. In 2015 and 2016 a team from the University of Durham, led by Paolo Forlin, Chris Gerrard and Alejandra Gutierrez, together with Portuguese colleagues from the universities of Nova de Lisboa and dos Açores, and landslide specialists from the University of East Anglia, started to document the archaeology of the disaster. Beginning by analysing the unpublished diaries and archaeological materials left by a previous investigator, Manuel de Sousa d’Oliveira, together with data from recent geological cores, the team excavated 26 trenches in all. Evidence of the pre-disaster settlement was identified in detail. Quantities of stratified glass and pottery, including finewares from Spain (such as lustrewares), Italy and France, locally produced redwares, as well as animal, shellfish and fish bone represent some of the earliest and best dated assemblages to be recovered from the Azores which were first colonised permanently in the 15th century. The landslide, which was up to 2.5m thick in places and affected about 4.5km2, contained human and animal remains as well as brick, roof tile, mortar and masonry fragments. The archaeological evidence suggests that the reconstruction process got underway almost immediately and the excavations reveal the houses, industries and the rubbish pits of the new town.
Chris Gerrard and I (Paolo Forlin) would like to thank all the participants to this archaeological campaign, especially the ten undergraduates (Pertev Basri, Lydia Coldicott, Ben Evans, Christina Goessman, Alice Naylor, Oliver Tallis , Oliver Vercoe, Adam Willis, Isabelle Wilson and Adam Wordley) and Ed Treasure from Durham University, as well as some extraordinary people who helped us in Vila Franca, such as N’Zinga Oliveira, the mayor Ricardo Rodrigues, the director of the local museum Thelma, Mario and Edoardo. I would also like to address special thanks to Dr Alejandra Gutierrez (DU) who worked intensively in order to reorganise all the material from previous Oliveira’s excavations, process our new finds and organise a new temporary exhibition at the Museum of Vila Franca.


MIT researchers and their colleagues are developing an imaging method that can read closed books.
In September, in Nature Communications, the researchers reported a new method that they tested on a stack of papers, each with one letter printed on it. The method was able to correctly identify the letters on the top nine sheets.
“The Metropolitan Museum in New York showed a lot of interest in this, because they want to, for example, look into some antique books that they don’t even want to touch,” says Barmak Heshmat, a research scientist in Ramesh Raskar’s Camera Culture group at the MIT Media Lab and corresponding author on the new paper. He adds that the system could be used to analyze a large range of materials organized in thin layers, such as coatings on machine parts or pharmaceuticals.
The MIT researchers developed the algorithms that acquire images from individual sheets in stacks of paper; researchers at Georgia Tech developed the algorithm that interprets the often distorted or incomplete images as individual letters.
The system uses terahertz radiation, a band of electromagnetic radiation between microwaves and infrared light. Terahertz radiation can distinguish between ink and blank paper, in a way that x-rays can’t, and it can be emitted in such short bursts that the distance it has traveled can be accurately measured. The system exploits the fact that air pockets about 20 micrometers wide separate a book’s pages naturally. The difference in the degree to which air and paper bend light means that the boundary between them will reflect terahertz radiation back to a detector.
In the researchers’ setup, a standard terahertz spectrometer emits ultrashort bursts of radiation, and the camera’s built-in sensor detects their reflections. From the reflections’ time of arrival, the MIT researchers’ algorithm can gauge the distance to the individual pages of the book.
While most of the radiation is either absorbed or reflected by the book, some of it bounces around between pages before returning to the sensor, producing a spurious signal. The sensor’s electronics also produce a background hum. One of the tasks of the MIT researchers’ algorithm is to filter out all this “noise.”
The information about the pages’ distance helps: it allows the algorithm to home in on just the terahertz signals whose arrival times suggest that they are true reflections. Then it relies on two different measures of the reflections’ energy, and assumptions about both the energy profiles of true reflections and the statistics of noise, to extract information about the chemical properties of the reflecting surfaces. This allows researchers to identify letters by determining the exact shapes of ink printed on each individual page.


The Leeward Islands / ˈ l iː w ər d / are a group of islands in the West Indies. In English, the term refers to the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain.
The Leeward Islands (French: Îles Sous-le-vent; Tahitian: Fenua Raro Mata’i, literally "Islands Under-the-Wind") are the western part of the Society Islands in ...
Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. Comprehensive travel guide and map of the Caribbean Leeward Islands
Which islands are in the Windward Islands and Leeward Islands? The Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands are part of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.
Leeward Islands, French Îles Sous le Vent, Spanish Islas de Sotavento, an arc of West Indian islands that constitute the most westerly and northerly of the Lesser ...
Map of Leeward and Windward Islands with a Landsat satellite image by Geology.com
Leeward Islands Vacation packages or hotel-only to Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Nevis, Saint Kitts, Anguilla
Explore an interactive map of the Leeward Islands, where Sail Caribbean offers amazing teen sailing, scuba, watersports and community service adventures .
plural noun 1. a group of islands in the N Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, extending from Puerto Rico SE to Martinique.
Lee·ward Islands (lē′wərd) 1. The northern group of the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies, extending from the Virgin Islands southeast to Dominica.


Within moments of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, life in America instantly transformed for the duration of the war. The harbor town of Morro Bay, California became a major training center for planned amphibious Naval invasions of South Pacific islands and the top-secret D-Day invasion of Normandy. Come along and join Edith Ross and Art Criddle as they share their recollections of the war years in Morro Bay from the perspective of young children. Afterwards we travel to Virginia for a visit with the President of the National D-Day Memorial in the rural town of Bedford. Many of the troops who trained in Morro Bay for the amphibious landing at Normandy were among the 4,413 soldiers who were killed in the first 24 hours of the largest amphibious landing in history. More than 150,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified French coastline. Come along and join April Cheek-Messier at the National D-Day Memorial and discover the poignant reason why the National D-Day Memorial is located in the rural town of Bedford, Virginia.


Posts tagged with 'bugs'
Phase one of the Snowdon Leaf Beetle survey is now complete and, after many hours searching, the team were finally rewarded with an adult Snowdon Leaf Beetle – confirming it is still alive and breeding in the UK!
The Snowdon Leaf Beetle Chrysolina cerealis is probably the rarest of the 291 British species in this group of beetles, which feed on the leaves and seeds of plants. It is also one of only two beetles protected by law in the UK and a permit is needed to even search for it. Read more…
15 September 2015 by Paula
The entomology survey team returned to Snowdon on Friday 4th September for phase two of the Rainbow Leaf Beetle (Chrysolina cerealis) fieldwork. Tony Hunter, assistant Curator of entomology updates us on the latest search:
“Thankfully the weather was much improved this time, with only thin misty cloud to complain about and we quickly managed to find three larvae feeding on the food plant, Thymus polytrichus (wild Thyme). Read more…
25 August 2015 by Paula
Tony Hunter, assistant Curator of Entomology updates us on the search for the Rainbow Leaf Beetle on Snowdon:
“We left Liverpool on a lovely sunny morning and despite the weather forecast we were hopeful of a fine day, but as we approached Snowdon along the A5 dark clouds loomed and it started to rain. Read more…
18 August 2015 by Paula
Tony Hunter, assistant Curator of Entomology tells us about a survey being carried out in conjunction with Natural Resources Wales:
“The Rainbow Leaf Beetle Chrysolina cerealis is one of our rarest insects and is protected in Britain by the Wildlife and Countryside Act. It is against the law to collect, disturb or even photograph it. Read more…
21 August 2014 by Ann
Join us on Tuesday 26th August for the Liverpool Loopline BioBlitz, at the Mill Lane entrance of the Loop Line near Old Station House, Mill Lane, West Derby, Liverpool L12 7JA.
What is a BioBlitz?
A BioBlitz is a race to record as many different species of wildlife as possible in a habitat. Our BioBlitz will include bird watching, nature walks, butterfly and bee surveys, wildflower wander, tree trail and a mini beast safari. Read more…
8 July 2014 by Lisa
Here’s our Education Demonstrator from the Bug House, Laura Carter, to tell us about the latest Bug House photo competition:
“It’s that time of year again – sunshine, warm weather, flowers… and creepy crawlies! So why not grab your camera and enter our 2014 Bug House photography competition?
