The BBC reports that measures to prevent undesirables gaining access to the UK are to be strengthened, under measures to be introduced by our not-so-libertarian Home Secretary.

At least the plan is to announce who's on the the list of over 230 individuals considered to be a threat to the UK.   The measures  are as follows:

The British Humanist Association have teamed up with Richard Dawkins to push a message on London buses. 

It's apparently in response to previous pro-religion bus advertising (see Ariane Sherine's comment article at The Guardian). You can donate to the campaign here.   Fund raising has exceeded expectations - perhaps the campaign with run and run (round and round?).  As of 28/10/08:

Bernhard Kohl has apparently been interviewed about his slide into doping (cyclingnews.com).  The essential points make for interesting reading:

His decision to dope followed an extended period without results despite a good showing in the Dauphine Libere, a crash, and an awareness that contract negotiations for next season go on during and after the Tour d France.  He claims it was his decision to take CERA.  He complains about the press blaming riders alone for doping.  The media blame game may well be directed at the riders, and I think this raises interesting points.

Perhaps I have just taken the wrong career path in science, but I do find the reports of interesting new fossils rather exciting.  And how could I resist a paper describing a "bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran"?  It seems that hardly a week goes by without a striking fossil from China being described.  This one hit the BBC news pages, from where I linked the reconstruction of the animal below.

In the 1950s, Louis Miller conducted a number of experiments that tried to model the origin of organic compounds in a  prebiotic world.  Among these was the Miller-Urey experiment, in which a vessel containing water, methane, ammonia and hydrogen was heated and subjected to electrical discharge (simulating lightning). Diagram of the experiment (Wikipedia).  At the time, Miller reported that a number of amino acids were formed.

This brief article describes the reanalysis  of stored vials containing the outcome of one of these experiments, using material found at the University of Chicago after Miller's death.  Apparently Miller had identified five amino acids and a number of unidentified compounds in some of the experiments.

 Alfred Henry Sturtevant is another of my all time heroes of Drosophila genetics (see also Calvin Bridges).

 As an undergraduate he generated the first genetic map of any organism.  He realised the linear order and relative position of genes on a chromosome would be reflected in the frequency of genetic recombination between them. Using a set of six X-linked mutants (actually two were alleles, so there were only five markers), he assembled a 5 locus map of the X chromosome. [Sturtevant (1913) J. Exp. Biol. 14; 43-59; pdf]
• Sturtevant's discovery of inversion is important because it explains the why/how of certain genetic defects and discovery of inversion allows for its presence to be tested for

Recent political developments in the UK seem to be directed towards a loss of individual privacy and liberty, bandied about as politicians seek to be viewed as having the "hardest policies on terror".  Currently newsworthy topics are the drive of the Government to have a 42 day detention period without charge for terrorism suspects (fortunately thrown out by the House of Lords) and the move to greater communications surveillance, the latest plans for which appear to be a fit of pique from the Home Secretary in response to her detention plans being thwarted.  Jacqui Smith's opinions on personal freedom and liberty seem so far removed from common decency and the democratic ideal that one wonders why she is thought fit to hold public office, let alone one of the highest ministerial positions in the country.

The human rights organisation Liberty says:

A pair of recent issues of Science plonked into my mail box this week.  Among the items that caught my eyes was an exciting brief communication in Science shows a rare example of what appears to be fossil evidence of behaviour. These are Waptia-like arthropods from the Lower Cambrian, which appear to have been preserved while engaged in some form of processionary behaviour. Unlike known present day processionary arthropods, these chains of individuals appear to be physically linked - you can see in the figure that there is overlap between an individual's carapace and the preceding individual's telson. The authors propose the chains reflect migratory behaviour rather than feeding or reproduction.

Blood dope cheat Ivan Basso's back in action after serving his 16 months ban handed down for depositing blood in the Fuentes blood bank clinic.  He's riding for Liquigas, though it's not clear how this squares with the rule that riders busted for doping violations are not to ride for Pro-Tour teams for two years after they return from their ban.

Bernhard Kohl, the second CERA cheat (after Stefan Schumacher) on the soon-to-be-defunct Gerolsteiner team has confessed to doping, and has not requested the B sampled be tested.  Sadly the two Gerolsteiner positives continue to have a negative effect on German cycle sport:  Cyclingnews.com reports the Tour of Deutschlandand the Stuttgart Six have been cancelled as sponsors pull out of the sport.  Two German TV channels have announced they won't broadcast the Tour de France.  Well done Kohl and Schumacher, and other pro cyclists who decide to cheat - see what the consequences are?

As a direct result of BT's infuriating dalliance with the despicable Phorm system, I chose to leave BT, and joined Zen Broadband, with the switchover on 8th October. 

I selected Zen from the myriad of other ISPs out there for several reasons - good reviews (in both press and in the internet); reasonable pricing; clear upfront description of service; rapid response to my equiry about Phorm; no lock-in to lengthy contract.