The First Man to Play Bagpipes at South PoleEvery issue of Scotia News has an article that is "Off the Beaten Path". John always handles that but I (cecilia) thought our Readers would enjoy a video that's SO off the beaten path almost no one goes to visit. Jak Kennedy, an intrepid musician from Carlops, Scottish Borders, had dreamed of going to Antarctic for years. He was able to get there in 2015. Then he decided it would be even more fun to play his bagpipes once he had arrived at the end of his 70 mile trip. Jak was able to play "Scotland the Brave" before a valve froze up. Who didn't see THAT coming? After he warmed up a bit he was able to try another song, "Teribus". Looks as if everyone had fun.  That's Some Adventure! But back in 1904 Gilbert Kerr went out dressed in full Highland garb and played his bagpipes to a tethered Emperor penguin. The birds were apparently unimpressed. I suspect it's because they live in such extreme weather they are too distracted to care about music.
Visitors from Space come to ScotlandGuess what visited the Isle of Skye about 60 million years ago? Back in December the journal GeoScienceWorld published the findings of a team of geologists from Birkbeck, University of London as they unearthed rare minerals that had never been found on Earth. The team was examining a thick layer of minerals at the base of a 60 million-year-old lava flow. It was only after they examined the minerals under an electron microprobe that it became clear that they were looking at something from OUTER SPACE (oooh, spookie). Ok, not so much spookie as really fascinating. The mineral forms are called vanadium-rich and niobium-rich osbornite. Alright, they might be alien but they aren't intelligent life. Ah, well.... But they sure are pretty. 
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