Please, no more projections. What we need are predictions, and they're harder

Nov 19, 2019 02:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. (attributed to Danish physicist Niels Bohr) The difficulty of making predictions has long been known, but the rise of the internet means that it is...

Nitrogen fertilisers are incredibly efficient, but they make climate change a lot worse

Nov 19, 2019 02:29 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) (more commonly known as laughing gas) is a powerful contributor to global warming. It is 265 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide and depletes our ozone...

Our land is burning, and western science does not have all the answers

Nov 19, 2019 02:16 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

Last weeks catastrophic fires on Australias east coast and warnings of more soon to come will become all too common as climate change gathers pace. And as the challenges of modern hazard reduction become clear, there is...

Nearly all your devices run on lithium batteries. Here's a Nobel Prizewinner on his part in their invention – and their future

Nov 04, 2019 11:45 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

British-born scientist M. Stanley Whittingham, of Binghamton University, was one of three scientists who won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work developing lithium-ion batteries. L-R: John Goodenough;...

Advances in anti-ageing research: how chemistry could hold the key to better health

Oct 29, 2019 19:37 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science Health

Given the opportunity to live much longer lives, many of us might feel less than thrilled at the prospect. After all, you might think, who would want to live an extra 20 years dealing with arthritis, dementia or heart...

Dark energy: new experiment may solve one of the universe's greatest mysteries

Oct 29, 2019 19:32 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

As an astronomer, there is no better feeling than achieving first light with a new instrument or telescope. It is the culmination of years of preparations and construction of new hardware, which for the first time collects...

Predicting research results can mean better science and better advice

Oct 26, 2019 08:14 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

We ask experts for advice all the time. A company might ask an economist for advice on how to motivate its employees. A government might ask what the effect of a policy reform will be. To give the advice, experts often...