The decision will be made on commercial grounds. Copper is already there in many parts of the world and it's cheap - for the time being. It won't be replaced with copper so when maintenance costs increase it will be replaced with fibre, also where copper can't meet increasing demand then fibre overlays will be put in and gradually take over. Bandwidth demand will continue to increase for some customers but not all so we'll have a mix of technologies for the forseeable future. Wireless technologies will play their part but as bandwidth demand increases so cell size will reduce, which means some new fibre and piggy-backing on existing copper - there's a fair chance that your home router will be managing some traffic for your SP - mine does, but then again when I'm travelling I'm using someone else's. ISDN will of course disappear, but it's hanging in there longer than anyone thought it would, mainly because of the end user refusing to change what they know and love.

The cause is a good one as it's ethically and environmentally the right direction but to succeed the end game has to be something that unquestioningly tastes, feels, looks, cooks, etc. like good quality meat as we have enough substitutes that don't hit every button. Once we get there we will have more land for vegetable matter and may have a chance of feeding the world's population with enough variety, including protein, to keep them healthy. However, we must learn from history, both recent and less so, that if we let money be the most significant factor in deciding the quality of our food and who gets to eat what, then it will not deliver what's needed. This has to be government funded without patents, licences, tie-ins etc. so that the best product will rise to the top and not the best margin.

The only reason that the engineering problems required to keep 500 people under water for 9 months were solved is that it was necessary for the purposes of warfare. Find a cast iron warfare benefit of a base on the moon then you have your source of funds. Cynical but true.

Sadly not, but thankfully it doesn't matter.

You raise an interesting point and of course you're correct. I suspect that the truth is that Neanderthal women were really ugly, mingers (that's with a soft "g" as in Ming vase) if you like, this is certainly the case in all of the films on the subject that I've seen. Now the fact that we have some Neanderthal genes suggests that human women have always liked a bad lad and so some interbred, nothing wrong with that but shocking at the time I dare say. So here we are, all with a bit of Neanderthal in us and those with a greater proportion presumably go on to play rugby; remind me, who won the Six Nations at the weekend?

Brands can be, and often are, mentioned on the BBC, as a result there were frequent references to Sellotape. Sticky-backed plastic is different from Sellotape, it's a wider plastic roll, typically about 50cm (20") wide.

How pleased I am to hear someone who understands how heavier than air machines fly, too many people, the vast majority in my experience, have completely the wrong idea.

Wow four corkscrews, no wonder it's implicated!

I was going to comment on your work but I just can't be arsed.

There is no single answer to this question because it will depend upon local circumstance. Human nature in times of plenty may well tend towards communism, in times of mild to medium stress it may tend towards capitalism and in times of extreme stress it may be mixed with some giving up personal hope and going for the greater good and others going for a more selfish agenda. There is also no single human nature as we're all different and we change throughout our lifetime. It would be possible to construct an average human nature but this may not apply to anyone, just as on average people have less than two arms but has anyone got exactly the average, probably not. In terms of avocados, I prefer Hass, more flavour.

Airbus use a lot of carbon fibre and have done for some time, there's no bad reports so far.

Sounds to me like you've got a big gut and lots of kids!

I completely agree. If an individual commits a crime it is for the authorities to take action, I don't understand why local police forces haven't arrested offending priests.

That was a very interesting use of the double negative by your old man!

It's wrong to say that the catfish do not belong on land, they are known to cross land to move from pond to pond as they dry up and there is some evidence that they migrate, at least once in their lifetime. They usually leave ponds at night when it's more humid so it's not a well known phenomenon. Nonetheless, this is very interesting behaviour.