iblog

Rushda: Most people have probably heard of the mysterious English guerilla artist known as “Banksy,” famous for his engaging street graffiti. The graffiti has appeared in London and many other cities around the world. Few would, however, be able to say exactly who this elusive figure is, the topic being one of much controversy in the past. Well, finally someone believes to have caught the artist on film, the picture of him can be seen here.

No reliable picture has ever been taken before and the passerby who took it is familiar with Banksy’s works. He is convinced that it is him. The photograph was taken in a place called Bethnal Green and shows a man at work, painting together with an assistant, scaffolding and truck. Banksy has always taken strong steps to disguise his true identity but now evidence suggests that the man in the picture is him. In the picture that Banksy has painted, a flower on the wall made of double yellow lines which carry on from the lines on the road can be seen together with a picture of an artist next to it.

Banksy has mystified and charmed hundreds of people with his graffiti, with many works fetching hundreds of thousands of pounds at auction. Even Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been buying Banksy pieces. However, it is true that his “artwork” has always been controversial, both in content and the fact that it is unauthorised in many places. Indeed, Tower Hamlet council have decided to treat all the work as graffiti and paint it over. As a spokesman says:

“As ever, priority is given to the removal of offensive graffiti.”

Personally, whatever the consensus on the paintings is, what makes me wonder the most is whether the mystery of Banksy’s identity is itself part of what makes his works so famous - and indeed if this is the case, whether the popularity will be diminished once he is unveiled.

Rushda: Art enthusiasts will be excited to see that one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings, The Last Supper, has been put up on the internet at a 16 billion pixel resolution. The 15th-century artwork can now be seen here in fine detail, 1,600 times more detail than traditional 10 megapixel cameras.

The work, which is displayed in Italy’s Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and viewed by 350,000 tourists a year, can now be seen by experts on their computers as though it were mere centimetres away. The picture can be seen without all the graininess associated with zooming in on ordinary photographs. As art curator Alberto Artioli explains:

“You can see how Leonardo made the cups transparent, something you can’t ordinarily see. You can also note the state of degradation the painting is in.”

Perhaps now Da Vinci code enthusiasts will be able to analyse the painting for themselves and put their minds to rest at last - or perhaps bring to light a further conspiracy.

Rushda: The winner of this year’s Man Booker prize has been announced. Surprisingly it was neither of the two favourites from the bookmakers - Ian McEwan or Lloyd Jones - but Irish author Anne Enright for her book The Gathering. The Booker prize is one of the most prestigious in literature and is awarded for the best work of fiction in English from a British author in the last twelve months. Enright has received a £50,000 reward.

The book is a melancholy look at a grieving family in Ireland. Chair of the judges Sir Howard Davies believes the book is a masterpiece as it is “powerful, uncomfortable and, at times, angry.” He says:

“The Gathering is an unflinching look at a grieving family in tough and striking language. The book is powerful, it pulls you along and it has an absolutely brilliant ending. It has one of the best last sentences of any novel I have ever read.”

Like most people, the author herself, a former television producer who’s written three novels before this one, is surprised by the winning. After all, over 90% of all wagers at the Bookies were for Ian McEwan and Lloyd Jones. Enright says:

“I am still churning it through. Tomorrow, I’ll wake up and go ‘whoopee’. I was ready for anything - possibly anything except that.”

Congratulations to the author for such a spectacular recognition for her works. No doubt I will try and get hold of a copy in the near future!

Rushda: A leading scientist has warned that teaching evolution may no longer be as straightforward as before, as Creationism is becoming increasingly popular. Apparently around one in ten people in the UK now reject evolutionary theory and this is said to be partly due to the rise in Muslim students in classes.

Professor Michael Reiss, who is head of science at London’s Institute of Education and also a Church of England priest, believes that teachers may need to start approaching the topic with a lot more sensitivity as the theory of evolution can’t be taken for granted in the same way as before. He says that as a result of the increasing popularity of Creationism in classes, some teachers fear teaching evolution and some avoid it completely. This is worrying, he says, as it could mean that many students will have gaps in their scientific knowledge. Furthermore, he says the reason for the change is that there are more Muslim students who take the topic very seriously:

“The number of Muslim students has grown considerably in the last 10 to 20 years and a higher proportion of Muslim families do not accept evolutionary theory compared with Christian families. That’s one reason why it’s more of an issue in schools. The days have long gone when science teachers could ignore Creationism when teaching about origins.”

