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Were trebuchets built in situ and then abandoned after a siege?

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While many classical pieces explored celestrial or planetary themes before Holst (pictured), few were as thorough or systematic as The Planets
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  • Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk 

Early trebuchets were built on site. As they grew increasingly large and powerful, wagons carrying sections of prefabricated trebuchets were brought to a siege and assembled in situ.

A trebuchet was a medieval siege weapon, operated using a counterweight to propel a long arm, attached to a sling, which could hurl a projectile with great force and accuracy at enemy fortifications.

Invented in China in around the fourth century BC, by the 12thcentury, improved counterweight trebuchets were in use in Europe.

Historian Michael S. Fulton offered the best examination of the machines in his book Development Of Prefabricated Artillery During The Crusades (2015).

He concluded that while smaller weapons were built on site, large trebuchets were not only assembled but also disassembled afterwards for transport so they could be reused at later sieges.

Perhaps the largest and most famous trebuchet of them all was Edward I’s Warwolf.

In 1304, he ordered his engineers to build this great piece of artillery for the siege of Stirling Castle in Scotland.

Assembled by five master carpenters and 49 labourers, the Warwolf could hurl rocks weighing as much as 300lb.

Early trebuchets were brought on site. As they grew larger and more powerful, wagons carried prefabricated section to a siege and assembled in situ

 

The Scots, watching the Warwolf being assembled, offered to surrender, but Edward reputedly refused to let anyone leave the castle until the great engine had bombarded it, which it did, successfully levelling the curtain wall.

Jon Francis, Norwich, Norfolk

QUESTION: What did the Keeper of the King’s Conscience do?

The Keeper of the King’s Conscience was a role of the Lord Chancellor. Historically, the Lord Chancellor was head of the Chancery, a court of equity (using fairness to resolve disputes) that originated in medieval England.

In its earliest form, those who were unable to obtain an adequate common law remedy (law derived from judicial decision), or felt they had been treated unfairly, could petition the King of England directly. Rather than making the judgment himself, he would refer the case to his ‘Conscience’, i.e. the Lord Chancellor.

Up until the Reformation the Chancellors were almost always churchmen, versed in civil and canon law. The Chancellor could thus bring legal and spiritual judgment to bear upon the case.Afterwards, the Chancellors were usually trained lawyers used to the process of reasoning.

Sarah Westwood, Birmingham

QUESTION: Was Gustav Holst the first composer to write about the planets?

Before Holst, there were works that explored celestial or planetary themes, though not in such a thorough or systematic manner as The Planets (1914-1917).

Orlando di Lasso (c.1532-1594) was a Catholic composer born in Mons in the Habsburg Netherlands (modern-day Belgium).

While many classical pieces explored celestrial or planetary themes before Holst (pictured), few were as thorough or systematic as The Planets

 

One of the most prolific, versatile and universal composers of the Renaissance, Lasso wrote more than 2,000 songs in Latin, French, Italian and German. Among his works was In Me Transierunt Irae Tuae (Your Wrath Swept Over Me), which directly inspired the German mathematician Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) to write Harmonices Mundi (Harmonies Of The World).

Tomorrow’s questions

Q: Has there ever been a report of a shark attack off the UK coastline?

Mrs Glenda Hunt, Newcastle upon Tyne

Q: Did US actor Joe Don Baker appear in a British feature film about defrosting a fridge?

Vernon Ireland, Lancing, West Sussex

Q: What is a ‘frozen conflict’?

Simon Brown, Southampton

Harmonices Mundi captured the Pythagorean idea of planetary motion and the ‘music of the spheres’: the philosophical concept that celestial bodies such as the Sun, the Moon and the planets form music as they move through the solar system.

Austrian composer Joseph Haydn’s great oratorio The Creation (1798) celebrated the formation of the Universe. Although the lyrics were based on the biblical books of Genesis and Psalms, and John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Haydn was intensely interested in the astronomical discoveries of the day.

He is believed to have read Immanuel Kant’s Universal Natural History And Theory Of The Heavens (1755), which introduced Nebular Theory, the idea that the planets coalesced from gas and dust orbiting the Sun. The theory, as refined by French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace in the 1790s, was popular in the intellectual salons of the era.

Haydn also visited William Herschel’s astronomical observatory in Slough in June 1792. Peering through Herschel’s 40ft telescope may have provided the cosmic inspiration for The Representation of Chaos, the famous opening of The Creation.

