The Fighting Temeraire by Sam Willis review | Non-fiction book reviews – Times Online

n 2005, Radio 4 ran a poll to find the nation’s favourite painting. More than a quarter of the votes went to the winner, JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire, Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up. In the famous image of 1838, a squat paddle steamer and a ghostly relic from the past in the majestic shape of the Temeraire, one of the ships that fought at Trafalgar, emerge from dazzling, swirling colours of sea and sunset. Yet as Sam Willis notes in his absorbing and enjoyable biography of the vessel, Turner was the first person to call the ship the “fighting” Temeraire.

via The Fighting Temeraire by Sam Willis review | Non-fiction book reviews – Times Online.

Review 1: The Time of Terror by Seth Hunter

The Time of Terror is a strongly-written novel that pulls the reader into the world of revolutionary France and Britain’s attempts to come to terms with the new republic. Lieutenant Nathan Peake, in command of the brig-sloop Nereus, tracks a smuggler as far as the coast of France only to receive the opening shots of the newly-declared war between Britain and revolutionary France. It is January 1793 and Peake is launched on an adventure which will take him deep into the reign of terror.

Read more………. Review 1: The Time of Terror by Seth Hunter.

Google to put ancient Iraq museum collection online | Technology | Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Google is putting thousands of images of ancient artifacts at Iraq's National Museum online, the Web search leader said on Tuesday, part of a U.S. bid to entice foreign firms to invest in Iraq.

What is now modern-day Iraq was once known as Mesopotamia a region considered by many as the “cradle of civilization.” The museum houses one of the finest Mesopotamian collections in the world.

via Google to put ancient Iraq museum collection online | Technology | Reuters.

The World’s Looming ‘Water Gap’ | GreenBiz.com

There's good and bad news from a sweeping new report on the world's water scarcity out today from McKinsey & Co., commissioned by such water-dependent companies as Coca-Cola, Nestle, SAB Miller and Syngenta, along with the World Bank/International Finance Corp.

The bad: Global demand for water already exceeds supply — about 1.1 billion people don't have access to clean water — and the so-called water gap is increasing at an accelerating rate.

The good: Cost-effective, sustainable solutions are available to close the gap, particularly if governments and business focus on reducing demand rather than trying to generate additional supply.

via The World’s Looming ‘Water Gap’ | GreenBiz.com.

Chrome extensions site now open for uploads | Deep Tech – CNET News

Google has opened up its gallery for developers to share Chrome extensions, a step that soon should make it easier for people to customize the open-source browser.

via Chrome extensions site now open for uploads | Deep Tech – CNET News.

Fears over future of Wikipedia as 49,000 volunteers leave site | Mail Online

Fears are rising that the usefulness of Wikipedia could be undermined as thousands of volunteer researchers abandon the site.

via Fears over future of Wikipedia as 49,000 volunteers leave site | Mail Online.

Splitting Time from Space—New Quantum Theory Topples Einstein’s Spacetime: Scientific American

Was Newton right and Einstein wrong? It seems that unzipping the fabric of spacetime and harking back to 19th-century notions of time could lead to a theory of quantum gravity.

via Splitting Time from Space—New Quantum Theory Topples Einstein’s Spacetime: Scientific American.

Firefox hopes to one-up IE with fast graphics | Tech News on ZDNet

Last week, Microsoft showed off some browser technology that could help Internet Explorer leapfrog the competition. But if Mozilla succeeds in its hope, Microsoft could be playing catch-up instead.

The technology in question is hardware-accelerated graphics and text using interfaces called Direct2D and DirectWrite that provide an easy way to use graphics cards' computing power. They're built into Windows 7, and Microsoft is bringing them to Windows Vista but not Windows XP.

via Firefox hopes to one-up IE with fast graphics | Tech News on ZDNet.

‘Captain of Rome’ Paperback now listed

The Paperback version of Captain of Rome by John Stack is now listed.

It is due to be released on 7 January 2010.

via ‘Captain of Rome’ Paperback now listed.

High-Pressure Diamond Anvil Creates a New Solid from Xenon and Hydrogen | Popular Science

Science under pressure can produce marvelous results, such as an entirely new way to store hydrogen fuel. Researchers combined the noble gas xenon with molecular hydrogen (H2) to make a never-before-seen solid that opens the doors to an entire new family of materials for hydrogen storage.

via High-Pressure Diamond Anvil Creates a New Solid from Xenon and Hydrogen | Popular Science.