Science Blog
May 1 – Arrival of the Sun
The arrival of summer has been celebrated on May 1 in many countries in the north for 2000 years. Although actual summer starts in June, May 1st is a celebration to prepare for its arrival. Beltane or Beltain is the Gaelic May Day festival, most commonly held on 1 May, […]
Uranus – The Tilted Planet
When you look at images of planets in our solar system, they all seem to follow a certain design. The rocky ones are round with a few moons, while the gas giants and the ice giants have rings. But one of them is different. It seems to be tilted on […]
Grace O’Malley – Pirate Queen
Who doesn’t love pirates and the stories of their seafaring adventures? We’ve heard of Black Beard, Red Beard and their ilk but I am pretty certain most do not know about famous lady pirates. One of them was Grace O’Malley, the pirate queen of Ireland (c. 1530 – c. 1603). In […]
The Plain of Giant Jars in Laos
The Plain of Giant Jars in Laos (Lao PDR) houses the most mysterious megalithic structures in Southeast Asia. There are over 90 sites, each with up to 400 jars. There purpose is not known. Now a new study reveals they were put in place between 240 to 660 BCE. Read […]
Forget the Romans, Meet the Etruscans
The Etruscans were the main civilisation in Italy before the Roman Empire, with their own unique culture and language. The Romans conquered them but also adopted many of their practices. Readf More
Fantastic Women Series – Caroline Herschel First Professional Female Astronomer
Caroline Herschel was the First Professional Female Astronomer who discovered comets and star clusters in the 18th century and the first to be awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Society. Read More
An Ancient Tree and the Question of Life, the Universe and Everything
The 42,000 year old kauri tree has information about Earth’s magnetic field reversal at the time. Read More
Coelacanth – No Longer A Living Fossil
This weird fish called the coelacanth has long been known as a living fossil. After disapearing for over 60 million years it reappeared. And now genetic testing shows it has been hijacking genes from other species. Read More
Drop in Ozone Depleting Emissions: How We Healed the Ozone Layer
An international team of researchers has found that ozone-depleting CFC chemicals are back on the decline, five years after a major spike, as per two papers published in the journal Nature. “We should see recovery of the ozone layer back to levels that we saw in 1980” later this century, said […]
The History of the Alphabet
The history of the development of writing and how we got our alphabet. Read More
