In this week’s Wired magazine there’s an article on the way scientists think. “We’ve heard this all before,” I hear you savvy-with-the-philosophy-of-science readers say. Right. And the results reported are similar to what we’ve heard before too: scientists interpret anomalies as methodologically generated, and so removable from their data, until that is no longer an option, and a change of how one goes about interpreting the data is required (cf. Kuhn on anomalies). If Popper ever meant to describe what scientists actually do, he would have been quite wrong.

The supposed novelty of the work reported by Wired is, first, that the work is done by a psychologist (Kevin Dunbar), not a philosopher. And second, the work involves observations of scientists at work, rather than very post hoc reminiscences of what life was like when the writer once trained as a scientist.

But though the Wired article presents it as such, the second novelty is not a novelty. It’s true that some of the most famous names in philosophy of science did not engage in “in vivo” research. However, others did. Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar’s Laboratory Life and Michael Lynch’s Art and Artefact are both extended studies of life in a lab. And interestingly, each had as its focus an issue that the Wired article omits entirely.

The Wired article paints scientists as dogmatic ignorers of the flaws in their research: the data clearly point to one’s preconceived ideas being wrong, so one ought to change the direction of one’s research. But the scientists fail to do so. But then why does science work? Because they argue it out and come to see the error of their ways. That’s the Wired story (roughly).

Lynch, and Latour and Woolgar, begin their questioning with one less assumption. How is it that when multiple interpretations of the data are always possible, any order is so often found in the data collected? The production of order: how does it happen? These authors treat the processes described by Dunbar as a way of achieving order “out of chaos” as Latour and Woolgar put it. Scientists’ well documented behavior is a solution to a problem one gets if one drops the assumption that seeing any order, getting any agreement on what the data mean, is something that does not require explanation.

One can’t help feeling that the Wired article, if not Dunbar himself, has committed that sin so despised by Kuhn: trying to understand the behavior of scientists as though they knew already what they would only come to know once they had finished their investigations.

Related articles:
The Psychology of Scientific Investigation
By J. D. Trout, Loyola University Chicago
(Vol. 2, April 2007)
Philosophy Compass

The Paradox of Confirmation
By Branden Fitelson, University of California – Berkeley
(Vol. 1, February 2006)
Philosophy Compass

This past weekend was spent visiting Cypress Mountain for their Hollyburn lodge Christmas breakfast with Santa.
While there, I took some photos of the event spent with friends. On one of the photos I noticed that my elderly labrador, Bagel demonstrated the classic ‘head-forward’ posture that we spend out time correcting in patients in the clinic. This posture lengthens the deep neck flexor muscles and reduces neck stability.
Here is a photo of her – see what I mean?

One of the things I’m keen to explore via this blog is a means of like-minded people sharing ideas and reflections and maybe making some new connections.  So here’s the first guest post:

Name:  Scott McMinn
Where are you based?  Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. 

When and where were you last in the water?  Saturday 5th Dec at St Andrews – blue sky, shoulder high, 4 people out, clean, but cold.

Where is someone most likely to find you surfing?  Dunbar/St Andrews/ Kirkcaldy, even! (yes, I believe the above photo is of Scott surfing his home wave in that little know secret spot of…Kirkcaldy!)

What’s getting heaviest rotation on your iPod or mp3 at the

moment? Townes Van Zandt

What’s your favourite film or book?   Cannery Row  by John Steinbeck

Tell us about your most enjoyable time on the beach in the last year. Mid Nov Saturday afternoon at Dunbar – small but clean; strong offshore, but nice when it died down. Totally unforecasted by Seaweed and Guru.

What is the connection between surfing and the soul?   The joy in Creation.

Want to do a guest post?  Simply comment on this post and I’ll send you a contact email address and details of some quick and easy questions.

So, Andy and Hugo from Surfers Against Sewage came to Dunbar on Sunday.  They gave a really good overview of environmental issues affecting recreational water users.  It wasn’t just some dusted down powerpoint slide show, but it was pretty obvious they’d really looked into the stuff that affects us locally.

The numbers may have been small, but a really good discussion ensued afterwards.  Some local concerns about the proximity of our surf spots to a cement works, incinerator, landfill and nuclear power station may all seem obvious, but how often do we talk about it?  Some key areas for action were identified.  Thanks, guys.

