The Da Vinci dentist: west Cork man finds secret of 500-year-old drawing in the jaw
Is there an
Irish
angle to this, you ask? Yes there is: it was dentist from west
Cork
who found it. Sometimes these things write themselves.
Rory MacSweeney, who practices in
London
but comes originally from Dunmanway, explained his discovery and the relevance of the tooth trade in an article published in the Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. It goes something like this: everyone knows the famous Da Vinci drawing situates a man within a circle and a square and shows ideal proportions.
But there was a third shape hiding in the drawing – an equilateral triangle created by the man's legs, and mentioned by Da Vinci himself. This shape has gone largely ignored by scholars, but MacSweeney says it was no accident and adds insight to our understanding of the drawing's meaning.
READ MORE
The equilateral triangle made by the figure's legs recall similar proportions in the jaw
It's the same shape – stay with us here – as the triangle between the corners of the jaw and the place the teeth meet. Hence the dentist angle. It also happens to also be the ratio you see in superstrong crystals and other things in nature. Da Vinci, ever the engineer, found an 'architectural common denominator', MacSweeney told Overheard.
MacSweeney's interest comes back to the question of evolution. Very few other animals have crooked teeth like humans do – 'something went wrong', he said, and he's interested in the maths of how we evolved.
'Humans have evolved over various iterations,' he said. 'We've tried out various versions of bipedalism. We reached a point when we're fully erect – it's when you reach the 1.633 ratio.'
'It's not just that we're the only humans to survive. There's an X factor with homosapiens. We're hugely successful, more dominant than anything else in nature.'
The ratio isn't just an ideal, from an engineering perspective – 'it's a destination', the optimal situation our evolution has worked towards.
Curiously, MacSweeney points out, the Vitruvian Man as drawn could spin on an X, Y or Z axis – which is to say, after a fashion, that he can breakdance.
Plugged into high places
Martin Naughton, founder of Glen Dimplex. Photograph: Alan Betson
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, as someone once said. But it looks like it can be done: Dundalk electrical appliance mogul Martin Naughton, the owner of Glen Dimplex, has been awarded the Order of St Gregory the Great, adding a Papal knighthood to his British KBE and his French Legion d'Honneur.
The industrialist was recognised alongside his wife Carmel for their philanthropy in education and the arts, including scholarships and supports for university students at home and abroad. The conferral was one of the last acts of Pope Francis, 'who himself studied in Ireland at one point and for whom peace and education were especially close to his heart', said John McCaffrey, president of the Association of Papal Orders in Ireland.
The Naughtons join the starry ranks of the knighthood alongside British Tory-turned-Reform politician Ann Widdecombe, Argentinian caudillo Juan Perón and Australian-American media magnate Rupert Murdoch. They are among about 60 Irish people who currently hold one of the five orders.
Such honours were perhaps more prominent in Irish life in the past, with names such as Hume, Hillery and Lemass adorned by holy acronyms. The tenor John McCormack had three papal knighthoods as well as being a count. But the Naughtons should be warned: Fine Gael TD Oliver J Flanagan's efforts to
style himself Sir Oliver after receiving the honour in 1978
prompted consternation from the government – which considered doing so potentially unconstitutional – and the Church itself, which confirmed that the 'sir' stuff is more of a British thing anyway.
RTÉ retires Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor: RTÉ News has referred to him as a 'former MMA fighter'
Another blow to Conor McGregor in the High Court this week as the decorated-but-dormant UFC star was forced into retirement by the state broadcaster. In broadcasts and online, RTÉ News referred prominently to him as a 'former MMA fighter'.
McGregor is appealing the High Court's finding that he is civilly liable for the rape of Nikita Hand. The 36-year-old hasn't fought since 2021, when he was stopped by Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. A comeback in the summer of 2024 was cancelled due to a training camp toe injury.
After some talk of a 2025 return, UFC head honcho Dana White said in May that he wouldn't be fighting for him 'any time soon', and with the High Court appeal and an apparent desire to run for president occupying McGregor's time, there are no independent extravaganzas in the books either.
But if there was an announcement that he is formally retired, we missed it. Perhaps RTÉ simply saw the writing on the wall. It's unlikely he would have given them the scoop: he once described them as 'robbing, lying, fake hypocrites', 'robbers of the Irish public' and even 'ooh laa laa heads' (snobs) in an online rant.
Golf diplomacy
Edward S Walsh: The new US ambassador to Ireland
Whoever inherits the Áras will have a neighbour who's also new to the area: Edward S Walsh, United States ambassador to Ireland. The businessman and member of the Trump Bedminster golf club in New Jersey presented his credentials to the Irish Government this week, introducing himself to the Irish public with a video.
