English Language FAQ

In  The Selfish Gene   (1976) the scientist Richard Dawkins expands the Darwinist concept of natural selection to the realm of ideas.

To troll is to insult or provoke, sometimes using subterfuge.

In 1965  Gordon Moore, co-founder of  Intel ,  observed that the number of  transistors  per square inch on  integrated circuits   had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented. Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future source Computers are getting faster and (relatively) cheaper with each passing year. The phones we carry in our pockets are far more powerful than the ones that sent the Apollo astronauts to the Moon.  Moore has suggested that his law will not continue indefinitely - suggesting  2025 as a possible end date. Others have speculated about what might replace it .  This BBC radio documentary is a useful introduction to the theme. Download The English Language Teaching Pack  for only £1.99

A MOOC is an online course with open enrolment and no fees. MOOCs are now offered by a variety of educational providers including some of the best universities in the world, including Stanford & MIT.  MOOC advocates see the movement as offering the chance to give poorer/more remotely located students access to the best available education - see here . For a view on how this might impact on the future of university education - see here  & here

The new silicon? Graphene has been called a "miracle material" and it is thought that it could become as common as plastic in a few years. It is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb, but it is stronger than diamond, more conductive than copper and more flexible than rubber. Some scientists believe that graphene will be the key element in driving product innovation in the near future. Posted with Blogsy

Anyone attending an afternoon showing of a family film will observe that the big screen is not the only one glowing in the cinema. Now it appears that an increasing number of US theatres are running up the white flag to those desperate for their phone fix: An American theatre is the latest to offer so-called 'Tweet seats' where audience members are encouraged to post comments about the performance on the social messaging site.   The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has formalised a growing trend in theatre audiences to use their phones from within auditoria by giving obsessive tweeters a section of their own.   Its management have roped off a special balcony-level section of the theatre 'that will not be disruptive to other patrons.... Read more :

When you search to compare the number of results for two competing keywords. For example I wanted to know whether EFL or ESL was the most used term to describe teaching English as a second (or foreign or other) language. For those of you who won't sleep without knowing who won this epic Google-fight, ESL was the clear winner. Many thanks to Chiew @ClilToClimb for bringing this to my attention .