Exoplanet discovery by an amateur astronomer shows the power of citizen science
Apr 08, 2017 06:09 am UTC| Insights & Views Science
You dont need to be a professional astronomer to find new worlds orbiting distant stars. Darwin mechanic and amateur astronomer Andrew Grey this week helped to discover a new exoplanet system with at least four orbiting...
Renowned Physicist Stephen Hawking Becomes A Hologram, Warns Against Wilful Ignorance
Apr 01, 2017 05:19 am UTC| Science Technology
Professor Stephen Hawking has got to be the single most famous physicist in the world and he recently appeared as a hologram in Hong Kong. Aside from answering a few questions about various topics in his field, the famed...
The seven deadly sins of statistical misinterpretation, and how to avoid them
Mar 30, 2017 05:19 am UTC| Insights & Views Science
Statistics is a useful tool for understanding the patterns in the world around us. But our intuition often lets us down when it comes to interpreting those patterns. In this series we look at some of the common mistakes we...
Momentum isn't magic – vindicating the hot hand with the mathematics of streaks
Mar 28, 2017 11:33 am UTC| Science
Its NCAA basketball tournament season, known for its magical moments and the March Madness it can produce. Many fans remember Stephen Currys superhuman 2008 performance where he led underdog Davidson College to victory...
Something big exploded in a galaxy far, far away: what was it?
Mar 27, 2017 16:24 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science
At 10:49pm Western Australian time on February 2 this year, cosmic gamma rays hit the NASA satellite, Swift, orbiting the Earth. Within seconds of the detection, an alert was automatically sent to the University of WAs...
Green chemistry is key to reducing waste and improving sustainablity
Mar 27, 2017 16:17 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science
The development and evolution of the chemical industry is directly responsible for many of the technological advancements that have emerged since the late 19th century. However, it was not until the 1980s that the...
Science festivals: knowledge making an exhibition of itself
Mar 27, 2017 16:13 pm UTC| Science
Science was once seen as the stuffy domain of pale male scientists who spent far too much of their time in the laboratory concocting potions in test tubes while avoiding sunlight and human interaction. Occasionally they...