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A-Z of thought: Quarks

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:41:58 GMT

Quarks are the fundamental entities out of which we believe that nuclear matter is composed. They were given the name by Murray Gell-Mann, a Nobel physicist who has made many fundamental contributions to particle physics. A rather bewildering array of different fo...

Icon of the month: Ceefax

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:41:57 GMT

In October, analogue television will be switched off in Northern Ireland, completing the digital switchover for the whole of the UK. This new dawn of better pictures, more channels and greater interaction marks the end of Ceefax.

The BBC began broa...

A-Z of thought: Parthenogenesis

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:09:59 GMT

Making babies involves a male and female. So it may be surprising to learn that thousands of animal species manage without males: their eggs develop without fertilization. They practice parthenogenesis, literally virgin birth. In most animals (and p...

Icon of the month: The Falklands

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:09:58 GMT

Almost nothing has happened here except war. For every human there are six landmines (and 150 sheep). It is cold, but snow does not accumulate because it rains, on average, on three or four days in every week. If you work on the Falklands you are a...

A-Z of thought: Origins of life

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:26:40 GMT

Our planet initially had a somewhat bumpy ride following its formation around 4.6 billion years ago. When only around 100 million years old it was hit hard by another wandering planet leading to the formation of the moon. Then for a further 600 million year...

Icon of the month: Microwave meals

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:26:39 GMT

Preheat oven to 190˚C. Pierce film lid. Place on baking tray in the middle of oven for 20 minutes. During this cooking time take the opportunity to do modern stuff like tweeting about how hungry you are, playing Fruit Ninja on your phone or watching a qu...

A-Z of thought: Nanotechnology

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:11:25 GMT

Nanotechnology is the science and engineering of the very small. The prefix 'nano' comes from the Greek for a dwarf and means one thousand millionth. Nanotechnology is on the scale of the nanometre, one thousand millionth of a metre.

That is roughl...

Icon of the month:The F word

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:11:24 GMT

Here is a mystery: a word that is in every sense common, which yet has retained its power to affront for over 500 ...

A-Z of thought: Meteors

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:11:04 GMT

Meteors or shooting stars are a common sight in the night sky, and a number per hour can be seen on a clear night away from street lighting. While their origin is not fully understood, they have been an important source of information about the Solar System and have been interpreted as signs of cataclysmic end times eve...

Icon of the month: Nativity

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:11:02 GMT

'Nativity' simply means 'birth', of course, so what does it tell us that out of all the people to whom it has happened, the word only refers to Jesus's? Perhaps that the church is uniquely associated with unnecessarily long words, but I prefer to think it's that this birth has captured the imagination of our culture like no other, and ...