In this post I talk about the unexpected finding made in the late 1990’s that the rate of expansion of the Universe is increasing due to dark energy. This was totally unexpected and won its discoverers the Nobel prize for physics. (This article is one my series on cosmology - the study of the origin… Continue reading The discovery of dark energy
Tag: latest
Daylight Saving Time
As mentioned in my previous post, in the early hours of Sunday 27 October the clocks go back an hour throughout the European Union and daylight saving time comes to an end. Although many Europeans will welcome the extra hour in bed on the night of 26/27 October, I suspect that a lot of people… Continue reading Daylight Saving Time
Jim Peebles winner of the Noble Prize 2019
I was interested to hear that Jim Peebles, at the age of 84, has won a half share of the 2019 Noble Prize for physics for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology. Jim Peebles (1935-) Image from Wikimedia commons In the early 1960s Peebles and his colleague Robert Dicke had predicted the existence of the microwave… Continue reading Jim Peebles winner of the Noble Prize 2019
Time and time zones
In this post I’ll talk about the measurement of time and the use of time zones throughout the world. This is particularly topical at this time of year. In the early hours of Sunday 27 October the clocks go back an hour throughout the EU as Europe switches to winter time. The natural day There… Continue reading Time and time zones
The September equinox
In 2019 September 23 is the date of the September equinox and is also the first day of autumn (or the first day of spring if you're one of my readers in the Southern Hemisphere). In this post I’ll talk about the equinoxes and discus the commonly held view that they are the two days in… Continue reading The September equinox
