Category Archives: Geometry

Statistically Improbable – The Strange Case of Comet 3I/ATLAS

An illustration of Comet 3I/ATLAS for the article: "Statistically Improbable - The Case of Comet 3I/ATLAS". Artwork: NaturPhilosophie with AI

A cosmic mytery is unfolding in real-time. 3I/ATLAS is not just a comet. For astrophysicists who have been following its nearing trajectory since 1st July 2025, it is a question mark.

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Saving Hope… – Cetacean Strandings and Satellites

A composite drawing image of Hope the Blue Whale's skeleton swimming between two waters.  Artwork: NaturPhilosophie

It’s unclear why so many great whales beach en masse around the World.  And it’s really difficult to estimate their number, especially when the cetacean strandings occur along remote shores.  But there is hope.  Scientists are now developing techniques to monitor marine populations from space.

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Crimson Moon – A Total Lunar Eclipse

A meme showing Lance Corporal Jack Jones, from the fictional Home Guard platoon portrayed in popular British sitcom 'Dad's Army' uttering his familiar catchphrase: "Don't Panic!" with a total eclipse of the Moon appearing crimson red in the background.
The Motion of Celestial Spheres

The Universe never sleeps.  Every now and then, the night sky presents us mere mortals with some heavenly spectacle.  A Bonnie Tyler moment.  This Friday, the Moon will enter the catwalk dressed in red to accomplish its otherwise normal nightly travel around the Earth.  For one night only.  A strange and rare celestial sight at dusk – a total lunar eclipse.   

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Hunting Ripples in the Fabric of Space-Time – The Trials and Tribulations of LISA

Artwork for "Hunting Ripples in the Fabric of Space-Time – The Trials and Tribulations of LISA" showing the LISA space array, with the caption: "Think Again!" Artwork: NaturPhilosophie
Meet LISA!

Erm…No.  Not Mona Lisa!  (Rolls eyes.)  Think again!!  This is LISA – the Lisa Pathfinder satellite, the key element for a grand new project: a space-based gravitational observatory. 

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Optically Brilliant Metamaterials

Artwork illustration for 'Optically Brilliant Metamaterials', depicting a human eye looking at the nanoscopic world with the help of metamaterial molecules. Source: Canada Stock Journal

Smart Materials

They are made from assemblies of multiple elements fashioned from composite materials, like metals or plastics.  And they promise to revolutionise the way we look at things.

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Lateral Thinking in Science – Who Are You?

A photographic montage showing Laura Dern, Benedict Cumberbatch and Lennie James in various cinematic and TV roles as scientists. The caption asks: "What kind of scientist should you be?"
What kind of Scientist are you?

Already this article is beginning to sound like one of those sempiternal quizzes you so often get on social media… but it actually shows how science reality connects.  Are you having a scientific identity crisis?

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All the Trappings of Artificial Intelligence – Does Cortana Dream of Electric Sheep?

A portrait of computer artificial intelligence Cortana, as pictured in computer game Halo.
Meeting Cortana

I met Cortana mid-afternoon.  The perfect time for a well-earned tea break and a chat down at the local café.  I was keen to meet Cortana for the first time.  By then, she was already a celebrity.

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Just a Second…

A close-up photograph of an analog clock showing the hands just reaching the hour.
What Does a Second Look Like?

1/60 minute.  1/3,600 hour.  1/86,400 day.  1/1 hertz.  The duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of a 133 55Cs caesium isotope corresponds to one second.  But what does it look like?  And where might you find a second?

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Zeno’s Paradoxes or What Happened When Achilles and the Hare Decided to Outfox the Legendary Tortoise

A drawing showing Greek champion Achilles chasing the hare and the tortoise in a race to the finish, with the legendary tortoise in the lead.
Wacky Races

How could the humble Tortoise ever beat legendary Greek champion, Achilles, in a race to the finish?  And what about that time when the champion of the animal kingdom simply ridiculed his next-door neighbour aka the Hare?

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Where The Streets Have No Name

A computer-generated drawing based on a photograph from a typical street in Saragossa, in Spain. Image: NaturPhilosophie
Addressing the World

About four billion people on our planet actually live in places with no house numbers,  no street names, or without anything that constitutes a proper address.  They are effectively off-the-map, with no voting rights or access to public utilities.  A new company called What3Words proposes to revolutionize that…

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