A Travelling Lens

Next to Totland, a village on the Isle of Wight, is the beautiful beach: Totland Bay. I visited in August and stayed in the youth hostel in Totland. I witnessed a couple of breathtaking sunsets and those coupled with a crumbling pier lead to some excellent views:

Photo by  Rock'n Roll Monkey  on  Unsplash From replacing workers in factories to driving buses, there are many worries surrounding the advancements in the robotics industry. These concerns are not entirely unfounded as many processes are becoming more and more mechanised. There are even robot rock bands! The worries seem to stem from robots having the ability to carry progressively complex tasks; The Henn-na Hotel in Japan is the world’s first hotel to be staffed by robots. These robots speak many languages and aid in the checking in and out processes, they are able to store luggage and carry it to the guests’ room. Facial recognition software is also used as a room key replacement. Loss of jobs seems to be a large area of human concern. In fact the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) have recently warned that robots will replace a third of the UK’s jobs and a study conducted in 2013 by Oxford University estimated that “47 percent of total US is at risk...

After reading mixed reviews about the festival in Chiswick gardens, I was somewhat dubious about visiting yesterday and what to expect. Well I loved it. It was absolutely amazing, the displays were beautiful and of brilliant quality. To be honest I didn't know that such huge and intricate displays could be made out of lantern.  I liked the link to the theme: the Silk Road. This means I travelled the globe in an hour and a half- I particularly loved the displays of flowers, cacti and Aladdin's palace.  The Silk Road is an ancient trade route linking the East and the West. Coined because of the transportation of silks made in China to the Roman Empire. Silk production was so valuable in these times that the Chinese emperor tried (and failed) to keep the secrets of manufacturing the material, with the knowledge then spreading westward. These routes were now discovered and used to transport all sorts of goods for example precious stones, spices, other textiles and...