A Geek Writing About the Awesomeness of Science
The digital age has brought the world closer together than ever before. Fibre optics is responsible for a large part of that connectivity. Data—in the form of light photons— transverses a network of glass and plastic cables at the speed of light (300,000 km/s or 186,000 mi/s) to its destination where it is reassembled into... Continue Reading →
Rockets have made it possible for humans to travel into space. The technology has taken us to the Moon and sent robotic probes to every planet in the solar system. They’ve helped us to better understand the universe and our place in it. The concept dates back nearly 2000 years and was originally conceived as... Continue Reading →
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, that all life on Earth is related and that it changes to better suit its environment over time, is just as important to science today as it was when it was first introduced over 150 years ago. All plants and animals (humans included) experience small genetic changes with each new... Continue Reading →
People have been looking up at the night sky for thousands of years but radio astronomy was new in the 1950s. One of the first fully functioning radio telescopes in the Southern Hemisphere was the one at Parkes Observatory. It is located 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) north of the town of the same name and... Continue Reading →
Radioactivity was first witnessed in 1896 and can be extremely dangerous to living tissue. All matter is made up of tiny building blocks called atoms. An atom is made up of protons and neutrons at its centre (the nucleus) with electrons orbiting. Different combinations of these particles make up different elements. Some atoms are unstable... Continue Reading →
In 1903, the Wright brothers became the first to successfully fly a heavier-than-air powered winged aircraft. The two were not aeronautical engineers by trade, or had degrees in the field, but they had a passion for the concepts and turned theory into reality. Wilbur was born on April 16th, 1867, and Orville on August 19th,... Continue Reading →
On Saturday (September 28th), SpaceX CEO Elon Musk held a press conference in Boca Chica, Texas, and announced that the company’s next generation rocket, Starship, will start test flights next year.Starship will be the world’s first fully reusable rocket. Initially, it will be capable of getting a 100-ton payload to orbit, but Musk is confident... Continue Reading →
In a first for an exoplanet, astronomers have announced the detection of water vapour in the atmosphere of K2-18b.The planet lies in the habitable zone—a region around a star where water exists in a liquid state on a planet’s surface. It’s also an area where astronomers believe they’ll have the best chance of finding alien... Continue Reading →
The Australian Space Agency and NASA have just signed a new partnership to work together on America’s plan to return to the moon in 2024. The endeavour will produce new technologies and help build Australia’s growing aerospace industry.On September 21st, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Australian Space Agency head, Dr Megan Clark, met with NASA... Continue Reading →
The Parkes Radio Observatory will be holding a free open day weekend (July 20–21) for the public to celebrate the moon landing fiftieth anniversary.There will be opportunities for rare behind-the-scenes tours of ‘the Dish’. The weekend will feature astronomy talks by leading scientists, space trivia, science fun for kids, face painting, performances, live music and... Continue Reading →