Insects, spiders, worms, slugs and snails are all fair game – found locally or abroad. Read more…


When central banks lower interest rates, however, they give the market hope about future consumption based on savings which do not exist. Businesses expand, individuals spend more and invest more. For a while it seems like the economy is growing healthily, however it is based on demand which does not really exist since the savings that promise future growth are absent. When the illusory demand is revealed, many of the expanded businesses realize that they borrowed money in expectation of demand that never existed and now, unable to generate enough revenue to pay back their loans, they go bust:
Investments in them need to be liquidated, some at a total loss. The investments in those long term projects now look like irresponsible speculation on an assumption of future growth. The Austrians call them “malinvestments.”
Just to make it easier to see any correlations, here are the two graphs crudely overlaid:
As predicted, low interest rates coincide with high investment in construction. When interest rates rose, the construction bubble burst. If we look at employment in the construction sector from 2004 to 2007 we see the same rapid rise, stagnation and then decline:
So far so good, we are seeing fairly clear data. The United States, to give another example, also experienced a housing bubble when the Federal Bank kept interest rates low in the early 2000s. Japan, meanwhile, halved interest rates from 1986 to 1987, keeping them low until beginning to increase them in 1989. The country experienced a frenzy of construction speculation; by 1991 the total land cost of a country the size of California was worth four times the total property of the US. In 1980s Japan, as 2000s Ireland, confidence that property prices would keep rising led individuals to take out colossal loans with the belief that they would be able to sell on their homes at a profit and pay off the mortgage:
So Mr. Nakashima, a Tokyo city government employee who was then 36, took out a loan for almost the entire $400,000 price of a cramped four-bedroom apartment. With property values rising at double-digit rates, he would easily earn back the loan and then some when he decided to sell.
Or so he thought. Not long after he bought the apartment, Japan's property market collapsed. Today, the apartment is worth half what he paid. He said he would like to move closer to the city but cannot: the sale price would not cover the $300,000 he still owes the bank.
So why did the European Central Bank keep interest rates low while Ireland was booming, helping to create the disastrous construction bubble?
One problem was that some of Ireland's EU neighbours were not growing much in this period at all, so interest rates were kept low to stimulate their growth. Germany had a consistently high unemployment rate (oddly enough their unemployment is far lower now than it was in the early 2000s). Its GDP slid in and out of recession and its inflation rate was a lot lower than Ireland's.
So the ECB followed policies that attempted to boost those slow-growth countries like Germany, but this badly damaged peripheral countries with differing economies, like Spain and Ireland. The Austrian School economists would have us do away with central banks completely, but at least this crisis raises questions about the ability of a European Central Bank to manage several distinct eurozone economies all at the same time.
For a more complex and nuanced look at the role of euro-membership and Ireland's economic crisis, read Professor Patrick Honohan's Euro Membership and Bank Stability Friends or Foes? Lessons from Ireland.


By Bradley Efron, Gail Gong (auth.), William F. Eddy (eds.)
Read Online or Download Computer Science and Statistics: Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Interface PDF
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A world-renowned paleontologist takes readers all around the globe to bare a brand new technological know-how that trumps technological know-how fiction: how people can re-create a dinosaur.
In video clips, in novels, in comedian strips, and on tv, we’ve all obvious dinosaurs—or a minimum of somebody’s proficient wager of what they might appear like. yet what if it have been attainable to construct, or develop, a true dinosaur, with no discovering historical DNA? Jack Horner, the scientist who steered Steven Spielberg on Jurassic Park, and a pioneer in bringing paleontology into the twenty-first century, groups up with the editor of the hot York Times,’s technology occasions part to bare precisely what’s in store.
within the Eighties, Horner started utilizing CAT scans to appear inside of fossilized dinosaur eggs, and he and his colleagues were delving deeper ever due to the fact that. At North Carolina kingdom college, Mary Schweitzer has extracted fossil molecules—proteins that survived sixty eight million years—from a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil excavated via Horner. those proteins exhibit that T. rex and the fashionable poultry are kissing cousins. At McGill collage, Hans Larsson is manipulating a fowl embryo to evoke the dinosaur inside of: beginning through growing to be a tail and at last prompting it to develop the forelimbs of a dinosaur. All of this is often occurring with no altering a unmarried gene.
This magnificent examine is resulting in discoveries and functions so profound they’re frightening within the energy they confer on humanity. the right way to construct a Dinosaur is a travel of the recent rocky deserts and air-conditioned laboratories on the leading edge of this medical revolution.
