The shape of equations and the texture of maths
Working with them every day, equations become almost tactile. Some are as sharp as flints, others as edgeless as a beach pebble worn by waves and sand. In particular, the deepest relationships in nature are often expressed by equations which, at least typographically, are disarmingly smooth.
Follow the Money: The Science of Impact
There is a purely pragmatic issue with targeting the Marsden Fund at economic outcomes: it could hurt more than it helps.
The Writing Life: An Update on the Blog
I have been writing this blog for over ten years. I am not particularly prolific; there are around 100 posts…
The Coming of the Comet
Comets are not unusual. Dozens of them are found every year and a handful – such as Halley’s Comet – are repeat visitors to our skies. But genuinely bright comets must tread a celestial path that takes them close to both the Sun and the Earth, ensuring that they are simultaneously well-lit and easily seen by humans. These are special events and Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is the brightest we have seen in a decade.
Keep Looking Up
I chalked up a personal first yesterday; I saw an aurora with my own eyes and it was every bit…
A Bigger Sky
Amongst everything else that happened in 2023 a key anniversary for a landmark in our understanding of the Universe passed largely unnoticed – the centenary of the realisation that not only was our Sun one of many stars in the Milky Way galaxy but that our galaxy was one of many galaxies in the Universe.