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Glen - presenter

Some good news to report today, with the winning of the Nobel Prize for Medicine by an expatriate Australian woman.

Jack Szostak, Carol Greider and dual US-Australian citizen, Elizabeth Blackburn, jointly share the prize for a discovery about the way chromosomes are copied and protected.

The Nobel Institute says the discovery has added a new dimension to understanding the cell and its connection with cancer and the ageing process.

Interesting that she says she wouldn’t have won if she’d stayed in Australia.

The brain drain continues.

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And now for the news that isn’t news… but is, in fact, up to 200 years old.

I received an email today saying that, for the first time ever, genealogists, researchers and academics, regardless of their location are now able to explore over two million pages of newspaper from 49 national and regional UK titles at the click of a button.

Developed by the British Library, in partnership with JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) and Gale, part of Cengage Learning, the 19th century British Library Newspapers website is available at http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/

Now family historians, authors, journalists and expats can research some of the big talking points of the 19th century including: the Irish Famine and emigration; Boer War; Great Australian gold rush; Californian Railway expansion; Franco-Prussian War and Indian Railway expansion.

With enhanced search capabilities and new imaging techniques, serious and amateur researchers now have access to vivid newspaper reports previously only available via hard copy in Reading Rooms.

Chosen by leading experts and researchers to present a cross section of 19th century society, the website offers its users highly illustrated materials on topics as diverse as business and sport, politics and entertainment.

Bathing machines, children as young as nine smoking and drinking, Vesta Tilley - London’s very own Pop Idol - the banking collapse of 1878 and zero percent income tax are just a few of the fascinating items researchers can now examine online.

Ed King, British Library’s Head of Newspaper Collections, said: “There’s a huge appetite for international online access to this kind of content. News from around the world was covered at length in national and regional UK press in the 19th century, and this new pay-as-you-go service will enable users from across the world to delve into this unrivalled online resource.”

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More recently…

A new poll says the US is the most admired country globally, thanks largely to the star power of President Barack Obama and his Administration.

North America climbed from seventh place last year, ahead of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan which completed the top five nations in the Nation Brand Index (NBI).

Poll officials say the huge jump in status by the US is extremely rare and say it is due to the new government comparing very favourably with the former Bush Administration in the rest of the world’s eyes.

It was coming from a low base, but nothing like a foreign policy shift in favour of cooperation, dialogue and reason to get people on side, it appears.

Australia is in 9th place, by the way.

I guess Top Ten isn’t too bad.

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PS: Go the Storm !

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Debbie- Sport

Just to be different, I want to offer some kudos to the Australian cricket selectors.
I couldn’t see Shane Watson as anything other than an injury-waiting-to happen; a man using the Australian team pretty much as a doctors waiting room and wondered why the selectors kept persevering with him.
He was first named in an Australian team in 2002 and selectors kept recalling him despite stress fractures to the back, a shoulder dislocation, a groin strain, a series of hamstring strains and more stress fractures to the back, even food poisoning in India that he feared was a heart attack.
This morning, he made it two unbeaten centuries in a row to take Australia to victory in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand.
I was amused though to hear Ricky Ponting at the post match presentation refer to Watson and Cameron White as two “young” players”. Watson is 28 and White 26.
Can’t think of too many top-line international sports where 28 is “young” apart from, perhaps, golf.

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While we’re talking cricket, some weeks ago on this page I promised to make some enquiries about Jim Maxwell’s use of the word “denouement” in his match report on the seventh one-dayer between Australia and England at Chester-Le-Street.
Jim tells me he didn’t win a bet by using the word, or even use the world as the result of losing a bet.
The only explanation a bemused Monsieur Maxwell could offer was “It just felt good at the time”.
And it sounded good at the time, Jim.
And we congratulate you on not needing any special motivation to produce vocabulary variety.