How do we know how many galaxies exist in the universe?

Regarding the question in the title, “How do we know how many Galaxies exist in the Universe?”, the short quick answer is that we do not have a precise number, instead what we have is an estimate that is based upon observational data collected by Hubble. There have been recent stories within the media regarding … Read more

Climate Change: Almost one entire year of record breaking months

The September numbers are out, it is now official. Starting in October 2015, every single month except one has been a record shattering month. October 2015 was the warmest October since monthly record keeping began in 1880, November 2015 was the warmest ever November, and so on for almost every single month. There was just … Read more

Can we really colonise MARS?

Elon Musk has outlined his plan to send one million people off to colonize Mars. Not only is he being sincere about this ambition, but he also has a viable plan to get there. The astronomer Phil Plait has written a response to Mr Musk’s plans in Slate, and as you read it, you can almost hear … Read more

Milestone achieved – Now we put the Paris Agreement into effect

Back in December 2015 as many as 174 nations signed what is now known as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, but that is simply ink on paper and is quite frankly meaningless in that it did not commit anybody to do anything. The far more important aspect is that it marked a beginning of a … Read more

2016 Nobel Prize – Chemistry – Tiny Machines win

And so today it is on to the third of the big three Nobel Prizes. The announcement of a Nobel award is always a surprise. If you ever hear about a claim that somebody was once nominated for a Nobel prize but did not actually win, then unless it was a nomination that is fifty … Read more

2016 Nobel Prize – Physiology or Medicine

Starting today, with the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, the 2016 award announcements have commenced. Each day this week they announce a different one and so the schedule is as follows … Mon 2nd Oct – Physiology or Medicine Tues 3rd Oct – Physics Wed 4th Oct – Chemistry Thur 5th Oct – Normally this is … Read more