Slot Games Sign Up Bonus Code & Other Offers For UK Players

Tim Peake Exhibition, Peterborough Cathedral, 07 September 2018

I visited Peterborough Cathedral on Friday 07 September to visit the Tim Peake exhibition. On display until 05 November 2018 is the Soyuz TMA-19M capsule which, in December 2015, transported Tim to the International Space Station. Also on display is Tim's Sokol KV-2 launch/descent emergency spacesuit and a space descent VR experience. I wasn’t brave enough to try the latter!

Entry to the exhibition is free and it's well worth a visit! There is a £5.00 charge for the VR experience. For more details see http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/soyuz.aspx.

Images from my visit are below.

The Soyuz TMA-19M capsule.

Inside the capsule.

Spacesuit.

Andy Gibbs

News from Membury Sunday 31st July 2022

It’s Coming Home!Well, it’s coming to the Village Hall anyway. We’ll be opening up at around 4:30pm and kick-off is due at 5pm. We’ll keep the bar running through the match, into extra time and, of course, the penalties – should that prove necessary.

Flower ShowThank you to all the exhibitors, and all the people that came to the show. Here are a few photos taken by Suzie.

Membury MerrymakersAugust is usually a quiet month in the village as we all relax after the Village Flower Show. Our Moviola offering this month is “Phantom of the Open” – based on the true story of an amateur golfer who aspires to play in the British Open. 7 for 7:30 on Tuesday 9th August.

Traditionally the MerryMakers hold the annual Boules Competition in the Village Hall Car Park. This year it will be held on Saturday August 13th. No need to pre-book, just turn up on the day. Teams of 3 – don’t worry if you don’t have a team as these can be made up on the day from the available participants. £2 per person, £1 per child. Boules are provided. Please bring some food to share at lunch time.

Devon County Council UpdateWith information about bird flu.https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDEVONCC/bulletins/3254a5e

Axminster GuildhallVisit tonight after the match for their regular monthly quiz – free to enter, suitable for families and with a great prize for the winning team!Bring a team or come alone.

What’s on in Membury?

Week commencing August 1st

Monday August 1st Bellringing in Membury Church at 7:30pm

Tuesday August 2nd Parish Council Meeting in the Village Hall at 7:30pm

Wednesday August 3rd

Thursday August 4th Arts and Craft Group 2-4pm in the Village Hall

Friday August 5th Post Office in the Village Hall 1-3pmOak Apple Café in the Village Hall 1:30-3:30pm – Special event raising money for the William Low Trust

Saturday August 6th

Sunday August 7th Holy Communion in Membury Church at 11am

Week commencing August 8th  Monday August 8th Bellringing in Membury Church at 7:30pm

Tuesday August 9th Moviola the Village Hall at 7:30pm Phantom of the Open Bar open from 7pm

Wednesday August 10th

Thursday August 11th Arts and Craft Group 2-4pm in the Village Hall

Friday August 12th Post Office in the Village Hall 1-3pmOak Apple Café in the Village Hall 1:30-3:30pm

Saturday August 13th Annual Boules Tournament in the Village HallCar Park 11am onwards. Bring lunch to share.

Sunday August 14th

Coming up at the Beehivehttps://preview.mailerlite.com/s5a2d2y9s0/2004943206311007663/f8f7/

Terrier Racing at YarcombeThe countdown to the Yarcombe Terrier Races is on! The event is taking place on Saturday 6th August in the field behind Drakes Meadow in Yarcombe, with gates opening at 4pm and the first race running at 5pm (arrive earlier to see the dogs in the parade ring and buy your race tickets).As well as the main event of the terrier and other breed dog races, this year there’ll be plenty of other entertainment for the whole family to enjoy. We’ll have games such as Football and Crockery Smash, and Hoopla if you think you have a good aim. For those of you with a competitive streak, the Skittles game will be back – where the top scorer of the night wins a prize. All these stalls are cash only, so make sure you bring plenty of coins to have a go.We also have some amazing raffle prizes kindly donated by people and businesses within our community, so head over to the Grand Draw tent to buy your tickets, or look out for our fabulous walking sellers if you’ve managed to bag yourself a good spot near the race track!!We’ve had some lovely donations for our tombola stalls (which we run for both children and adults) and would be grateful for any additional donations you may have, especially any suitable for children and men – the more gifts we can offer, the more fun people can have and the more money we can raise. Please drop any gifts / children’s games / food items (within date and unopened) in the church in the box provided, outside the main doors of the village hall, or to Lin’s house (Coppers) before Wednesday 3rd August. Any donations will be very gratefully receivedAnd as a reminder – if you want to plan ahead and secure your tickets in advance. you can buy them using this link https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/yarcombe-terrier-races – we’ll have a separate queue for prepaid tickets to help you queue jump and have more time to enjoy the event!

Breckland Astronomical Society Star Party, Haw Wood, 28-31 October 2016

The Breckland Astronomical Society autumn 2016 star party was held on the weekend of Friday 28 - Monday 31 October at Haw Wood Farm campsite, just 25 miles from Orwell Park up the A12 at Darsham. David Murton, Mike Norris, Mike O'Mahony and Mike Whybray attended from OASI, bringing with them the OASI Millennium Telescope.

News from Membury Monday 8th August 2022

Phantom of the OpenShowing tomorrow in the Village Hall at 7:30 we have this terrific film starring Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins.Maurice Flitcroft, a dreamer and unrelenting optimist, managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship Qualifying in 1976 and subsequently shot the worst round in Open history, becoming a folk hero in the process.Apparently, Maurice Flitcroft, who passed away in 2007, used to practice his golf on the playing fields of the local grammar school as he was banned from all golf courses in the area.

AirbandA number of people in the parish have recently had letters from Airband informing them that Airband would like to put poles on their land to carry cables which will provide superfast broadband to people in the vicinity. The Parish Council has been in touch with Airband to establish the timescale for the rollout of their service. We await their response …

Axminster Guildhall

The funniest drag duo in the U.K. – Absolutely Dragulous will be at The Axminster GUildhall THIS FRIDAY! Doors open at 7pm, show starts at 8pm. Tickets: http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/…/2022-08-12/19:30/t-dypmal

Vegas Hero

Vegas Hero isn’t just the name of this online casino – it’s also the name of the casino’s host. Vegas Hero is quite literally a superhero who lives in Las Vegas and performs the heroic duty of hooking players up with fantastic casino games and attractive bonus promotions. He wears a suit and tie, which puts him at odds with most superheroes we can think of, but we won’t hold that against him because he looks sharp. The welcome promotion of a matched deposit bonus up to £100 is on par with what’s on offer at Genesis Casino and the other top Casoola sister sites, but it comes with just fifty free spins rather than the three hundred you’ll get at Genesis Casino. If you want to know which of the slots at Vegas Hero are in the mood to pay out, check the “winners” section of the homepage. It doesn’t just tell you who’s won or how much they’ve won; it tells you what they were playing when they struck lucky.

News from Membury Thursday 23rd June 2022

100 Club DrawOnce again David Neill has failed to spell my name right when the numbers were drawn. He’s of the opinion that the more tickets you buy, the more likely he is to spell your name correctly!Here are this month’s results

• Sue and Paul Nicholson – £30
• Terry Pitt and Bobbie Clarke – £10
• Jon Wells – £10

Oak Apple CaféWe have a treat for you tomorrow at the Oak Apple Café – aside from the usual offerings there’ll be two special guest appearances – Hallongrottor from our newest resident, Noomi from Sweden at Wellands, and a chocolate Pavlova! Hallongrottor translated literally as “raspberry caves” and you’ll find them in every café and bakery in Sweden. The chocolate Pavlova speaks for itself!Here’s the full menu:

• Apple and Maple Sausage Rolls
• Chili, Onion and Garlic Sausage Rolls
• Cheesy Carrot and Courgette Muffins
• Chocolate Pavolva
• Lemon Drizzle
• Hallongrottor – Swedish Cookies
• Victoria Sponge

Scarlet TigerMike Capper has sent me a lovely picture of a pair of very striking Scarlet Tiger moths attempting to produce more Scarlet Tiger moths! This species is more or less confined to the west country.

St John Baptist ChurchSunday 26 June is a special day for Membury and for our parish church. It is the Feast Day of St John the Baptist who is the Patron Saint of our church and parish. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ. His work was to ‘prepare the way of the Lord’. After preparation in the wilderness, John came proclaiming a message of repentance and amendment of life. He called the people to the River Jordan to have their sins washed away. On the banks of the river John identified Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. John also rebuked King Herod for scandalous wrongdoing. For this John was imprisoned and eventually beheaded at the behest of Salome, Herod’s daughter-in-law, who had danced seductively for him at a banquet. When news of John’s death was brought to Jesus, he took it as a signal to complete his work, even unto death.A patron saint is a holy person whom we honour, whose message we heed, whose example we seek to emulate, and whose prayers in heaven we desire. By tradition, Membury’s Patronal Festival is also our Gift Day, an opportunity to reconsider how we support our historic and beautiful church and its services of worship and how we contribute to it. The service on Sunday will be Morning Worship (so not Holy Communion) at 11 am and will be led by Tony Nixon, a lay Reader in our team and by The Band.

Old Paper NotesOld paper £20 and £50 cease to be legal tender in 100 days but have no fear – we will happily take them at Oak Apple Café or Merrymaker events and free you of the stress of having to spend them swiftly.

Devon County Council UpdateCost of living special.https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDEVONCC/bulletins/31d1776

Electromagnetic Field Measurements

Zhang et al. (2012) have analyzed two series of electric field measurements before the Wenchuan earthquake of May 12, 2008, M8.0: a long time series (since March 2008) detected on ground, and a shorter series (1–2 days) measured by ICE on board of DEMETER satellite. The time occurrence and spatial distribution of ground- and space-based measurements are consistent between them for long and short time series. The authors have found that the amplitude of measured electric field anomalies (detected a few days before the earthquake was: from about 3 mV/km up to 100 mV/km (on ground) and of about 3–5 mV/m at frequencies <0.5 Hz (relative variation >4%) (for space data). The amplitudes differ largely between ground and satellite observations, so that it is difficult to reconcile ground and space-based measurements via a direct propagation of electromagnetic waves from the lithosphere through the atmosphere up to the ionosphere. Bortnik and Bleier (2004) and Bortnik et al. (2010) have shown that seismo-electromagnetic signals generated in the lithosphere at frequencies <20 Hz could be able to cross the ionosphere, with the most severe attenuation occurring in the propagation under the ground and in the D-region. For frequencies in the range of 0.1–1 Hz, the attenuation of the signals seems to be moderate (about 0.01%), which means that if such signals are generated by earthquakes at the assumed location (depth of about 10 km), these signals should contain sufficient power to be detected aboard satellite. Bortnik and Bleier (2004) suggested an electromagnetic signal in the focal depth of the order of 300.000 mV/km, but this is much higher than the 3–100 mV/km observed in the three ground stations before the Wenchuan earthquake. The anomalous electric field measured on ground are often from a few tens mV/km up to a few hundred mV/km (Xiong, 1992). It means that the amplitude of ground observed electromagnetic emissions would be still far lower than that detected in space: amplitudes detected by ICE were of about 3 mV/m. Consequently a “simple” wave propagation cannot explain the observed phenomenology.