Essentially the most dramatic tales of genetic discovery due to the fact that James Watson's The Double Helix—a paintings whose medical and cultural reverberations can be mentioned for years yet to come. In 1994 Professor Bryan Sykes, a number one global authority on DNA and human evolution, was once known as in to check the frozen is still of a guy trapped in glacial ice in northern Italy.
The vintage authority on color dimension now absolutely revised and up to date with the newest CIE thoughts The size of color is of significant significance in lots of advertisement functions, equivalent to the fabric, paint, and nutrients industries; in addition to having an important function within the lights, paper, printing, beauty, plastics, glass, chemical, photographic, tv, delivery, and communique industries.
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Additional info for Computer Science and Statistics: Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on the Interface
I have no doubt that statistical packages as we know them today will continue to exist and to be used extensively. But they are not the wave of the future. ) Innovations in statistical computing and data analysis will not likely come from the developers of packages as part of their current products. First, we shall consider the capabilities and limitations of such machines as the Apple II, the TRS-SO, and the PET. Then, as preparation for looking into the future, we shall briefly examine the nature of the step from batch to interactive computing insofar as it has affected the practice of statistics.
Personal computers differ from most computing equipment with which we are familiar in two respects. First, since the computer is located close to the peripheral devices, the system can operate at very high data rates. Instead of the typical 30 characters per second at which terminals communicate over telephone lines with computers, a PC can communicate with nearby devices at rates up to 64 times as fast (19200 baud). An example of a program designed expressly to take advantage of high data rates is EMACS, the screen-oriented text editor developed by Project MAC.
Interactive computing enables us to select our next command after having seen the results of its predecessor. Whereas in writing programs for batch SCPs the choice of the next command can be based only upon the expected outcomes of previous commands, in writing programs for interactive SCPs, that choice can depend on the actual outcome of earlier commands. Batch and interactive SCPs share some common structural features. In each case, programs consist of the. , output), inference (based on actual or expected output), and then command once again.


Recently I’ve learned to make simple YouTube videos and that gave me the idea to make a series of them documenting my work in learning to play the Garklein recorder. I’ve chosen one of my how-to-learn-recorder books, ‘Mario Duschenes Method for the Recorder’ and intend to record some of the tunes in it I am learning.
Besides the videos marking my own progress, I thought it would be useful for self-study students on the recorder to hear the less-familiar tunes used in the lessons. For the student who doesn’t read music very well yet, it might be a help to hear what the music is supposed to sound like.
For the first video of the series, I am playing my brand-new apricot wood recorder, made by a Hungarian craftsman and purchased on Ebay. I was actually disappointed when I first got the recorder, it sounded hoarse on almost all the notes. But every day I carefully played it for 10 minutes to break it in, and after a while it started sounding very good. To the point that I’m hoping to get another recorder made by the same craftsman in a different wood.
For anyone else who might like to start learning to play the Garklein recorder: the instruments are available on Ebay and Amazon.com. For plastic recorders, the Aulos brand is highly recommended. My own plastic recorder is a Woodnote, and it seems to play very well. There is also a rosewood Garklein recorder available.
Be careful, when purchasing a recorder, to be sure that it has baroque fingering. That is the best and most widely used.
The Garklein recorder is a recorder in the key of C, as the soprano and tenor recorders are. (The sopranino, alto and bass recorders are in the key of F.) The Garklein differs from other C recorders in having variant fingering for some of the sharps and flats, and a more limited range. Also, when my Woodnote Garklein arrived, I was dismayed that the fingering chart that came with it didn’t cover the Garklein! I had to get a fingering chart for Garklein on the internet. http://www.recorder-fingerings.com/en/Div.php?f=P&t=aBar.0Gk.!a&Aus=ClGk
Anyway, welcome to my adventure of the Garklein Recorder Project. Enjoy the ride.


