Spectre (2015) - Big Data on the Big Screen

Set in Mexico City and Rome (including the Tiber River), Daniel Craig returns as Bond with Sam Mendes directing (following on from his direction of Skyfall). References to drones and big data threaten to obliterate the double-0 program but Bond triumphs in the end.

The film also stars former wrestler and MMA champion Dave Bautista (who will be starring in Kickboxer: Vengeance, in a remake of the 1989 kickboxing classic). In training sessions, Dave always does two to three sets of key exercises.

Obertilliach, Austria, the highest village in Lesachtal, is also featured quite prominently in Spectre. Silesians (originally from the area largely taken up by Poland) settled in the area around 1375.

Sicario (2015)

Sicario is a thriller directed by Denis Villeneuve, from Quebec. It stars Emily Blunt as FBI agent Kate Macer. It is partly set in Juarez, Mexico, in the state of Chihuahua adjacent to New Mexico and Texas in the United States. It also stars Benicio del Toro, a Puerto Rican star who plays the mysterious Alejandro. It also stars Josh Brolin who played Beck Weathers in Everest. Gross takings were $80m versus a budget of $30m.

One of the places featured in the movie is the Bridge of the Americas, a group of bridges connecting Juarez and El Paso, crossing the Rio Grande (or Rio Bravo del Norte in Spanish, Bravo meaning, among other things, furious or agitated), which forms part of the Mexico-US border.

False Trail (2011)

False Trail is a Swedish film set in Norrland, the northernmost province of Sweden.

Gobi Desert

The Gobi is Asia's largest desert. It is notable in the history of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in history. Many fossils have been found in the Gobi desert.

Acacia Trees

Acacia is a species of tree found in many parts of the world including Australia. Africa and South America. Subspecies include silver wattle and Sydney golden wattle.

How do Solar Cells Work? (Think Photons and Electrons)

A photovoltaic system uses solar panels to supply usable electric power.

Solar panels make use of the PHOTOVOLTAIC effect whereby photons from the sun hit the semiconducting material and liberate electrons.

Carrier generation and recombination knowledge is needed to understand properly how solar cells work. This is part of solid state physics, the largest branch of condensed matter physics.

Note: the photovoltaic effect is closely related to the photoelectric effect, whereby electrons are emitted when light is shone on a material. According to the "classical electromagnetic theory" this is due to the transfer of energy from the light to an electron.

Modern Frigates

A modern frigate is a ship that protects other ships, including military and merchant marine vessels. Anti-submarine escort vessels are included in the category of "frigate". The La Fayette class built by DCNS is a popular class of frigate used in the French Navy ("Marine Nationale") and those of other nations too.

When NOT to use Yours Sincerely

Yours faithfully and yours truly are the British and American equivalents used when signing off a letter to a recipient whose name you do not know.

Yours sincerely or Sincerely yours are used when you DO know the name of the recipient.

Mary Poppins' The Perfect Nanny is an example of how NOT to use Yours sincerely:

"Hurry nanny, Many thanks
Sincerely, Jane and Michael Banks".

Halogens and Diatomic Molecules in Swimming Pools

The halogens are a group in the periodic table consisting of the five related elements of fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine. It's also known as Group 7.

Group 1 elements react with Group 7 elements to form, for example, lithium bromide.

Halogens all exist as diatomic molecules, so Chlorine exists as Cl2, Fluorine similarly, two halogen atoms joined by a covalent bond (where electrons are shared between atoms).

 

Who was Alaric?

Alaric was the first King of the Visigoths, who emerged from the Gothic tribes, famous for his sack of Rome in 410. Alaric entered Rome via the Porta Salaria, part of the Aurelian walls. There are many famous gates to the Aurelian walls including the Porta Latina, Porta San Giovanni and Porta San Sebastiano.

Les "arrondissements" de Paris

The most populous district is the fifteenth district of the twenty districts of Paris, situated on the Rive Gauche (left bank) of the Seine. The 59-floor Tour Montparnasse is located (near) there. The first arrondissement is the smallest, lies on the right bank of the Seine, and is where the Louvre is situated. It is just under a square mile in area. The Louvre is opposite the Carrousel Garden (Jardin du Carrousel). Note: a "carrousel" is a horse parade. Banque de France is also located in the first district.

Presidenza della Republica

The Quirinale Palace is the official residence of the Italian President.  It faces the Piazza del Quirinale. It is a relatively modern construction in the context of the history of Rome.

It is believed the Emperor Vespasian's house (founder of the Flavian Dynasty) may have stood there.

The Theory of Everything (2015)

Eddie Redmayne stars as Stephen Hawking in the film based on his life, on the book by his wife.

Mortdecai (2015)

Mortdecai is a film released in January 2015.

The cast includes Johnny Depp as Mortdecai and Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor in supporting roles.

It is released by the movie studio Lion's Gate. It was filmed at a budget of $60m. Johnny Depp's production company Infinitum Nihil was involved in the film. The director was American David Koepp, born in the "North Central" American state of Wisconsin and educated at UCLA.

Mortdecai is based on the novels by Kyril Bonfiglioli, an English art dealer and comic novelist, born in Eastbourne. Mortdecai's voice is described by the New Yorker as "arch and insufferably, authoritatively snobbish".

What is a Filibuster?

A filibuster is a parliamentary procedure involving extending a debate in order to delay or prevent a vote. It was a device utilised by the Roman statesman, Cato the Younger.