COVID-19, ‘big data’ and rebound from lockdown. The Calcutta Cup (the oldest rugby rivalry in the world: Scotland vs. England)  helps validate Apple’s mobility product – a key potential forecaster for a safe exit from lockdown. Summary How is the rebound from the lockdown progressing in Scotland? That is, how rapidly are Scots starting to […]

Local air pollution update (10 June 2020). Summary The declines in pollution levels, as caused by the downturn in vehicle emissions during the COVID-19 lockdown, provide clear and direct examples of what might be possible in ultra-low emission zones of the future. Scottish network of continuous, ground-based monitoring sites Local air pollution continues to be […]

“I’ve seldom had so much fun reading about people dying.” The Times (June, 09, 2018) Preamble The catch-line is taken straight from a Times review, from almost exactly one year ago, of Laura Spinney’s magisterial account of the Spanish flu of 1918 and how it changed the world. Laura’s highly readable narrative (my current bedtime […]