Gravitational Waves

The first observation of gravitational waves was big news. I wrote a piece for the Guardian which wasn’t part of the Life & Physics blog (and which also appeared in the printed paper), and did a Q&A with Hiranya Peiris and Jonathan Braden.

 

Posted in Astrophysics, Physics, Science | Tagged , | Comments Off on Gravitational Waves

The Cosmic Gift of Neutron Stars

At the Guardian.

Posted in Astrophysics, Physics, Science | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Cosmic Gift of Neutron Stars

Muonium – the most exotic atom?

I’d never heard of it before this week, but it’s real. And there are plans to use it to look for antigravity

At the Guardian.

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Muonium – the most exotic atom?

Neutrinos, antimatter, and science as a holistic detective agency

‘Holistic’ is a much abused word. Like ‘quantum’ and ‘paradigm’, it is beloved of snake-oil sellers of many types. But some kind of interconnectedness forms a key part of science’s defence against spurious results and crackpots. Two new scientific results got me thinking this week

Reading Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently

Reading Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently Photograph: Book design & cover: C. Zeff, L. Jeans. Photo: E. Butterworth

Read more at the Guardian.

Posted in Astrophysics, Particle Physics, Philosophy, Physics, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Neutrinos, antimatter, and science as a holistic detective agency