By considering the exponential damping of the electromagnetic spectrum intensity vs. frequency, several authors (such as Hayakawa et al., 1999; Smirnova et al., 2001; Molchanov et al., 2004; Hobara and Parrot, 2005; Hayakawa et al., 2009; Imamura et al., 2010) have shown that (for ground and space-based observations) the electric field spectrum (SE) before strong earthquakes has a typical fractal feature: SE = a × f-b (with a and b fit parameters). Zhang et al. (2010) have pointed out that the electric field Intensity detected by ICE in the Chile area before several earthquakes would show the same dependency from the frequency. The authors have analyzed ICE data in the frequency range 19.5–250 Hz and earthquakes near the Chile area, with M >6.0, from 2004 to 2010, in nighttime, in a time window of 5 days around the earthquakes. The study has pointed out that in two thirds of the earthquakes in this region, ULF/ELF electric field perturbations have been detected and that Ne, dNe/Ne, Te, dTe/Te have always varied simultaneously with ELF electromagnetic fluctuations. More recently, by studying two months of Swarm magnetic data around the M 7.8 Nepal earthquake (April 25, 2015, 06:26 UTC), De Santis et al. (2017) reported that the cumulative number of magnetic anomalies (measured nighttime, in geomagnetically quiet conditions) shows a power-law behavior typical of a critical system (with the approach to the critical time and the recovery phase). Based on the similarity of this behavior with that of seismic data, the authors suggest that the LAIC has generated the reported anomalies during the preparation phase of Nepal earthquake.

European Astrofest, Kensington Conference and Events Centre, 07 February 2015

I attended the European Astrofest conference and exhibition on Saturday 07 February; it was my fifth visit to the event and, as ever, it was a very enjoyable day. I travelled up to London on the day before and stayed at a hotel in Earls Court, only ten minutes walk from the venue. I attended both the morning and afternoon conference sessions which covered a varied selection of topics.

The speakers were:

• conference chairs Lucie Green and Stuart Clark,
• Chris North, Cardiff University, Herschel and the Hidden Universe,
• Professor Pedro Ferreira, University of Oxford, 100 Years of General Relativity,
• Jo Dunkley, University of Oxford, Cosmic Inflation and BICEP 2 Results,
• Nik Szymanek, Adventures in Robotic Imaging,
• Nial Tanvir, University of Leicester, SWIFT and the Biggest Bangs in the Universe,
• Stephen Lowry, University of Kent and Barbara Cozzoni, DLR, Picturing Rosetta’s Comet and Landing on a Comet,
• Megan Whewell, Mullard Space Laboratory, Supermassive Black Holes,
• Ray Villard, Space Telescope Science Institute, Hubble's 25 year Spacetime Odyssey.

It was a shame that I missed the annual lecture by OASI's Honorary President, Dr Allan Chapman, which was held on the day before.

One piece of information which was new to me concerned the SWIFT discovery of Gamma Ray Burst GRB080319B. This was the brightest GRB measured at the time, and had a peak apparent magnitude of 5.8. In the right place and at the right time it would have been just about visible to the naked eye! The explosion which caused the burst took place 7.5 billion years ago.

During the tea and lunch breaks there was plenty of time to browse the many trade stalls. There was also ample time to empty one's wallet with the tempting astro-kit on display!

I met Mike O’Mahony during the lunch break, and fellow OASI members Abi Lee and David Murton also attended on the Saturday.

I can thoroughly recommend a visit to Astrofest. Yes, the trade stalls are crammed into a small area and the food is expensive (bring your own sandwiches), but the Conference Hall is excellent.

Andy Gibbs

Rainbow Jackpots Power Lines Introduction

Rainbow Jackpots Power Lines is an exciting leprechaun-themed adventure packed with a slew of exciting bonuses - including a potential 49 win lines thanks to the Power Lines feature - and where an electrifying max win of 1000x the stake is possible in this vibrant and feature-rich slot.

News from Membury Thursday 8th September 2022

Oak Apple Café tomorrowRun by and supporting the church.I asked Sara what was on the menu and this was her reply:

“Ah, yes, menu.From what I gather, it’s cake, cake, more cake, then another one, some scones, savoury flan, cake, salmon & ricotta wheel, cake and rock buns!!I did have a list, but appear to have deleted it.There will be a selection of vegan & gluten free items. Plus the raffle. But that’s not to be eaten.Thanks!”

Carer NeededCarol Johnson has a request.“My mother in law lives near Webble Green and we are currently looking for a carer to help at home following discharge from hospital, does anyone know of any local carers we would be grateful for any information, many thanks Carol Johnson 07814232080”

Last Night of the PromsBunting to be put up on Friday at 5pm – before S4YH, so if you are a singer (especially if you are a tall one!) and want to come along early to help that would be great.

Join us from 7pm on Saturday as we stream LIVE ‘The Last Night of the Proms’ in glorious MemburyVision!It’s time to put on your party clothes, grab your favourite flag and raise the roof as there’s nothing quite like the Last Night of the Proms – the happiest annual celebration in the classical music calendar. Expect fanfares and dances, anthems and arias, familiar classics and brand-new works from a concert that packs a whole season of highlights into just one event.Star cellist and former BBC Young Musician Sheku Kanneh-Mason and award-winning Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen join the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and conductor Dalia Stasevska. We’ll have flags, the bar will be open and the volume knob will be set to 11.

On Tonight at the BeehiveKatherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) and John Heffernan (Dracula) lead the cast in Shakespeare’s romcom of sun, sea and mistaken identity. ‘Much Ado about Nothing’.Following the award-winning success of National Theatre Live’s Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night and Antony and Cleopatra, director Simon Godwin returns with this irresistible comedy, broadcast live from the National Theatre stage on Thursday 8th Sept at 7pm in The Beehive. Don’t miss it, apparently it is a fantastic ,witty, wonderful production.★★★★‘A blissful revival’(Telegraph)★★★★‘Sweet, sparky, sexy, sombre’(Financial Times)★★★★‘Simon Godwin masterfully directs a slick production’(Guardian)★★★★‘Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan are a blast in this luxuriously eccentric take on Shakespeare’s romcom’(Time Out)To book tickets for Much Ado About Nothing, click HERE.Only a few seats are left for Alter Eagles – fab tribute to The Eagles on Saturday 10th at The Beehive. To book tickets for the Alter Eagles, click HERE.

Cider recipeNow is the time when apples are falling liberally, and for those of you that don’t want to contribute to the diet of the Saddlers’ pigs, I’ve been sent this slightly dubious recipe for “Windfall Cider”. Make it and drink it at your peril!

Scottish DanceFree taster day on 3rd October in Chardstock.

More scamsDevon and Cornwall Police, and Action Fraud are warning the public about a sharp rise in reports relating to fake emails purporting to be from Ofgem, the independent energy regulator for Great Britain. The emails claim that the recipient is due a rebate payment as part of a government scheme and provides links for the recipient to follow in order to apply for the rebate. The links in the emails lead to malicious websites designed to steal personal and financial information.Between Monday 22nd August 2022 and Monday 5th September 2022, a total of 1,567 phishing emails related to this scam have been reported via the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS). All the emails display the email subject header “Claim your bill rebate now”. Offenders are using the Ofgem brand logo and colours to make the emails look as authentic as possible. However, the emails ask recipients to “apply for an energy bill rebate before September 2020”, which is what prompted many recipients to realise the emails weren’t genuine.Unrelated, I’m also getting more local reports of another telephone scam call with a recorded voice saying that your bank account had possibly been hacked twice. If okay press 1 – for more info press 2. The call appears to come from a local number. Just hang up and report the call.

What’s on at the Marine Theatre in Lyme RegisSunday 11th Jazz in the bar: Mingus and Monk 8pm – £10 in advanceThursday 15th The Shanty Sessions 7:30pm – freeFriday 16th The John Martyn Project 8pm – £16 in advance

Breckland Astronomical Society Star Party, Haw Wood,25-28 April 2014

On 25 April, three intrepid OASI star-party-goers headed up to the Breckland Astronomical Society’s spring star party at Haw Wood farm near Halesworth. At least the weather was kinder than last time with sunshine and light winds making it an easy job for Mike Norris and I to erect his his huge tent. We were joined during the evening by Michael Atkins with his venerable TAL reflector but, unfortunately, the weather remained cloudy all evening, only clearing around 2.00am when we were long asleep!

Saturday morning dawned sunny but it soon clouded over and started to rain. After a great breakfast at the new co-op shop and café just up the road, we returned to a very wet site with everyone sheltering in their tents and caravans. The rain carried on until mid-afternoon when it stopped just in time for the barbeque that Breckland had organised. This gave everyone an opportunity to chat and talk astronomy for a couple of hours, during which the Sun came out and the clouds started to clear. We were able to get out the Coronado PST and gave several of those present their first views of the Sun through an Hα scope.

By the time the Sun had set, Jupiter had appeared and it was into night sky observing. Jupiter was followed by Mars and then Saturn. A covering of light, high-level cloud, largely from contrails of passing airliners, meant that light pollution was a problem with fainter objects. However, the most serious problem was dew, with most people having problems after a couple of hours. Even the mirror of my 1000 mm focal length Newtonian with long dew shield misted up. After drying it with a hairdryer belonging to the lady in the pitch next door, it remained clear for only another half hour. After it misted up again, we gave up and went off to look at the 60 cm push-to Dobsonian belonging to and built by Andrew Robertson. The mirror of this beautifully constructed instrument was ground over a three month period by the expert optician Es Reid of Cambridge (who recently reconfigured the lens of the Tomline Refractor). A stepladder is required to look through the eyepiece. Andrew specialises in looking at faint deep sky objects and gave us a tour of some of these, culminating in the "intergalactic wanderer" cluster (NGC 2419), one of the furthest objects in orbit about the Milky Way.

All in all a worthwhile weekend! The weather may not have been cooperative but the chance to meet the chairmen of several other local clubs was very productive and has led to an agreement on better communication and cooperation which will hopefully bear fruit during the coming months and years. Many thanks to Mike Norris and Michael Atkins for their company. There will be another star party at the same venue later in 2014: it’s a perfect opportunity to observe at a really dark site while meeting other astronomers and having the opportunity to see and use some terrific scopes.

Mike Norris at the OASI pitch.

David Murton

News from Membury Friday 1st July 2022

 The latest experimental event from the MerryMakers is the streaming of the Grand Prix this Sunday, thanks to John Hodge. If this is a success we’ll fire up the old modem for other events such as when a Brit gets into a Wimbledon Final, or we’re playing Germany in the World Cup. If there’s anything else you’d like to see on our 5-metre screen please send us a suggestion!If there’s enough interest, next year we’ll probably do a tennis themed café on men’s semi-final day at Wimbledon.

Our DefibrillatorYou may have read in the press today that the Ambulance Service is missing a lot of information about defibrillator locations. Membury has a defibrillator which is located at the Village Hall, on the front wall, next to the newspaper rack. The access code for this is 1234. South West Ambulance Services is well aware of its location, and it is on The Circuit database. The status of our equipment is checked and reported monthly, and the Parish Council pay for maintenance when required.

Blackdown Hills AONB Farming EventThe Blackdown Farming Futures Roadshow offers straightforward, up-to-date information and individual guidance on farming and the environment in the Blackdown Hills. 2pm – 2:30pm including a free pasty lunch followed by an optional farm visit.

