Express & Star

Peter Rhodes on a mucky mere, a dead shark and the passing of a legendary warrior

I dare say the French have a word to describe England's biggest lake, which is repeatedly polluted with raw sewage. Windermerde.

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Another new word. US reporters tell us that scientists who carved up a huge shark brought ashore in Massachusetts were performing a necropsy. The dictionary defines this as “the examination of the dead bodyof an animal, similar to an autopsy conducted on humans.” Mind you, a traditional British pathologist wouldn't use either term, preferring the Latin: post-mortem.

I referred some time ago to the massive amount of the world's electricity output being gobbled up by the internet, especially Artificial Intelligence. Google has announced plans to produce its own nuclear power using SMRs, Small Modular Reactors. One of the mysteries of our age is that while we have the skills to build these mini power stations for nuclear submarines and global companies, the power supplied to millions of UK homes comes from massive reactors which take 30 years to build. You know, it's almost as though someone has a vested interest in keeping electricity expensive.