Human blood is quite remarkable. It transports oxygen, hormones and nutrients. It tracks down and kills pathogens, carries away waste products, helps regulate body temperature, and it irrigates all our internal organs. And the blood is packed with information. Continue reading Within The Blood
Category Archives: History of Science
10,000 Years Later…
A clock is ticking inside a mountain in Western Texas. It is a monumental clock. Hundreds of feet tall, its mechanism is designed to tick for 10,000 years. It’s a real clock. The first of several millennial clocks being built around the World, to endure for centuries. Tick…
Looking Into The Abyss – The JOIDES Resolution Progress Update
A 42-year-old converted oil exploration ship, JOIDES Resolution is one of the few drilling vessels available to earth scientists for the geological study of the seabed at ocean depths below 8,000 metres. Its ultimate aim is to become better acquainted with what goes on beneath the Earth’s crust. Continue reading Looking Into The Abyss – The JOIDES Resolution Progress Update
Rock of Ages – Why Banded Iron Formations Are Far From Boring…
This 2.5-tonne lump of rock is a banded iron formation. It marks a turning point in the history of life on our beautiful planet. A crucial chemical transition. When oxygen started becoming abundant. And life took its next step towards complexity… Continue reading Rock of Ages – Why Banded Iron Formations Are Far From Boring…
The Universe Expands Far Faster Than Anticipated…
The Universe is accelerating
For a while now, astrophysicists have known that our Universe is expanding, and accelerating. And much like the surface of a rubber balloon getting inflated, space is getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger… Continue reading The Universe Expands Far Faster Than Anticipated…
Large Asteroid Impacts Earth…
… And Hardly Anyone Notices!
Five years after the Chelyabinsk asteroid impact, a three-in-a-century event happens again over the Bering Sea. And almost no-one notices. I say “no-one”… but the Earth is a planet under constant scrutiny. Continue reading Large Asteroid Impacts Earth…
Artemisia and The Dirty Business of Malaria Pharmaceuticals
What If You Could Cure Malaria?
The fields of Senegal are at the centre of a controversial battle against deadly malaria. With mosquitoes increasingly resistant to insecticides, and the parasite’s developing resistance to conventional remedies, the humanitarian emergency becomes ever more pressing worldwide. A plant genus could be the answer: Artemisia. But that goes against the wishes of the WHO…
Continue reading Artemisia and The Dirty Business of Malaria Pharmaceuticals
Artful Manipulations and Corporate Deceptions – When The Cracks Begin To Show…
Games of Thrones
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that the systematic and artful manipulation of the organised mores and moods of the average population is essential to maintaining democracy. With well-rehearsed strategies, that is how the decision-making elite maintains its hold on power over the majority of us. For you see, it’s like this…
Continue reading Artful Manipulations and Corporate Deceptions – When The Cracks Begin To Show…
Where the Chernobyl Wolf Roams…
Pushing the Boundaries
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster left behind a highly toxic landscape. Thirty-two years hence, the area around the Ukrainian ghost town of Pripyat largely reverted to forest. Despite the contamination, wildlife gradually took over. Hints of recovery emerged as animal species began to thrive, free from the disruptive influence of human activity. And for the first time, researchers recorded evidence of a young wolf boldly venturing away from the danger zone.
The Male Idiot Theory – Sex Differences in Risky Behaviour
Are you a Risk Taker?
If so, are you a man?? Mmmh… yes… The Male Idiot Theory: it’s not new but I thought I’d mention it in passing… Ladies, enjoy… Continue reading The Male Idiot Theory – Sex Differences in Risky Behaviour
Life Under The Microscope
The Infinitesimally Small
Viewing tiny objects, like cells, under a microscope is a real game of hide-and-seek with the light. It follows that the specimen must be carefully prepared, or ‘mounted’ on a slide. Here we get a little closer to the eukaryotic cell. The building block of life itself… Continue reading Life Under The Microscope
And THIS… is an Atom!
‘Single Atom in an Ion Trap’
Scientists accomplish the impossible. This time, a quantum physicist has only managed to capture the photographic image of an atom with a conventional camera. And THIS is the photograph….. Continue reading And THIS… is an Atom!
Closer to Midnight… – The Countdown to Doomsday Earth
What Time Is It?