• Tuesday 19th July Clayhidon Village Hall
• Friday 22nd July Upottery Village Hall
• Thursday 28th July Yarcombe Village Hall

Contact nicola.cunningham@devon.goc.uk for more details

Steam at AxminsterFans of classic steam trains are in for a treat this weekend. A famous locomotive is passing through the South West on its journey from London to Devon.The classic rail journey on Saturday (July 2) will follow part the route of the old Atlantic Coast Express (ACE) that ran from London to Devon and Cornwall in South West England. It will leave London Waterloo steam hauled in the morning and make its way to Exeter.Ex-Southern Region ‘Merchant Navy’ Class locomotive No. 35028 Clan Line will haul this special train, recreating some of the excitement of the days of the ACE.Departing from London Waterloo, it will thread its way steam-hauled through the west London suburbs towards Woking and Basingstoke, where there will be stops to pick up passengers. It will continue to follow the London & South Western Railway’s main line to Salisbury and Exeter, following the route of the old ACE expresses.After the Salisbury ‘water stop’, it will follow the main line through to Templecombe, which will give the train an opportunity to get up to its maximum permitted speed. After that It will pass the Yeovil Junction steam centre as it continues westwards and takes on the challenging 1 in 80 climb up Crewkerne BankAfter Axminster, there is further adverse climbing as it encounters the testing eight miles of mainly 1 in 80 up to Honiton Summit. Descending gradients then lead to Exeter, where passengers will have an afternoon break to visit the city and its Cathedral.It is anticipated that it’ll pass Axminster at around 12:20. If anyone can get a good photo, I’ll happily publish it!

Pews NewsIf you want to receive this, please contact Louise Collard, AVMC Team Administrator, 01297 441986

From Devon and Cornwall PoliceA man in his 40s has died after the motorbike he was driving was involved in a collision on the A35 at Taunton Cross, near Shute, Axminster.Police were notified at around 10.43am on Wednesday 29 June to reports of a two-vehicle collision involving a white VW Transporter and a black BMW R1250 GS Adventure motorcycle.As a result of the collision, the rider of the BMW motorbike suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.A full forensic investigation of the scene took place and officers are working to establish the cause of this collision.Police thank the public for their patience while they investigated the scene. Police are appealing for any witnesses who were in the area at the time of the collision to telephone 101 quoting Log 210 of 29 June 2022.A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and has been released under investigation.

East Devon District Council Updatehttps://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKEDDC/bulletins/31e2c72

Devon County Council UpdateAll about the Devon County Show!https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDEVONCC/bulletins/31e2c42

Membury AcademyPlease note that is no toddler group on Tuesday 5th July

PunctuationAlasdair sent me this fantastic picture of a comma butterfly on his lavender the other day.

News from Membury Sunday 19th June 2022

 What’s On in MemburyWeek commencing June 20th

Monday June 20thMerryMakers Committee meeting 7pm at HaccombeBellringing in Membury Church at 7:30pm

Tuesday June 21stToddler Group at Membury School at 11amParish Council Meeting in the Village Hall – 7:30pm

Wednesday June 22ndShort Mat Bowls in the Village Hall at 7pm

Thursday June 23rdPolling Day – Village Hall 7am-10pm

Friday June 24thPost Office in the Village Hall 1-3pmOak Apple Café in the Village Hall 1:30-3:30pmSea Shanties in the Village Hall at 6pm

Saturday June 25th

Sunday June 26thMembury Church Patronal Festival and Gift Day Service at 11am

Week commencing June 27th

Monday June 27thBellringing in Membury Church at 7:30pm

Tuesday June 28thToddler Group at Membury School at 11am

Wednesday June 29thShort Mat Bowls in the Village Hall at 7pm

Thursday June 30thArts and Crafts in the Village Hall 2pmBadminton in the Village Hall 6:30pm

Friday July 1stPost Office in the Village Hall 1-3pmOak Apple Café in the Village Hall 1:30-3:30pmSea Shanties in the Village Hall at 6pm

Saturday July 2nd

Sunday July 3rdMembury Church: Holy Communion 11:00

recent figures of speech - origins sought

Can you help find the earliest origins or precise sources of some relatively recent expressions and figures of speech? Here are a few interesting sayings for which for which fully satisfying origins seem not to exist, or existing explanations invite expansion and more detail.

• all over him like a cheap suit - see explanation of meaning and versions of the cheap suit expression - do you have early examples or recollections of use?
• hair of the dog.. fur of the cur - do you know this adaptation and extension of the hair of the dog expression?
• the whole box and die - do you use this expression? If so for what situations and purpose? Let me know . And see possible meanings and origins below , which need clarifying.
• wrap my brain around it - recollections or usage pre-1970s?
• liar liar pants on fire (your nose is a long as a telephone wire - and other variations) - recollections or usage pre-1950s? (The earliest recollection of 'liar liar pants on fire' that I have been informed of dates back to the 1930s, from a lady born in 1925, UK. See the liar liar entry for additional clues.)
• black market - seems to have first appeared in English c.1930 (see black market entry below) - the expression has direct literal equivalents in German, French, Italian and Spanish - does anyone know which came first?
• wally - pickled cucumber/gherkin and term for a twit - see wally entry below - anyone got anything to add to this? Is there a long-forgotten/lost rhyming slang connecting wally with gherkin (perkins?). Any other suggestions?
• sod this for a game of soldiers - clues are sparse - see the game of soldiers entry below and the ST FAGOS acronym - if you know any more please share it.
• break a leg - the John Wilkes Booth break a leg theory looks the strongest to me, but there are others, and particularly there's an international perspective which could do with exploring. Are you aware of similar ironic expressions meaning 'good luck' in other languages?
• you go girl - much used on daytime debate and confrontation shows, what's the there earliest source of ' you go girl '? - the 1992-97 'Martin' TV Show starring Martin Lawrence? Shakespeare? A 1957 Katherine Hepburn movie? Confirmation/suggestions/examples of early usage wanted please.
• doughnut/donut - we (probably) know the doughnut word origins , but doughnut meaning £75? - any details about this money meaning appreciated. Let me know .
• no dice - not a chance - see the no dice entry below.

If you have early recollections of use (when and when) or suggestions of precise origins or authors of any of the above expressions please let me know , and I'll publish the findings on this page in the main listing. Let me know also if you want any mysterious expressions adding to the list for which no published origins seem to exist.

acid test - an absolute, demanding, or ultimate challenge or measure of quality or capability - deriving from very old times - several hundreds of years ago - when nitric acid was used to determine the purity or presence of gold, especially when gold was currency before coinage. Gold does not dissolve in nitric acid, whereas less costly silver and base metals do. The use of nitric acid also featured strongly in alchemy, the ancient 'science' of (attempting) converting base metals into gold.

above board - honest - Partridge's Dictionary of Slang says above board is from card-playing for money - specifically keeping hands visible above the table (board was the word for table, hence boardroom), not below, where they could be engaged in cheating. This would naturally have extended as a metaphor to the notion (favoured by 1870 Brewer) of a conjuror preparing a trick with hands above the 'board' (table), rather than below it, where the trickery could be concealed, 'under-hand' (see also underhand ).

across the board - all or everything, or a total and complete achievement - this is apparently derived from American racetracks and relates to the boards on which odds of horses were shown (and still are to an extent, albeit in a more technically modern way). An 'across the board' bet was one which backed a horse to win or be placed in the first three, or as Wentworth and Flexnor's Dictionary of American Slang suggests, across the board meant a bet in which "...the same amount of money is wagered on the horse to win, place or show..." The same dictionary suggests the metaphor is specifically derived from the 'totalizer board' which shows the odds at horse racing tracks. Additionally it has been suggested to me that a similar racetrack expression, 'across the boards' refers to the tendency for odds available for any given horse to settle at the same price among all bookmakers (each having their own board), seemingly due to the laying off effect, whereby the odds would be the same 'across the boards'. I can neither agree nor disagree with this, nor find any certain source or logic for this to be a more reliable explanation of the metaphorical expression, and so I add it here for what it is worth if you happen to be considering this particular expression in special detail.

sweep the board - win everything - see entry under 'sweep'.

wouldn't/didn't/don't know him from adam/adam's brother/adam's off ox, etc - a man completely unknown (to whoever is using the term) - the expression of not knowing him/you from Adam, (or as used in the USA from 'Adam's off ox', together with other Adam associations) has according to etymology sources (notably M Quinion's Worldwidewords resource) been in print in its basic 'Adam' sense since the late 1800s in England, and in spoken use for many years prior to this in England and the USA; in fact the reference to one of the most famous characters of the Bible suggests that the origin of the expression could be hundreds of years earlier than when first used in print. The basis of the meaning is that Adam, being the first man ever, and therefore the farthest removed from anyone, symbolises a man that anyone is least likely to know. Out of interest, an 'off ox' would have been the beast pulling the cart on the side farthest from the driver, and therefore less known than the 'near ox'. This extension to the expression was American (Worldwidewords references the dictionary of American Regional English as the source of a number of such USA regional variations); the 'off ox' and other extensions such as Adam's brother or Adam's foot, are simply designed to exaggerate the distance of the acquaintance.

alligator - the reptile - the word has Spanish origins dating back at least 500 years, whose language first described the beast in the USA and particularly the Mid-Americas, such as to give the root of the modern English word. Alligators were apparently originally called El Lagarto de Indias (The Lizard of the Indies), 'el lagarto', logically meaning 'the lizard'. Initially the word entered English as lagarto in the mid-1500s, after which it developed into aligarto towards the late 1500s, and then was effectively revised to allegater by Shakespeare when he used the word in Romeo and Juliet, in 1623. It seems (ack S Burgos) that the modern Spanish word (and notably in Castellano) for lizard is lagartija, and lagarto now means alligator.

all-singing all-dancing - full of features/gimmicks - the term was first used in advertising for the 1929 musical film, the first with sound, Broadway Melody.

smart alec/smart aleck/smart alick - someone who is very or 'too' clever (esp. in a cocky manner) According to etymologist David Wilton the most likely origin was suggested by Gerald Cohen in a 1985 article which appeared in the publication Studies In Slang. Cohen suggests the origin dates back to 1840s New York City fraudster Aleck Hoag, who, with his wife posing as a prostitute, would rob the customers. Hoag bribed the police to escape prosecution, but ultimately paid the price for being too clever when he tried to cut the police out of the deal, leading to the pair's arrest. In describing Hoag at the time, the police were supposedly the first to use the 'smart aleck' expression.

amateur - non-professional or un-paid, or more recently an insulting term meaning unprofessional - the word originates from the same spelling in Old French 'amateur' meaning 'lover', originally meaning in English a lover of an activity. The Old French word is derived from Latin 'amare' meaning 'to love'.

ampersand - the '&' symbol, meaning 'and' - the word ampersand appeared in the English language in around 1835. It is a corrupted (confused) derivation of the term 'And per se', which was the original formal name of the & symbol in glossaries, alphabets, and official reference works. 'Per se' is Latin and meant 'by itself', as it still does today. Traditionally all letters were referenced formally in the same way. The letter A would have been 'A per se', B would have been called 'B per se', just as the '&' symbol was 'And per se'. The ampersand symbol itself is a combination - originally a ligature (literally a joining) - of the letters E and t, or E and T, being the Latin word 'et' meaning 'and'. The earliest representations of the ampersand symbol are found in Roman scriptures dating back nearly 2,000 years. If you inspect various ampersand symbols you'll see the interpretation of the root ET or Et letters. The symbol has provided font designers more scope for artistic impression than any other character, and ironically while it evolved from hand-written script, few people use it in modern hand-writing, which means that most of us have difficulty in reproducing a good-looking ampersand by hand without having practised first. (See the ampersand exercise ideas .)

alma mater - (my) university - from the Latin, meaning 'fostering mother'.

almanac - diary - either or both from the Arabic 'al manac' meaning 'the diary' and/or from Saxon term 'al-mon-aght' meaning 'all moon heed', which was the record of new and full moons.

