A ground-breaking one-year space mission involving twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly should help doctors, scientists and mission planners better understand the physical and psychological impacts of a long-duration spaceflight.
Continue reading The Real-Life Space Twin Paradox
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
Take one second and divide it a million times. Then, take one millionth of that second and divide it again… by a billion! All you’re left with is a femtosecond. That’s how fast the Linac laser at Palo Alto can deliver burst of X-rays and track chemical reactions in living systems… as they happen.
Ever since Francis Crick and James Watson brought Physics and Biology together in 1953 to unveil the molecular structure of DNA, the boundary between the two disciplines has continued to become increasingly blurred. In this genomic new era, ever more principles from Physics are being applied to living systems in an attempt to understand complexity at all levels. Although sometimes the best solution to a Physics problem lies in the macroscopic world of Biology…
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…
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.
I don’t do politics – much. I just blog here… I have an honest opinion. Mostly, I tend to disagree with all those who try to suppress opinions, ideas, and attempt to stifle creativity and common sense… whoever they may be. Unfortunately, once in a while, events are so traumatic that I simply forget that I don’t do politics… Voilà!
Continue reading Don’t Shoot, I Just Blog Here! – I Am Charlie.
We all know about diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Well, as much as any of us can learn from watching the news whether on TV or on the Web. On average, the advice is loud and clear. You’re told to: eat healthily, exercise moderately. Additionally, don’t smoke, don’t take drugs and go easy on your alcohol consumption. Overall, it makes good sense. Your heart, your lungs and your liver play a major role in keeping you alive and well. That little, everybody realises. But how much do we really know when it comes to illnesses of the nervous system? And without a healthy nervous system, well… This article deals with Multiple Sclerosis. It is an attempt to fill a gap in my own general ignorance and to inform others about this cruel condition…
Continue reading We Need to Talk about Multiple Sclerosis…
GOCE succumbed to gravity – the force it had been sent up into space to study. Ironically. When the xenon fuel for this engine was exhausted, the satellite fell back to Earth in November 2013. The first of ESA’s Living Planet Programme satellites, GOCE was intended to map the Earth’s gravity field in unprecedented detail...
Continue reading GOCE and Gravity – Looking Down at the Oceans Up Above
When Classical Physics and Post-Impressionist artists meet, few results are as hauntingly beautiful or as enchanting as one of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous masterpieces. The Starry Night embodies the inner, subjective expression of van Gogh’s response to Nature. And the churning night sky he depicted tells of the artist’s very unique perception of the World around him…
Continue reading A Starry Starry Night or The Unexpected Maths in a Van Gogh’s Masterpiece