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Showing posts from January, 2021

The Nature of Nature by Irving Dardik: book review

    The Nature of Nature: The Discovery of SuperWaves and How it Changes Everything (2017) starts with the author asking readers to suspend incredulity to read his beliefs on SuperWaves. He says SuperWaves is a discovery to tell us what nature is, not a philosophy of nature. He offers readers ‘a new understanding of the steps we must take to understand nature.’    Part 1 underpins the way we think about nature. He discusses the idea that nature is a ‘whole’ made up of ‘parts’ – in our understanding of the Original Theory of Everything. Part 2 describes the basis of the Puzzle Hypothesis. Part 3 discusses today’s understanding of nature, although it is difficult and complex to understand. It discusses the commonality between science and nature – i.e. waves.    Part 4 begins with the author’s view, and how he came to recognize ‘the heartwave, a phenomen of waves changing together, simultaneously, across scales.’ He moves from the cellular, biochemical, and molecular behavior levels to t

Sick of Zoom – teachers and students protest in France

French schoolteachers and university students staged nationwide strikes and protests on Tuesday 26 January 2021 as they joined forces to demand more government support amid the COVID-19 pandemic.   “No virus protocol, no school!” read posters carried by schoolteachers, demanding better virus protections at their schools, which have remained open since September 2020 amid concern over learning gaps and to ease the burden on working parents.   “Sick of Zoom!” chanted university students, frustrated that they've been barred from campuses since October. One placard said "Se lever pour un Zoom. C'est  insultant!" (Get up for a Zoom. It's insulting!)   Aside from virus fears, the common concern at Tuesday's protests in Paris, Marseille and other cities around France, was economic. Teachers’ unions, who are negotiating with the government for improved conditions, want higher salaries and for the government to hire more educators after years of cost cuts. It is estima

Black-Headed Gull – the seagull in winter in Paris

Black-Headed Gull in summer Black-Headed Gull in summer     MARTINA NICOLLS Website Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).  

The Night Of Ideas 2021 - To Feel "Close(r)"

The sixth edition of the Night of Ideas, coordinated by the Institut Français, will be held on Thursday, 28 January, 2021 on the topic “Close(r).” It will be conducted digitally with the creation of “24 hours of ideas.”   More than 200 Nights of Ideas are expected internationally, from Finland to South Africa and from Fiji to Peru, with increased resonance between countries and geographical areas. In Sydney as well as in Mexico City, Seoul, Beirut, Lomé or Toronto, it is essentially local voices that will come to explore the “Close(r) ” theme.   The 2021 edition will take on special significance in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme “Close(r)” was chosen to question the transformation of people’s relationships to space and mobility, the new forms of solidarity that the crisis in economic and social models calls for, and the place of digital technology in our societies, which is increasingly shaping people’s relationship with the world. “Close(r)” also invites people to quest

Seagulls flock to the garden: Luxembourg Garden, Paris

    MARTINA NICOLLS Website Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).    

A snowy afternoon in Paris

MARTINA NICOLLS Website Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).