apple of his eye/apple of your eye/apple of my eye - a person much adored or doted on, loved, held dearly, and central to the admirer's affections and sensitivities - the 'apple of his eye' expression first appeared in the Bible, Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 10, in which Moses speaks of God's caring for Jacob: "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye". Brewer's 1870 dictionary of Phrase and Fable describes the 'apple of the eye' expression (or apple of your eye, apple of his/her eye, apple of my eye) as being a metaphor based on the pupil's significance within the eye. The theory goes that in ancient times the pupil of the eye (the black centre) was thought to be a small hard ball, for which an apple was a natural symbol. Logically the pupil or apple of a person's eye described someone whom was held in utmost regard - rather like saying the 'centre of attention'. Strangely Brewer references Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 3, which seems to be an error since the verse is definitely 10.

apple-pie bed - practical joke, with bed-sheets folded preventing the person from getting in - generally assumed to be derived from the apple-turnover pastry, but more likely from the French 'nappe pliee', meaning 'folded sheet'.

arbour/arbor - shady place with sides and roof formed by trees or shrubs - the word was 'erber' in Middle English (according to Chambers a 1300s piece of writing called the Thrush And The Nightingale - whatever that was - apparently included the word). Erber came from 'herber' meaning a garden area of grasses, flowers, herbs, etc, from, logically Old French and in turn from from Latin, herba, meaning herb or grass. Interestingly the switch to 'arbor/arbour' from 'erber' was among many e/a spelling and pronunciation changes that took place in late middle ages English: farm used to be 'ferme'; 'carve' used to be 'kerven; starve used to be 'sterven', and which also caused some of the modern a/e phonetic quirks, when the pronunciation changed but the spelling remained, eg., the city Derby, pronounced (in England) as 'darby', and sergeant pronounced 'sargeant' (although it is also spelled as such in some surnames). Apparently the modern 'arbor/arbour' tree-related meaning developed c.1500s when it was linked with the Latin 'arbor', meaning tree - originally the beam tree, and which gave us the word 'aboretum' being the original Latin word for a place where trees are cultivated for special purposes, particularly scientific study.

assassin - killer - the original Assassins were Carmathian warriers based in Mount Lebanon around the eleventh century; they terrorised the middle eastern world for two hundred years, supposedly high on hashish most of the time, particularly prior to battle.

avatar - (modern meaning) iconic or alter-ego used instead of real identity, especially on websites - Avatar is an old Hindu concept referring to the descent or manifestation of a god or released soul to earthly existence, typically as a divine teacher. The word history is given by Cassells to be 18th century, taken from Sanskrit avatata meaning descent, from the parts ava meaning down or away, and tar meaning pass or cross over. In more recent times the word has simplified and shifted subtly to mean more specifically the spiritual body itself rather than the descent or manifestation of the body, and before its adoption by the internet, avatar had also come to mean an embodiment or personification of something, typically in a very grand manner, in other words, a "...presentation to the world as a ruling power or object of worship..." (OED, 1952). The virtual reality community website Secondlife was among the first to popularise the moden use of the word in website identities, and it's fascinating how the modern meaning has been adapted from the sense of the original word.

Autumm Equinox Sky Camp, 20 September 2007

Loughton Astronomical Society has organised an Autumn Equinox Star Camp since 1994. Up to 2004 the venue was Thetford and from 2005 onwards it has been Kelling Heath, near Weybourne in north Norfolk. Having known about the camps for many years, I decided eventuallythat it was time to go and have a look! The 2007 event was held from Monday 10 September to Thursday 20 September 2007, and I went along on Saturday 15 September which, fortunately, turned out to be a perfect late summer sunny day.

En route to Kelling Heath, I made a detour to my usual watering hole in Sheringham, The Lobster pub, for lunch. While walking down the main street my attention was drawn to thegreat number of people dressed in 1940s military uniforms and civilian clothing: it was just like visiting Walmington-on-Sea! The explanation turned out to be that Sheringham was holding a 1940s theme day.

My route on foot to Kelling Heath from Weybourne involved passing Weybourne station on the North Norfolk Railway. On approaching the station, the air was filled with the sound of gunfire. A group of Dad's Army enthusiasts were staging a re-enactment of capturing an enemy agent. There was an audience of several hundred people watching the performance from the station platforms and footbridge. Steam trains passing through the station, on the line between Sheringham and Holt, provided addedauthenticity. As is often the case at such events, many restorers of vintage military vehicle were zooming around in American jeeps.

I reached Kelling Heath Holiday Park at about 14:00. Not knowing the layout of the park I made enquires at the reception office where I was given a vague sketch map of the site with two large circles indicating where astronomers could set up their equipment. I went out to find the astronomers, following one of the many nature trails across the heath and, after about twenty minutes, I stumbled across a group of caravans with various telescopes set up outside on the grass. This turned out to be the smallest of three areas forming the Autumn Equinox Star Camp. I walked past rows of campers and their telescopes and other equipment. There were many solarinstruments and an amazing range of other telescopes, from the smallest Skywatchers to 35 cm Meade Schmidt Cassegrains equipped with all the CCD equipment that money can buy! The most prominent telescopes were largeDobsonians and I estimated that many on display were in excess of 50 cm aperture. Many large Dobsonians were equipped with automatic tracking devices.

I was not expecting to meet any familiar faces. However, a passing car suddenly stopped and the occupant jumped out and came rushing over to me exclaiming Hello Roy! At first I did not recognise the person, even though he did look familiar. It turned out to be Colin Green who, together with his wife, had been our special guests at the BAA Back to Basics meeting in January 2007.

After meeting Colin I made my way to the trade stands. Over the years I have attended many dozens of astronomical events, but his one was the first where the trade stands looked like a car boot sale! Everyone was outside, trading from tables. I purchased a filter that, it is claimed, should reduce some of the chromatic aberration inherent in refractors. At the time of writing I have not yet tried it; I look forward to trying it on the Tomline refractor.

I walked back to Weybourne by an alternative route that took me alongside the North Norfolk Railway. As I walked along the path two steam trains thundered past and, as the track is less than ten metres distant from the rails, I had a close-up view. Keeping to the theme of TV programmes, The Railway Children kept coming to mind... Finally, you may be wondering, how does the independent traveller get to Kelling Heath? Easy: shanks's pony, two trains, one bus followed by shanks's pony again. Total cost £13.70. I left home at about 08:00 and returned at 20:30.

Trade stands.

Telescopes.

Mobile observatory!

Roy Gooding

Rainbow Jackpots Power Lines Game Details

RTP (Return to Player): 93.69% Min / Max Bet: £0.10 / £50.00 Hit Rate: 1 in 4.8

Volatility: Medium Auto Play: Yes Diamonds per £: Min. 1,200

Features Bonus Setup, Free Spins, Free Spins Retrigger, Paylines, Pick Me Bonus, Progressive Jackpots, Random Symbols, Random Trigger, Random Wilds, Scatter Symbols, Stacked Symbols, Stacked Wilds, Unique Bonus, Upgrade Paylines, Wilds

#Alice and the Mad Respin Party

#Alice in the Wild

1 Million Fortunes Megaways

1 Million Megaways BC

10000 Wishes

100x Ra

11 Coins of Fire

11 Enchanting Relics

12 Super Hot Diamonds

12 Super Hot Diamonds Extreme

15 Tridents

1942: Sky Warrior

24 Hour Grand Prix

25000 Talons

3 Devils Pinball

News from Membury Wednesday 21st September 2022

Siren TestThe Siren in the car park will be tested at 09:30 on Saturday 24th September. There is a sign up in the car park. If you have neighbours who may not be online, please let them know. The autodialer will not be tested at this time.

RoadworksOpenreach will be carrying out work on the road from Membury Cross to Clarence Cross from 26th September 09:30 until 27th September 15:30.

Oak Apple CaféThe café signed up Lynn Finnegan at the “Welcome” evening, and already she is proving her worth by stepping in to help out this week. On Offer we have:

• Curried roast vegetable soup
• Sarah’s Savoury Something
• Date and Walnut cake
• Pound Cake
• Lemon cake
• Tiffin

100 Club WinnersThe winners this month are:

Sharon and John Steadman £30Joy and David Dodd            £10Lesley and Nigel Warren      £10

Church Bell InformationMark Shepherd writes:I thought you would appreciate understanding the details behind the ringing of the Church Bells today:-Before the funeral of Queen Elizabeth ll, Membury Bell ringers came together and rang the church bells between 10:00-11.00AM:

The No 2 bell was tolled 96 times (once for each year of her life)

They then proceeded to ring “call changes” (whereby the sequences of the bells are changed by calling the individual bell numbers to create a musical sequence).All the bells were fitted with leather muffles on one side of the clapper, this produces a softer chime meaning that you hear a different sounding tone with each strike. One time will be a loud strike, and the next time a muffled strike, thus creating a mournful and echoing effect, thus why this is undertaken for funerals and other solemn occasions.To finish each bell was then lowered one by one, starting with the smallest bell the Treble and ending with the Tenor the largest bell, until the church clock chimed at 11:00am.Please can you pass on my thanks for the huge interest shown from our villagers at the “Welcome to Membury” event on Saturday and that all the Bellringers would be delighted to help those interested in learning to Bellring, if you are interested please get in touch on 881647.

Christmas Cards Already?From the Mercury team:Visitors to the Village Hall will find a box in the foyer containing pens, envelopes and forms which give instructions (also to be found on p28 of the Autumn issue) about how to make your contribution (fiscal and literary) to this year’s Charity Christmas Card, which is in aid of Axminster Food Bank. You may contribute through the Mercury e-mail and BACS, or leave your contribution in the box itself or in the mail box outside the front door of the hall. Please name your envelope if you choose this method! Both boxes will be checked daily.Also in the foyer: a short questionnaire regarding what appears in the Mercury. We would appreciate your opinion and suggestions, which you can make anonymously, if you prefer. Again, please leave completed questionnaires in the mail box.Regarding this issue’s glaring error: I think we all know that the recent Jubilee was Platinum, not Diamond. Apologies.

Sofa on offerIf anyone would appreciate a well-made 2½ seater cream coloured sofa in excellent condition please get in touch. It needs to go by next week if possible.

News from Membury Wednesday 20th July 2022

Rain at last!

South West WaterSWW has been given a one-star rating by the Environment Agency and is being investigated by Ofwat for sewage discharge – but they have some free products available to help you reduce your water consumption. Visit their site here: https://southwestwater-email.co.uk/1FMM-7Y726-E05E896115502AE1VP3LJI9B1C9D1E79B5289B/cr.aspx

Devon County Council Growing Communities FundThe Growing Communities Fund is a new fund intended to support proactive, effective, measurable, and sustainable actions to enable individuals and communities to build self-reliance and community resilience, reduce food and fuel inequalities and improve mental health and wellbeing and respond to the climate emergency.The Growing Communities Fund will provide grant awards of between £500 and £3,000 (though we will enter discussions with applicants who have exemplary or innovative projects). For more details go to this link https://www.devon.gov.uk/communities/growing-communities-fund

Oak Apple CaféIt’s Team Beaman in charge on Friday at the café between 1:30 and 3:30pm. On the menu we have some very tasty morsels including …

• Gazpacho
• Carrot, cheese and courgette muffins
• Sausage rolls
• Banana and date loaf
• Flapjacks
• Rose’s biscuits
• Bobbie’s cake
• Coffee and walnut cake

Advice from afarDan Jaffe has suggested to me that it might be worth mentioning that in the extreme heat of the Middle East that you open the windows at night to take advantage of cooler air and close the windows during the day to retain the cooler air. I believe this is common practice there. Why this advice is not given is beyond him!

