That’s how this TED video on the Higgs boson begins. I say two guys… It’s more like one physicist working on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN – the European laboratory for Particle Physics – aka Dave Barney, and a Blues singer, aka Steve Goldfarb, in the guise of a pink slug…
Continue reading The Basics of the Higgs Boson Explained
Right on cue, day turned into a sudden eerie twilight as a great swathe of the Earth’s surface quickly plunged into transient darkness. The magic number is 400. For many observers, weather conditions were far from ideal. Clouds obscured the much awaited spectacle of the 2015 eclipse. Thankfully, alternatives were available to astronomers keen not to miss the big event…
Continue reading 400 – Anatomy of a Solar Eclipse
On 20th March 2015, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun and exactly block out most of its light. It will be the first total solar eclipse of the 21st century that is visible from the northernmost regions of Europe…
Continue reading Celestial Rendez-Vous – An Equinoctial Total Eclipse of the Sun
Four states of matter can be seen in everyday life: solid, liquid, gas, and – somewhat more exotically – plasma. As a tightly bound combination of oxygen and hydrogen atoms, a water molecule is nothing out of the ordinary. Liquid water, steam or ice are still just water. Yet, it is intriguing to see how the very same building blocks of matter are capable of producing such broadly distinct states.
Continue reading Changing States – Fundamental Phases of Matter
This mesmerising image of the Northern Lights over Scotland was captured by Baltimore-born NASA astronaut Terry Virts, a member of Expedition 42 from the International Space Station earlier this week, as it drifted over Europe.
Continue reading Northern Lights over Scotland
What happened at time T = 0? is still anybody’s guess. At least, earlier observations of Planck’s radiation had suggested the first generation of stars were bursting into life by about 420 million years after the Big Bang. However, scientists from Europe’s Planck satellite mission now say the first stars lit up the Universe later than was previously thought…
At the beginning of the 20th century, the discovery of the radiometric “clock” revolutionised our understanding of the Earth’s deep history, confirming what geologists had been claiming for decades. Nevertheless, newer and more accurate dating methods posed further problems in themselves. After all, how do we know our Earth is 4.5 billion years old, and not a mere few thousands of years as suggested by the Bible?
Continue reading Testing Times – Methods of Dating the Geological Past
Our planet has existed for 4.5 billion years, and it has been a busy lifetime. From amazing leaps and bounds forward into evolution to devastating asteroid impacts and other episodic extinctions, here are the biggest milestones in Earth’s history – the eventful journey that shaped our World today.
A friend of mine once casually asked me over a drink: “What is entropy?” Eeek! Interesting concept. But… How do you define entropy in a non-mathematical way? How can you sum up entropy in 30 seconds? In one mental image. In a single concept… In one word. A form of energy? A measure of disorder in the Universe? Randomness? All of the above? Tricky question. And then, I dropped my glass…
Continue reading Thermodynamics and Entropy – Our Irreversible Universe
… is pretty much the bemused reaction you’ll get if you allow yourself to answer casual questions about science over a drink with a non-physicist. AB-SO-LUTE disbelief. Your fault! Shouldn’t have gone there… Pretend you didn’t hear the question… Especially if the answer is ion propulsion!
Continue reading The Ion Propulsion System – What the… #!$@*!!