Kielder Chiller 24

After drinking a couple of my more potent than intended home-brewed American IPAs one evening, I found myself signed up for yet another bike race, the 'Kielder chiller'. This one looked to be tougher than most. For starters it was 24 hours long, consisting of a roughly 10km loop with the winner completing the most laps. It was also in February, the depths of winter, at a time when the long northern darkness lasts for 14 hours and the weather is potentially at it's worst. Held on the high and remote hills of Northumberland in the very north of England, with the start/finish at Kielder castle, it promised to be one of the harder challenges of the year.


Coral growing - David Vaughan Wants to Save the World

An AARP (nonprofit organisation set up to help struggling seniors by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today) video showing how marine biologist David Vaughan found a new lease of life after making a discovery.

He was testing coral and ways to grow and reintroduce it to the sea, when he broke a coral into tiny pieces. Instead of dying like he expected, it grew...fast.
He'd made a breakthrough that can add clean air to the planet, and has possible implications for treatment of cancer and tumors. Now he has a new lease on life and is determined not to retire until he can plant a million new corals.

William Onyeabor

Nigerian electro-funk pioneer William Onyeabor has died.

After studying cinematography in Russia, he moved back home to Nigeria in the 70s and started his own music factory. All his records were recorded, produced, pressed, packaged and distributed by himself. Well known locally, his music only became better know globally in the last few years.

He gave up on music in the early 80s and refused interviews to most (except BBC 6 music a couple of years ago).

The Snow Guardian

Billy Bar has lived on his own in the abandoned town of Gothic, Colarado for the last 40 years. After studying environmental science and finding himself with lots of spare time, he started recording snow data.
Climate scientists were alerted to his long term records and have been using them as part of their climate change investigations.