Hi there, its Peter here with Thursdays Levy Letter. I hope youre well. Did you watch the Murray match yesterday? Well, its a shame that he got knocked out, but Nadal is fantastic player, isnt he? So a worthy winner of that match last night.
Kylie I read today that the Pop Princess, Kylie Minogue, will be formally appointed an OBE by the Prince of Wales at a Buckingham Palace ceremony later today. Shes had quite a career, hasnt she? Of course, she made her name in the Aussie soap, Neighbours, but her pop career should be admired for its longevity as least. And in a recent magazine interview she said she planned to keep on singing on the stage until she was sixty! Anyway, well done to Kylie, who will be receiving her OBE today at Buckingham Palace. Diamonds Are Scientists Best Friends Any women out there, who are lucky enough to have a diamond on their fingers, actually could have fragments of the earliest traces of life in their hand. Scientists have discovered from certain slivers of diamonds forged on an infant Earth contain a form of carbon often associated with plants and bacteria. Scientists are reluctant to put all their eggs in one basket, but they think that if this carbon theyve discovered in the gems was derived from primitive organisms, then it would push back the date for life appearing on Earth by around five hundred million years! Thats quite a difference. That would mean that life on earth could be dated back to beyond 4.25 billion years ago. The Earth itself is just 4.6 billion years old apparently. Fiddle We all know the name of Stradivarius, even if we dont particularly like classical music. Weve all heard of it though and know theyre the most famous and most unique violins in the world. Scientists have had their hot little paws on one though to see what makes it so special and theyve narrowed it down to the density of the wood that its made from. Scientists say the patterns in the grain are markedly different from modern instruments. It is believed that the seasonal growth of trees in the early seventeenth century was affected by a mini Ice Age. The thoughts are that the violin maker, Antonio Stradivari from Cremona in Italy, used wood from these trees affected by this mini Ice Age, to make his unique violins in the early 1700s. And of course, the mini Ice Age conditions have not been repeated since, so violins of the quality of a Stradivarius havent been repeated since either. I hadnt realised this, but there are apparently around six hundred of Antonio Stradivaris! violins, violas, guitars and cellos still in existence. I didnt realise that there were quite that many. But of course we all know that whenever they come up for auction they sell for millions. And the reason they do is all down to the unique wood theyre made from. Well, that's it from me for now. Enjoy your day. Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
