Category Archives: Environment

GOCE and Gravity – Looking Down at the Oceans Up Above

An artist's impression of GOCE. Source: ESA
GOCE – Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer

GOCE succumbed to gravity – the force it had been sent up into space to study.  Ironically.  When the xenon fuel for this engine was exhausted, the satellite fell back to Earth in November 2013.  The first of ESA’s Living Planet Programme satellites, GOCE was intended to map the Earth’s gravity field in unprecedented detail..

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It’s All Go at “Cape Kebaberal” in Sheffield…

A photograph showing Azuma Makoto bonsai sent into space in 2014.
Lift-Off!

Florida has Cape Canaveral, and now it seems the UK city of Sheffield has a new space port dubbed “Cape Kebaberal”.  The name was inspired by the favourite student food of Alex Baker and Chris Rose, who run the Sheffield-based company SentIntoSpace

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Lightning and the Sun’s Magnetic Field

A photograph showing lightning over Glasgow's West End.
Magnetic Fields All Around

It’s not often you can see lightning above Glasgow, so this 2006 Flickr photograph is a rare and impressive sight.  But that’s not the point…  A study by researchers in the United Kingdom shows it is not just conditions here on Earth that determine how much thunder and lightning we get.  The Sun’s magnetic field also has a major influence, more than doubling the number of lightning bolts on some days…   

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A Starry Starry Night or The Unexpected Maths in a Van Gogh’s Masterpiece

An image showing Van Gogh's painting "The Starry Night" (1889).
Van Gogh’s Starry Night

When Classical Physics and Post-Impressionist artists meet, few results are as hauntingly beautiful or as enchanting as one of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous masterpieces.  The Starry Night embodies the inner, subjective expression of van Gogh’s response to Nature.  And the churning night sky he depicted tells of the artist’s very unique perception of the World around him…

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It’s the Bee’s Knees – And Glasgow’s New Rooftop Tenants are Literally Buzzing…

A photograph showing the activity in a bee hive.
BeeCause…

Honeybees are essential to our ecosystem, but sadly their numbers have dwindled in recent years.  Now, the rooftops above George Square are host to the latest addition in the Scottish local authority’s long-term sustainability initiative with two new beehives located on the roof of the iconic Glasgow City Chambers. 

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Le GEIPAN – Qu’est-Ce Que C’est?

A photograph showing sky lanterns floating up in the night.
GEIPAN

The United States have one.  The Danish used to have one, and so did the Brits, but no longer.  France remains the only country in Europe to have one.  So, what exactly is the GEIPAN? 

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Ebola NOW! The Exponential Growth of a Deadly Outbreak

A photograph showing one of the containment-suited Ebola doctors caring for a yound victim of the illness during the Liberia epidemic in 2014.
The Ebola Crisis is Growing Exponentially

“The West Africans are scared” said Ban Ki-moon at a meeting of the United Nations in Washington U.S., discussing the growing threat of Ebola.  And you could feel the sense of urgency as World leaders discussed the Ebola crisis.  Not enough money has been put forward to tackle the disease.  We are late in our response.  And the clock is ticking…  

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“Looks Like a Great Day, Scotland!”

A photograph of Scotland taken on board the International Space Station (ISS) on 14 October 2014. "Looks Like a Great Day, Scotland!"
#BlueDot

This beautiful image of Scotland was tweeted by a German astronaut from the International Space Station today, as it drifted over Europe. 

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CRISPR, the New Antibiotics Generation – Resistance is Futile!

A computerised imaged of MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).
Seek-and-Destroy Antibiotics

Forget about the threat of Ebola for a moment and consider something much closer to home…  Meet MRSA – a “superbug”, the bacterium of the decade, the Nemesis of hospitals and operating theatres.  A single cell organism that can colonise the living tissues and have a devastating or even fatal impact on the human body.  Now.  Meet CRISPR – also bacteria.  A friend that can potentially help you fight and repel an otherwise deadly bacterial invasion…

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Leviathan: The Energy Giant that Sleeps under the Mediterranean

An aerial photograph of an oil rig at Sedco gas field, Leviathan.
The Leviathan Natural Gas Field

The Leviathan is a large natural gas field located in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.  Together with the nearby Tamar gas field, the Leviathan has been seen as an opportunity for Israel to become a major energy power in the Middle East.  This is the Leviathan – a giant gas field with the titanic potential to change Israel’s foreign relations towards a closer collaboration with Turkey and Egypt.  Good news in an uncertain energy security climate…

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