It brilliantly captures the formation of celestial spheres from chaos, and it is clear from Haydn’s sketches that he took unprecedented pains over this composition.

Dr Ken Bristow, Glasgow

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NASA finally sets a return date for its stranded astronauts

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  • READ MORE: Tim Peake reveals what life is REALLY like for NASA’s astronauts

NASA has finally set a return date for its stranded astronauts – and it seems the pair don’t have long to wait to come back to Earth.

Veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were due to spend eight days on the International Space Station (ISS) but have been there for more than eight months after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft suffered propulsion problems.

Although their return craft has been docked with the station since September, Williams and Wilmore have been stuck while NASA prepares to send their replacements in the Crew 10 mission.

The mission was originally pushed back to late March, but the space agency now says it is ‘accelerating’ the launch to target Wednesday, March 12.

Crew 9, which includes Williams and Wilmore, will then spend a few days handing over to the new arrivals before making their way back to Earth.

The mission is scheduled to launch ‘pending mission readiness’, but further delays are possible if there is not an appropriate weather window.

Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, says: ‘Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges.

‘Our operational flexibility is enabled by the tremendous partnership between NASA and SpaceX and the agility SpaceX continues to demonstrate to safely meet the agency’s emerging needs.’

Wilmore and Williams first arrived at the ISS on June 5 last year aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft but became stranded after the experimental craft developed serious issues.

By the time the capsule arrived at the station, it had sprung a number of helium leaks, and five of its 28 thrusters had failed.

After weeks of tests, NASA ultimately decided that Starliner wasn’t safe enough to carry humans back to Earth and in September, the doomed spacecraft was sent home empty.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft they are scheduled to return on arrived later that month, but the pair must wait until March to use it.

Since Williams and Wilmore have become official members of NASA’s Crew 9 mission, they must wait to hand over with Crew 10 before leaving the station.

Originally, the Crew 10 mission was due to launch in February aboard a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

However, the mission had to be delayed when it emerged that SpaceX was not able to complete the construction and testing of the new capsule on time.

NASA explains that this latest scheduling change comes after SpaceX agreed to use a Crew Dragon capsule called Endurance which has already been used three times.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was plagued by technical issues even before it launched. By the time it arrived at the ISS, it had sprung more helium leaks and five of its 28 thrusters had failed, leaving Williams and Wilmore stranded

 

SpaceX and NASA are now working together to assess the spacecraft’s hardware, refurbish the interior, and get it ready for flight.

The capsule will launch with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

Crew 10 will then meet with Williams and Wilmore on the ISS for a brief handover period window in which they will be familiarised with ongoing scientific and maintenance projects.

Finally, Crew 9 will return home with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, and Nick Hague alongside Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Pending good weather conditions, the capsule should splash down off the coast of Florida.

This announcement comes after Donald Trump called for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to ‘go get’ the stranded astronauts and blamed delays on former president Joe Biden.

In a statement posted to his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: ”I have just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to “go get” the two brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned by the Biden administration.’

He added: ‘Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!’

Having now become part of the NASA Crew 9 mission, Williams (pictured) and Wilmore must wait until the Crew 10 mission arrives so that they can hand over to their replacement crew

 

The mission to collect the stranded astronauts has been accelerated after SpaceX agreed to use a previously used Crew Dragon capsule rather than a new spacecraft which was not going to be ready in time

 

This comes after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (left) and Donald Trump (right) created confusion by claiming that Musk had been ordered to ‘go get’ the stranded astronauts, despite the mission being planned for months in advance

 

In response, Musk tweeted: ‘The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so.

‘Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.’

These statements spread widespread confusion on social media given that SpaceX had been tasked with bringing the pair home months ago by Biden administration.

Likewise, despite the most recent delays being caused by SpaceX, Musk has been quick to celebrate the accelerated timeline.

In a post on X Musk wrote: ‘They’re coming home.’

In January, Wilmore and Williams said their spirits were still high, adding that they had plenty of food and were enjoying their time on the space station.

Yet there has been growing concern for the pair’s health after images appeared to show Williams looking thin and gaunt.

Williams has pushed back against the claims, blaming her appearance of unusual fluid distribution in microgravity and claiming that she has actually gained muscle in her legs.

Pictures of mission commander Williams have since sparked health concerns due to her ‘gaunt’ appearance. Williams maintains that she has actually gained weight while in space and that her unusual appearance is due to ‘fluid shift’

 

But, in January, Williams admitted that she had forgotten what it was like to walk after 234 days in space.

