The turmoil of the Russian Revolution brought the formula for a fragrance, which had been created for the 300th anniversary of the Romanovs, to France. German academic specialising in Russian history, Karl Schlögel writes “In the beginning was a scent – a somewhat sweet, heavy aroma” that once filled the air on festive occasions in…
Three generations of the Sackler dynasty and their roles in the stories of the opioid Valium, and Opioid OxyContin, revealing misery, greed and pliant regulators and the abuse of philanthropy. Patrick Radden Keefe, a New Yorker writer and prize-winning, bestselling author of Say Nothing, reveals the inside story. In 1980s, a small UK drugs company…
There five brands of Electric vehicles with 40 per cent of the global EV market with over 1.3m EV car sales in 2020. Zeekr only launched a few days ago and they have pedigree, as the people that own then also own Volvo and their parent company Geely. Nio is China’s best-known homemade, high-end EV…
The Royal Mint has produced a giant gold coin weighing 22lb (10kg) worth £10, 000, which included four days of polishing. The 8in-wide (20cm) coin was created using traditional skills and innovative technology according to The Royal Mint. It marks the end of the mint’s Queen’s Beasts commemorative coin collection, inspired by 10 stone statues…
Self-driving car enabling drivers to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel could be permitted on UK motorways later this year. The Department of Transport (DTI) announced it will allow hand-free driving in vehicles with lane keeping technology on motorway with slow traffic speeds of upto 37mph. So Automated lane-keeping…
It is predicted by 2030, there will be 20 million electric cars on European roads alone. While Electric vehicles may be carbon neutral during their working lifetime, what happens when they run out of the road. In 10 to 15 years when there are large numbers coming to the end of their life it is…
Tesla autopilot feature can be tricked into operating without a driver according to consumer reports engineers who looked into claims that Autopilot can operate without a driver present. On Saturday two men were killed after a Tesla car crashed into a tree and caught fire in Texas. The victims found in the front passenger seat…
Accidental discoveries that changed the world Penicillin was invented by Alexander Fleming in 1928, who halfway through an experiment with bacteria went on a vacation, but left a petri dish in the lab sink. On his return, he found bacteria had grown all over the plate, except where the mould had formed. Penicillins are a…
A claim made by a 1999 BBC documentary, By Trafalgar Square you will find what is supposedly the UK’s only legal brothel, Silver Cross pub on Whitehall. It was first licensed and opened as a pub in 1674 known as ” The Garter”, prior to this it had been a brothel with a royal license…