You can watch the TV coverage on this little clip.

I was at my local school today, interviewing the headteacher/principal about students on work experience and how they experience different information environments in the workplace than at school, in many cases. We also talked abut the school’s Rich Tasks programme which is a cross curricular initiative which involves year 7 students in a range of skills and activities, including information literacy. The Rich Tasks programme has its origins in Queensland and has now been adopted in a number of Scottish education authorities. In one area of my local school – Dunbar Grammar School, which I attended in my youth – students are engaged in modern languages, ICT and art and in another area, where they look at a disaster area in the world, they are engaged in craft, design and technology and  geography. One of the elements of both projects is the development of students’ information literacy skills as they are engaged in collaborative research and the school librarian is an active member of the team. I will learn more about this in 2010.

On Sunday, I was involved in doing timing and taking photographs for Dunbar Running Club’s  annual Festive Half Marathon/10K (which turned out to be 7 miles i.e. 11.34K). Every year, different runners turn up dressed in festive costumes to do the runs and this year, there were 2 fairies, an elf and a Xmas tree. What was worrying was that husband and wife team Santa Claus and SANDRA Claus did not turn up for either run. What the implications might be for children across the world on 25th December is anyone’s guess. The information has not been released to the financial markets, in case shares drop dramatically because of fears of non-delivery. Visit the club’s website for photos of festive runners. The photo below shows a fairy on the bridge and a man in a red top – SC in disguise?

Festive runners

“Social is like sex… you can’t truly comprehend unless you do it”.

Okay so starting off the #blogoff2 blogging contest talking about sex is possibly a cheap shot for getting comments. And sex talk is not how I typically sell the need for professionals to get on board with social personal adoption to lead their corporate adoption.  But it comes from a still favorite post of mine from George Colony, founder and CEO of Forrester.  As one of few CEOs that twitters [well about 134 tweets anyways] and blogs, George shares his thoughts and quest getting other CEOs on board with personally using social media.

It’s a tough sell for those business owners and executives daunted by the learning curve and time investment for social media.  I know as I coach some reluctant learners on the value of social media.  Does an executive need to be on facebook?

Read more…..

Well seeing that we’re 5 episodes behind in Canada (we just got the episode where Adam and Bianca got eliminated), I’ve been going on Wikipedia to see who’s still left in The Ruins and how much money people have in their individual bank accounts.

*WARNING* spoilers after the jump

My neighbor Jason just sent me this clip of what happened on Wednesday’s episode of The Ruins that aired in the US. I had read on Wikipedia that Darrell and Brad had both got disqualified and I didn’t know why. This clip shows the fight between Darrell and Brad.

Since Brad and Darrell are both disqualified, the money they have earned (like Tonya’s) has know gone in the final mission’s total.

The remaining people are left on the ruins are:

Champions
Evan – $14,626
Kenny – $14,626
Derek – $14,626
Johnny – $14,626*
Susie – $16,626*

Challengers
Dunbar – $2,000*
Sarah – $17,689
Kelly Anne – $13,294
Kimberley – $8,214*
Casey – $2,000

*denotes they are headed into the duel at the end of Wednesday’s episode, but the results won’t be known until next week’s episode

The Ruins airs Wednesday at 10pm EST in the US and Sundays at 10pm EST.

By Cara Sulieman

THE DAUGHTERS of a woman who was stabbed in the face with a corkscrew by her husband have called on the judge to “lock him up and throw away the key”.

Debra MacLeod, 46, suffered eight stab wounds and had part of her cheek torn away after the savage attack by her husband who attacked her in her own home.

Ian MacLeod beat his estranged wife at her home in Thurston Manor Holiday Park in Dunbar before punching her in the face with the corkscrew.

Her daughters, Danielle and Melissa Baillie, have branded their step-father an “evil monster” and a “disgusting beast”.

“Evil”

Danielle, 22, an assistant office manager from Leith in Edinburgh said: “He’s always been a coward and a bully. It’s difficult to find the words to say how much we despise him.

“What he did to our mum was unbelievable and shows what an evil monster he is.

“We’ve been told to expect he will get at least five years, but he deserves a life sentence.

“The judge should lock him up and throw away the key. He’s a psychotic person and I know he will hurt someone again when he gets out of prison.

