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The Azolla Event: when is a fern not a fern?

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Betelgeuse, Gamow, and a Big Red Horse

There has been a lot of talk recently of Betelgeuse possibly going supernova this century or not...

Climate Change, the Walrus and the Carpenter

I have recently watched two videos on climate change by Sabine Hossenfelder.  The first one...

A Very Large Hadron Collider?

Frontpage image: Illustration of spherical explosion (kilonova) of two neutron stars (AT2017gfo/GW170817)...

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Robert H OlleyRSS Feed of this column.

Until recently, I worked in the Polymer Physics Group of the Physics Department at the University of Reading.

I would describe myself as a Polymer Morphologist. I am not an astronaut,

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Australia, Algae, And Abalone

Australia, Algae, And Abalone

May 15 2015 | comment(s)

Once again, your resident tellytraveller has turned his gaze to the Southern Hemisphere, this time with second series of Coast Australia.  Episode 8 took us to New South Wales, and most spectacularly to Jervis Bay, a little under 200 km south of Sydney.


VE, VF ...?

VE, VF ...?

May 13 2015 | comment(s)

Today is the seventy-fifth anniversary of one of the most famous speeches given by Winston Churchill:

We shall fight on the beaches


of which the best remembered words are

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, ...
Fish, Flowers and Diving Goggles

Fish, Flowers and Diving Goggles

May 02 2015 | comment(s)

Fish and flowers inspire diving goggle material


says an article in Chemistry World. 

First, the fish.  Fish repel oil by trapping water within their scales to create a self-cleaning, oil-repellent coat.

And in the other corner, this little flower, Diphylleia grayi, – also known as the skeleton flower – which has the property that when rained on, its petals turn transparent, becoming white again on drying out.

Homophobia And Starfish

Homophobia And Starfish

May 01 2015 | comment(s)

Recently on Real Clear Science, Ross Pomeroy published an article Why Nothing Can Be Truly ‘Unnatural’, in which he denounces attempts to oppose homosexuality on scientific grounds.  However, after reading it, I am left with the feeling that he is not simply reporting science, but perhaps being a little bit like an old-fashioned nanny telling her charges what is or is not proper.  If so, he will be firing a shot in

Old English “Leech” Against MRSA?

Old English “Leech” Against MRSA?

Apr 03 2015 | comment(s)

Are ancient remedies any good?  In scholarly circles the middle of the 20th Century, they didn’t seem to think so.  For example:

‘Survey the mass of folly and credulity that makes up Anglo-Saxon leechdoms, it may be asked: “Is there any rational element here? Is the material based on anything that we may reasonably describe as experience?” The answer to both questions must be “Very little”.’ [1]

But in the last few days we have been reading

Carbon Nitride and Salmon Sperm

Carbon Nitride and Salmon Sperm

Mar 13 2015 | comment(s)

Two things that have caught my attention recently.

The first concerns trapping solar energy.  One way to do this is to convert it directly into electricity with a solar panel, but one with much wider application would be to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, which can then be stored and transported.