I was saddened to find out about the recent death, at the age of 92, of Frank Drake, one of the pioneers of SETI. One of the things he is most famous for is the equation bearing his name which estimates the number of intelligent civilisations in our galaxy, the Drake equation. As a tribute… Continue reading Frank Drake and the Drake equation
Author: Steve Hurley
Hi I am Steve Hurley. Although I work in the IT industry. I studied for a PhD in astronomy in the 1980s. My real passion is explaining scientific concepts to a non-scientific audience. My blog (explainingscience.org) covers various scientific topics, but primarily astronomy. It is written in a style that it is easily understandable to the non scientist.
Publications and videos
For links to my books and videos please visit www.explainingscience.org
Debunking Fake Astronomy Photos on Social Media
Updated May 2026 Since the original post back in 2022 there has been an explosion of fake and inaccurate content on social media this is discussed in my post: Why Social Media Fails at Accurate Astronomy Content ---- A friend of mine, the keen amateur astronomer Colin Henshaw, brought the following photograph to my attention. The… Continue reading Debunking Fake Astronomy Photos on Social Media
Our finely-tuned Universe part III – Explanations for fine tuning
Updated 26 November 2025 As discussed previously our Universe appears to be very finely tuned and is governed by four fundamental interactions. A relatively small increase or decrease in the strength of one of these interactions, such as making the force of gravity weaker or stronger, would make the emergence of life impossible. The four… Continue reading Our finely-tuned Universe part III – Explanations for fine tuning
Our finely-tuned Universe part II – Examples of fine tuning
Updated 26 November 2025 In a previous post I talked about the four forces which govern the way the Universe works. I’m now going to give some examples of fine tuning. How different our Universe would be if these four forces had very different relative strengths. Summary of the Four Forces The Universe is governed… Continue reading Our finely-tuned Universe part II – Examples of fine tuning
June 21 2022 – the solstice
This year, the June solstice will fall on 21 June. As most people know, In the northern hemisphere, it is the day of the year 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… Continue reading June 21 2022 – the solstice
Explaining Science 