Membury Parish CouncilMembury Parish Council is seeking a new Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer.Membury Parish Council is an active council which holds scheduled meetings 8 times a year and also adhoc meetings when required. The clerk will be required to work from home. A laptop will be provided. The working hours are 6 hrs per week and the salary will be in accordance with National Association of Local Council guidelines Scales LC1 (£10.63 – £11.73 per hour) dependent on experience and qualifications.The person appointed will need good computer skills and a working knowledge of accounting procedures as well as an ability to deal with members of the public, an ability to take Minutes and set out and distribute Agendas. The clerk will be expected to deal with various matters relating to the smooth running of the parish council and queries raised by councillors. A CILCA qualification or willingness to undertake this qualification would be advantageous.Further information including a job description by contacting David Noyes, Vice Chair, Membury PC, at memburyparishcouncil@gmail.com Applications to the same email address, attaching an up to date CV.Closing date: Monday 1st August 2022

Sustainable StocklandFor this month’s meetup of our local environmental group, we’ll be enjoying informal summer drinks in the Kings Arms pub garden from 7.30pm, this Thursday 21st July.If you have an interest in the local environment, taking action on climate issues and protecting Stockland’s beautiful natural surroundings, please do come along. All welcome.claireholgate@hotmail.co.uk 07771 786610

Shout out to DCCAlasdair Bruce reported to the council that the road at the junction at Cott Cross had melted on Monday and been churned up by a tractor. A highways team turned up at 11:00pm to do an emergency repair, and then repaired it properly the following day. How’s that for service?

Particle Precipitations From the Van Allen Belts

In the Earth magnetosphere, the magnetic field is able to trap charged particles (electron, positrons, protons and ions) up to energies of tens or hundreds of MeV generating the so-called inner and outer radiation belts separated by the slot region originated by particle flux depletion due to interactions with whistler waves. The inner Van Allen belt is mainly constituted by protons and electrons through the decay of albedo neutrons (Zhang K. et al., 2019) originated by cosmic rays impinging the upper atmosphere (CRAND process). Electrons are the main constituent of the outer belts eventually energized through wave-particle interactions. Whistlers are the main source of particles precipitation via the so-called whistler electron precipitation (WEP) (Dungey, 1963; Rodger et al., 2003) due to the resonant interaction between circularly polarized VLF (3–30 kHz) waves traveling along the geomagnetic field lines and trapped electrons resulting in their deflection in the loss cone and the consequent precipitation. The Sun is the main driver of the magnetospheric particles dynamics, but precipitation can be induced also by nuclear explosions (that can originated also long-term trapped artificial belt); by the already cited VLF emissions generated by lightning; by artificial radio signals (Sauvaud et al., 2008) and possibly by electromagnetic emission due to seismic activity. Such precipitations of electrons and protons can be observed by satellite detectors as sudden increases of the particles fluxes on the scale from few up to tens of seconds. It has been suggested that, the stable motion of high-energy trapped and quasi-trapped Van Allen particles can be perturbed also by seismo-associated electromagnetic emissions (Aleshina et al., 1992; Galperin et al., 1992). These authors suggested that electromagnetic emissions eventually generated in the preparation phase of an earthquake could modify the particles pitch angle, inducing the lowering of their mirror points and finally causing particles precipitation that are detected as sudden particles flux increase with LEO detectors. During precipitation, such burst of particles could still follow partially their longitudinal drift, that would increase the satellite capability of their detection in space not only over the hypocentral zones, but also even far from the area of the preparation earthquake. Russian scientists carried out the earliest analyses of these correlations with measurements of: MARIA detector installed on the SALYUT-7 station (Chesnokov et al., 1987; Voronov, 1990), MARIA-2 experiment on board MIR; ELECTRON experiments carried out on the INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 and METEOR-3 satellites (Galper et al., 1989); GAMMA detector, etc. At the beginning of this century, Aleksandrin et al. (2003) and Sgrigna et al. (2005b) have published careful analyses of such phenomenon on data collected by the PET experiment on board the SAMPEX NASA satellite, obtaining a statistically reliable temporal correlation between seismic events and charged particle precipitation from the lower boundary of the inner Van Allen radiation belt. Particle Burst (PB) are defined such as anomalous increases of the count rates beyond the background fluctuation. By studying the distribution of the time difference between earthquakes and anomalous particle detections, ±36 h around the earthquake time, the authors of Aleksandrin et al. (2003) and Sgrigna et al. (2005b) have observed a peak at about 4–5 h with a significance of 5 sigma out of the mean, showing that the burst precipitation would occur before the earthquakes. This result was obtained using data driven algorithms - independent from specific LAIC model - and by considering together the all SAMPEX database. The result provides a good evidence (with a high statistical significance) of particle precipitation induced by seismic activity. Fidani and Battiston (2008) and Battiston and Vitale (2013) have extended the study on a larger time period with a different methods for background rejections. The authors have investigated the correlations between precipitation of low energy electrons (E > 0.3 MeV) from the NOAA satellites (POES 15, 16, 17 and 18) and about 18,000 earthquakes of magnitude greater than 5 (from USGS) along 13 years. The distribution of time differences between earthquakes and detected particle bursts is uniform (mean = 8.3, SD = 2.9) within the statistical errors, but the authors observe a large excess at −1.25 ± 0.25 h (i.e., after the earthquakes time). The temporal correlation, i.e., the possibility to measure anomalous particle burst with space based detectors before/after the seismic events, depends on the particles longitudinal drift period (around the Earth). For electrons of 300 KeV the drift period is of about 4 h, that allowed the authors to conclude that the observed peak is anyway due to a preseismic phenomenon detected by the satellite after the earthquake occurrences. The statistical significance of the found correlation peak is of 5.7 sigma, corresponding to a probability of 1.2 × 10−6 of being a statistical fluctuation. Further studies are in progress (Fidani, 2018) in order to reconstruct the spatial area of the wave-particle interaction (that has induced the precipitation events) based on the detection point and features of the precipitating particles. By studying the distribution of earthquakes with magnitude M > 5, as a function of the McIlwain L-shell and time, the research group of the AGILE satellite found an enhancement of particle bursts detected by the AGILE satellite, with a significance of 4 sigma, during the period August 5–September 3, 2007 (De Santis et al., 2015). The particle flux increase was in apparent coincidence with the earthquake shower in Peru that started with the M = 8 event on August 15, 2007 (Ica event). In general, even though several authors have published reports of correlations between seismic events and anomalous particles precipitation - that would precede of few hours the occurrence of earthquake of moderate and strong magnitude - the phenomenon is still asking for a large and well-assessed statistical confirmation that is one of the purposes of the experiments carried out on the CSES satellite, the most advanced satellite devoted to investigate precursors phenomena from space.

European Astrofest, Kensington Conference and Events Centre, 10-11 February 2017

Time to head off again to London to attend Astrofest! This is the 25th year of the event and my seventh visit. On this occasion, I decided to attend the afternoon session on the Friday and both morning and afternoon sessions on the Saturday.

Highlights included OASI Honorary President, Dr Allan Chapman, talking about Charles Messier. Allan has been the only speaker to give a talk at all 25 Astrofests. A magnificent achievement! Garry Hunt gave a fascinating talk on the Voyager Legacy. Impressionist and keen amateur astronomer, Jon Culshaw, brought Saturday to a close with a hilarious, multi-voiced, description of exoplanets. Among his impressions were Carl Sagan, Patrick Moore and Donald Trump!

The exhibition area was, as ever, busy. There were several interesting new products for sale, but my credit card stayed firmly in my pocket this time! I noticed a rise in the prices of astronomy gear, due to the weak pound and (allegedly) Brexit. Most traders were still offering special Astrofest deals.

I attended the following lectures:

• Katherine Joy, University of Manchester: Space Rocks on Ice.
• Martin Hendry, University of Glasgow: Listening to Einstein’s Universe.
• Scott Sheppard, Carnegie Institution for Science: Pluto and the Kuiper Belt Objects Beyond Neptune.
• Allan Chapman, Oxford University: Of Comets, Ferrets and Nebulae. Charles Messier, his Discoveries and his World.
• Will Gater, author and astrophotographer: The Dynamic Cosmos.
• Guillem Anglanda-Escude, Queen Mary University of London: Proxima b: The World Next Door.
• Louisa Preston, Birkbeck University of London: Alien Hunters.
• Garry Hunt, Voyager imaging team (1972-90): The Voyager Legacy.
• Peter Grindod, Birkbeck University of London: ExoMars and the Search for Life.
• Scott Shephard, Carnegie Institution for Science: Beyond Pluto, the Hunt for a Massive Planet X.
• Andrea Accomazzo, European Space Agency: Landing on Comet 67P.
• John Culshaw, impressionist and exoplanet aficionado: The Exoplanet Super-League.

Images from my visit are below.

Alan Chapman.

Garry Hunt's title slide.

Scott Shephard.

John Culshaw.

Skywatcher EQ6-R pro mount at the Widescreen Centre stand.

Nexus Digital Setting Circles (DSC) at the Astro Systems stand.

Andy Gibbs

Cliches and Expressions of origin

1. Home
2. Courses
3. Glossary and Terminology Bank
4. Cliches and Expressions of origin

Back to Glossary and Terminology Bank

0.0 (0)

252.6K

Glossary and Terminology Bank

Accents and diacritical marks

Glossary of Terminology and Definitions for Business and Management

See also

Latin terminology, origins, meanings, translations, usage

List of Latin terms, phrases, and expressions

Latin numbers in English words

Roman Latin numerals

A brief history of Latin

Metric prefixes

Phonetic Spelling Alphabet

Cockney alphabet

A Glossary of Grammatical Terminology, Definitions and Examples - Sounds and Literary Effects in Language, Speaking, Writing, Poetry..

listing of terms for grammatical, literary, language, vocal and written effects

words and expressions origins

A

recent figures of speech - origins sought

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

sayings recorded (and some maybe originated) in john heywood's 'proverbs' collection of 1546

News from Membury Monday 19th September 2022

Today we said farewell to Queen Elizabeth IIAnd the bells of Membury rang out – described by a local walker thus: Such a lovely reverential sound, echoing over a strangely still landscape, enjoying the early Autumn sun. A perfect start for a reflective day. Thank you, Mark & all the ringers.

Membury MerrymakersWe hope that you enjoyed the Welcome to Membury Evening yesterday. It was lovely to see so many people there. Our organisations put in a huge effort to prepare for the evening, and there were some amazing displays advertising what goes on in the village.If you were unable to attend, or attended but want more information about any of our organisations then please contact us so we can direct your enquiries to the correct people.A huge thanks to those who helped at the evening.The MerryMakers

Dragon and ButterA Southern Hawkers snapped by Alasdair, and a Comma (though not an Oxford comma) taken by Tony Marsh

Membury Academy NewsletterMembury Primary are having an open week from the 20th  September. We have a stay and play toddler group on a Tuesday 11am -12pm. And EXCITING NEWS our preschool is open.

Just When You Thought it was Safe…It seems that COVID has reared its ugly head in the village again, so please take care. If you feel the urge to test yourself but have run out, you can use this link to order 5x Flowflex tests from eBay for £7.99 (including postage). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125424980659 Whilst these are the ones that the NHS uses, they are possibly not valid for overseas travel.

Thank YouLea from Bracken wishes to thank the kind soul who rescued her glasses – they have now been reunited.

A requestJohn Hill from Strangers Hill Farm is seeking crab apples for jellification. He’s happy to swap for regular eating apples. If anyone can help him out please contact him at zen13595@zen.co.uk

Stockland Village Hall Chip NightBookings please for this month’s Stockland Village Hall, Fish ‘n’ Chip Night – Saturday, 24th September.Food Orders 6-7.30 with a bar open for drinks.If you haven’t been before this is a wonderful community event and great for the children who can play outside or enjoy table tennis or table football inside. If you are new to the village it’s a good place to meet everyone.We need time to organise food and drink so the sooner you book the better –Please drop us an email: kim.richardharvey@btinternet.com or call 01404 881466Everyone welcome!Kim and Annie

Ion and Electron Density Fluctuations

Several analyses of DEMETER satellite data have shown an increase of the number and intensity of the ionospheric perturbations detected before the occurrence of strong earthquakes as well as an increase of the perturbations amplitude as a function of the magnitude (Parrot, 2011). In particular, Píša et al. (2011) has pointed out a significant increase of the plasma density detected by DEMETER tens of days before the main shock of the Chile earthquake on February 27, 2010.