“Our mum is lucky to be alive after what he did to her. She has been through so much trauma and knows she will never look like herself again.

“It’s difficult to look at her face now as she looks like a different person, but at least he is out of her life and she’s a strong person. What has happened was terrible but she’s getting on with her life now.”

“Unrecognisable”

Debra’s other daughter Melissa, a retail worker also from Leith, said that the family would be in court to see MacLeod sentenced.

The 20-year-old said: “She was unrecognisable when we came to the hospital and saw her. We were told that she had a slim chance of survival after what happened, but she pulled through.

“He’s a disgusting beast and our whole family will be in court to watch him get sent away.”

MacLeod has been remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh next month.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

By Rory Reynolds

A LOYAL guide dog has stuck with her owner through years of studying and commuting 60 miles every day to help her graduate with a degree from a Scots university.

Four-year-old Jules helped visually impaired Jodie Renton to achieve a BA Honours degree in Human Resources – and learn two languages.

Now the duo – who graduated together from Edinburgh Napier yesterday – are heading for a place on the Civil Service’s Fast Stream programme.

And the 22-year-old said she’ll stick with her Labrador Spaniel all the way to a top government post.

Jodie said: “I’m delighted to be graduating today, I’ve worked really hard to get here today and have loved studying at Edinburgh Napier.

“My tutors at the uni have been really supportive so a big thanks to them.

“But I couldn’t let the day go by without a special thank you to my guide dog Jules.

“She has been a great help during my studies – and she’s even made friends on the course.

“Jules has made me a lot more confident – we make a good team.”

And despite commuting from Dunbar to Edinburgh for her classes at uni – a 60 mile round trip – Jodie still found time to work for Guide Dogs for the Blind, taking part in fundraising across Edinburgh.

Her proud mum Joyce, 43, said she was delighted that her little winning team are now off to London for Jodie’s big interview.

She said: “Jules has certainly been a big help, in Jodie’s first year she didn’t have her and it was a lot more difficult.

“Now she’s going down to London for her Fast Stream interview, and she’s hoping to work in human resources for one of the government departments.”

She added: “And Jules will be sticking with Jodie all the way – we’re all very proud of them both.”

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

The challenge this week was just silly. We’ve got a fruit delivery!

(photo courtesy of mtv.com)

(photo courtesy of mtv.com)

The goal was to transport as much fruit as possible without touching the fruit with your hands. There were throwers, catchers, runners, deliverers and dumpers. The throwers threw the fruit over a wall to the catchers who dumped it into a basket the runners ran to the deliverer who delivered it to the dumper. No one seemed to be able to throw the fruit over the wall and if they did get it over, the catchers were freaking out about getting a concussion from a banana or a mango hitting their junk.

Everyone thought Veronica was going to throw the challenge so they put her as a thrower where others could pick up the slack. Was she throwing the challenge or could she really not throw the fruit?

WHERE’S THE FRUIT!?!!!

Nominated to go into the ruins this week for the champions was Syrus, Johnny, Derrick, Veronica, Johanna and Susie. For the challengers it was KellyAnne, Sarah, Casey, Cohutta, Dunbar and Brad.

Susie and  Johanna have formed an alliance so Veronica finally got thrown in against KellyAnne. Just one episode too late. Johnny decides to throw Syrus under the bus because he’s gotten “injured” in the last couple of challenges, so Syrus ends up going in.Syrus choses to go against the bank account – Cohutta. Don’t worry, Cohutta’s ready to play ball, ya’ll. But, there’s no doubt in Syrus‘ mind that he will whoop Cohutta ass. After Cohutta beat Wes, I wouldn’t bet on him losing just so soon Syrus.

(photo courtesy of mtv.com)

Syrus trying to unhook himself. (photo courtesy of mtv.com)

The ruins challenge is to shimmy across a big wooden vertical pole, grab a key and use it to get them loose from the ropes strapping them on to the pole.

I wish I would’ve made that bet on Cohutta beating Syrus because that’s just what he does. Syrus started out strong and ahead, but just couldn’t calm down enough at the end and that cost him. Syrus, you’re out!

Veronica and KellyAnne take significantly longer to get across the pole than the guys do. According Syrus, “they look like 2 hanging pigs in a market.” Ew Syrus. KellyAnne wins while Veronica’s still trying to shimmy across the pole.

