One of the tensions in the world right now is wether or not China will invade Taiwan. If that did happen two immediate risks would be '(a) potential disruptions to digital flows from vulnerable submarine cables with landing stations in Taiwan and (b) the delay or disruption of container shipments in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and East China Sea'. reminds us that 'Taiwan has an outsized role in the global advanced semiconductor chip industry, and disruptions to the supply of these chips or to US companies’ digital communications with Taiwanese partners would unsettle the US tech sector and nearly every industry that uses advanced computer chips'. That' people’s day-to-day lives increasingly rely on wireless connectivity, but the bedrock of the internet is submarine cables lining the ocean floor'. She says that 'new evidence reveals the points of interest for China, which include economic centers, potential military locations, and submarine cable landing stations' and believes that we need to 'work with Taiwanese authorities and other Indo-Pacific allies and partners to improve security for submarine cables and their landing stations, as well as engage in contingency planning for container shipping traffic
Then, (at 18 mins) we tend to think that hygiene was not as significant in medieval times as it is today. But, as points out, 'the filthiness of medieval people should not be exaggerated. Much evidence shows that personal hygiene mattered..., that they made an effort to keep clean. Popular advice books recommended washing the hands, face and teeth on rising, plus further handwashing throughout the day'. They were also told to frequently launder their clothes and to change their underwear every day.That is, unless you were a member of the clergy. They embraced lice and other parasites as a sign of devotion, 'concealing their penitential garments, and the creatures that lived in them, under their splendid vestments.
Also, (at 29 mins) if you were due to have an operation you would expect the hospital to be clean and as germ free as possible. The operating theatre itself would be pristine and the risk of infection from airborne germs, minuscule. It wasn't always like that. Richard Hollingham takes us back to before things were clean, when 'surgeons wore their outdoor coats, the bed linen wasn’t washed regularly, they carried their instruments around in their pockets. Some surgeons even proudly reused bandages and dressings between patients, preferring not to waste valuable hospital resource'. This all changed, he explains, with Joseph Lister and carbolic acid, first poured directly into the wound and then as a spray in the operating theatre to stope the spread of germs. Between Lister and Florence Nightingale, who insisted on' the importance of handwashing, hygiene and ventilation, as well as how to make patients feel comfortable and cared-for'., the operating theatre became a much safer place.
Then, (at 43 mins) Amanda gets on her soapbox to rant about our energy use.
Finally (at 44 mins) how much water do plants actually need to grow? reminds us that 'plants are mostly made up of water – about 80% by weight. So we might expect plants would need around four grams of water for each gram of dry mass to achieve their ideal level of hydration'. They need a lot more 'water to grow. To produce one gram of new dry mass, a plant needs about 300 grams of water'. He tells us about stomata which is on the leaves, and what happens when they open and shut'. He tells about a 15 year study that has been looking at stomata and says that ' it appears plants can effectively control water loss from their leaves while stomata remain open, allowing carbon dioxide to continue diffusing into the leaf to support photosynthesis. And that 'over the coming decades, global warming will make the atmosphere increasingly thirsty for evaporated water. We are pleased to report that nature may yet reveal secrets that can be harnessed to boost plant production with limited water resources'.