Reiss states that the best way forward is to reach a compromise by teaching everyone the details of the theory but not alienating students who don’t accept it. He argues that every student should at least know what evolutionary theory is, even if they don’t believe it. This will also make sure they learn to respect other people’s beliefs as well. He also says that Creationism should not be discussed in classrooms unless it is brought up by a student.

The issue is indeed a controversial one as evolution is a sensitive topic that everyone has a different stance on. Recent guidelines have in fact been published, however, which tell teachers how to deal with the issue. As a spokesman from the Department for Children, Schools and Families spokesman says:

“Creationism and intelligent design are not scientific theories nor testable as scientific fact - and have no place in the science curriculum. But we advise science teachers that when questions about Creationism come up in lessons, it provides an opportunity to explain or explore what makes a scientific theory.”

This is perhaps the best resolution we can come to for now, but no doubt not everyone will be happy.

Rushda: A key which is believed to have been able to save the Titanic from sinking has recently fetched £90,000 in an auction. Apparently the key was for a store of binoculars but it was not on the ship when it set sail so the binoculars were never used. Many speculate that if it had been on the ship, the crew would not have had to rely on their naked eyes alone and may have been able to spot the fatal iceberg and dodge it in time.

The small, rusty key, bearing the tag “Crows Nest Telephone Titanic” is believed to have been in the pocket of an officer who was transferred off the vessel days before it left. He had simply forgotten to pass it on and it therefore couldn’t be used. Now, an anonymous telephone bidder has been able to acquire the key in an auction in Wiltshire, for which the bidding was apparently “fierce.” As auctioneer Henry Aldridge says:

“We had several telephone bidders as well as people in the auction room, and the gentleman who was successful was very happy. But I can tell you the man he outbid was not, he was very disappointed.”

The price for which the key was sold is obviously a huge sum of money for anyone to get their head around. However, it is clear why the key is seen as so precious now - the key wasn’t just any old key but the key to the life of the Titanic, the key to the lives of 1,522 who perished on that voyage. It is simply incredible that this small object could have changed the destiny of so many, and is now in the hands of someone so many years after the incident.

Rushda: The long debate over who is the smartest of the sexest is now bringing more results - but confusing ones. Psychologists have recently maintained that because twice as many men win Nobel prizes compared to women, there are more men in the brightest 2% of the population. However, even though men win more prizes, the study has also shown that there are more men at the opposite extreme as well - with the least intelligent 2% of the population having many more men than women.

It is a sensitive matter and making any sweeping judgements is difficult, with people such as Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, even losing his job last year when he maintained that men were more intelligent. Any studies have always been flawed because of so many varying factors - culture, social status, unequal opportunities, and the sheer range in human intelligence in the first place.

The new studies by British psychologists (though disturbingly all men) are believed to be the closest we have got to settling the debate once and for all. The psychologists conducted tests on 2,500 brothers and sisters in order to rule out family background. It was found that women scored higher on language skills whilst men were the best on sciences and arithmetic. Whilst the average intelligence was found to be roughly equal, it was found that men were more likely to be at extremes on the scale. As Timothy Bates, a psychology professor at Edinburgh University, says:

“Men were more likely to be both at the very top and at the very bottom.”

Various evolutionary explanations have been given for women maintaining a comfortable middle ground whilst men like to excel to be more attractive to women. However, many still remain unconvinced by such explanations - after all, you could account for almost any results in this way. Also, it is unclear whether testing brothers and sisters will really mean that gender is the only factor being considered - social and cultural pressure exists within families as well. Psychologists seem hell-bent on finding some tangible difference but maybe there isn’t one after all. Is it really that difficult to maintain that men and women might just be equally likely to be intelligent?

Jeanne: Bran Castle, for centuries linked with the legendary Count Dracula, is now at the heart of a row between a number of Romanian MPs and an American architect. The building dates back to the 14th century and its ownership is soon to be passed on to a New York architect, Dominic Hapsburg. Mr. Hapsburg is a distant descendant of the Hapsburg family which ruled great swathes of the region during the late 17th and early 18th century. Now, however, certain Romanian MPs have argued that the transfer of the castle’s ownership to a foreigner with no direct links to the country is illegal.

