h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A longish weekend took me and Mrs D to Portsmouth. We called in to renew our acquaintance with the Mary Rose which we last saw when it first went on view after it was raised from the Solent. What an amazing change has been wrought to the sea front area. New building everywhere and especially outstanding is the Spinnaker Tower, a needle shaped building on the waterfront that stands out for miles around.

We took the tour and up to the observation platform at about 300 feet. The view was fantastic laying out the whole of the Portsmouth area with the Isle of Wight on the horizon. I spent a few buttock clenching moments on the glass floor over the 300 foot drop.

Is the fleet in port? Or have they sailed for the Falklands?

That's what a friend of mine was asked by a Russian radio ham during the crisis. Probably a spy. Anyway he fed them a lot of twaddle.

So they were misinformed. Although I presume they had other sources.

Strangely enough, while we were in the tower we watched a red painted, medium sized ship being towed out of the harbour by a couple of tugs and accompanied by what was described as an Admirals barge.

The name painted on the side was 'James Clark Ross'. One seemingly knowledgeable viewer in the tower said it was the 'Endeavour' the RN icebreaker on its way to the Antarctic. I don’t think it was though. I think it may have been the icebreaker that carried the Marine contingent that defended the governors house at the beginning of the Falkland war.

I’ll have to look that one up though.

What would happen if the Russians dropped their shiny new "daddy of all bombs" on top of a nuclear power station?

Well... if it were a British one we'd probably send them a stiffly worded letter of protest. Or, as most of our nuclear stations are coming up to retirement, we'd thank them for clearing the site so effectively. If it were an American one, they would be more likely to have WW3 on their hands.

The new Russian vacuum bomb has the destructive power as a nuclear bomb and is for use against terrorists; a bit like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer.