The origin of life: Panspermia, meteorites, and a bit of luck
In the opening scenes of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey (1968), Neanderthal-like folk are scrounging for food, squabbling with a neighbouring […]
Class 5; The Toba eruption – how a super volcano almost stopped humanity in its tracks
Toba Lake, in northern Sumatra, occupies the ancient Toba caldera. One of its outlets, the Asahan River, is the site
The intriguing paradox of global warming piggybacking on global cooling
Flood, fire, drought … We have, by luck and muddled management, thwarted pestilence, but it seems that changing weather patterns
Earth’s vegetation responds to increasing CO2
Photosynthesis, a process that had its beginnings about 2.5 billion years ago, has an awesome responsibility; it keeps us breathing.
Hold a ‘0’ to the light and look through it – there is nothing, and everything
Several years ago I read Jerry P. King’s The Art of Mathematics (1992). Chapter 3 deals with Numbers, and in
Springs and seeps
It rains quite a bit on Mamaku Plateau, the tableland underlain by volcanic debris that was deposited violently 240,000 years
In praise of field work
The class field trip is underway. Teacher hands out the rap-around, virtual imaging glasses, and you are transported to a
Io; Zeus’s fancy and Jupiter’s moon
Zeus, the head-honcho of assorted Greek gods, heroes, nymphs, and mortals, was chiefly the God of the Sky, or Heavens.
An Italian job; seismic risk-assessment at risk
Life is a risky business. Not a day goes by when some aspect of our lives comes under the gaze
Life on Mars; what are we searching for?
I believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has