Bran Castle has single-handedly attracted thousands of visitors to what is otherwise a very desolate part of the Romanian countryside. The castle, itself, is situated in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, some 105 miles north of Bucharest, the Romanian capital. The Dracula myth generates hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of revenue for the otherwise impoverished local residents. As such, the Romanian MP’s opposition to the ownership transfer comes as little surprise. However, Mr. Hapsburg has assured his opponents that he will take the matter to the country’s courts if ownership of the castle isn’t transferred to his name. His lawyers have stated that their client will sue for damages of up to $200 million if he is refused ownership rights. Speaking to the media, Mr. Hapsburg stated:

“I (feel) like I (am) a misplaced person… like I was at home everywhere and at home nowhere. I live once more with the feeling of dread in which I once lived, as a child, when my family and I were forced out of our home and thrown out into the streets in mid-winter.”

Bran Castle has undoubtedly had a very interesting history. Whilst Vlad the Impaler, the Romanian prince upon whom the Dracula legend is based, never actually resided in the castle, he was known to have visited the fortress on a number of occasions. During the early 20th century, Romania’s Communist rulers seized possession of the castle and it gradually fell into disrepair. It was, however, carefully restored after the fall of Communism and in recent years has also provided the setting for numerous Hollywood films.

Rushda: An immaculately preserved Inca girl which was found by archaeologists in 1999 has gone on display in Argentina. The girl was originally discovered in an icy pit on top of Mount Llullaillaco, a volcano in north-west Argentina. It is believed that she was sacrificed by the Incas nearly 500 years ago. According to Dr Johan Reinhard, the leading archaeologist from the team that discovered her, she is the best preserved mummy in the world.

The newly famous attraction, a picture of which can be seen here is named “la Doncella” (”the maiden”), and has attracted hundreds of tourists from Argentina and other parts of the world. It is believed that when the girl died in the Andes mountain range she was only fifteen years old; she was discovered along with remains of a younger boy and girl.

The mummy is being kept in special conditions in a cold chamber that mimics the sub-freezing conditions in which she was found. Visitors have found the way in which she has been preserved remarkable and have commented that she looks like she may come alive any minute. Although some groups have disputed with the decision to put her on display, believing that it shows no respect for the dead, most have found the visit to be an intriguing and educational experience.

Now, even in death, the Incan girl lives on, perfectly preserved and showing us a glimpse of what has long, long gone.

Rushda: An interesting bid is currently taking place by the Words for the World campaign to find out what the British population’s favourite words are. Among the entries submitted, there are rather unusual nominations such as “garlic”, “mayfly”, and “home”.

The campaign, organised by the charity Education Action, aims to highlight the issue of children who have been deprived of education due to war, and this fun attempt will publicise their cause. According to Education Action, almost 40 million children cannot go to school because they live in war zones, and, of course, words are essential for an education. The link may be tenuous but the intention is in the right place with the campaign asking British citizens to submit their favourite words in order to support the campaign.

Thousands of people are submitting their entries, from MPs to authors and actors, and the campaign is becoming a rapid success. Some interesting suggestions include “carminative” from Conservative MP Boris Johnson, “indefatigability” from Respect MP George Galloway, “home” from gardening celebrity Monty Don and the rather peculiar “garlic” from historian Simon Schama. Some people have chosen words due to the pure sound of them, whilst others have gone for meanings with words such as “peace” and “love”.

As Head of Development at Education Action Chris Field says of the popular campaign:

“Giving their favourite word is a great way for people to show their support for the education of all children, particularly on International Literacy Day. We’ve had some really interesting and fun results so far and look forward to seeing more.”

For those who are interested in putting forward their own favourite words, they can do so online by visiting the Education Action website.

Rushda: An incredible story emerged today of a 23-year-old woman who, after undergoing heart transplant surgery, can now actually see her own old heart behind a glass display at a medical exhibition. After Jennifer Sutton from Hampshire had the surgery earlier this year, she agreed to donate her damaged heart to the Wellcome Collection in central London, and it can now be seen by anyone, including her.

Understandably, the viewing of her heart (a picture of which can be seen here) was a particularly emotional experience for Jennifer who had long suffered from restrictive cardiomyopathy. She says:

“Seeing my heart for the first time is an emotional and surreal experience. It caused me so much pain and turmoil when it was inside me. Seeing it sitting here is extremely bizarre and very strange. Finally I can see this odd looking lump of muscle that has given me so much upset.”

The exhibition is designed to raise public awareness of medical issues surrounding the heart. It also highlights the serious need in Britain for there to be more donors as the average wait for heart patients is 103 days. Last year almost 30 patients died whilst waiting for a transplant.