The Voyager Series
The official home of the Voyager Series. Find out what happens when Voyager 1 gets picked up by two itinerant spacecombers from Morys Minor...WUFOOB
woke up, fell out of bed
"I read the news today, oh boy."
A sincere and unequivocal attempt to make nonsense of a range of topical issues of the day...Short Stories
Here is a catalogue of my prose writings, including children's fiction, short stories, non-sequiturs and odd scraps of surrealism with or without a straightforward narrative. Don't believe me? Well, to prove it, here's a picture of a man being fired from a cannon:
Dark Matter
Scientists are racing to find dark matter in the universe. You may find some of it here in the form of conspiracy theories, dark secrets, sinister and bizarre tales...The Moonwalkers
The only people ever to have set foot on an astronomical object other than Earth...Featured Page
Tip Jar
The downloads on this site (e.g. pdf versions of Earthwatch and Shackleton's Shed) are free. If you would like to donate a small sum of money to be invested in the upkeep of the site then please scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on the 'Donate' button. Somebody sometime has got to make money from the internet. Let it be me.Awards
This intergalactically recognised award was presented to The Speed Of Dark Blog by The Speed Of Dark Awards Commission.
I am delighted to have been nominated for the 2012 Tony Blair Ducking Under The Bar Award for boldly raising the bar and diving under it. I knew I had the potential to be a great underachiever. 
I've racked up another prestigious award - the Eric Morecambe 'Mister Preview' Prize. According to the award citation, The Speed Of Dark Blog contains material that ranks with the finest literary works in history. All the right letters are there, but not necessarily in the right order. -
Don't sign me up!
Category Archives: Dark Mutterings
No U-turns!
How much credibility can a government retain when it makes so many U-turns, careering from one crisis to another, lurching from one populist headline to the next, equipped with nothing but the flimsiest of straplines and slogans for brakes?
Posted in Dark Mutterings, Humour, Opinion
Tagged Boris Johnson, government U-turns
“The important thing is to have a target.”
Deadlines make headlines. Whether the Health Secretary’s target gets met or not, all the attention on the target will serve as a smokescreen, distracting the public from the truth that far too few tests were carried out during the first … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings, Humour, Opinion, Personal, Science or Pasta
Tagged COVID-19, pandemic, testing kits, virus tests
I’m Under House Arrest?! For how long?
I never thought I’d echo a thought expressed by Donald Trump, of all people, but if we’re effectively under house arrest, maybe we should be worrying about the cure for coronavirus being worse than the disease? Draconian restrictions of liberty … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings, Opinion
Tagged Boris Johnson, coronavirus, COVID-19, herd immunity, ISS, lockdown, NHS, pandemic, PPE, social distancing
Animal Astronauts
Several tales of animal astronauts such as Laika, Ham and Felicette are well-known within popular culture and have lasting memorials, but very few people are aware of the ordeals they were forced to endure to facilitate human exploration of space. … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings
Tagged animal astronauts, Felicette, Ham, Laika
Forsaking the Poppy
It may seem natural to feel an allegiance with those who happen to occupy the same bit of the earth’s crust as you do, but that allegiance is purely arbitrary and, of course, divisive. This is obviously controversial, but, as … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings, Opinion, Personal, Quotes
Tagged poppy
Hitler and the Reichstag Fire
On 27 February 1933, pedestrians near the Reichstag heard the sound of breaking glass and witnessed flames erupting from the German parliament building. It took fire fighters several hours to extinguish the fire, which ultimately destroyed the debating chamber and … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings
Tagged Adolf Hitler, conspiracy theory, Reichstag Fire
Remembering Space Shuttle Columbia
Fifteen years ago today, the Space Shuttle Columbia’s flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was cut short in the sky over Texas. A piece of insulating foam had broken off the external fuel tank during the launch … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings, Science
Tagged David "Doc" Brown, Mars rover Spirit, Space Shuttle Columbia, STS-107
The Milgram Experiment
In everyday situations, we are apparently inclined to obey orders because we believe we will be rewarded for it or because we wish to avoid the negative consequences of disobeying or simply because we believe in the legitimacy of authority … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings
Tagged Adolf Hitler, Holocaust, Milgram experiment, Stanley Milgram, World War Two, Yale University
Marula fruit and drunken elephants
‘Animals Are Beautiful People’ is a humorous 1974 Golden Globe Award-winning documentary, directed and written by Jamie Uys, about the wildlife of various arid desert environments in Southern Africa. Filmed in the Namib Desert, the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings
Tagged Animals are Beautiful People, drunken elephants, Jamie Uys, Marula
RMS Titanic
“The partly filled lifeboat standing by about 100 yards away never came back. Why on Earth they never came back is a mystery. How could any human being fail to heed those cries.” – Jack B Thayer, Titanic survivor. “The … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Mutterings
Tagged Arthur Rostron, Carpathia, Eva Hart, Jack B Thayer, RMS Titanic
