Weekly Science Picks
Greetings one and all, and a very happy science Sunday to you! This week’s generally been quite interesting. We’ve had good news, bad news, a little heated discussion… All the kind of things which keep the science community vibrant and [...]
Quantum computing: Australian researchers store data on a single atom!
Computers are everywhere these days. They play us music, tell us when to wake up, remind us that we’re late for an appointment, and provide us with entertainment. Even if we don’t realise it, so ingrained in our lives are [...]
Mosquito-borne diseases: Fighting fire with fire
I have a decidedly “live and let live” approach to life. There are no animals in this world which I harbour any malicious feelings towards, regardless of how many of those animals would think nothing of poisoning, eating, maiming, or [...]
The World’s Slowest Experiment
What exactly is a liquid? It’s a seemingly basic question with an answer which may seem obvious to any of us. But as with so many things in science, it may not be as straightforward as you think. Of course [...]
Australia from orbit
From December 19th last year, Chris Hadfield has been living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit roughly 400 km above planet Earth. Seeing 15 sunrises every day as the station tracks its way above our planet, the ISS, [...]
Weekly Science Picks
It’s been rather a turbulent week, all told. There’s been a lot going on in the news, both good and bad. Hopefully, this little handful of science news items will help you finish the last week and begin this next [...]
The Schoolchild who Discovered a New Jellyfish Species
The thing I love the most about scientific discovery is that anyone can do it. Literally anyone could, tomorrow, turn over a stone or look at a seemingly empty spot in the night sky and find something which no human [...]
A Supernova Post-Mortem in Radio Waves
It was a late February night in 1987 when, standing on top of a Chilean mountain range, Ian Shelton saw something which no one had seen for centuries. Looking up in disbelief, he watched a star explode some 160 thousand [...]
Weekly Science Picks
Ahhh, the end of the week again. It seems that every time it’s my turn to give the weekly science picks, it’s been an interesting week in science. This leads me to believe that every week is an interesting week [...]
It’s a small world after all
What we know of exoplanets has developed at the same time as the technology which we use to discover them. This is, in my opinion, the most exciting thing about the entire field of study. For instance, when we first [...]
Asteroids, extinctions, and biodiversity: Wiping the slate clean for new life to flourish
The recent meteor strike in Russia has been a rather sobering reminder that Earth has been regularly battered during its history, by space rocks. Actually, the amount of meteoritic material constantly landing on Earth is startling – on average, over [...]
Andromeda and the 13 Dwarfs
Astronomy is quite notorious for being full of things we don’t entirely understand. Sometimes it really does feel as if the closer we look at the Universe, the less it makes sense. One thing in particular which seems to constantly [...]
Weekly Science Picks
Ah, the end of the week. Time to relax, unwind, and look over the most interesting things to happen this past week in science. While I may be biased, being an astronomer, the most exciting things to happen recently have [...]
Rare echidna species not so extinct after all?
Speaking as a European, Australia has something of a reputation for having some rather unusual wildlife. Easily the most unusual are the small handful of monotreme species – the echidnas, and the duck-billed platypus. The only species of egg-laying mammals [...]