Perseverance and Curiosity

 

Now that Perseverance is beaming back Earth-like pictures of Martian landscapes, the age-old question raises its head: could man and woman ever go there? The answer is, very definitely yes. The next question is: could man colonize Mars? Again, the answer is positive: it is perfectly possible. There are a number of practical challenges to overcome first, however. There are differences between Earth and Mars, but also a number of similarities. The Red Planet, so-called because the abundance of iron oxide or haematite on its surface gives off a reddish light in space, has polar ice caps. It spins on a single axis and there are roughly twenty-four hours in its day. Mars has Earth-like seasons and in addition to iron oxide, the planet surface is abundant in minerals like magnesium, sodium, potassium and chlorine, all essential for plant growth.

Phobos and Deimos

However, liquid water cannot exist on its surface. This is explained partly by the low atmospheric density, due to a weak gravitational pull. Mars has only about half the diameter of Earth, but only marginally less surface area. However, the 'mass' of the planet is much less dense, which accounts for the low gravity. The planet core is made of iron, also magnesium, calcium, silicon and oxygen. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a polar magnetic field. Scientists believe that the two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, are "captured' asteroids, and they do not have the stabilising effect on the spin of the planet that the moon has upon Earth. Because Mars is further from the sun, a Martian year is 687 days, nearly twice as long as an Earth year. By implication, Martian seasons are twice as long as ours. The Martian environment is not a friendly one, its average surface temperature being minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Its atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide while that of Earth has only 0.039% carbon dioxide and 21% oxygen. In preparation for the human colonisation of Mars, seeds and organic matter would have to be transported from Earth to begin growing plants and establishing a food supply.

Super-sized Bees and Mars Bars

An unmanned mission could utilise Perseverance-type vehicles to drill for water in the subsurface aquifers that scientists believe are there, and channel it to 'growing hubs' or 'growing bubbles' or 'grubbles', where plants could grow. Again, an unmanned mission could construct these. The grubbles would have transparent walls to let in light and activate photosynthesis. The walls would also serve to contain respired water. Condensation would trickle down the grubble walls and into collection channels. The 'rain' would be recycled for watering. Plants need pollinators as well as water, and the best pollinator on Earth is the humble bee - and entire hives would be transported to Mars. Once there, the insects would be let loose among the grubble-bound plants. However, without natural predators, they could grow very large, indeed.

The scientists who initially colonise Mars could find themselves having to deal with super-sized bees. However, all kinds of other, interesting things will be happening. When the scientists have established a food supply within the grubbles, they can experiment with growing them in a pure Martian environment. By now, road building will have been established and scientists can travel to and from work in cute little Martian buggies. At weekends, they will go on excursions up mountains and down into valleys. Slowly, automated building machines will establish a network of small settlements. For relaxation, there will be the public house - the Mars Bar?

Martian Arts

There are still problems to overcome, for example, the infamous Martian "dust devils", dust storms that begin when Martian weather is at its hottest. There are also the seasonal "wobbles" to which Mars is prone. Just as on Earth, life will not be perfect. Earthlings are bound to deal with earthquakes and volcanoes, tornados and hurricanes - and this on the one-tenth of the Earth's surface that is actually habitable. Yet, seven billion of us live to tell the tale. Over time, science will settle into the background of life on Mars. Humanity will assert itself and children will be born. These Martians will be like any immigrants to a New World, defensive of their roots, but full of the hubris of having been among the first people born on Mars. They will be creative, establishing a body of Martian art and music, literature and philosophy.

Overcoming Challenges - Opening Possibilities

There will be other challenges to overcome, for instance, the effect on the human body of living in a field of lower gravity. But these are already issues for astronauts living on the International Space Station. There will be grumbles from conservationists about how human activity is going to change the face of Mars. Yes, this could happen, but we must not forget that early plant life changed the oxygen ratio in the Earth's atmosphere, completely. Right now, we ought to welcome the challenges that colonising another planet will bring. The more challenges that we overcome now, the more prepared we will be for moving out of our solar system (comfort zone?) and into the grand, cosmic adventure that is ahead of us.