Li and Parrot (2012) have analyzed ion density (defined as the sum of H+, He+, O+ from IAP)) and the electron density (from ISL) data collected in the whole DEMETER activity along 6.5 years and registered only for night-time. The authors have selected 21.863 earthquakes from the USGS catalog, with magnitude grater or equal than 4.8 and distance between DEMETER and the epicentre ≤1,500 km, with a time window of 15 days before earthquake and measurements collected in quiet days (Kp < 3). In addition, observations have been tested against random dataset of earthquakes (casually shifted in time of one month, in the same season, and in longitude of 25°). The ion density perturbations mainly consist of an increase. The fraction of precursor observations increases of few percent with the earthquake magnitude. The mean number of perturbations per earthquake is larger for stronger events. Both the good detections and the number of false alarms decrease as a function of the perturbations amplitude (whatever is the magnitude of the earthquakes). This means that the amplitude of the perturbations is not well related to the magnitude. By studying the mean and median values of perturbations amplitude plotted vs. magnitude, the authors claim that: stronger earthquake apparently show larger perturbations; this effect is only evident for very large magnitude and other earthquake parameters (different from magnitude) could play a role. Results for electron density are similar to those for ion density. In order to analyze of the effect of the earthquakes location, the epicentres have been classified such as inland, below sea (water depth >1 km), and close coast (depth <1 km). The author’s conclusions are that the percentage of good detections increases with the magnitude whatever is the earthquake location. The percentage of good detections is larger for earthquake occurring below the sea. Earthquake taking place near coasts have the lowest percentage of good detections. The mean number of perturbations smoothly increase the days before the seismic event. Anyway, the authors emphasize that - beyond the spatial and temporal correlation between observations and seismic events - there is no further way to assert a causal relationship between earthquakes and observed anomalies. Ryu et al. (2014) and Ryu et al. (2016) have studied the statistical impact of earthquakes, of M > 5.0 and M ≥ 6.0 respectively, (mainly occurring in the equatorial region) on the electron density data measured by the DEMETER satellite in the period 2005–2010. By correlating the indices of daily seismic activity and the EIA (equatorial ionization anomaly) intensity, the authors obtained statistically significant values of the lagged cross-correlation function. The results show the existence of ionospheric precursors of low-latitude earthquakes and that their concur in enhancing the equatorial anomaly.

More recently, machine-learning methods have been applied for the automatic identification of earthquake precursors (Xiong et al., 2020; Xiong et al., 2021). The new research field is extremely interesting and further results can be achieved. DEMETER data have been analyzed in hundreds of publications. For a summary, we address the reader to the general review Parrot (2018) and to the specific articles (such as for example Parrot, 2012; Zlotnicki et al., 2010; Zlotnicki et al., 2013; Parrot, and Li, 2015; Liu et al., 2015; Ho et al., 2018; Parrot and Li, 2018; Parrot et al., 2021).

words and expressions origins

Breckland Astronomical Society Star Party, Haw Wood, 09-12 October 2015

The Milky Way on Friday evening.

The Breckland Astronomical Society autumn 2015 star party was held on the weekend of Friday 09 - Monday 12 October at Haw Wood Farm campsite, just 25 miles from Orwell Park up the A12 at Darsham. Attendance in 2015 was swelled by a group of 20 members of the Castle Point Astronomy Club from Rayleigh, Essex on their annual weekend away, who arrived with a variety of telescopes. A big increase in the number of people doingastrophotography was evident in 2015 with people taking advantage of the really dark conditions at this location where the zodiacal light has been seen and the Milky Way really stands out.

I arrived on the Friday afternoon. People who had arrived earlier confirmed that Thursday night hadbeen clear and, with a good forecast for Friday night, things were looking good. Having set up my tent and scopes, I had a look at some of the other instruments on display. There were several huge Dobsonians, with the largest being Andrew Robinson’s 60 cm go-to motorised model which requires a step ladder to reach the eyepiece when it pointing near the zenith! Andrew is ahunter of deep sky objects and gave a guided tour of the sky on Saturday evening for the public on site.

Friday evening started promisingly but heavy dew and some light, high-level cloud, while not too much of a problem for visual observing, hindered attempts at photography. However, the Milky Way was glorious (see image to the right) and the early hours saw the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula appearing very prominent.

I spent Saturday talking astronomy and drooling over huge telescopes and complicated CCD imaging rigs. The forecast for Saturday evening wasn’t good and, sure enough, as Andrew gave his talk, the sky suffered from much high-level cloud with stars showing through occasional gaps. Suddenly a bright fireball streaked across the sky leaving a huge trail behind it, stimulating gasps from those present. This prompted Andrew to claim that he had arranged the event beforehand - nice try! After the get-together and Andrew's sky tour, it was time to get back to the scopes and do what we could. The high-level cloud again prevented meaningful photography and most of the big Dobsonians were unused as faint galaxies were hard to make out with the cloud and reflected light.

All in all it was an excellent weekend. The organisers of the camp site went to great lengths to make everyone welcome and to provide a good environment for astronomy, including putting black-outs on the windows of the excellent shower/toilet blocks, turning off site lighting and laying on a get-together and sky tour including hot soup. The skies may not have been the best but it didn’t rain and who can complain about a weekend talking and doing astronomy with like minded people?

David Murton

News from Membury Saturday 13th August 2022

Membury makes the Headlines!Well, almost.The piece about the Membury Flower Show starring Boudicca’s prize-winning entries will be in the Telegraph tomorrow (Sunday), and will probably be available on-line at some point next week.

Property rentalA family from Buckland need a house to rent (2 kids, 2 dogs) and ideally with a bit of land as he has a flock of sheep. Can anyone help? Get in touch if you can.

More on the thunderstormsThe yellow warning for potential thunderstorms has been extended to cover the period from 10:00 Monday 15th until 23:59 Tuesday 16th. Virtually the whole country is at risk, so we might be lucky and miss out. With any luck we’ll get a bit of rain though.

Exeter Energy from WasteA party of 20 of us visited the Energy from Waste incinerator at Marsh Barton a few days ago. Everything that you chuck in your grey bin goes here and is burnt (rather than being sent to landfill) at over 800 degrees. The hot gases heat a boiler, the superheated water runs a turbine that powers the equivalent of 6000 houses. It was a fascinating trip, if slightly odoriferous. For more information visit their websites: www.recycledevon.org and http://zone.recycledevon.orgWe asked whether it is better to recycle soft plastic through the Tesco scheme or actually to send it to the EfW facility to make energy. Lucy (engagement and education officer) has given up recycling soft/film plastics and crisp packets. She reuses most bags at home – for example bread bags have become her replacement for sandwich and freezer bags. The ones that are too icky and well used, laminates (like crisp packets) or things she is given (like clingfilm around packages or food she has bought) she sends to the Exeter EfW in my black bin bag waste. She won’t recycle them until there is a good amount being recycled (>60%). She doesn’t think the extra carbon (& energy!) involved in taking the plastic to the supermarket and then them being taken elsewhere in the country (where?) is worth the recyclate produced.

News from Membury Tuesday 12th July 2022

Membury MerrymakersIf you want to feast on fish and chips on Saturday please let Jill know as soon as possible. You can reach her on 01404 881641, 07710849984 or jill-folletts@outlook.com

Bring cash for your food, but the bar will be open and will take card payment. Prepare to witness the first public performance of the Membury Shanty team!

Amber Warning of Extreme HeatThe amber weather warning has been extended to Monday (all day) and may yet be extended further into Tuesday.

Membury AcademyContrary to the “What’s On?” Published on Sunday there will be NO toddler group next week on Tuesday 19th.

Casino Joy

When we said that Genesis Casino was neither the most popular nor the biggest casino among the Casoola sister sites, it was because we had Casino Joy in mind. This is comfortably the pick of the bunch when it comes to popularity and has benefitted from some high-profile promotional campaigns in the past. Casino Joy is a well-known name to UK players, but it has less character than any of its siblings. Even Pelaa, which we said was a little bland when compared to the other Genesis Global sites, has a distinctly Scandinavian theme. Casino Joy has no theme at all save for the idea of it being a joyous place to come and play casino games. It doesn’t even have an especially impressive collection of games – the homepage of the site boasts of hosting a collection of around 1300, which leaves it at least seven hundred games short of the biggest Casoola sister sites. All of this goes to show that online casinos don’t always make sense. Casino Joy is probably the weakest casino in this family on paper, but in reality, it probably attracts more than double the traffic of any other casino on the network.

European Astrofest, Kensington Conference and Events Centre, 05-06 February 2016

Astrofest time again! On this occasion I decided to attended the afternoon session on Friday 05 February and both morning and afternoon sessions the following day.

The number of traders at the exhibition was down on previous years. This may have been due to the rather cramped conditions and the International Astronomy Show, held in the autumn, becoming more established. However, there was still plenty of kit to tempt visitors (but my credit card remained in my pocket on this occasion!)

On Friday, I attended four lectures and on Saturday, eight, covering many diverse and interesting subjects. The lectures which I attended were:

• Tom Whyntie: Higgs in Space? Particle Physics Amongst the Stars.
• Pete Lawrence: Observing Highlights For 2016.
• John Spencer: New Horizons: The Long Road to Pluto.
• Brian May: A History of Astro-Stereo-Photography. Illustrated with full screen 3-D projection.
• Mark McCaughrean: ESA Science Missions in 2016.
• Debbie Lewis: Taking the Hit - Asteroid Impact Scenarios.
• Michelle Heurs: The Gravitational Universe.
• Allan Chapman: Light Waves, Lunar Geology and Chemical Comets-Robert Hooke.
• Andrew Pontzon: Does Dark Matter Exist?
• Hugh Hudson: The Making of a Solar Eclipse Mega-Movie. For anybody attending the 2017 US Solar Eclipse, there is an interesting project called "The Eclipse Mega-Movie". Observers are invited to submit eclipse images and videos for research into coronal dynamics. The link is: http://eclipsemegamovie.org
• Lewis Dartnell: What Makes a Habitable Planet?
• John Spencer: New Horizons: Pluto Revisited.

Particularly inspirational were the talks by OASI Honorary President, Dr Allan Chapman and Dr John Spencer. However, the undoubted highlight was the presentation by Dr Brian May covering the history of 3-D astronomical imaging since the 1850’s. His presentation included recent images from NASA and ESA missions, stunning results from the Rosetta and New Horizons missions among them. Brian used a new 3-D projection system and issued the audience with high quality 3-D glasses. If you have a 3-D TV or have seen a 3-D movie at the cinema, you may have thought that the 3-D effect was good. But, believe me, the system at Astrofest is ten times better.

Next year will be the 25th anniversary of Astrofest so, I am sure, something big will be planned! It will be held 10-11 February 2017.

Images from my visit to Astrofest are below.

While I was in London for Astrofest, I took the opportunity to visit the nearby Science Museum to see the Cosmonauts Exhibition. On display were many items never seen before outside Russia. These included space-flown Vostok and Soyuz capsules, a prototype manned lunar lander, space suits and other equipment. The spacecraft were very primitive and cramped, and it must have taken great courage to fly them!

Images from my visit to Cosmonauts are below.

Andy Gibbs

News from Membury Thursday 1st September 2022

Avian InfluenzaBird keepers in Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset must follow strict biosecurity measures to help protect flocks and mitigate the risk of further outbreaks.Following a number of detections of avian influenza in poultry and wild and captive birds across Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset, the UK’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer has declared an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) across the region to mitigate the risk of further outbreaks of disease occurring.This means that from midday yesterday (Wednesday 31 August) it is a legal requirement for all bird keepers in Devon, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) and parts of Somerset to follow strict biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks, of whatever type or size. A map of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone is available on gov.uk. Backyard owners with small numbers of poultry including chickens, ducks and geese must take steps to limit the risk of the disease spreading to their animals.

2022 /2023 Storm names announcedStorms are named by the Met Office in partnership with Met Éireann and KNMI, with this being the eighth year of the storm naming project to help raise awareness and inform the public of the risks of upcoming storms.

Scam warning:Fraudsters are pretending to be Ofgem. If you receive a call or email telling you to apply for your energy bill rebate, ignore it. Energy companies will apply your rebate automatically as soon as you’re entitled to it

Become an NHS Volunteer RespondersAs the Autumn vaccination booster campaign starts, the NHS are appealing for more volunteer responders to steward, to provide transport and, if suitably qualified and trained, to administer vaccines.They’re open for recruitment in areas across England! Apply using this link: https://nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk/i-want-to-volunteerTheir Support Team are available from 8am to 8pm every day on 0808 196 3382 to help you with queries and there’s an FAQ section on their website. Visit https://nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk/faqs-for-nhs-volunteer-responders.

Make a Bug HotelWant to help make East Devon’s next best hotel? What if we said all you need is some twigs and leafy material from around your garden?!Oh, and in case you haven’t realised, it’s a hotel for bugs… not people!Now is the perfect time to start collecting natural materials in preparation for the colder months when many animals look for cosy places to hibernate So, get your Grand Designs hat on, and treat your guests to quality 5-star accommodation this winter! Get the kids involved over the weekend, they’ll love it just as much as the bugs will Tips and tricks here https://orlo.uk/STjp5

Axminster Repair CaféAt the Guildhall Saturday 3rd September 10:00 – 13:00;Bring your broken household items, blunt knives and dodgy zips to get them fixed.

FAS Cambridge Convention, 21 September 1991

In the 1980s the Federation of Astronomical Societies (FAS) held annual autumn astronomical conventions at the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) at Herstmonceux. These conventions were very popular and members of OASI regularly attended, often hiring a minibus to provide transport. The FAS held the last convention at Herstmonceux in 1989.

In 1991, following the relocation of the RGO from Herstmonceux to Cambridge, FAS resumed its autumn conventions, holding them in Cambridge. Several centres of astronomy are located in and around the city, including the Institute of Astronomy (IoA) with its associated optical telescopes, the Mullard Radio Observatory (MRO) at Lords Bridge and the relocated RGO. Although Cambridge hosts a much wider range of astronomical activity than did Herstmonceux, the disadvantage for the convention-goer is that the astronomical centres are not within easy walking distance of one another, whereas the site at Herstmonceux was self contained within its own grounds.

The FAS 1991 convention was held at the Cavendish Laboratories, Cambridge on 21 September. Thirteen members of OASI attended, travelling in four cars. The day's programme consisted of five lectures plus visits in the afternoon to the IoA, RGO and MRO. The first lecture, starting at 10.15 was by Dr David Malin entitled Things To See and Do In The Dark. In recent years David has published many colour photographs of deep sky objects using techniques that he has developed himself. His talk was about his darkroom work. He showed several new colour photographs for the first time, some of which may be published in Sky & Telescope magazine in the near future. After a short break, the second lecture began at 12.00. This was given by Professor Martin Rees and was entitled Dark Matter, Quasars and Cosmology. The first half of the talk deviated from the main theme with an account of the possible discovery by Jodrell Bank Observatory of a planet orbiting a pulsar. There followed a break for lunch, taken either as a packed meal or as visit to a local pub. Dr David Dewhirst gave the third lecture, entitled 700 Years of Cambridge Astronomy. The title was a misnomer as the majority of the lecture was devoted to only the last 300 years! Most members of OASI missed the fourth lecture as they either attended one of the conducted tours of the IoA, MRO or RGO or spent time at the trade stands. The last lecture, by Professor Andrew Fabian, entitled Galaxy Clusters and Dark Matter, started at 17:00; unfortunately, by this time most members of OASI had begun the journey home.

Roy Gooding

Remote Sensing and Multi-Parametric Approach

The investigation of earthquake precursors from space not only shows the advantage of worldwide coverage of seismic areas, but also offers the possibility of exploiting new methods. Remote sensing makes it possible to monitor multiple parameters for precursor signatures in the simultaneous variation of several physical variables (above the epicenter, around it and in its conjugate zone), but also to survey large areas that could be affected by the earthquake preparation process but cannot be monitored with the network of scattered ground stations (see for example Hayakawa, 2009; Ouzounov et al., 2018; De Santis et al., 2019b). In this framework, Pulinets et al. (2006) have highlighted that because the peak of preseismic radon exhalation would occur 4–10 days before the earthquake, the time scale of radon variations and that of the observed air temperature variations are comparable (Inan et al., 2008) that is compatible with their multi-parametric analysis of the anomalies of surface temperature, latent heat flux, air temperature and relative humidity observed before the Colima (Mexico) earthquake (M7.6) of 2003; the M7.1 Hector Mine (United States) event of 1999 and the Parkfield (United States) earthquake (M6) of 2004.

The potential of a multi-parameter statistical analysis of satellite data was highlighted by the joint study, published by De Santis et al. (2019c), on electron density and magnetic field measured during 2.5 years by the Swarm satellite (with quiet geomagnetic conditions) in a time window of one-month before and after 12 strong earthquakes. The authors report that the detected anomalies (limited to the Dobrovolsky area, statistically defined and normalized with respect to the number of satellite background tracks) show a linear dependence on the earthquake magnitude, which may support the hypothesis of their seismic origin and exclude a random correlation.

Between the multi-parametric analyses, several studies have been devoted the outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR). OLR is the flux of thermal radiation (between about 4 and 100 μm) emitted from the Earth to space and is measured by satellites such as NOAA14, 15, 16 and 17. In the global system of heating/cooling of the Earth, OLR is the main way in which the planet loses energy and includes the integrated effect of atmospheric species, cloud formation, aerosol balance, ocean whitecap, albedo, emissions from land and sea surfaces, etc. There are several advantages of investigating earthquake precursors through OLR because the data are available worldwide and OLR takes into account the (large spatially integrated) contributions of all soil-atmosphere coupling processes, including direct and indirect effects of earthquakes (such as radon release, ionization, latent heat release, etc.) that may occur over large areas around the epicenter, but that would be difficult to monitor with a network of local stations. Ouzounov et al. (2007) studied the OLR anomaly of the eddy field with respect to reference values averaged over months and years (in the period 1999–2004) before and after several seismic events, at different spatial resolutions [1° × 1° and 2.5° × 2.5° in latitude and longitude. The eddy field is defined as the sum of the differences of the OLR measured value between adjacent points in the analyzed period (day/month) (Liu et al., 1999; Liu, 2000; Kang and Liu, 2001). Ouzounov et al. (2007) report transient OLR anomalies (in the range 10 and 13 μm) before several strong events: ΔOLR ∼ +6 W/m2, 5 days before the Bhuj (India) earthquake of M7.9, January 26, 2001); ΔOLR ∼ +10 W/m2, the month before the M6.8 event in Boumerdes, (Algeria), May 21, 2003; several anomalous OLR increases in the months before the M6.6 Iran earthquake, December 26, 2003 (with the largest ΔOLR of +22 W/m2, occurring about two weeks before the event); several OLR anomalies before the M9.0 Sumatra earthquake, December 26, 2004 (including the largest one of +80 W/m2, on 21 December). Above the epicenter of the Sumatra event, Ouzounov et al. (2005) also reported anomalies of surface latent heat flux and GPS/TEC, also about 5 days before the earthquake. Based on the joint observation of several variations of thermal, atmospheric and ionospheric parameters, Ouzounov et al. (2007) suggested that the observed pre-earthquake OLR anomalies could be explained by the chain of phenomena of LAIC model triggered by the radon release (Pulinets and Boyarchuk, 2005; Pulinets et al., 2006; Pulinets and Ouzounov, 2011). Starting from the Ouzounov et al. (2007) seminal work, OLR anomalies have been observed for many other seismic events, such as for example before (from 19 to December 24, 2009) the M7.0 Haiti earthquake of January 12, 2010 (Xiong et al., 2010); before the M7.7 Awaran (Pakistan) earthquake of September 24, 2013 (Venkatanathan and Natyaganov, 2014); before the M7.0 Jiuzhaigou (China) earthquake, August 8, 2017 and the M 7.1 Mexico earthquake occurred on September 20, 2017 (Zhai et al., 2020). Fu et al. (2020) have recently applied the analysis of OLR data for studying ten years (2009–2019) of earthquakes in the Taiwan area. With an epoch-superimposed method, the authors have found consecutive anomalies before strong events (M ≥ 6.0). Particularly interesting is the advance time of the temporal profile of daily OLR anomalies index (analyzed in a time-window of 25 days before and after the earthquake, see Figure 4 of Fu et al. (2020) that shows a peak 2–15 days before the events regardless of being in the daytime or the nighttime. The authors claim that, after removing the background due to typhoon’s occurrence, OLR anomalies have been observed before about 77% of the earthquakes while weak seems the correlation between the number of OLR anomalies index and the earthquake’s magnitude (apparently, the increasing intensity of OLR anomalies would not be associated with increased magnitude). An important multi-parametric analysis of atmospheric and ionospheric data collected on ground and from space (OLR, GPS/TEC, LEO ionospheric tomography and critical frequency foF2) has been carried out for the M9 Tohoku (Japan) earthquake of March 11, 2011 (Ouzounov et al., 2011). The authors report a chain of anomalies in the days before the earthquake: an OLR anomalies near the epicenter (on March 7th), an anomalous increase of electron density (GPS/TEC data, from March 8th), and a large increase in electron concentration detected in all 4 Japanese ground-based ionosondes (from March 3 to 11), which returned to normal a few days after the main shock of March 11. Some of the recorded TEC anomalies occurred between two minor/moderate geomagnetic storms, while the major increase (on March 8) was measured during a geomagnetically quiet period. Based on the long duration of the detected disturbances over the Sendai region, the authors excludes a meteorological or geomagnetic activity origin and suggested a preseismic character of the observed phenomenology.

De Santis et al. (2020) carried out an analysis, paradigmatic of the multi-parametric approach - by correlating ground and space-based data of seismicity, atmospheric temperature, water vapor, aerosol, methane, ionosonde measurements as well as electron density and magnetic field observations from Swarm satellite - studying the seismic sequence of Ridgecrest (CA, United States) 2019, started on July 4 and culminating with the M7.1 event of 6 July (that included also several large foreshocks of M6.4, M5 and M5.4). The results suggested a chain of multiple precursor anomalies during a preparation phase (September 2018 to July 2019) much longer than that identified by many other works, particularly on ionospheric precursors, which appeared to be limited to only a few hours to days before large earthquakes (e.g., Heki, 2011; He and Heki, 2017; Yan et al., 2017). The same long preparation phase is confirmed for example by Liu et al. (2020c), Marchetti et al. (2019, 2020). In particular, ionospheric anomalies (from ionosonde and Swarm satellite data) reported by De Santis et al. (2020), were detected from five months before the mainshock; at around 2 months before and finally on 2–3 June 2019 (under very quiet geomagnetic conditions). The authors pointed out that: 1) anticipation time, distance and features of the ionospheric anomalies were in agreement with the values estimated by using the Korsunova and Khegai (2006, 2008) method as a function of the magnitude of incoming earthquake (for M = 6–7, the distance would be less than 600 km, and the advance time from 1 to 6 days); 2) the results seem support the hypothesis that the observed percursors can be due to the release of ionized particles from the lithosphere (see Freund, 2011; Pulinets and Ouzounov, 2011; Hayakawa et al., 2018).

News From Membury Monday 25th July 2022

Flower ShowThe Flower Show takes place on Saturday 30th. Please submit your entry forms by Thursday 09:30 to Haccombe, Play Street or to the Village Hall. This year you might find that your entries will appear in the Telegraph – rumour has it that they will be sending a photographer!

Flower Show Auction – the after party!!Please stay on for the Flower Show Auction with our very own comedy duo Jeremy Wallace and Ron Martin, flogging marrows the size of small submarines and onions at a price that’ll make you weep. Cakes and preserves, bunches of flowers and even some creative crafts will be up for auction at inflation busting prices. Just don’t scratch your nose or nod your head, you might end up with a bag of cabbages. All proceeds in aid of Cystic fibrosis and Axe Vale ConservationNOT TO BE MISSED!! Something for everyone… whether they want it or not!

MoviolaWe can all look forward to “Downton Abbey, a New Era”, “Elvis”, and “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” over the next few months. Look out for more details in the forthcoming Mercury!

Midweek Himalayan Balsam Pulling – this WednesdayIf you fancy some light exercise in good company, a small band of friendly folk will be pulling up Himalayan Balsam at Longbridge, on Wednesday (27th) evening at 5pm.As you probably already know, Himalayan Balsam is an incredibly invasive plant which is taking over along the edge of many of our watercourses in and around Membury. We need new volunteers to learn to identify the Balsam and how to eradicate it safely without allowing the seeds to ‘pop’ and disperse further. Many of our regular volunteers have been valiantly removing HB for years and it’s important that we support them and attract some new volunteers to keep up the momentum against this species.If you’re curious and want to understand more about HB and how to remove it, this would be a great opportunity to learn in a small group setting, very locally. Do come and join us, wear sturdy footwear, long trousers and gardening gloves if you have them.Contact Daniel, or reply to this email

Road WorksPlease note that the road from Wellands Cross to Membury Church will be closed to through traffic from 1st – 12th August to be repaired. The diversion route is shown here in blue.

Membury Parish CouncilInterim Clerk: Jakki Henderson1 Brockfield Cottage, Chardstock, Nr Axminster, DEVON, EX13 7DD Tel: 01460 220738Email: clerk@membury.eastdevon.gov.uk Dear Parish Councillors and Members of the Public,Councillors are summoned and members of the public are invited to attend the Council Meeting of Membury Parish Council, to be held in the Membury Village Hall on Tuesday 2nd August 2022 at 7:30pm to discuss the following matters:Jakki Henderson, Interim Clerk to the Council

AGENDA2280. Welcome2281. Apologies for absence2282. Minutes: To adopt the minutes of the meeting held on 21st of June 2022 as a true record2283. Declarations of Interest under the Code of Conduct: Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any interests either at this stage of the meeting, or as soon as they become aware of the interest. The reason for the declaration must be given, and whether it is a personal or pecuniary interest and any actions they intend to take when the item is being dealt with.2284. County and District Council reports: County Councillor, Iain Chubb (DCC) and District Councillor, Paul Hayward (EDDC)2285. Police report2286. Finance2287. Footpaths2288. Highways2289. Quaker burial ground – update on strimming work2290. Community Shop – to comment on draft consultation document 2291. Playing field2292. Public Forum – Chair to restate boundaries

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on 4th of October 2022.

Oak Apple CaféPlease note that there will be no café this Friday, as the hall will be set up for the Flower Show on the following day. The Post Office will, however, be in the foyer as usual

MercuryHow time flies! After all the excitement of our special Jubilee issue, and the Jubilee itself, it’s already time to think about the Autumn issue. September is the time when groups who have paused for the Summer re-convene, so it is the perfect opportunity f to advertise forth-coming programmes and plans, but also for individual residents to ready their homes for the winter. To this end, we will be thinking about saving energy and being “greener” in our approach to keeping warm. Daniel Lazar is putting together a centre feature on this subject, but all readers are invited to contribute anecdotes, thoughts and information on this subject, especially in the light of the recent events which high-lighted the subject of global warming. News, view and interesting information to mbrymcry@gmail.com before Friday, August 5th, please, or hard copy left in the mailbox at Windrush, in Butchers Lane or at the Village Hall. Look forward to hearing from you.The Editorial Team

Chardstock Eco GroupThis is a quick reminder that the next Eco Group get together is this Friday, July 29th @ 7pm at Chardstock Cricket Ground.  The weather forecast is looking alright but we’ll take a rain check nearer the time.  There’s no formal agenda for the evening. It’s a social.  Please bring a picnic – maybe something to share – and a chair.  There is parking.On a different note we have two places available for a visit on Friday, August 26th pm to the Dorset Wildlife Trust’s West Dorset Beaver Project near Beaminster. https://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/wildlife-conservation/dorset-beaver-project?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhZKC_tWT-QIVxYFQBh1CDQ-OEAAYASAAEgJ6KPD_BwEI’m sorry but they can only take limited numbers so these two places are on a first come, first served basis.  Contact Vicky admin@essenceconsulting.co.uk.

Lyme Disease and TicsThere appear to be a lot of tics lurking in the long grass at the moment, and some tics carry Lyme Disease. Please take great care to check yourself over after you’ve been in an environment where you think they may thrive.

Yarcombe Terrier Racing

Joint European Taurus (JET), Culham, Oxford, 11 November 1990

Photo of a section of the JET fusion reactor. Taken by Alan Smith during an OASI visit to the facility on 11 November 1990.

Alan Smith

Genesis Casino

The Casoola sister sites are on the Genesis Global Limited network. This casino is called Genesis Casino. That identifies the site as the flagship of the casino network, but it’s an unusual flagship casino in that it’s not the oldest casino in the family, nor is it the most popular. Genesis Casino launched in 2019 as the fourth casino created by Genesis Global, which suggests the casino network company experimented with its earlier sites before perfecting its formula and launching Genesis Casino. The result of that process is a space-themed casino that looks modern and exciting, offering seven-figure progressive jackpots and a welcome promotion worth up to £100 with three hundred free spins thrown in as part of the bargain. Wagering requirements on bonus funds across the Casoola sister sites tend to be set at x40, so assume that’s the case with every casino we discuss unless we specifically tell you otherwise. As you’d expect from a casino network’s flagship site, Genesis Casino offers slots, video poker, live dealer games and a well-chosen set of table games.

News from Membury Wednesday 24th August 2022

Stockland Fish and ChipsStockland always has a rest from the chippy every August, but it’ll be back ready to serve on 24th September. Watch this space for more information!

Axminster Medical PracticeCOVID and Flu JabsWe will shortly be sending out letters to all patients aged 65 or above inviting them to an appointment to have their COVID booster and seasonal flu jabs. Clinics will be running in September and October here at Axminster Medical Practice.We will then be sending out further invitations in October to 50-64-year-olds and patients with specific conditions that put them at a higher risk. These clinics will be running from November.Both jabs will be administered in the same appointment, but you can of course choose not to have one or the other.Vaccination is always your choice, but this winter especially, we are extremely concerned about the capacity of our hospitals to deal with more sick patients. We strongly advise getting your vaccinations if you are eligible

Roadworks UpdateThe road repairs from the Sewage Works to Wellands Cross have gone on a little longer than anticipated due – I believe – to equipment failure. The end date is currently showing as 26th August. The knock-on effect of this is that the road from Membury Cross to Clarence Cross is now due to be repaired between 31st August and 7th September. It’s curious that the route of the diversion for this second tranche of road repair is more or less what we asked for when we were trying to organise the street party – but we were refused on the grounds that the roads weren’t suitable.

Rewilding and the droughtYou can’t control what beavers do or how they do it!’ Could rewilding help England fight droughts?https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/24/you-cant-control-what-beavers-do-or-how-they-do-it-could-rewilding-help-england-fight-droughts

Honiton Hill Rally

Otterford Repair CaféSunday 11th September 2022 11am to 2pmOtterford Parish Hall TA20 3RSElectrical, IT, Knife Sharpening, Garden Tools, Clothes/Textiles, Book Binding, Bicycles and much more…Café serving Tea, Coffee, Soft Drinks, Cakes, Sandwiches and Snacks.Free EntryFor more information or to volunteer please contact:Sue White 01460 234568 sue@mainlymanagement.com

Car Park WallPost straightened by David Neill and Nigel Warren, recemented by David Neill. Good as new. Thank you very much to both of you!

Broadband UpdateHere is the latest newsletter from Connecting Devon and Somerset.https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDEVONCC/bulletins/327a4b7 Airband have been sending out letters to various people asking to put poles up on their land. This request has not been met with universal approval.In addition, at least one villager has been approached by Jurassic Fibre, having expressed an interest in them. If sufficient people in the village sign up to the Jurassic Fibre site we might get action from them as an alternative to Airband.

Feast nights & Taste East Devon Festival at High Grange, DalwoodWe run High Grange just outside Dalwood, with a cookery school, supper club (feast nights) and also wellbeing and creative classes, including botanical drawing, reiki and breath work.We have a beautiful outdoor woodland kitchen and dining area with all manner of barbecues, pizza ovens and fire pits, as well as a large covered oak communal dining table, and an indoor “Shippen” wellbeing and feast area. We host regular Fire Schools and Feast nights – you can see details of all our upcoming events here: https://www.highgrangedevon.com/all-events.We are excited to be hosting a special one-off event on Friday 16th September as part of the Taste East Devon festival, featuring a showcase of all our brilliant East Devon and Jurassic Coast suppliers, including the Lyme Bay Fish Shack, Haye Farm, Curious Kombucha, Gilt & Flint and the Dalwood Vineyard. This event will include a 1 hour discussion with suppliers, then Luke will cook in the outdoor kitchen and finally we’ll sit down to a delicious 3 course lunch. For further details & tickets, click here.Best wishes, SaraHigh Grange Devonsara@highgrangedevon.com / luke@highgrangedevon.comTel: 07814493028 www.highgrangedevon.com

Guildhall QuizLeigh Conley is running his usual quiz at the Guildhall in Axminster at 7pm on Sunday 28th August. The quiz is free and the prizes are excellent! Turn up by yourself, or turn up with a team.

Seaton MusicJoin now ahead of the season starting in October. Absolutely fantastic concerts, and excellent value

Pelaa

We’re consulting our Finnish phrase book again to get to the bottom of the name “Pelaa.” As it turns out, it’s the Finnish word for “plays,” so it comes from a very similar school of thought as Spela. All of these casinos are Casoola sister sites, but Pelaa and Spela have a closer relationship than any of the others because of their similar themes and their distinctly non-UK focus. Pelaa stays close to its Scandinavian roots with a view of the icy-cold Finnish hills and mountains and a mascot character who may or may not be a female Viking warrior. Theming aside, there isn’t much at Pelaa that helps to distinguish it from the other casinos on this network. It offers more than two thousand casino games, but so do all the other sides. It promises quick withdrawals, but again, so do all the others. Even the welcome promotion at Pelaa is somewhere between the most and least generous Casoola sister sites, with the standard £100 matched deposit available plus an allocation of 150 bonus spins. Pelaa isn’t unique, but you’re still likely to enjoy it if you enjoy Casoola.