What different kinds of books are in the New Testament? When, how, and why were they written? And why did some books, and not others, come to be collected into what Christians came to consider the canon of scripture that would define their belief for all time? With these 12 lectures, get a fast-moving yet thorough introduction to these and other key issues in the development of Christianity. Designed to deepen the understanding of both Christians and non-Christians alike, this lecture series takes as its perspective the historical, rather than the theological, issues behind the development of the Bible. And it's an illuminating perspective, indeed, ranging across issues of language, oral history, the physical limitations of spreading the written word at a time when the printing press lay far in the future, and, of course, the theological forces that were shaping Christianity, molding a commonly accepted canon from the various expressions of the faith spreading across the ancient world. Professor Ehrman recreates the context of the times in which the canon was being assembled so that you can understand what the message of each written work would have meant to ancient Christians. You'll come to see how the diverse books of the New Testament were gathered together into the form we now know, whether it's the four canonical Gospels (whose authorship was only attributed by later Christians), the book of Acts, the 21 Epistles, or the book of Revelation (sometimes called the Apocalypse of John).
These lectures are a compelling introduction not only to the development of the Christian canon, but to all of the forces that would play a role in early Christian history.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2005 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2005 The Great Courses
I disagree a bit with the previous reviewer in that although there are iTunes U courses that are excellent, Prof. Ehrman is the top of his field. I very much enjoyed the lecture series, Prof. Ehrman is an excellent lecturer and presents information in a clear and interesting way. I enjoyed this course more than the books, but I prefer to hear history and science in lecture form.
I highly recommend this lecture series if you are interested in the subject. I feel prof. Ehrman presents the subject in a fair and objective light, he is only presenting his academic studies and is not teaching a sermon or ranting against religion.
This book has too much overlap with other courses by this same lecturer. If you've already heard the others, it's not as good as his lectures on the early Christian church and the ones on the controversies of the Bible. I was hoping for new or more information than what I got in the other lectures.That being said, as a whole, good information. Ehrman is a good lecturer.
Student of philosophy & religion. Christian theist. Graphic designer. Musician. Golfer. Writer.
MAIN POINT: The content should've been more focused on the "making" of the canon as opposed to a quasi-survey of the canon. Ehrman's "The New Testament" course covers almost the same exact material with just a little more detail.
Ehrman starts the second to last lecture reminding listeners that it was (I'm paraphrasing) a long and detailed history leading up to the selection and discrimination of books. Yes, Bart! That's why I bought your course. I wanted to learn about that part of Christian history in particular. Problem is, he spends an inordinate amount of time (75%) walking listeners through historical discrepancies in the gospels, pseudonymous Pauline epistles, scribal errors, orthodox corruption, conflicting theologies, et cetera. All interesting topics.. WHICH SHOULD BE AND WERE COVERED IN DETAIL DURING 'THE NEW TESTAMENT' COURSE! Direct listeners, if they would like to learn more about those areas, to purchase that course.
This course could've briefly touched on those issues to show there are prior questions one should be asking of the New Testament as well, but it should've focused primarily on particular arguments, detailed interactions with patristic fathers and other "heretics", from the second to fourth centuries, culminating in the Athanasian canon.
Ehrman is a fine scholar of the New Testament and a great expositor of tricky textual and interpretive issues. I've learned a lot from him. But he has particular pet project areas he focuses on, and it seems to dominate his lecturing style. I feel like he is constantly trying to prove the same things over and over again, even when what he's looking to prove doesn't exactly fit the course aim.
A scholarly and historical (not devotional) perspective on how the New testament came to exist in its present form. The course is a lecture series given by premier Bible Scholar Bartrand Ehrman. If you're looking for an objective view into the history of the Bible and Christianity, I highly recommend this series.
I liked the historical context of the lectures and how they detailed the writing of the books in the New Testament.
What I didn't like was that there seemed to be an undertone of doubt about the validity of any of the books. Prof. Ehrman began the lectures by stating that any two texts that were virtually identical in subject, writing style, or account could almost certainly be considered copies of eachother. (he went into a very convincing example in his lecture) He references several corresponding accounts in the gospels that he supposes had to be copied from other resources. Later, though, Ehrman references discrepancies in accounts of the same events in different gospels and uses this as reason to doubt the validity of scripture. I think a reasonable doubt is healthy when digesting any information, but you can't have it both ways. Ehrman is suggesting that similarities in scripture are reason to doubt their validity, and again later suggesting that discrepancies are reason to discredit.
These lectures are written from a historical perspective, not a theologic one. That said, it still seems that the goal of the lectures isn't only to educate about the writing, assembly, and preservation of the New Testament.
