The Allegory of the Cave -Underground insight

Hundreds of thousands of people slowly shuffle along London’s busy streets. Leading busy lives, making ends meet, grist to the mill. But below street level, there is a web of communities, just out of sight to the majority. Christian dance parties beneath charity shops, tiny Avant-Garde cinemas and art galleries, and the University of the […]

Just your voice

The death of Perfect Paul, and his sister Uppity Ursula? You probably don’t know Perfect Paul, but you will definitely recognise his voice, although you will probably think of a very specific person when you hear it. Perfect Paul is a creation, a placeholder, better than nothing but no one’s first choice. Perfect Paul is […]

A More Modern Prometheus

Chris Styles speaks to ethical taxidermist, Krysten Newby, about the truth behind the art of taxidermy and how she turned her passion for art and nature into a business. There is something about seeing an animal in the flesh; something you cannot get from an image. It is tangible, you can understand its weight, its […]

When you can’t see the wood through the trees

Does metaphor help or hinder Sci-com? Metaphors are a powerful tool in language, although we may not realise just how often we use them. You may think that they are only used inadvertently or to add an unnecessary flourish to creative writing, but you may be surprised at just how much we all use metaphors […]

Space: A bin that never gets full?

Written by Chris Styles and contribution from Dr Ing Marc Anthony Azzopardi Looking up into the emptiness of space at night can leave me in a bit of trance. I do not think the average human mind is very good at comprehending the vastness of it all. But humans are pioneers and nothing will stop […]

Should I chat up my chatbot?

Waiting for a response for an online enquiry, trying to cancel a subscription for a magazine i never read; I was perhaps already slightly frustrated. I found myself infuriated about not knowing if I need to respond to the pleasantries coming up in the text window from “Katie” or if I can just ignore them? […]

Time and Chaos- What makes our universe tick?

I am sitting here, on a Sunday (I think it’s a Sunday but days are all becoming the same) morning, looking out of the window, watching the world go by. Time may feel like it’s standing still amongst all the Coronavirus chaos, but it is still going on, forever moving constantly forward. But why? As […]

The call of the absurd-Did I really want to do that?

I sometimes get the urge to do the really stupid stuff, throw my car keys into a canal, stick my hand in the plate of an outside diners food, trip over small children as they walk past me just to imagine what their scary Dad would do. As I list these thoughts my mind goes […]

Big Bang Theories- The good and evil of pop science.

The internet can make you an instant expert, at least it may seem that way. You only have to do a Google search and you can find pages of videos explaining science, and this can be a real minefield for public (mis)understanding. I am certainly not trying to discredit any particular creators of topics; I […]