Johnny glueing feathers on Derrick. (photo courtesy of mtv.com)

Johnny decides to cover Derrick in maple syrup and feathers while he’s passed out and did so in his “sacred area.” Of course Derrick gets pissed and not-so-gracefully leaps out of his bed at Johnny. Johnny gets pissed for being blamed for this. Uh, Johnny, you did it. You brought the feathers.

I never really understood what was going on with Evan and Veronica. Did they like each other? Didthey hate each other? Were they hooking up or did shejust hop into his bed for the fun of it? When Veronica left this week Evan said he really wasn’t going to miss their relationship, so I’m thinking if there was a “real” relationship, it was pretty fake.

Evan and Veronica. (photo courtesy of mtv.com)

Watch The Full Episode Here

Additional Links:

MTV’s RR/R Challenge: The Ruins

Evan Denies Hooking Up With Veronica

Johnny’s Trick On Derrick

From eSchool News, an article entitled Reinventing Education which outlines how, in the USA schools are about to change the way they teach students by using more technology and using the technology more effectively. In the article, an educational strategist (sic) argues that in San Diego, schools will have “an engaging and personalised learning environment, mindfully designed to optimise teaching and learning through the interconnected use of visual and auditory media, mobile computing and formative assessment technologies across the curriculum”. Hmm – interesting e.g. “mindfully designed”? – the opposite being? OK – we’ve all used terminology, so people in glass houses … The key point here, however, is that this is not reinventing education per se, it is changing the way teachers teach and to some extent how students learn – and education in my book is much bigger than that.

At the weekend, I travelled from Tauranga, New Zealand to Auckland, New Zealand, to Sydney, Australia, to Dubai, UAE and then to Newcastle, UK where I landed. I was then driven to Dunbar in Scotland. So, a long haul. Travelling – which I like very much – is obviously a physical experience – on the plane, off the plane, on another plane, off… It’s also a mental experience and the way I cope with long journeys is to not be on a long journey but a series of short ones. This may sound like a North American business guru’s seminar – small steps, big achievements blah, blah but one aspect that is different with travelling is your concept of time. I try to forget about time as I travel and just accept that e.g. you’re going backwards in time as you travel west. My advice is always read when you can, sleep when you can and watch movies when you can, in the sure and certain knowledge that your aesthetic standards will drop dramatically – when you’re tired, you’ll watch films you wouldn’t normally watch.

Go! Physiotherapy is ramping up to perform athlete screening tests on 24 athletes from the Pan-American U-17 boys field hockey team — all in one day!

What is athlete screening?

It is a functional exam performed by our physiotherapists. It is meant to identify “weak spots” in the body that could be potential areas of injuries. We perform them on athletes of all ages and levels of performance. To find out more information about the athlete screening program we offer, send us an email at go@gophysiotherapy.ca or book an appointment online.

Four point kneel test

Scotland’s First Annual Local Food Gathering – Dunbar, Scotland
Saturday and Sunday 24 & 25 October 2009 – Dunbar, Scotland

An event organised by One Planet Food, Sustaining Dunbar, Soil Association Scotland and Transition Scotland Support. Local food is on everyone’s agenda, from Transition initiatives to government policy makers. More and more people are aware that we need to develop a much more local, non-oil and chemical reliant food infrastructure as a matter of urgency.

The aim of this gathering is to help a Scottish food re-localisation movement cohere and develop strategic plans for taking the next steps, which will be revisited in another gathering in a year.

For further information contact: lesley@centreforstewardship.org.uk T. 01337 858838 or sign up direct from this link here…Dunbar Sign-Up or see the poster here.

Margaret Peterson with a picture of her and Charles in happier times

 

By Cara Sulieman

AN ELDERLY couple who have been married for 25 years have been forced 13 miles apart by the NHS because of red tape.

Charles Peterson, 88, was refused a place in a care home in his hometown because his step-daughter works there.

And now his wife Margaret, 82, has to make a 26 mile round trip to North Berwick to visit her husband from her home in Dunbar.

The couple only spent a few days apart in their 25 years of marriage – even travelling the world together when Charles got a job in Saudi Arabia – until he had to be taken into hospital following a stroke in early 2008.

“Ridiculous”

An old person’s charity has branded the decision “ridiculous” and is calling for East Lothian Community Health Partnership to reconsider their position.

