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…
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…
Saving Hope… – Cetacean Strandings and Satellites
It’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
Come 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…
A Bouquet of Pesticides – The Dark Side of Flowers
Pesticides have a dramatic impact on the health of ecosystems, posing real risks to pollinating insects, such as bees. But did you know that your favourite bouquet may be posing a risk to your own well-being? Continue reading A Bouquet of Pesticides – The Dark Side of Flowers
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…
The Strange Operetta of the Singing Mouse
When Mice Serenade the Forest…
Until now, you might have been forgiven for thinking that singing mice were merely the product of Disney’s prolific imagination. Not anymore! Although it wasn’t classically trained by a modern P.T. Barnum, the singing mouse is a reality. Continue reading The Strange Operetta of the Singing Mouse
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.
Crimson Moon – A Total Lunar Eclipse
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
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
Time Travel or Quantum Leap – Where Does Bitcoin Meet Relativity?
Blockchain 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
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
A Day Trip to the Ayrshire Coast of Scotland
The Cocktail Party Physicist at the Seaside
The Scottish coast is renowned for the wealth of its rocky features. And if you can’t abide Geology, you can while away the hours with the local marine biology. It’s dead quiet and if you’re lucky on a clear day, you might even see Arran magically emerge from the mist across the waters of the Clyde estuary.
Continue reading A Day Trip to the Ayrshire Coast of Scotland
Radioactivity and the Background of Dancing Particles
Natural Radiation
Our environment is permeated by radiation, present around us at all time. We are constantly exposed to radioactivity from natural sources for the most part naturally occurring radioactive nuclei in rocks and cosmic rays – the ‘background’. Without ado, this is my lowdown on radioactivity.
Continue reading Radioactivity and the Background of Dancing Particles
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