Uncategorized

The Tallest Tree In The World

~ beetleypete ~ 38 Comments

Continuing my tree-themed posts, I have researched the tallest tree. It is called ‘Hyperion’, and is a California Redwood in the Redwood National Park.

It is 600 years old, and stands 380 feet tall. (116 metres)

To give you come idea of how tall that is, it is taller than the Statue of Liberty, taller than Big Ben in London, and more than twice as high as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

So the world’s oldest tree and the world’s tallest tree are both to be found in the American state of California.

The Oldest Tree In The World?

~ beetleypete ~ 78 Comments

After my recent tree post, I have been thinking about the oldest known tree. Most of my research has returned the above tree, a Bristlecone Pine that has been named Methuselah.

It is 4,852 years old, and located in California, near the border with Nevada. The exact location is kept secret by the US National Parks Service.

That means it started growing in 2,830 BC, during the Bronze Age. Long before the empires of Ancient Greece and Rome were established.

Now that’s what I call an ‘old tree’.

Neolithic Europe And Beyond

~ beetleypete ~ 37 Comments

The Neolithic period dates from 10,000 BC until 4,500 BC. It began 12,022 years ago, long before Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, or the Mayan and Aztec civilisations in the Americas. Given those dates, it is easy to imagine that you would find little trace of Neolithic settlements and buildings today. But nothing could be further from the truth, thanks to the work of archaeologists.

Stonehenge. One of the best-known examples of a stone temple, situated in the south-west of England.
It was built around 5,000 years ago, so is ‘Late Neolithic’.

A Dolmen, or burial tomb. This one is in Italy.

The oldest religious structure known so far. Built in 10,000 BC. It is in Anatolia, Turkey.

Temples on the Island of Malta. Over 6,000 years old, so older than the Pyramids in Egypt.

A farmstead on a Scottish Island. This is dated from 3,500 BC, so is 5,500 years old.

The entrance to a 5,000 year old burial tomb in Denmark. Forty bodies were found inside a huge mound.

Last but not least, the remains of the original walls of Jericho, in Palestine. They are estimated to be 12,000 years old.

Rome Around The World

~ beetleypete ~ 62 Comments

When we think of the Roman Empire, the first things that comes to mind for most of us are the wonderfully preserved ancient buildings in the Italian capital. The Colosseum, Trajan’s Column, The Panthenon, and The Palace of Caesar Augustus. I have been to Rome, and enjoyed seeing all those sights,

But the Romans had a huge empire, covering much of the known world, and it is not only in Italy that you can see evidence of their presence.

Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Tunisia, in North Africa.


Armenia, in the city of Garni.

The city walls of Lugo, Spain.

France, the city of Arles.

France, the city of Nimes.

Algeria, the ancient city of Timgad.

Turkey, the city of Side.

Libya. Roman Sabathra.

England. The city of Bath.

Just a snapshot of the remains of Roman civilsation around the world, places that we can still visit today.

Think Twice About Cutting Down Trees

~ beetleypete ~ 69 Comments

I found this photo online. It made me even more convinced that we need to think twice about cutting down trees that were not deliberately cultivated for timber.

This tree was felled in America, in 1891.

It started growing in 550 AD.

Before Mohammed was born.
Before The Battle of Hastings
Before America was discovered.
Before the Declaration of Independence.
Before The Battle of Waterloo.
Before the US Civil War.

Compared to that tree, we humans live our entire lives in the blink of an eye.

Hopeful New Year

~ beetleypete ~ 119 Comments

At this time of year, I usually put up an image like this one, and wish everyone a Happy New Year.

However, 2022 doesn’t look too promising. There are still rumours of war in Ukraine and Taiwan, not to mention Covid-19 mutating into so many variants they will soon run out of letters of the Greek alphabet to name them with.

But there is always hope.

Hope that no war will happen.
Hope that Covid-19 will disappear.
Hope that extremist politics and fanatical religious zealots will become a bad memory.

So I am wishing everyone a Hopeful New Year instead.

Best wishes to you all. Pete.

The Tyre Collective

~ beetleypete ~ 36 Comments

With the recent COP26 conference, and the world focusing on Climate Change, here is something I didn’t know about, and a very worthwhile project too.

CabbieBlog

As someone who has spent half his working life pushing a cab around London, the vehicle’s contribution to air pollution has not escaped my attention.

So when coming across this interesting research I just had to investigate it further. The findings discovered that tyres wear out from friction every time we brake, accelerate or turn a corner (including unexpected tight u-turns by cabs), and the particles become airborne affecting our lungs.

The Tyre Collective monitored the amount of tyre wear produced by a No. 9 London bus running between Hammersmith and Aldwych the route called ‘London’s oldest existing bus route’, which has its origins going as far back as 1851. At a distance of just over 5 miles, each journey on average released 4.65g per journey and a total of 65g a day.

The particles become airborne affecting our lungs, more are swept into our waterways and oceans eventually…

View original post 219 more words

Diet, Obesity, and Covid-19

~ beetleypete ~ 32 Comments

I found this interesting article online yesterday. It is from an American source, and looks at how the administration in the USA appears to be failing to make the connection between obesity and the pandemic. The government there apparently has no visible policy on the national obesity epidemic either, or the related huge increase in Diabetes.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/31/covid-deaths-diet-diseases-nutrition-america-517076?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB

Class Poverty In America: A Documentary Film

~ beetleypete ~ 31 Comments

My friend Antony sent me this 45-minute You Tube video. It was filmed by a European documentary maker, at a time when Donald Trump was still the President.

Middle-Class homeless living in their cars. People working full-time, but unable to afford to rent anywhere to live. From Hollywood, to Texas, to Virginia, a whole generation with no hope.

(I know this doesn’t apply to everyone in the USA, but at the time of filming, it affected around 40 million people)

It is worth your time to watch it, as any of us could be next. (You can easily turn off the subtitles in the bottom menu)