This is first of a series of three posts in which I'll talk about the idea that the fundamental forces which govern our Universe and fundamental constants such as: the strength of gravity, the electric charge of the electron and the amounts of matter, dark matter and dark energy in the Universe have been in… Continue reading Our Finely-tuned Universe Part I-Fundamental forces
Category: General
The Lyrids 2022
The night of 22/23 April will be the peak of the Lyrids, one of the most famous prolific meteor showers. Meteors (also known as shooting stars) are bright streaks of light caused by small lumps of rock or metal called meteoroids hitting the Earth’s atmosphere at very high speed. As they pass through the atmosphere they get heated… Continue reading The Lyrids 2022
Overview of tides
Even though the Moon is far smaller and less massive than the Earth its gravitational field still has significant effects on our planet. The most noticeable of these are tides, the periodic rise and fall of sea levels. In this post I'll give an overview of the causes of tides. This is something which many… Continue reading Overview of tides
Reducing global carbon dioxide emissions
In early November 2021 much of the world’s media was focussed on the Glasgow Climate Change Conference (also known as COP26). As most of you will know, its key objectives were to get individual states to commit to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, to end deforestation and to plan to move away from fossil fuel… Continue reading Reducing global carbon dioxide emissions
Opportunities for solar energy
In 2019, the year before the restrictions of the covid-19 pandemic, the world energy consumption was slightly higher at around 170 000 TWh. In this post I will talk about some of the science behind this amazing fact and discuss the challenge of getting solar energy from where it is plentiful to where it is… Continue reading Opportunities for solar energy
Explaining Science 