Margaret said that the family got their hopes up when they heard that Charles could be moved to the Dunbar care home – just one mile from his home – but have now been shattered by the decision to retract the offer.

She said: “It was like giving a bag of sweeties to two delighted schoolchildren and then snatching them back again.

“It has been awful living so far apart from Charles. I can only visit him every five weeks or so and every time we see each other we spend the whole visit in tears because we miss each other so much.

“He calls me every morning when he gets up, and I call him at night before bed, but it’s not the same as being able to see each other. We just want to spend our last years together as a couple.”

Reunited

Charles spent 11 months at the high dependency unit at Belhaven Nursing Home in Dunbar after his stroke but was moved to the care home in North Berwick when his condition approved.

It looked as though the couple would be reunited when a place came up at Belhaven’s permanent accommodation last month.

But NHS bosses discovered that Margaret’s daughter from a previous marriage, Katie Fairgrieve, 59, is a nurse in the palliative care ward and vetoed the decision.

The family have appealed the decision with local care managers, NHS Lothian and the Care Commission but their pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears.

The only option that has been offered to the family was for Katie to give up the job she loves and move somewhere else.

“Professional”

Margaret said: “I can’t ask her to do that and she shouldn’t have to. It’s not fair on her to say that the only way Charles can move back to Dunbar is if she gives up her job.

“Katie’s my daughter from a previous marriage so there’s not a drop of blood between them. Aside from the fact that she works in a completely different ward, when she crosses the doors of the nursing home she becomes a professional so even if they did come into contact she would not allow her feelings to affect her work.

“We thought the move to Belhaven would be the perfect solution but the wannabe Gods at the NHS said it would be inappropriate.”

The wrangle has meant that Charles has lost the spot at the home, which has now been given to someone else.

“Over application of the rules”

A spokesman for Age Concern and Help the Aged Scotland said that although there are rules in place to prevent immediate family members from working in the same place where their relative is a patient, it seems as though NHS Lothian has taken it too far in this case.

He said: “It seems a bit over the top. These rules apply to immediate family and this seems to be a case where it isn’t immediate family. It is a gross over application of the rules in this regard.

“It seems they have made the decision without taking into consideration the ramifications for those nearest and dearest to him.

“A bit of common sense would have seemed more applicable in this case. There are rules but it is how you implement those rules that make a difference. They should be looking at the impact on the people concerned.

“If she has to make a 26 mile round trip every time she wants to see her husband then that is ridiculous – something needs to be changed. The authorities should look into this again and reconsider their position.”

“Integrity”

But Mairi Pollock, clinical services manager for East Lothian Community Health Partnership (CHP), said that the rules were in place to make sure that a professional relationship was maintained.

She said: “Providing quality care for each patient is a priority for East Lothian CHP.

“East Lothian CHP has an obligation to maintain the integrity of the professional relationship between patients and staff when personal relationships overlap professional care.

“We are working closely with our East Lothian Council colleagues and Mr Peterson’s family to ensure he continues to receive appropriate care.”

For about 150 of my students, it’s time to look at Pathfinders as part of the TL’s role in developing learning resources in the school. Pathfinders are guides which lead students to resources. I’m not sure if I like the title ‘Pathfinder’ as it has connotations of printed lists of books for students. However, it is a recognised term and nowadays, pathfinders are usually in a digital format. Joyce Valenza argues coherently that using a wiki is an excellent vehicle for a pathfinder. My recommendations to students and to TLs is to think of a pathfinder not only as a guide to resources which have been mediated by the TL and by teachers, but also as a scaffold which will help improves tudents’ information literacy skills. Effective pathfinders give students choices, save them time searching and take them to relevant sources from which they can learn.

Now that I am back in Wagga Wagga for a few weeks, the subject of rain comes up. In the UK, we get plenty of rain so no-one talks about it, unless you are in Glasgow and it’s rained for 3 days in a row. In Dunbar, where I live, it rains but not to the extent it does in the West. In rural Australia, there has been a drought of various severity for about 10 years now. So when it rains in Wagga Wagga , people discuss it at length. You overhear conversations – “How much did you get?” “What, 18 mils, we only got 11″. While the fields are green at the moment, with summer approaching, more rain is needed. Rain is also a collection of poems by Don Paterson and you can listen to him talking about different aspects of rain in a Guardian Podcast - excellent listening. Of course, there is Elizabeth Regina (whom Mrs Malaprop might refer to as the Queer Old Dean) who is apparently  good at serving tea. Thus the expression “She never reigns but she pours”.