No need to be an atomic scientist, when you’re considering the state of the World today, to understand the picture is an alarming one. Allegorically-speaking, the Earth is now only two minutes away from impending catastrophe. Continue reading Closer to Midnight… – The Countdown to Doomsday Earth
Future Floods and Melting Ice Sheets – Predicting with GRACE
Forecasting Sea-Level Rise
On the whole, Earth scientists agree that melting of land ice greatly contributes to sea-level rise. And one thing’s for sure. Future global warming will exacerbate the risks posed to human civilisation. But… What if you could forecast major floods? You can. Continue reading Future Floods and Melting Ice Sheets – Predicting with GRACE
Fingerprint Forensics Delve Deeper Into Spectrometry Analysis
Another Brick in the Whorl of Forensic Science
Fingerprint spectrometry analysis – a technology which can detect the brand of hair gel or condom used by a suspect – could soon be admissible as evidence in UK courts. Continue reading Fingerprint Forensics Delve Deeper Into Spectrometry Analysis
On the Rapid Demise of the Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica
Pine Island Bay, Antarctica
A large chunk of the Pine Island Glacier has broken free today, the media announced. The giant iceberg is estimated to cover an area of roughly 6,000 km2. About a quarter the size of Wales in the United Kingdom. Continue reading On the Rapid Demise of the Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica
Charming New Particle Xi-cc++ Discovered at CERN
The Xi-cc++ Particle
CERN’s LHCb collaboration has announced the discovery of a new “charming” particle, thought to be instrumental to the strong force – the Xi-cc++. Another particle. So…? Continue reading Charming New Particle Xi-cc++ Discovered at CERN
The Spark of Being – A Not-So-Brief History of Life and Electricity
Omnipresent Electricity
Within every object on Earth lies concealed a positive or a negative electric charge. From the very structure of the atom to the essential functioning of our brains, the natural power of electricity is all around us, and it is one of the most potent symbols of our Modern World. Making the story of electricity, the story of life itself… Continue reading The Spark of Being – A Not-So-Brief History of Life and Electricity
The Bizarre Behaviour of Negative Mass
Observing Negative Mass at Washington State University
Negative mass has always been theoretically possible, and the concept has finally made it from a mathematical idea on paper to a reality achieved in the lab. Scientists at Washington State University have created a fluid with negative mass. Continue reading The Bizarre Behaviour of Negative Mass
Cloud Atlas – A Manual on the Observation of Clouds and Other Meteors
A Cloud Encyclopaedia
Since its first publication in 1896, the International Cloud Atlas has become an important reference tool for people working in meteorological services, aviation and shipping.
Continue reading Cloud Atlas – A Manual on the Observation of Clouds and Other Meteors
Arecibo and the Great Silence – Where We Talk About a Parrot Named Alex
Arecibo – What a Dish!
The Arecibo observatory is a very large radio telescope located in Puerto Rico. In 1974, astronomers used it to broadcast a message into outer space intended to demonstrate human intelligence. Why are we so interested in finding intelligence in the stars, and yet so deaf to the many species who manifest it here on Earth?
Continue reading Arecibo and the Great Silence – Where We Talk About a Parrot Named Alex
Psychometrics and “Big Data” – Who Do They Think You Are?
Big Data is the new Big Brother
The emergence of Big Data has meant that everything we do online leaves digital traces. “Big data” is fairly new. It’s huge and it’s scary – very scary. This revolutionary approach to data-driven communications is said to have played an integral part in Brexit “Leave” campaign and U.S. president Donald Trump’s extraordinary win. Continue reading Psychometrics and “Big Data” – Who Do They Think You Are?
CIA Releases “X-Files”
The Real X-Files
As the X-Files series enjoy a revival on TV, the American spy agency has decided to place thousands of declassified documents detailing government research into UFOs on its website. The CIA documents also confirm the reality of humans with ‘Special Abilities’ able to do seemingly impossible things. Continue reading CIA Releases “X-Files”
The Earth, as Seen from Mars
Home World
We start the new year with this photograph of the Earth and its Moon, taken from Mars. Continue reading The Earth, as Seen from Mars
2016: Another Year in Cutting Edge Science
You Spin Me Right Round…
Just over a century ago, Einstein proposed the existence of waves in the spacetime continuum – the logical deduction from his Theory of General Relativity. In February 2016, scientists finally announced the detection of those “ripples” in gravity, using the technique of laser interferometry. Continue reading 2016: Another Year in Cutting Edge Science
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