What did we learn? He's Irish-American, like every ambassador since Lyndon Johnson sent a polo-playing second cousin of Winston Churchill's. His roots are in Clare. He doesn't read phonetic renderings of the phrase 'go raibh maith agat' especially well, although that will come with practice. And he likes golf.
[
New US ambassador to Ireland takes office, thanking friend Donald Trump
Opens in new window
]
In fact, he tells us in the video that 'as a lifelong golfer, I've learned a lot about fairness, diligence and building relationships, values that I will bring with me into this position'.
It will be interesting to see which aspects of golf help him keep the Irish-US relationship special while the two nations go in opposite directions on Israel.
'Ireland, while often a valuable US partner, is on a hateful, anti-Semitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,' the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch threatened on social media website X this week in the wake of coverage of the Government's Occupied Territories Bill.
'If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties.'
Ambassador Walsh might have dreamt of cherishing Irish links, so to speak, but he faces a period in the rough first.
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Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
The Da Vinci dentist: west Cork man finds secret of 500-year-old drawing in the jaw
A vitally important triangle, hidden in plain sight in Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, has been revealed and explained, more than half a millennium after the Renaissance genius drew it. Is there an Irish angle to this, you ask? Yes there is: it was dentist from west Cork who found it. Sometimes these things write themselves. Rory MacSweeney, who practices in London but comes originally from Dunmanway, explained his discovery and the relevance of the tooth trade in an article published in the Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. It goes something like this: everyone knows the famous Da Vinci drawing situates a man within a circle and a square and shows ideal proportions. But there was a third shape hiding in the drawing – an equilateral triangle created by the man's legs, and mentioned by Da Vinci himself. This shape has gone largely ignored by scholars, but MacSweeney says it was no accident and adds insight to our understanding of the drawing's meaning. READ MORE The equilateral triangle made by the figure's legs recall similar proportions in the jaw It's the same shape – stay with us here – as the triangle between the corners of the jaw and the place the teeth meet. Hence the dentist angle. It also happens to also be the ratio you see in superstrong crystals and other things in nature. Da Vinci, ever the engineer, found an 'architectural common denominator', MacSweeney told Overheard. MacSweeney's interest comes back to the question of evolution. Very few other animals have crooked teeth like humans do – 'something went wrong', he said, and he's interested in the maths of how we evolved. 'Humans have evolved over various iterations,' he said. 'We've tried out various versions of bipedalism. We reached a point when we're fully erect – it's when you reach the 1.633 ratio.' 'It's not just that we're the only humans to survive. There's an X factor with homosapiens. We're hugely successful, more dominant than anything else in nature.' The ratio isn't just an ideal, from an engineering perspective – 'it's a destination', the optimal situation our evolution has worked towards. Curiously, MacSweeney points out, the Vitruvian Man as drawn could spin on an X, Y or Z axis – which is to say, after a fashion, that he can breakdance. Plugged into high places Martin Naughton, founder of Glen Dimplex. Photograph: Alan Betson It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, as someone once said. But it looks like it can be done: Dundalk electrical appliance mogul Martin Naughton, the owner of Glen Dimplex, has been awarded the Order of St Gregory the Great, adding a Papal knighthood to his British KBE and his French Legion d'Honneur. The industrialist was recognised alongside his wife Carmel for their philanthropy in education and the arts, including scholarships and supports for university students at home and abroad. The conferral was one of the last acts of Pope Francis, 'who himself studied in Ireland at one point and for whom peace and education were especially close to his heart', said John McCaffrey, president of the Association of Papal Orders in Ireland. The Naughtons join the starry ranks of the knighthood alongside British Tory-turned-Reform politician Ann Widdecombe, Argentinian caudillo Juan Perón and Australian-American media magnate Rupert Murdoch. They are among about 60 Irish people who currently hold one of the five orders. Such honours were perhaps more prominent in Irish life in the past, with names such as Hume, Hillery and Lemass adorned by holy acronyms. The tenor John McCormack had three papal knighthoods as well as being a count. But the Naughtons should be warned: Fine Gael TD Oliver J Flanagan's efforts to style himself Sir Oliver after receiving the honour in 1978 prompted consternation from the government – which considered doing so potentially unconstitutional – and the Church itself, which confirmed that the 'sir' stuff is more of a British thing anyway. RTÉ retires Conor McGregor Conor McGregor: RTÉ News has referred to him as a 'former MMA fighter' Another blow to Conor McGregor in the High Court this week as the decorated-but-dormant UFC star was forced into retirement by the state broadcaster. In broadcasts and online, RTÉ News referred prominently to him as a 'former MMA fighter'. McGregor is appealing the High Court's finding that he is civilly liable for the rape of Nikita Hand. The 36-year-old hasn't fought since 2021, when he was stopped by Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. A comeback in the summer of 2024 was cancelled due to a training camp toe injury. After some talk of a 2025 return, UFC head honcho Dana White said in May that he wouldn't be fighting for him 'any time soon', and with the High Court appeal and an apparent desire to run for president occupying McGregor's time, there are no independent extravaganzas in the books either. But if there was an announcement that he is formally retired, we missed it. Perhaps RTÉ simply saw the writing on the wall. It's unlikely he would have given them the scoop: he once described them as 'robbing, lying, fake hypocrites', 'robbers of the Irish public' and even 'ooh laa laa heads' (snobs) in an online rant. Golf diplomacy Edward S Walsh: The new US ambassador to Ireland Whoever inherits the Áras will have a neighbour who's also new to the area: Edward S Walsh, United States ambassador to Ireland. The businessman and member of the Trump Bedminster golf club in New Jersey presented his credentials to the Irish Government this week, introducing himself to the Irish public with a video. What did we learn? He's Irish-American, like every ambassador since Lyndon Johnson sent a polo-playing second cousin of Winston Churchill's. His roots are in Clare. He doesn't read phonetic renderings of the phrase 'go raibh maith agat' especially well, although that will come with practice. And he likes golf. [ New US ambassador to Ireland takes office, thanking friend Donald Trump Opens in new window ] In fact, he tells us in the video that 'as a lifelong golfer, I've learned a lot about fairness, diligence and building relationships, values that I will bring with me into this position'. It will be interesting to see which aspects of golf help him keep the Irish-US relationship special while the two nations go in opposite directions on Israel. 'Ireland, while often a valuable US partner, is on a hateful, anti-Semitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,' the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch threatened on social media website X this week in the wake of coverage of the Government's Occupied Territories Bill. 'If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties.' Ambassador Walsh might have dreamt of cherishing Irish links, so to speak, but he faces a period in the rough first.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Irish Times
Jaws at 50: the most significant piece of negative publicity sharks have ever received
The theme music alone of the classic film Jaws is scary but the dramatic footage of the giant fish itself, albeit a mechanical model, would be enough to give anyone nightmares. It is hard to believe that this iconic movie is half a century old this year but it is probably the most significant piece of negative publicity that sharks have ever received. Ask anyone you know what they think about sharks and the reply is rarely positive. The movie was based loosely on Peter Benchley's novel Jaws which describes a renegade great white shark on the east coast of the United States. Previously unknown in Irish waters, there are now confirmed records of this species as far north as the Bay of Biscay but reports around Ireland and the UK are confined to anecdotal sightings. Ireland is a globally recognised hotspot for other shark species, such as the basking shark, porbeagle and tope shark, but great whites have yet to be formally recorded here. Found throughout the world's oceans, great white sharks were historically common throughout the Mediterranean before overfishing caused major declines. In 2024, a team of scientists embarked on a major survey with the goal of documenting the presence of the great white shark in Irish waters. Dr Nick Payne of Trinity College Dublin, who led the expedition, said he was optimistic about the team's chances of confirming its presence off the Irish coast. I have never seen a great white shark but I have had an encounter with the largest fish in the Atlantic Ocean. I was sailing off the coast of Mayo when a pair of fins appeared in the water beside the boat, moving slowly on the surface. As the fins came closer, I realised that they were both part of the same animal, a basking shark. It moved sinuously across the sea with a large open mouth capturing the rich harvest of plankton. Basking sharks were once plentiful around the Irish coastline, migrating into our waters in summer and disappearing in the winter. The location of my sighting was not far from Keem Bay at the very western tip of Achill Island. This is a cliff-bound cove with a beautiful sandy beach at its head. Throughout the early 20th century this was the location for the capture and killing of basking sharks and large quantities of the valuable shark oil were exported to England. [ Eye on Nature: If bees can't see red, why is one drawn to this red poppy? Opens in new window ] A shortage of fuel after second World War led to an increasing market for shark oil for use in certain industrial products. The slow-moving basking sharks swam into the bay to feed on dense swarms of plankton near the sea surface. Here they became entangled in nets set by the islanders who then launched their lightweight curraghs and killed the struggling fish, stabbing them with scythe blades attached to long poles. Over a 30-year period up to the 1970s more than 12,000 basking sharks were landed on Achill – an average of at least 400 fish per year. Not surprisingly, catches declined markedly towards the end of this period and, with the availability of alternative mineral oils, the market for shark oil disappeared, allowing the few remaining animals to survive. Today, basking sharks are back, their population slowly recovering from this classic example of overfishing. READ MORE Other shark species are not immune from the pressures of overfishing either. These species fill ecological niches that are important in maintaining a balance within the ecosystem. Their removal can result in cascading effects that have a negative effect on marine biodiversity right down through the food chain. Irish waters are known to contain 71 cartilaginous fish species (sharks and rays), over half of the European list. Of these, 58 were assessed using the latest international categories in the Irish Red List. Six species were considered to be critically endangered – Portuguese dogfish, common (blue) skate, flapper skate, porbeagle shark, white skate and angel shark. For example, numbers of angel sharks recorded in tagging programmes show a decline of over 90 per cent since the 1980s. A further five species were assessed as endangered while six more species were rated as vulnerable. Sharks tend to grow slowly and produce small numbers of young each year, which can make them particularly vulnerable. [ How plans for new Guggenheim museum have triggered major biodiversity row in Spain Opens in new window ] While there are no longer any vessels fishing commercially for threatened cartilaginous fish in Irish waters, some are taken as by-catch in other fisheries, involving both Irish and non-Irish boats. Ireland is not unique in this as, since 1970, the global abundance of sharks and rays has declined by 71 per cent owing to an 18-fold increase in relative fishing pressure. Sharks could use some good PR to encourage better protection and recovery of the threatened species. Richard Nairn is an ecologist and writer. His latest book is Future Wild: Nature Restoration in Ireland .
