Possibly the weirdest idea to be taken seriously by scientists this century, Dark Energy was confirmed recently by an international team of astronomers after completing their analysis of the hubble space telescope Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS).  Astronomers over the last decade or so had noticed that the expansion of the universe (predicted by the Big Bang theory, and now routinely observed at observatories around the world) is actually accelerating.  Our current knowledge of physics says that the expansion should be … Continue reading →

Since 2007, one hour every year is set aside for us to turn off our lights as a worldwide call to action for individuals, communities and businesses to get involved and reduce our consumption of energy.  Climate change, dwindling fuel reserves, and light pollution are some of the issues confronted in this worldwide event.  This year it takes place on Saturday 27 March, starting at 8:30 pm local time, and to participate, all you have to do is turn off … Continue reading →

Life under the ice A NASA team in Antarctica, drilling down through ancient ice sheets, have found complex living creatures where they expected to find no life at all.  This discovery reopens the possibility of finding life in the oceans under the ice surface of Europa, one of Jupiter’s four large moons. The scientists were working on Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, some twenty kilometres from the sea.  Having drilled an eight centimetre wide hole almost two hundred meters down … Continue reading →