Category Archives: Physics

Neural Oscillations – Are You Having a Brain Wave?

Brain wave or not brain wave? - Ideation Artwork: NaturPhilosophie

The brain is a bio-chemical organ that emanates electromagnetic waves.  That little, we do know.  And brainwaves are linked to cognitive states from awareness and consciousness, to dream states.  But what are their particularities?  And are brain waves modulated by external frequencies? Continue reading Neural Oscillations – Are You Having a Brain Wave?

Eliminating the Impossible – The Complex Electro-Chemistry Behind the Hessdalen Lights

Hessdalen Lights II: A composite picture (in negative colours) showing the Hessdalen light phenomenon and people gathered at a lookout point to observe at night. Artwork: NaturPhilosophie

A Norwegian valley.  Strange lights observed by many witnesses.  It has been called “Norway’s Roswell”.  But what makes the remote valley of Hessdalen so different from other locations?

Continue reading Eliminating the Impossible – The Complex Electro-Chemistry Behind the Hessdalen Lights

Identifying the Unidentified – The Hessdalen Light Phenomenon, Norway

Hessdalen Lights: A composite picture showing the Hessdalen light phenomenon and people gathered at a lookout point to observe at night. Artwork: NaturPhilosophieThe Hessdalen Valley of Norway.  Just 15 kilometres across.  Low population density.  But why is there a blue box perched high up on the hillside, with cameras covering the valley?  What’s going on in this secluded valley?!  Continue reading Identifying the Unidentified – The Hessdalen Light Phenomenon, Norway

The Brief Flight of the Russian Woodpecker Over The Horizon – And More About Phased Array Radars…

North east of Ukraine, close to the Russian border, is the site of the Duga radar, also known during the 70s and 80s as the Woodpecker – one of the most extraordinary engineering structures ever built.

Continue reading The Brief Flight of the Russian Woodpecker Over The Horizon – And More About Phased Array Radars…

Volcanic Unrest and How To Survive It

Over the next century, large magnitude volcano eruptions are many times more likely to happen than all risk of large asteroid or comet impacts combined.  The World is not prepared.

Continue reading Volcanic Unrest and How To Survive It

Family Trees, Forests and The Intelligent Green Network Under Our Feet

It’s difficult to escape from a World where everything is connected.  To spend time in Nature, to find quiet and rest from our unbalanced existences inside our man-made concrete jungles.  To seek wisdom in the forest.  But we don’t understand Nature.  We think: If only those trees could talk! Continue reading Family Trees, Forests and The Intelligent Green Network Under Our Feet

Engineering A Star – Nuclear Fusion, Tokamaks and Stellarators

A Stellar Reactor

Greifswald, Northeastern Germany, 2016.  Physicists at the Max Planck Institute have been racing to find a way of producing sustainable, clean energy with a stable nuclear fusion reactor. The challenge? Re-creating the Sun’s powerhouse on a much, much smaller scale. Continue reading Engineering A Star – Nuclear Fusion, Tokamaks and Stellarators

Our Burning Planet – Beyond Net Zero, Will We Adapt Or Die?

As World leaders meet for COP26 in Glasgow, the Earth has already reached 1.2 °C warming above pre-1880s industrial levels. Continue reading Our Burning Planet – Beyond Net Zero, Will We Adapt Or Die?

Within The Blood

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

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…  

Continue reading 10,000 Years Later…

Looking Into The Abyss – The JOIDES Resolution Progress Update

Looking into the Abyss... The Moon pool onboard the JOIDES Resolution scientific vessel. Artwork: NaturPhilosophie, after IODP original photograph.

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…

Two-and-a-half tonne banded iron formation at Hintze Hall, Natural History Museum, London. Artwork: NaturPhilosophieThis 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…

Saving Hope… – Cetacean Strandings and Satellites

A composite drawing image of Hope the Blue Whale's skeleton swimming between two waters.  Artwork: NaturPhilosophieIt’s unclear why so many great whales beach en masse around the World.  And it’s really difficult to estimate their number, especially when the cetacean strandings occur along remote shores.  But there is hope.  Scientists are now developing techniques to monitor marine populations from space. Continue reading Saving Hope… – Cetacean Strandings and Satellites

Nine – The Elusive Planet in Our Solar System

A hypothetical Ninth planet has been lurking on the outskirts of our Solar System.  But Planet Nine may not be a planet at all…  Continue reading Nine – The Elusive Planet in Our Solar System

Digital Forensics and The Case of the Dead Dodo

The very latest technology in scanning and 3D printing is now providing vital clues and evidence in murder.  And as it happened, scientists can now ascertain that World famous flightless extinct bird… the Dodo… died… AFTER BEING SHOT… in the back of the head… Continue reading Digital Forensics and The Case of the Dead Dodo

Trudeau’s Canada: From Climate Champion to Environmental Pariah?

Canada.  A land of unspoiled wilderness and natural beauty, led by the poster boy of progressive politics Justin Trudeau who has cast himself as an environmental champion.  Canada as the World sees it… Continue reading Trudeau’s Canada: From Climate Champion to Environmental Pariah?

Sash, Chillers and Power Hungry Accelerators – The Embarrassing Truth about Modern Science Laboratories

A drawing illustrating the Carbon Lab Print: Fume hoods that are left open can use the same amount of energy over a given period as 3.5 homes. Image: NaturPhilosophieCome in.  Step into the pristine environment of a modern science laboratory.  With all its cutting-edge equipment neatly arranged and organised work spaces clearly delineated, you might just be forgiven for thinking it is a model of sustainability but…  Look a bit closer!  You might be surprised…

Continue reading Sash, Chillers and Power Hungry Accelerators – The Embarrassing Truth about Modern Science Laboratories

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…

An oil painting showing a large asteroid shooting through the skies above a body of water in the sunset. Artwork: NaturPhilosophie… 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

Where the Chernobyl Wolf Roams…

A pseudo-photograph focusing on a grey wolf howling, with the abandoned Pripyat amusement park, near Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the background. Collage: NaturPhilosophie (2018)

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. 

Continue reading Where the Chernobyl Wolf Roams…

Crimson Moon – A Total Lunar Eclipse

A meme showing Lance Corporal Jack Jones, from the fictional Home Guard platoon portrayed in popular British sitcom 'Dad's Army' uttering his familiar catchphrase: "Don't Panic!" with a total eclipse of the Moon appearing crimson red in the background.The Motion of Celestial Spheres

The Universe never sleeps.  Every now and then, the night sky presents us mere mortals with some heavenly spectacle.  A Bonnie Tyler moment.  This Friday, the Moon will enter the catwalk dressed in red to accomplish its otherwise normal nightly travel around the Earth.  For one night only.  A strange and rare celestial sight at dusk – a total lunar eclipse.    Continue reading Crimson Moon – A Total Lunar Eclipse

The Male Idiot Theory – Sex Differences in Risky Behaviour

A pseudo-photograph showing a man jumping off from an aeroplane without parachute, shouting "I'M AN IDII...OTT!!!". Image: NaturPhilosophieAre 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

Time Travel or Quantum Leap – Where Does Bitcoin Meet Relativity?

Artwork showing a Bitcoin symbol being sucked into a gravity well. Image: NaturPhilosophieBlockchain Oddity

On 19 June 2018, a peculiar number emerged from the blockchain space.  The series of numbers and letters sent the cryptosphere into overdrive, sparking rampant talk of quantum computing breakthroughs, time travel, Satoshi’s return, and the esoteric meaning of Bitcoin.  Continue reading Time Travel or Quantum Leap – Where Does Bitcoin Meet Relativity?

Life Under The Microscope

A close-up negative photograph of the lenses on my microscope. Image: NaturPhilosophieThe 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