Alchemy and the Canterbury Tales

 

Still on matters medieval, my thoughts have turned in recent times to the subject of alchemy. To the majority, the word “alchemist” conjures up the image of a scholarly person in a cap and gown imprinted with cosmic symbols, waving a wand and mumbling jumbo over a variety of everyday substances, in the hope that one of them at least, would transform into shining, yellow gold – aaah, if only! To throw light on the subject, I enter into The Canterbury Tales, that epic work by Geoffrey Chaucer, structured about a group of travellers on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. Every night as they sit about the fire of whatever inn they stay in, one of the group tells a tale to the others. The entire gamut of medieval professions is represented by the characters present; a Knight, Miller, Reeve, Shipman, Physician and so on,

In one instance, Chaucer recounts the tale of the Canon and the Yeoman, who enter into a dialogue about the secret craft that they practise. The Host asks the Yeoman why, if his master (the Canon) is truly so sagacious, then why is he, the Canon, dressed in gaberdine that is hardly worth a mite, torn to bits and isn't even clean. The Yeoman hints darkly that what the Canon works at can never be successful. The Canon, he tells them, is clever enough to understand his esoteric craft, but does not know enough to make it succeed. The Yeoman doesn't want to say any more, but the Host slowly teases more details out of him.

Presently, the Yeoman warns the gathered company against the debt, despair and ruin that practising the craft has brought them. He names the substances we worked upon, among them silver, orpiment, burnt bones and iron filings, ground into finest powder and poured into an earthen pot, followed by salt and pepper, and covered by a sheet of glass. At this point, I wondered if Chaucer were not indulging in a medieval leg-pull, rather than rendering an authentic account of the chemistry of the time. Tradition has it that he himself had sometime practised the "esoteric craft", in addition to being a poet, soldier, knight and Justice of the Peace.

The odder substances mentioned by the Yeoman, the least of which are the salt and pepper, are likely thrown in by Chaucer for comic effect - or just to trip up would-be practitioners with. After all, if Chaucer really did know "the secret", he was hardly going to give it away. No matter his agenda, there is enough evidence to demonstrate that the fourteenth-century alchemist was actually a proto chemist. For example, the Canon's Yeoman lists orpiment among his roll-call of substances.

Orpiment, or sulphide of arsenic, made a beautiful yellow paint in illuminated manuscripts, but it is too poisonous for contemporary use. As the Middle Ages ran into the Renaissance, trade rather than alchemy, became the fount of wealth. Out of the crucible of persecution and superstition, the modern chemist, distinct from the miscreant and the mystic, was born. However, I suspect that even the earnest, hard-working, proto chemist of Chaucer’s imagination toiled with gold pieces rather than the betterment of mankind, prominent in his imagination? Whatever, I do urge you to read the wonderful snapshot of medieval England that is The Canterbury Tales.

The Seven Jestures: how to gain your Fool's Charter

 

Further to friend Wamba from Ivanhoe, the clown, the Fool and the jester have had a chequered history in art and literature. In the days when monarchs actually ruled, the court jester played - literally - a significant role in the decision making of his overlord. The jester dressed traditionally in bright colours. He had at his command a store of rhymed wit and the ability to perform. Through singing, dancing and clowning around, he knocked upon the modes of thought of his 'superiors'. He had the ability to lighten any occasion with a chance remark, pave the way towards solving thorny problems and blow old ways of thinking out of the box. From that point of view, who would not be a jester? I say that we are all jesters - and ready to receive the following "jestures".

First, don't forget your jester's hat. I mean this quite literally. What you carry on top of your head has a profound effect on the way that people see you. It is not for nothing that the judge wears a wig, the don wears a mortarboard and the official wears a peaked hat.

Second, wear rose-coloured, jester spectacles. When faced with a problem, remember the old adage "Two men looked out through prison bars. One saw mud, the other saw stars." If you have a fridge busting with food, throw a party, coffee-morning, beer-bash, whatever. Dub it a business-networking event - and you never know who might turn up.

Third, turn your jester's coat routinely. In other words, don't be afraid to switch your point of view, either literally or metaphorically. If you get into a disagreement, try to see what really happened. Maybe you were lazy, indifferent or under-performing in some other way, on the project.

Fourth: always carry your marotte, the baton or stick with the carved effigy of the jester speared on the end. The origin of the marotte is uncertain, but historians believed that it lampooned the Emperor's sceptre, the magician's wand, and so on. Your marotte can be a mascot, calling card or business card. Use whatever works for you, and make it memorable.

Fifth, remember the power of words. Words are the ultimate weapon, and it is not for nothing that 'word' is just one letter short of 'sword'. Always have a good dictionary within reach. Learn a new word every day, and use it. Join a poetry class. Identify a playwright and plough through his or her entire output. It is time-consuming but possible - mine is Shakespeare. Record and learn quotes and anecdotes. Your erudition will wow everyone.

Sixth, be aware of timing. Know when to speak and when to stay silent. A funeral is not a good place to crack a joke about the deceased. You do not plonk a cream gateau in front of a friend who is earnestly trying to lose weight.

Finally, learn a sense of humour. The true Fool knows the difference between humour, and bigotry and ignorance. Above all, learn to laugh at yourself. So, with your jester's coat, glasses and cap, your marotte and extraordinary command of words, your impeccable sense of timing and sophisticated sense of humour, you are ready to receive the Fool's Charter. I leave the final words to William Shakespeare's Fool, the fictional jester from King Lear: "Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest....

Soft shoe shuffle.....

 

Like the majority of people, I wish this pandemic was not happening. I wish that life would revert to a type of normal, at least. Like Priya Elan, fashion editor of the Guardian, I am fishing for fragments of treasure amongst the ruins. Mr Elan asserts that one good effect of not having to dash about office corridors all day is the re-discovery and recovery of those most basic of elements to human well-being, namely, our two feet. Recovery from corns and calluses, aches and pains. He goes on to extol the virtue of the Big Softies, such as Uggs, Birkenstocks, Crocs.....and I want to add my voice to his in the form of my box-fresh Ecco shoes (pictured), made of Nubuck, flexible, sturdy, insoled and bespeaking quality in that way that Ecco always does. Retailing at £90 and available in red, black, white....and you can order a pair by post....what's not to love? Happy New Year everyone.....

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/jan/15/how-to-wear-ugly-shoes

Ivanhoe and I......

 

Oh, what a miserable winter! What terrible chaos that this horrible virus has thrown our world into. All we survivors can do is behave with decorum and responsibility until it is over. Like many people, I am taking the opportunity to catch up on books that I have never before ventured into, you know, those volumes that you thought you had read because you had caught a passing movie or television series – or you had heard a few instances of discussed by friends somewhere, sometime. Thus it was with Ivanhoe and I, Sir Walter Scott’s glorious medieval romance cum political thriller, imbued with real historical characters such as King John, and the mythical Robin Hood. Now, our relationship is burgeoning. Filled with dashing knights and comely maidens, jousting and espionage staged across forest, field and mountain, inside stately banqueting hall and humble cottage - what's not to love? And the drama cuts a swathe through society, from grand Saxon and Norman lords to Gurth, the humble swineherd and, in finest medieval tradition, Wamba the jester. With its swashbuckling action and colourful romance, this deck of cards cum chessboard saga is the ideal read for these long, dark nights and storm-tossed days - and I haven’t even finished it yet. Avaunt to Amazon, right away….

The year ahead...

                                                         

                                                      

                                                         By frost and sleet, and ice and snow

The month of January we know.

In February the days grow longer

The year is young and ever stronger.

March is dressed in palest green

While round the house, the winds do keen.

The month of April brings forth flowers

That drink a-plenty rain from showers.

By May’s brave month the battle’s won

Winter over and summer begun.

Roses bloom in hot, bright June

By day the sun, by night the moon.

July and it grows hotter still

The countryside, the stream, the mill. 

In August is the harvest there

The sheaf of wheat in field, at fair. 

September is a month of mellow

Of apples red and pears so yellow. 

October and the leaves are falling

With bonfires crackling, winter calling.

November is a month of gloom

As shorter, darker days do loom. 

But December will be ever jolly

With the Christ Child’s birth, and gifts, and holly.

Dreams: Exploring Uncharted Depths of Consciousness

 

In my latest book. Dreams: Exploring Uncharted Depths of Consciousness, (Mandrake of Oxford, 978-1-906958-98-5), I chart how dreams and dreaming provide a medium with which to connect with the universe of wider consciousness. The information gained through collecting and interpreting dreams provides the dreamer with greater self knowledge in preparation for life’s inevitable and unexpected events. I developed the text through continually asking the question: where does creativity come from? What makes one person able to write, paint or compose music or at least, become a very creative entrepreneur, while other persons write themselves off as unimaginative?

Throughout my research, I encountered the works of other writers, most notably Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (Penguin: London, 1991). What struck me most was the close connection between the archetypal imagery that appears in dreams and the stock characters that appear in fairy tales, giants, princesses and so on. In its present form, I see the book as a self-help manual, aimed at everyone who desires a more prosperous, meaningful and happier life. All the reader needs to do is what every healthy person does every night of their lives – sleep - and record whatever dream material received upon waking. Ultimately, my book is about being human, about getting and staying in touch with the more subtle aspects of one’s personal qualities. I do hope the reader gains much by engaging with it.

https://mandrake.uk.net/mary-phelan/

Dreams: Exploring Uncharted Depths of Consciousness, available from Amazon. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781906958985&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss