AS mentioned before, I occasionally suffer partial deafness and this leads to uncertainty that I have heard something correctly.

The General Manager knows when this problem has manifested itself again.

She once came home and entered the living room with her hands covering her ears. I was a trifle puzzled when she switched off the television programme I was watching.

My beloved said: “Are you aware your hearing difficulty has come back?

“The reason I ask is that when I got out of the car in the driveway I could hear that you were watching television. Did you know it was so loud the roof slates were bouncing?” This week, I thought my difficulty had returned. I felt sure that I could not possibly have heard what I thought I heard on the radio.

It sounded as if a team of American and UK scientists were visiting London Zoo to find out why penguins walk with a waddle.

A check on the internet confirmed this to be the case.

Scientists carry out a lot of valuable research. Some are responsible for developing life-saving drugs. The work of others may not be quite as important but it does make a difference.

That said, the penguin waddle research begs a question. Why?

It transpires that the scientists want to know how penguins have evolved as it seems they may not have always walked with this gait.

Okay, but even if this is the case, what is this research going to achieve? It’s not going to change the way penguins walk.

I don’t know much about penguins other than you’re unlikely to see a group of them at the Cowdenknowes dam.

But I feel certain they’re not too uncomfortable about walking in a fashion that humans find strange, and don’t think they are offended if visitors to a zoo or their natural habitat laugh when watching them waddle.

Penguins fascinate me, and I never cease to be amazed by underwater photography that shows the agility of their swimming.

I also never cease to be amazed by what some scientists find interesting to research.