Ten years ago, on 8 July 2011 Atlantis took off for the final mission of a Space Shuttle, bringing to close a programme which had lasted nearly 40 years and had cost the equivalent of $220 billion in 2021 dollars. In this post I'll review this fascinating and unique piece of technology. The landing of… Continue reading The Space Shuttle 10 years on
This year, the June solstice will fall on 21 June. In the northern hemisphere, it is the day when there is the most daylight and when the Sun is at its highest in the midday sky. The origin of the word solstice is from two Latin words: sol, which means Sun, and sistere, to stand still. On the… Continue reading June 21 2021 – the solstice
Satellite navigation systems have come to affect countless aspects of our daily lives, from directing our holiday aeroplanes to enabling us to drive round an unfamiliar city without any map other than the one on our mobile phone. Most new cars sold today have an inbuilt Sat Nav and you can buy trackers relatively cheaply… Continue reading Satellite Navigation
Updated 1 February 2026 Although the Universe may be infinite in extent, in the generally accepted Big Bang cosmology we are only able to see a small fraction of it. We call this small fraction we can see the observable universe. Outside the boundary of the observable universe lies the unobservable universe - a region… Continue reading The Observable Universe and Its Horizons
This year, for the majority of the world’s Christians, 4 April is Easter Sunday, one of the most important dates in the calendar. Although because of the current restrictions due to the Covid pandemic, celebrations will be a little limited in many places. Although Easter is the festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,… Continue reading Easter April 4 2021
Explaining Science 