Tagged

science

A collection of 90 posts

science

Fine Tuning

How come our Universe was fine-tuned to enable the miracle of Life?

chemistry

Endangered Elements

The world, and your phone, is dependent on chemicals. What happens when they run out?

environment

Fire for Plants

Is fire really evil? Maybe it’s just a natural part of the environment.

Quantum Computing

The Curious Cat

Superposition, tunnelling, entanglement, and other bits and pieces of quantum mechanics.

Double Slit Experiment

Waving Particles

Why duality is like an elephant: an overview of the double-slit experiment and its implications.

physics

The Uncertainty Principle

Is a particle a wave? Is a mango a line? Some things can never be known for certain.

Consciousness

The Problem with Science

Theories are great at describing the world—but we need to take them less literally.

CERN

The Beauty of Physics

Join my journey from the mid-galactic black-hole to the keratin in your hair, and discover the beauty of physics.

history

Anticlockwise

Why does the Earth spin one way and not the other? There’s a logical reason.

Black Holes

Black Hole Photography

Or, how to make a telescope as large as the world.

biology

Cheese Crystals

White spots are good: are you throwing away a perfectly good cheese?

nature

The Mound

Who owns the Mound? The answer is not so clear.

biology

Left Brain, Right Brain

Are we basically two people at once?

Perception

Speed of Time

How fast does time move? The answer depends on what you’re thinking.

nature

Life Time

How fast does time go, exactly? The answer can depend on who you are.

Atmosphere

Thin Air

What is a plant made of? The answer may surprise you.

Atmosphere

Bibliography for Thin Air

Thin Air The book that sparked ‘Thin Air’ This piece was inspired by Gabrielle Walker’s book An Ocean of Air. A substantial amount of the information was also taken from that book. Other sources are listed below. The Zen story of the fish and the water * Zen and the

Books

Reading Mind

It’s not just about turning text to thoughts: how you read, and what you read it on, can literally change your brain.

anthropology

First Words

Humans dream of contacting aliens — but will we understand what they’re saying?

Microbiology

The Ice-Maker’s Story

I help water to freeze and ice to fall, and can make clouds rain at my command.

Aliens

Looking for Life

Nobody’s found signs of alien life yet. So why do they keep on looking?

biology

Riding the Sky

They talk about Life on other planets, but have we even seen the limits of life here on Earth?

biology

Sleeping Beauty, Underground

Will the leguminous Prince find her? And what root will he take?

Antibiotics

Infectious Cures

How does a river fight disease? By making your illness catch a cold.

biology

Exile by Oxygen

Some organisms never quite worked out how to live with it. This is the story of where they went.