Turning the tide on Climate Change
The world is starting to wake up to the urgency of climate change. We need to do something drastic to stop ourselves from careering headfirst into a global catastrophe! Right now there is a slew of crackpot ideas out there promising to put an end to this crisis. But by far, one of the most promising is an outrageous idea to geoengineer the oceans to create a vast carbon sink, stopping the clock on climate change and ensuring the health of our oceanic ecosystems. Is this our way out of our climate disaster? Or are we dangerously playing God?
Mars has a deadly secret
Musk wants to go to Mars by 2024 and, within a decade, take the first steps on the Red Planet. As his Starship continues to develop it seems like this goal is easily attainable! But Musk doesn’t want to stop there. His ultimate ambition is to have a fleet of a thousand Starships, relocating thousands of people to Mars every year, to build the first Martian city. But there is a problem. Something deadly stalks the Martian surface and Musk can’t stop it. So, will Musk’s Martian city be decimated by this Achilles’ heel?
Mars isn’t the second Earth that…
And the dirty secret to why it isn’t used
Nuclear energy has a bad name these days. Whilst it can provide us with carbon-neutral energy the toxic byproducts and potential risk each reactor poses aren’t so eco-friendly. We already have 250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste stored away that will remain deathly radioactive for another 10,000 years, and the Chernobyl and Fukushima catastrophes are stark reminders of the devastation wreaked on the environment and us, when things go wrong. This has caused many to turn to nuclear fusion as a cleaner alternative. However, replicating the Sun on Earth is rather tricky, so viable fusion reactor technology is likely decades or…
Are jellyfish taking over the oceans?
Over the past few decades scientists have noticed something concerning. Year-on-year there are more jellyfish drifting through our oceans. At first glance these squidgy creatures might seem benign, but their vast swarms are killing off fish stocks, clogging up nuclear reactor‘s systems and ruining our ocean’s ecosystems. Are we witnessing a jellyfish apocalypse? Or is something else afoot?
So, why are jellyfish populations suddenly booming? The evidence seems to point to their weird life cycle and how we are changing the oceans.
As I’m sure you know, jellyfish aren’t fish, and they don’t just materialise fully grown with stinging things…
The eco crop that could stop climate change.
Cannabis has found its way into the current zeitgeist. It seems like every week a new country or state is legalising it. As the number of legitimate commercial cannabis farms we are realising the plants incredible eco-friendly credentials. It has emerged as a game changing crop, sparking a wave of people calling for hemp (a type of cannabis) to replace much of our polluting and toxic industries in a bid to become carbon neutral. But is this possible? Can cannabis save the world?
Hemp has three unique properties that make it such a promising crop. It grows practically anywhere, it…
The JWST is set to unlock a new type of astronomy
From space, humanities presence is evident. Our sprawling cities light up the dark side of the Earth, making our planet gently glow. Some astronomers have wondered whether distant exoplanets have civilisations with radiant cities too? And, if so, could we solve the mystery of “are we alone” by catching a glimpse of their far off glow? But can even our most advanced telescopes pick up light so far away?
A new remarkable machine promises to do the impossible.
As you know one of the scariest elements of climate change is the ice caps melting. It will cause sea levels to rise, destroying hundreds of cities and displacing millions of people, essential currents and weather patterns will collapse, permafrost thawing will release a vast amount of CO², causing runaway climate change. You get it. The ice caps need saving. But incredibly, and rather excitingly, a project from Bangor University thinks they have the perfect solution to save this precious ecosystem, and it is surprisingly simple.
Before we carry on, let’s get one thing out of the way. The ice…
They’re taking a nap until it is colder outside
Across the ages, everyone from Enrico Fermi to Mrs Miggins have looked up at the stars and asked the big question….. “where the hell are all the others?!”
From everything we understand about biology and astronomy, it looks like life should be abundant across the cosmos, yet our cosmic neighbourhood is eerily quiet. How can this be? Scientists (and everyone else) have hypothesised many theories for why our skies appear empty, from us living at the wrong time, to Earth being in a galactic zoo. …
Our biology might be completely incompatible
Incredible films like Arrival and Close Encounters Of A Third Kind show our fascination and terror of being visited by aliens. But in real life, there might be something stopping them from coming to our cosy corner of the Solar System. No matter how powerful or advanced they are, a quirk of biology could make Earth utterly inhospitable to them. This simple oddity might be the only reason advanced aliens haven’t conquered us! But this doesn’t just stop at planetary defence, we can even utilise this biological peculiarity to search for alien organisms in Martian soil with pinpoint accuracy and…
Who will win the new era space race?
Is Elon Musk winning the private space race? He sure seems to be! With the success of his reusable Falcon 9 rockets, contracts with NASA to supply the ISS and its upcoming Artemis Moon program, it looks like SpaceX is dominating the heavens. But another heavy weight techgiant, who’s looking to take us to the stars, is Jeff Bezos with his company Blue Origin. Both have ambitions and billions, but they have very different plans to control our skies. With our very Solar System up for grabs, and with its untold wealth and power, who will clinch the victory? Will…
