This week I had one of those light-bulb moments. Of course, it comes in the middle of relaxing in bed, which can be quite disturbing. But I guess it's better than jumping naked out of the bath and running down the street. (Eureka! A streaker!) But I was thinking about the extinct great auk (and the lovely understated stuffed one in Norwich Museum) and that the eggs of the great auk were so understudied and precious that records of the patterns of all the known ones are carefu

Which way does a chicken lay an egg? Little end first - and ease into it? Or big end first and finish with a relief? In the hopes of avoiding wars on the level of Blefuscud vs Lilliput, and despite no real help from the internet, I can give you a definitive answer - with a twist! Last weekend I had a lucky purchase of seven boxes of magic lantern slides, "mostly anatomical" from Willingham Auctions. I went along to inspect them in person, and left my lucky bid, to then collec