The pointlessness of renaming the Brecon Beacons

Putting out fires

The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority said it was renaming the park because the word ‘beacon’ implies carbon emissions and ‘does not fit with the ethos’.

— Many hills in Britain carry the name ‘beacon’ thanks to chains of fires which were lit up to warn of approaching invasion. In Devon alone, 39 beacon sites have been identified. Most famously, beacons were lit in July 1588 to warn of the approaching Spanish Armada after it was spotted off Land’s End, although there is no record of how many fires were lit nor how quickly it took the message to reach London.

— Not that the name of the Brecon Beacons really appears to be changing at all. The replacement Welsh name is Bannau Brycheiniog – where Brycheiniog means Brecon and Bannau ‘Beacons’.

Carbon trails

A report by Sustainable Aviation, which represents the UK aviation industry, suggested some passengers will be priced off planes if the industry is to hit its target of eliminating net carbon emissions by 2050. How polluting is a journey from London to Glasgow by various forms of transport?
In kg CO2 equivalent per passenger

Plane               157 kg     Train                 28

Motorbike      93             Electric car       26

Petrol car        88             Coach                22

Diesel car       85

Source: Department for Transport

Rocket science

How does SpaceX’s Starship measure up to the Saturn 5 rockets which powered the Apollo missions?

                         Saturn 5 / Starship

Height           110.64m / 110.87m

Weight        187 tonnes / 300 tonnes

Diameter         10.1m / 9m

Thrust       34.5 Newtons / 74.5 Newtons

Maths maths

Rishi Sunak wants us to stop making jokes about being bad at maths. But are we really less qualified in maths than in English? The number of grades awarded last year at GCSE level (where 9 is the highest grade):

                 English language / Maths

Grade 9            25,705 / 31,855

Grade 8            44,955 / 51,310

Grade 7            70,135 / 60,440

Grade 6          111,300 / 77,675

Grade 5          123,135 / 121,870

Grade 4          111,955 / 126,020

Grade 3          124,175 / 98,130

Grade 2            52,975 / 83,725

Grade 1            24,255 / 54,020

U                        9,330 / 17,955

Source: Ofqual