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Irish Times
The Shrouds review: David Cronenberg's mordant, personal conspiracy thriller is one of director's best films
The Shrouds Director : David Cronenberg Cert : 16 Starring : Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt, Elizabeth Saunders, Jennifer Dale, Eric Weinthal Running Time : 1 hr 59 mins The Shrouds has taken an unusual journey to Irish cinemas. A work that is both typical of David Cronenberg and unlike anything he has ever made (a paradox that works through more than one of his films), this mordant conspiracy thriller arrived at the 2024 Cannes film festival two years after the almost parodically Cronenbergian Crimes of the Future . Derived, like David Lynch's Mullholland Drive, from an ultimately cancelled TV series, the new film – a treatise on grief – was seen by many as a minor work. Who would not allow the director of The Fly, Dead Ringers and A History of Violence such indulgence? The delay in distribution has been kind to The Shrouds. After washing around the brain for 14 months, it now feels a markedly superior work to the place-holding Crimes of the Future. There is an eerie stillness to the piece that says as much about loss as does the disturbing premise at its centre. We first meet Karsh ( Vincent Cassell ) enjoying – if that is the word – a blind date in a hard-surfaced restaurant with an interested divorcee. Small talk leads to him explaining that his late wife, Becca, is buried just outside, in a cemetery wired up to his own appalling innovation. READ MORE 'GraveTech' places a camera within the casket and relays images of the decaying loved one to a screen on the headstone or an app on the mourner's phone. Like all such tech-heads, he can't help enthusing about the specs. There is a 'high-res zoom'. The device allows 3D rotation. From what we gather, the feed is, thank heavens, not yet punctuated by commercials. This could hardly be a more personal film for Cronenberg. He has explained that the recent death of his wife inspired the piece, and, with his slicked-back grey hair and precise diction, Cassell has something of the director's physical presence. [ Horror director David Cronenberg on his wife's death: 'I wanted to get into the coffin, to be with her body' Opens in new window ] As events wind on, a varied array of characters ooze in from stage left and add escalating complications to an already unsteady scenario. Karsh maintains a close friendship with Becca's sister ( Diane Kruger appears as the live sibling and the dead one in troubling visions) while he copes with bugs in the system. An attack on the cemetery sets up parallels with persistent anti-Semitism. Karsh notices suspicious growths on his wife's decaying body. Hackers cause the GraveTech relays to break down. Kersh's technology, though flawed and futile, meshes with thousands of years of human effort to process grief. One could read this as a Protestant appropriation of the Roman Catholic tendency to look the human remains right in the dead eye. The body is not laid out at a boisterous wake. It is studied calmly and coolly on a flat screen as worms eat their way through eye socket and frontal lobe. Very sober. Very grey. Yet Kersh is always aware the process is a cod. 'I lived in Becca's body,' he says. 'It was the only place I lived.' An acknowledgment, common in Cronenberg's cinema, that this fleshy carapace is all we have. Not everything works. If the great man will allow me, making an AI assistant of Kersh's late wife – a Siri or a Microsoft paper clip – feels like clunky, outdated satire in a film that otherwise relishes the oblique. Not everyone will be on board with the nebulous conspiracy theory. But, considered as an exercise in hushed mortal contemplation, The Shrouds, sombrely scored by Howard Shore, earns a spot beside Cronenberg's best work. This is just the sort of unclassifiable oddity that the greatest directors, now less concerned with expectations, manage late into fecund careers. The Shrouds is in cinemas from Friday, July 4th