Recent research published in Biology Letters suggests physiological mood systems may have been involved in the evolution of coordinated physical activities. Researchers from the United Kingdom discovered that the pain threshold of collegiate rowers significantly increased when exercising with teammates v. solo-exercise controls ¹. This increase in pain threshold was also observed for individuals exercising alone, however the effect was not as pronounced ¹. Since a spinal tap is necessary to measure opioids, increase in pain-threshold serves as a proxy for endogenous opioid release. For those of you who experience a ‘runners’ high’ while exercising, these endogenous opioids (endorphins) are the chemicals responsible for your state of mild euphoria. The authors suggest that this may inform our understanding of the evolution of group activities such as dancing and music-making ¹.

P.S. Note the final author on this paper. His name is familiar to those who study geladas.

P.P.S I am back in the United States for the semester and preparing to take my qualifying examinations. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up Beast Ape and the Bleeding Heart Baboons in the meantime. Cheers.

REFERENCES

1.   Cohen, E. E., Ejsmond-Frey, R., Knight, N. & Dunbar, R. I. Rowers’ high: behavioural synchrony is correlated with elevated pain thresholds. Biol Lett (2009).

Firstly, apologies for the break in the blog postings – hectic 2 weeks travelling to Australia and being back at work in Wagga Wagga. This week, some of my students are looking at what constitutes a good reference interview in a school library. By “reference interview”, I mean a discussion that takes place when a student (or staff member) comes into the library and asks for help. I have been asking my students to define what a reference interview is – in no more than 20 words – and this has proven a good exercise for them. As we know, students are often vague when they seek help from the TL e.g. “I need information on Antarctica”. No more. No explanation of why or what kind of information. So, a reference interview is an exchange between the TL and the student, with the TL not only finding out what the student needs, so s/he can help, but also to get the student to think more about the purpose of their information seeking. There are lots of articles about the reference interview and one by Brown caught my eye as, although it’s not about the school library, is certainly applicable. Check it out.

In my neighbour’s garden in Scotland (see picture below), there is a large thistle plant about 3 metres high, and the purple thistles have just appeared. The thistle is one of the emblems of Scotland although how it came to be an emblem is a mixture of historical fact and maybe fiction. Legendhas it that the Vikings were attacking some Scottish soldiers stealthily, took off their shoes, stepped on thistles and gave the game away. There may, of course, be other explanations. When I came back to Wagga Wagga this week, I brought with me some bottles of beer from Belhaven Brewery which is based in Dunbar. The beer is Twisted Thistle and it was enjoyed greatly by some of my running friends, one of whom enquired whether Twisted Thistle was not only a beer but a form of Scottish male masochism.

Thistle flower

By Cara Sulieman and Rory Reynolds

TORRENTIAL rain and flooding across parts of Scotland were feared to have claimed the life of at least one man today (thurs) – with forecasters warning of more bad weather to come over the weekend.

At least 20 rivers were last night subject to flood watches as heavy rainfall led to considerable train disruption and several key roads – including the A1 between Scotland and England – being closed to traffic.

In West Lothian police and RAF search and rescue teams spent several hours searching the swollen River Almond near Livingston after reports of a man falling into the fast-flowing waters.

A distraught member of the public called Lothian and Borders Police at 9am to say that they had seen the man fall into the river from a footbridge in the Kirkton area of the town.

Flood alert

Although there had been no immediate reports of anyone missing in the area, a helicopter was scrambled from RAF Kinloss to aid police and firefighters with the search efforts.

They were joined by specialist underwater search and rescue officers from Central Scotland Police at the winding river which had been subject of an earlier flood alert from SEPA.

At some points the level of the river surface was said to be only two metres from bridges spanning its depths.

A police spokesman said: “A full police search was launched this morning following reports of an unidentified person, possibly a male, jumping from a footbridge into the River Almond.

“The incident happened at around 9am, close to Simpson Parkway, which is located in the Kirkton area of Livingston.

“Police were immediately notified, and search teams were deployed along the river, which was swollen as a result of heavy rainfall in the area.

“In addition to police search teams, a helicopter from RAF Kinloss was deployed to assist in the operation, and further assistance was provided by the Fire and Ambulance Service.

“Despite a comprehensive search of the area, no body was recovered.

“Further searches will take place along the River Almond in an attempt to trace the body.”

Overflowing rivers

All day long torrential rainfall swept across Scotland hitting the East coast particularly hard.

Severe flood warnings were issued for the Rivers Tyne and Eye, while drivers were warned to beware of their speed and poor motoring conditions during peak times especially.

Flood watches were also issued for seventeen areas of Scotland including rivers in Central Scotland, the Borders and Highlands.

A statement from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency said: “River levels are continuing to rise, and heavy and persistent rain will continue throughout today and into this evening.

“This may result in some localised flooding, and excess surface water making driving conditions difficult.”

Tailbacks

The main A1 road linking Scotland and England was among those routes to be badly affected by flooding.

Police closed the road south of Torness, East Lothian, causing traffic chaos. There was further disruption and huge tailbacks between Grantshouse and Berwick.

One driver who was caught up in the floods said: “There was a huge traffic jam back from the roundabout at the Asda in Dunbar.

“Five police officers were going round the cars telling them the road ahead was shut and that we’d all have to take diversions.

“It’s about 25 miles of the road that is shut – all the way from Berwick up to Dunbar. There were traffic jams on a lot of the surrounding roads as people tried to get to where they wanted to go.”

“Stress free journey”

The AA warned motorists to check for flood warnings before they go on any journeys and to take extra care if driving through any deep water.

A spokesman said: “If people are travelling through an area where they expect to come across flood water, they should inform the people they are going to meet that they may be late.

“This takes away any stress from the journey which might lead to risks being taken and the driver being swept away.

“When driving through any deep water go slowly so that you don’t cause a large swell behind you.

“Swells can cause damage to other cars.

“Drivers of 4×4s need to remember this particularly as they can cause considerable damage to other vehicles.

“When driving through flood water, people need to be careful that it isn’t too deep.

“You just need an egg cup full of water to get into the engine to break it so be wary of deep puddles.”

Respite

Trains running between Berwick and Edinburgh Waverley were suspended.

National Express services between Glasgow to London Kings Cross also terminated at Edinburgh, causing misery for scores of travellers.

And there was little hope of any let up in conditions over the next few days.

Jim Watson, Public Weather Service Advisor at the Met Office said: “At the moment we’ve got flash warnings out covering the East of Scotland – it will certainly continue into tomorrow.

“We’re expecting a bit of a respite over the weekend, parts of Friday and Saturday. But on Sunday there is another weather system coming in, and we’re expecting more rain.

“Some places today we could well be seeing 60-70mm – around two and a bit inches, so quite a lot.

“It’s a typical pattern for the UK but with increased rainfall.

“August was very wet in south-west Scotland in particular – Dumfries and Galloway saw a more than twice the average monthly rainfall.”

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

Breaking news on the journalism front this morning: DePaul University offers a journalism class about Twitter. @hughjm tweets, “Jesus Wept!”

A young journalist on C-SPAN introduced me to Twitter during last year’s presidential campaigns. He explained the site and its significance to me and my fellow ancients from a corner of some hall full of balloons and neckties. Politicos could follow “hashtags” to keep up with campaign points, campaigners, and the like, he said.

But it wasn’t until February when I truly comprehended the site’s influence. At the monstrous Powershift globalwarmingObamacheerfest conference in Washington D.C., I watched young activists follow instructions via Twitter to attend hastily-scheduled speeches, sign-making workshops and clean-energy marches throughout the weekend.

My mom has boarded the Twitter train as well. I was talking to her on the phone about Converged the other day, and she mentioned the Susan Spencer-Wendel’s use of Twitter in covering the Dunbar Villages case for the Palm Beach Post. In case you aren’t already familiar, two years ago, several young men were arrested for a horrific assault on a mother and her child, and the story gained national attention. Well, when verdicts came down Friday, those following the story, such as my mama, were able to follow @SpenWen’s Twitter, on which she posted each verdict as it was announced (“10 guilty verdicts on whopper felonies #dunbar”).

Looks like Twitter ain’t goin nowheres soon, sorry @hughjm. Time to fall in line or fall behind.