Knowledgable, Informative, Biased
I would like to see a point by point rebuttal from a biblical historical perspective. After independently researching many points made in the lectures and finding that they weren't entirely based in fact, I would love to listen to lectures that are based on biblical explanations.
Prof. Bart Ehman, is at least to me, is who makes an interesting subject very understandable. He is very neutral in his delivery & while also being very thorough. I am 73 & have never understood the Bible. The Great Courses are most helpful to me as I very much enjoy the academic approach. So far I have purchased some 10, or more, Great Courses books. Prof Ehman is so interesting to me I will soon listen again. I have another of his to listen to first. He is excellent!
Paul is my favorite character as he appears after the life of Christ. In fact Paul seems to have taken the lead over the Gospel writers.
No, to my this was my first experience with Professor Ehrman, but I will check. At any rate he was very, very good!
Yes, I planned on a complete listen to this particular book & was successful. I usually listen in sections.(my medicines make me sleepy but Prof. Ehrman kept me listening!)
I am very glad I have found the "Great Courses" as they allow me to be exposed to many subjects from science to religion that I missed in my youth! I enjoy the Great Courses very much.
This audio lecture only discusses the canonization of the Bible towards the end.. pretty much the last two lectures.
So if you have read some ot the author's other books, you will probably gain less info than expected. .. other than that, interesting as always!
This was a great listen, and Beat Ehrman is respected as a leading expert on biblical history. Be aware, though, that this is much more if an introduction to the topic. I'd prefer a course that was twice as long and twice as in-depth.
"An important and objective overview"
Well argued ands=6,9??2÷@@@! clearly delivered. A far bit of overlap with the later book "The historical Jesus" but still enough different content to remain interesting and informative.
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Dublin, Ireland: The archaeological site of Kilmainham-Islandbridge in Dublin “…is now demonstrably the largest burial complex of its type in western Europe, Scandinavia excluded”. This has come after a massive 15 year project making sense of the archaeology under Dublin’s streets with results expected to be published in an 800 page report titled ‘Viking Graves and Grave Goods in Ireland.’
The majority of artefacts which have been located on either side of the Rivers Liffey and Poddle have already been dated to between AD 841-902, one of the earliest known periods of dense settlement in Dublin by Vikings. Most of the burials discovered are of the more aristocratic members of society and Archaeologists state that this is a sure sign of the wealth and importance of Dublin at the time.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Archaeologist Linzi Simpson explained “The annals record these vast numbers of warriors coming to Dublin, and recent work is now matching that with the archaeology. We used to think the annals were prone to exaggeration, and maybe the Vikings weren’t so bad. But now there is a swing towards, ‘Jeepers, they were fairly catastrophic.’”
Vikings were first spotted off the coast of Ireland in AD 792, three years before the English monastery at Lindisfarne was destroyed by them for the first time. Raids on Inishbofin, Rathlin and Inishmurray followed soon after. Researchers associated with the Dublin discovery believe that such raids on both Ireland, Scotland and England began as exploratory expeditions which would ultimately result in larger scale settlement. The wealth that they found in Ireland led to Dublin morphing into one of the key centres of trade in 9th century Europe.
- Archaeologists find Beowulf’s Hall in Lejre (ahgray.wordpress.com)
- Early 8th Century boat burial found near Estonia (ahgray.wordpress.com)
- ‘Are we there yet?’ (ahgray.wordpress.com)


Awapuni Landfill (Palmerston North)
Methane gas captured from the retired landfill generates electricity for the Awapuni Resource Recovery Centre and the nearby Wastewater Treatment Plant. Electricity is also generated from sludge digesters at the wastewater treatment plant. This uses a biological process to create methane gas from sewage sludge. This gas is then fed into the gas generator to produce more electricity. It has been claimed that over 75% of Palmerston North City Council's electricity can be generated from waste products in this way.
Awapuni Landfill closed in 2004.
Configuration 1 X 1 MW TBG620 engine CHP
Fuel: landfill gas
E/G supplier: Deutz
EPC: Energen Solutions
Quick facts: The City Council uses the bulk of the electricity output from this plant to power the Totara Road Wastewater Treatment Plant. $1.2mn of funding was supplied from the Austrian Government, which paid the City Council to reduce greenhouse gas emission from the landfill under its Kyoto Protocol agreement. Dificulties have since arisen (see web-links).