Truly ancient trick which the Egyptians did in fact document. You need three stones, the one you're polishing and two others. Rub each stone on the other two: 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 1 - with only two stones they'll rub each other to matching non-flat shapes. Adding a third stone makes them go flat. It's how you keep…

This is not illegal in UK waters. We don't have a problem with people randomly massacring wildlife around here. Also, the number of people willing to go diving in the NORTH BLOODY ATLANTIC is quite small.

My dad used to dive those waters all the time, the seals are used to divers and often have a nose around to see what's going on. The pups are more playful and curious, but the grownups occasionally get in on the fun. They're smart enough to have worked out that divers are Not Food and Not Predators, so the…

Last summer I had the rare luck to be right under them when they were putting on a show, not getting the audience view but seeing the alternate perspective. The chaps doing the head-on bits weren't just taking advantage of crowd perspective. They really DO fly about three inches from each other, the loons.

Dunno, we need someone who's seen both. The Red Arrows don't do the close-formation stuff, but they do do the 'hey, let's fly these Hawks straight on at each other and miss by the width of a gnat's ball-hair' thing.

Which British accent do you mean, though? I can do my native one, about half a dozen others reliably, and comedy versions of the rest.

No, it's not hypocritical. There are plenty of things that fill a need and don't hurt anyone that people not involved probably don't want to see. Morris dancing, and that thing where one party lies under a glass coffee table while the other takes a shit on it, to name but two.

People will fail to maintain standards. Standards are the basis of civilisation. What's a few road traffic accidents against our descendants living in the howling waste where once stood proud cities, subsisting on the meat of rats and cockroaches and telling tales of the long-ago-before-time?

There's no right nor wrong for which side of the road to drive on either, but there's a rule for it so everyone does it the same way on the same road network. And, yes, I take my hat off when entering a private, indoor space. Feels a little more optional these days in a public indoor space (and having a flat cap on…

Thing is, you have to do the 'Duh!' studies because sometimes it turns out that stuff everyone knew stood to reason is actually total and utter horseshit.