Category: Science
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The Search for Exoplanets
It seems like another day goes by and there’s another discovery of more exoplanets! On January 7, just one week into 2013, astronomers from the Kepler Mission Space Observatory announced the discovery of the latest exoplanet, the creatively named KOI-172.02. At this stage it appears that KOI-172.02 is an Earth-like planet candidate orbiting a star similar to our…
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The perils of space exploration: last flight of space shuttle Columbia
The 28th and last flight (STS-107) of the space shuttle Columbia was ten years ago. Launched on January 16, 2003 Columbia was destroyed at about 0900 EST on February 1, 2003 while re-entering the atmosphere after its 16-day scientific mission. The destruction of the shuttle killed all seven astronauts on board. An illustrious career Columbia…
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The Case for Neptune
Take a moment to consider Neptune. The eighth planet in our solar system, the planet farthest from the Sun, and the third most massive planet in our solar system. Also one of the least visited, and consequently one of the least understood planets in our solar system. Neptune was discovered in 1846. Forty years later,…
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Is India a nation of geeks?
Angela Saini, in her book Geek Nation: how Indian science is taking over the world, wants to convince us that Indian science is taking over the world. Now any well read student of the physical and mathematical sciences will be able to provide you with notable scientific contributions. Even the Indian constitution abjures: “It shall…
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Weekly Science Picks
The midlife crisis is more complicated than first thought. It might be time to stop blaming troubled marriages and feeling obsolete in a sea of younger colleagues. A study published in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences has revealed that chimpanzees and orangutans also experience a midlife crisis. Having a midlife crisis may…
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Weekly Science Picks
Ah, the weekend! Time to kick back, relax, and look back over everything that’s happened over the past few days. And I’m rather happy to say that some quite interesting things have happened, including the Leonid meteor shower which peaked on Friday night (though if you step outside after dark and watch the sky, you…
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Setting up a science club in a primary school: Why you should!
Last week, I dissected a chicken leg and while many may believe such a thing is not extraordinary having done it so many times, the ordinary became the extraordinary when I saw it through the eyes of a child in our recently established science club. The research on extra-curricular clubs is growing and with it…
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Interview: Keri Bean—Mars meteorologist, Curiosity Rover team member
Keri Bean is a meteorologist specialising in the atmospherics of other planets. She is on the team operating the Curiosity Rover for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission. Prior to MSL, Keri has had roles in the missions for other Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, a prototype Moon rover, the Phoenix Mars Lander, and the Hubble…
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Weekly Science Picks
It seems the rate of everything has increased exponentially. A very bold, vague, yet intriguing statement, you might say. During the course of the past 2 weeks, Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast of America, followed closely by a nor’easter. So my science picks for this week center on the themes of natural disasters, planning,…
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Tasting colours and seeing sound: Synaesthesia
“One hears a sound but recollects a hue, invisible the hands that touch your heartstrings,” wrote Vladimir Nabokov, 20th century novelist. He experienced a curious condition called synaesthesia, which comes from the Greek words syn (together) and aisthesis (perception) and literally means ‘joined perception’. The condition basically causes a fusion of sensory perceptions in which…
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Weekly Science Picks
With the exponential growth of scientific research, there were a plethora of articles which could have been reported this week. A few that caught my attention are listed below. A Future of Genetically Superior Humans On Wednesday it was reported that geneticists have moved into an area of research previously believed to be highly unethical.…
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Open Access Explained!
We wrote about Open Access many times: here, here, here, here, and here, and since it’s Open Access week everywhere in the world- it is good to be reminded what is OA – Open Access. This time Nick Shockey and Jonathan Eisen take us through the world of open access publishing and explain just what it’s…
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The Continuing Saga of the Genetically Modified Plant
GM (Genetically Modified) Foods “Jack! Did you see that potato move?! He’s a GM, that one, he’s sprouted eyes and I bet he’ll grow legs next! He’s gonna round up his buddies and take over the farm!” That opening is ridiculous because farmers are a wise group of people and genetic modification of crops will…
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Payload
Science Fiction This may not be the usual topic for a blog post normally displayed on Australian Science, but when our editor Danica mentioned she saw this great Aussie short and asked if one of us writers wanted to do a narrative, I jumped at it. The next 17:55 of my lunch break left me…