‘I’ve been up here long enough, right now I’ve been trying to remember what it’s like to walk. I haven’t walked. I haven’t sat down. I haven’t laid down,’ she said during a video call with students at Needham High School in Massachusetts.

However, NASA maintains that their astronauts are trained for extended stays in space and that some deterioration of muscle function is entirely normal.

If Williams and Wilmore do return home in late March as expected, their mission will have lasted two months longer than a standard long-term ISS mission, which typically lasts six months.

While their protracted stay is notable, it has not yet surpassed Frank Rubio’s record-breaking 371 days aboard the ISS, which he completed in 2023 after the Russian spacecraft designated for his return developed a coolant leak.

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Outrage Across The Country As MTN Increases The Price Of 15GB Data From N2k To N6k

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Nigerians have expressed outrage as telecoms giant, MTN increased price of data, calls and other services.

On Tuesday morning, February 11, 2025, many subscribers in Nigeria took to social media to criticise the increase, calling it exploitative and unfair, especially amid rising economic hardships.

Apparently, the weekly data package of 15GB which initially cost N2,000 only days ago unexpectedly surged to a whooping N6,000

An user, @gbolahan2211 said: “Imagine MTN @MTNNG increasing their tariff 15gb overnight without prior notice to customers. This is no way to do things man. I even sent them a message and they told me cause they wanna serve me better. Damn!!”

Another user @GIFTy6286 wrote: “If they like they should increase it to 1m,we will survive”

@AfrokonnectNG reacted: “This sudden price increase from ₦2,000 to ₦6,000 for 15GB is wild! How are people supposed to cope with such an outrageous hike? Internet access is essential for work, education, and staying connected, yet it’s being priced like a luxury.

“At this rate, users may be forced to look for alternatives or reduce their data consumption drastically. MTN really needs to reconsider this move because it’s not sustainable for the average Nigerian. What do you think about this development?”

@Gorilla23mp asked: “But this is almost 200% increment, I thought they said it won’t be up to 100%?”

 

@TheSilvapr lamented; “Nigeria is a very difficult place to live in honestly. MTN waking up one day to increase their weekly 15gb data from 2k to 6k without prior warning is textbook insanity.

“That’s 24k in a month, almost the minimum wage of the country on data, bruh, this is hell.”

While the telecom giant has yet to comment on the situation, observations suggest it may have begun implementing the 50% tariff hike approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Recall that on January 20, the NCC in a statement by its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, said implentation of the 50% tariff hike will begin in February, adding that the adjustment, though lower than the over 100 per cent requested by some network operators, was arrived at taking into account ongoing industry reforms that will positively influence sustainability.

“These adjustments will remain within the tariff bands stipulated in the 2013 NCC Cost Study, and requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis as is the Commission’s standard practice for tariff reviews. It will be implemented in strict adherence to the recently issued NCC Guidance on Tariff Simplification, 2024.

“Tariff rates have remained static since 2013, despite the increasing costs of operation faced by telecom operators. The approved adjustment is aimed at addressing the significant gap between operational costs and current tariffs while ensuring that the delivery of services to consumers is not compromised”, the NCC said.

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TikTok sued over deaths of 4 children after viral challenge

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Parents of four British teenagers who believe that their children died after participating in viral trends (challenge) that circulated on TikTok in 2022 have sued the video-sharing platform.

According to the parents, the children, Isaac Kenevan, Archie Battersbee, Julian “Jools” Sweeney and Maia Walsh, died while attempting the trend called “blackout challenge”.

BBC reports that the US-based Social Media Victims Law Center filed the lawsuit on Thursday against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance on behalf of the children’s parents.

Meanwhile, searches for videos or hashtags related to the challenge on TikTok have been blocked since 2020.

TikTok had clarified that it prohibits dangerous content or challenges on the platform, and directs those who search for hashtags or videos to its Safety Centre.

The complaint was filed in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware on behalf of Isaac’s mum Lisa Kenevan, Archie’s mother Hollie Dance, Jools’ mother Ellen Roome and Maia’s dad Liam Walsh.

It claims the deaths were “the foreseeable result of ByteDance’s engineered addiction-by-design and programming decisions”, which were “aimed at pushing children into maximizing their engagement with TikTok by any means necessary”.

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