Boeing’s Starliner capsule (CST-100), launched on an Atlas V rocket, has failed to reach its intended orbit. This mistake was blamed on the capsule burning too much fuel after it had separated from the rocket. It is unmanned and the error occurred when it was passing between the range of two satellites and was briefly …
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It’s Never The Ozone Layer…
Earth’s twin planet in the Solar System, Venus, has an ozone layer. The Venus Express space craft detected the signature of ozone about 100 km up in Venus’s atmosphere. Ozone is a molecule of oxygen containing three atoms of oxygen (O3) rather than the normal two (O2) that we breathe. It forms when ultra-violet light acts …
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Uptown Brilliance…
To be really good at something takes dedication. You have to do the work, even if you are already talented. On duty last night I spotted a few boys working when everybody else was out having fun. They were all high achievers. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that one of the …
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A Secret Location…
I am quite interested in people who have a significantly different world-view from me. Christopher Valentine is very much such a person. Watch as much of the following as you can bear. . He does seem to believe what he is saying – he certainly takes the trouble to write books about it so I am …
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Faerie…
A little bit more about ‘selective breeding’ with reference to flower production in the video below. Please sit through it to the end as it contains a twist! Some pretty sound Mendelian genetics and a simple explanation of how breeders produce the strains of plants and animals we commonly see. Then the host fires in …
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Kirates With No Liks…
This made me laugh.
Marble Marvel…
Another amazing musical machine and a lovely combination of old and new technology. . You can see more of Wintergatan’s work on his YouTube page. There is more musical & mechanical nonsense on the blog here, here and here.
A Quick Puzzle…
…from the New York Times. You must click on the link at the end of this post, attempt the test and then come back here to leave a comment. I don’t mean ‘must’ in the sense of… You simply must try the mackerel with pickles and mullet roe at El Celler de Can Roca. Yeah, of course …
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Another Funny Video…
Firstly, sorry that the comments are not working. There has recently been an upgrade to the WordPress software and this has affected the theme I use (Oxygen) and so I am waiting until they fix it. I tried myself but it was disastrous – the site went down for 24 hours until I could work …
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The Poetry Of Reality…
Someone left a comment that they liked the MelodySheep Game Of Thrones song. He is the guy who did all the Symphony of Science videos/songs. I have edited the posts so hopefully you can now see and play those videos too. . . This reflects my take on science pretty accurately; for me it the …
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