Maine gunmans family alerted sheriff five months before shootings | Maine shootings
Crosses and signs form a memorial near Schemengees Bar and Grille restaurant in Lewiston, Maine. Photograph: Amanda Sagba/EPACrosses and signs form a memorial near Schemengees Bar and Grille restaurant in Lewiston, Maine. Photograph: Amanda Sagba/EPAMaine shootings This article is more than 2 months oldMaine gunman’s family alerted sheriff five months before shootingsThis article is more than 2 months oldConcern over Robert Card’s mental health dated back to last summer after a training facility episode sparked an evaluation
Maxime Rodinson | France | The Guardian
FranceObituaryMaxime RodinsonMarxist historian of IslamThe French historian and sociologist Professor Maxime Rodinson, who has died aged 89, was a renowned specialist on Islam and the Arab world. His Marxism meant that he studied Islam in terms of economic and social history, distancing himself from the tradition of those who studied the subject in terms of belief and its comparison with Christianity.
The first public demonstration of this approach was his biography Mohammed (1961), which has been revised and reprinted many times.
Meet the creatures that thrive in the dark | Wildlife
The ObserverWildlife This article is more than 5 years oldMeet the creatures that thrive in the darkThis article is more than 5 years oldAn exhibition at London’s Natural History Museum looks at how animals move, hunt and feed in places where no light ever shinesThe pale-throated sloth, from the northern Amazon forests, has evolved in an unusual way to survive the dangers of swinging through trees in total darkness. The nocturnal bear-like creature has developed a sense of smell so sensitive it can tell whether branches nearby are emitting whiffs of sap or not.
Peer review or pier review? Scientific accuracy and comedy | Science
Brain flappingSciencePeer review or pier review? Scientific accuracy and comedyComedy about science is becoming increasingly popular, but how important is it to be scientifically accurate when trying to get laughs?
In response to yesterday's piece about how science often gets comedy wrong, here is a piece about the exact opposite issue by Robin Ince
I am a bingo caller with ideas above my station. I’ve spent so long reading out the numbers that I want to talk about Hilbert’s hotel.
William Mortensen: photographic master at the monsters ball
PhotographyAnsel Adams called him ‘the antichrist’ and wanted him written out of history. But William Mortensen’s grotesque photographs of death, nudity and torture and are now having their day. Chris Campion pays tribute to a master of the macabre
Gallery: the nightmares of William Mortensen In a roll call of the pioneers of modern photography, one name is never invoked. From the late 1920s to the 1950s, William Mortensen was one of the most famous and celebrated photographers in America.
Yvonne Craig a career in pictures | Television & radio
Yvonne Craig – a career in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Yvonne Craig, 78, has died of breast cancer in her home in Pacific Palisades, California. Most famous for her role as Batgirl in the 1960 TV show, we take a look back at her career in film and TV
Matt Fidler
Wed 19 Aug 2015 05.
Dying of Politeness review Geena Daviss journey to badassery
Book of the dayAutobiography and memoirReviewThe Thelma & Louise star bewails the treatment of women in the film industry in a conversational and often humorous account of her career
“It wasn’t until I played Thelma,” writes Geena Davis, “that I realised I may have wanted to become an actor so fervently because I could use acting to fill out the persona of someone confident in their abilities – someone I desperately wanted to be like in real life.
From the archive, 12 April 1848: The Chartist meeting in London | Politics past
From the Guardian archivePolitics pastFrom the archive, 12 April 1848: The Chartist meeting in LondonOriginally published in the Manchester Guardian on 12 April 1848Kennington Common was the appointed place of meeting and was the great centre of attraction to all who felt an interest in the proceedings. At an early hour on Monday morning, a few straggling groups had assembled there; but, until ten o'clock, the numbers present did not amount to more than a few hundreds.
How the Chinese fell in love with Clarks shoes
Life and styleA shopping centre built on an old shoe factory in a small Somerset town aims to become one of the UK's top tourist drawsBuckingham Palace. Bath. Stonehenge. Clarks Village. The final destination may not trip off the tongue, but, this spring, organised bus-loads of Chinese tourists will start to pull up in the small town of Street to satisfy the Chinese appetite for the classic sensible British shoe.
Librarian finds lost Beethoven score in dusty cabinet | World news
World newsLibrarian finds lost Beethoven score in dusty cabinetHistoric work missing for 115 years gives rare insight into composer's methodsA handwritten score of one of Ludwig van Beethoven's most revolutionary works has been discovered by a librarian cleaning out a cabinet in a seminary in Pennsylvania after being missing for more than a century.
The 80-page manuscript for a piano version of Grosse Fuge, thought to have been written by Beethoven himself, dates from the final months of his life when he was completely deaf.