The Big Bang is Coming! See it Now in Liverpool
Somewhere deep underground on the Franco-Swiss border, at CERN - The European Particle Physics Laboratory - the chambers of a gigantic machine called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are being cooled to absolute zero. When that happens, sometime in August, the world's biggest ever physics experiment will start, designed to reproduce in micro-miniature (we hope), the Big Bang that most scientists believe began the Universe.
The science blogsphere has been buzzing about this experiment for years - with doom sayers suggesting that starting up the LHC could produce new particles called strangelets, monopoles and, gulp, even black holes that could consume the Earth.
I hasten to add that some of the best brains in the world have looked into this and have concluded that no, the end of the world is probably not nigh. But...
If you are in Liverpool this summer, you can get the lowdown on the Big Bang Experiment, learn all the facts and, possibly, scare yourself silly at the free, Big Bang! exhibit at the World Museum Liverpool. The exhibit, put together by London's Science Museum, is touring the country and will be in Liverpool until September 22 - that is if we are all still here...
Getty Images£1 Rooms in London for the Fleet Fingered
- 1 p.m. in London
- 8 a.m. in New York
- 9 p.m. in Tokyo
- 10 p.m. in Sydney
Have a Dirty Weekend in the Scottish Borders
We're talking mud, of course. Billing itself as the UK's first ever multi-sport adventure festival, Dirty Weekend in the Borders hits the Scottish Borders on Saturday July 5 and Sunday July 6. Three different multi sports events will take over the Tweed Valley for the weekend, including:
- The ACE Adventure Race - combining biking, running, kayaking, navigating, ropework and teamwork
- The Polaris Mountain Bike Challenge
- and The Dirty Dozen, a new 12K run
Camping Overnight for Wimbledon Tickets Just Got Easier and Safer
Planning to queue for Wimbledon's middle Saturday this week? Overnight queuing for last minute Wimbledon tickets has been made easier and safer this year. Instead of two lines snaking along public roads, with tents set up in the queue, right on the curb, overnight camping will be in nearby Wimbledon Park and the Wimbledon Stewards will wake you at 6a.m. - how very civilized of them - to get ready to start the queue for the 7:30 hand out of court wristbands and queue tickets.
This year, there's only one queue and it winds through the park and a golf course before safely crossing the busy road via a bridge.
Julian Finney/Getty Images
The 41st Annual Snape Maltings Antiques & Fine Art Fair
Held in a tented pavilion on the grounds of Snape Maltings, in Suffolk, this fair features the kinds of art and antique dealers you might expect to find in London's Mayfair. But the setting is pure Suffolk - on the grounds of the famous Maltings, a seven acre "village" of Victorian malting barns and associated buildings that is also the scene of the international Aldeburgh Festival.
This year, the fair runs from July 10 to 13. If you're heading that way from London and want to have a relaxing day, do plan stay over in one of the nearby B&Bs because it can be a bit of a schlep from London.
The Eco-Friendly House of Straw
If the idea of a straw house fills your head with images of the Three Little Pigs, think again. I've just heard about a house of straw that is not so easily demolished, no matter how hard the Wolf huffs and puffs, has all mod cons and has a practically non-existent carbon footprint. It is also pretty cheap and located in a lovely part of the country.
The people behind it say it is also warm as toast, all winter long, with a simple electric heater that almost never has to be turned on. I'm not so sure how North Americans, who like their homes pretty warm, will find it. But they do provide a couple of "hotties" (Calm down Dad - that's Anglo speak for hot water bottles) and you can always bring along some warm socks and a couple of extra layers of thermal undies.
It's worth it - this cabin is so eco-friendly it practically cancels all that carbon you'll release crossing the Atlantic. And the experience might give you a few good ideas to take home.
Find out more about staying in a straw bale cabin
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How to Survive the UK Music Festival Season - Top Tips
Glastonbury may be the biggie but there are at least 300 music festivals in the UK and Ireland this summer. Loads of them involve camping; most of them involve round the clock partying. These tips should help you survive the music festival season and have fun doing it:
Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesNadal Chases Federer for 2008 Record Wimbledon Prize Money
Tennis pundits are saying that this year's Wimbledon championships might just be a toss up. So is your money on Roger Federer successfully defending his Wimbledon championship title this year or will you plump for last year's challenger, Spaniard Rafael Nadal? Bjorn Borg, no less, thinks Federer looks vulnerable. What do you think? (add a comment below).
From the first service at this year's Wimbledon Tennis Championships, June 23 - July 6, competitors will be vying for a record prize fund of £11,282,710, an increase of 4.7% over last year's Wimbledon prize money. The All England Club, which runs the tournament, has increased both men and women's singles winners and runners up prizes by 7.1% and, for the second year, men and women will go after equal prizes - an equality that Wimbledon was slower than other grand slams to grant.
Here's the breakdown:
- Mens and womens singles winner - £750,00
- Mens and womens singles runners up - £375,00
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Heads Up for Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot
The hats have it at Royal Ascot. The social event of the British racing calendar begins June 17th this year. Royals, socialites and ladies (and gents) who like having a flutter on the horses - or who just like drinking Pimms and wearing hats - turn out in force, especially for Ladies Day, the third day of the event, when most of the Royals appear and the hats range from the beautiful to the bizarre.
Nobody can wear an outrageous hat with as much aplomb as a British race goer.
Check out some dandies for yourself.
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Glastonbury Festival Still Not Sold Out
Personally, I think the explanation is simpler and less dire. Last year, for the first time, the Glastonbury organizers instituted a system whereby the public had to pre-register for the priviledge of buying tickets by mid March, well before the tickets actually went on sale. Registering did not guarantee a ticket, it only guaranteed the right to try to buy one.
I think it was simply too complicated. A lot of people missed the March pre-registration date and figured there was no point in trying to go for a ticket. In the end, perhaps the organizers, with their tricky ticket scheme, were too clever for their own good. As a result, they are left with a fair number of tickets which are now being sold, over the counter at HMV outlets in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Newcastle, as well as the Bristol Ticket Shop in the Mall Galleries.
If you are not already in the UK, it is also still possible to buy tickets:
- from the Glastonbury website
- through the international sales line +44 1159 934 183
- through the UK sales line 0800 079 2008