You want a physicist to speak at your funeral
You want a physicist to speak at your funeral. You want the physicist to talk to your grieving family about the conservation of energy, so they will understand that your energy has not died. You want the physicist to remind your sobbing mother about the first law of thermodynamics; that no energy gets created in […]
Oscar’s
“Oscar Wilde’s grave vies with that of Jim Morrison as the biggest tourist attraction in this graveyard of the great and good (Balzac, Chopin, Delacroix, Ingres, Molière, Piaf, and the lovers Abélard and Héloïse among others). It is regularly covered in red lipstick kisses and is both a lovers’ rendezvous and a rallying point against […]
Cancer pain is uncontrolled in most of the world
To state the obvious: 1) most advanced cancer patients have pain, and 2) we have excellent pain medications which can effectively treat more than 90% of cancer pain. Therefore, most patients with cancer receive proper prescriptions for pain. Obvious, yes? True? No. In Europe, Australia and North America narcotic analgesics are widely available, and frequently […]
I was smiling so long as I was next to you
In case you missed it, there was one of those stunning, magical moments on the radio on Sunday. On Broadcasting House, Emilie Blachère, a reporter for Paris Match, read a love letter/poem to her partner Rémi Ochlik, who died in Syria alongside Marie Colvin last year. Hear her read it on the BBC iPlayer. Go to 54 mins […]
Origins of sayings #1 – Everyone wants a piece of him
A number of popular sayings derive from death and funerals. One such is the saying ‘Everyone wants a piece of him’. This is a surprisingly ancient saying dating back 800 years. Here’s how it happened. When Richard I (Lionheart) died, his entrails were interred in the central French town of Chalus, where he died in a […]
