We crossed the equator at 12:30pm and the crew put on a big ceremony next to the pool for those initiates wanting to go from pollywog to shellback. It clashed with our lecture times.
The astronomer Dan Wilkins of Halifax showed us the Hubble Space Telescope and how difficult it was to get it launched by the Shuttle and correct faults in its operation. In 25 years it has produced millions of pictures and any scientist can apply to use it at $3 per second. It has shown the birth of stars and solar systems, collisions between solar systems, supernovas and light that has travelled to us over billions of years. The more we learn the more there is to be learned.
The final talk from the plastic surgeon from Cape Town was called rhynoplasty fro rhinoceroses. He told us that black people are unable to find work and some are tempted to poach rhino horn for the Asian men's benefit. So futile, he said, when Viagra works ten times as well, and biting your finger nails gives the same effect as rhino horn. We saw two rhinos who died after the poachers used a chainsaw to remove the horn. The wound bleeds so much they die quickly. The black rhino went extinct not long ago so a lot of effort is now going into preserving the white rhino. The female gestates for 18 months to produce one baby. He volunteered to try to apply a skin graft over the wound for the survivor to prevent infection. We all know how itchy healing wounds can feel and the rhinos scratch so much the dressing and graft detach, so they use plaster of paris screwed into the bone to protect the graft. His enthusiasm was much greater than when talking about cosmetic surgery for rich women. Impressive man.
After dinner Lyn did the washing and we went to a concert by Stuart Gillies (a Scotsman), who gave a tribute to Neil Diamond. He sang "You don't bring me flowers", but having failed to persuade Barbra Streisand to come on board he sang along with a recording of his wife's voice and if you shut your eyes you would believe you were listening to the original. The audience loved him, and we saved $200 on tickets for a Neil Diamond Concert.
Today's rumour: Yesterday morning a public address announcement relayed "a code alpha in room 4xxx".
So the body count was revised up to 18.
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