Last month I wrote about the Nobel Prizes, the most famous awards in science. Now it’s time for their more fun cousins – the Ig Nobel Prizes. These awards honour “achievements that make people laugh, then think”. The result is one of the quirkiest collections of research and development from science and beyond. Here is … Continue reading Ig Nobel Prize summary 2019
Category: Engineering
Flash heating turns waste into graphene
The modern world has a problem with waste. Up to a third of all the food we produce is thrown out, and millions of pieces of plastic enter our oceans every day. However, one group of scientists may have a solution to both of these problems – turn it all into graphene. Graphene is a … Continue reading Flash heating turns waste into graphene
Nobel Prize summary 2019
Every year, the Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics are presented. Each is considered the field’s most prestigious award, celebrating the greatest contributions made by living people to modern society. Here is my summary of the Nobel Prize winners of 2019. Physics – Michel Mayor, Didier Queloz & James Peebles Exoplanets … Continue reading Nobel Prize summary 2019
Upcycling goes down in history
The word ‘upcycling’ was invented in the 1990s to describe reusing old items in new ways, instead of throwing them out. However, it turns out upcycling has been done for a lot longer than this – three thousand years longer. Archaeologists have spent the last seventeen years excavating an ancient manufacturing site called Saruq al-Hadid … Continue reading Upcycling goes down in history
Lost Opportunity
On the 24th of January 2004, the Mars rover Opportunity landed on the planet’s surface. The mission was supposed to last ninety days. It didn’t. Fifteen years later, NASA has finally declared the project complete, and said goodbye to our most experienced Martian explorer. What is a Rover? Rovers are large, remotely-controlled vehicles sent to … Continue reading Lost Opportunity
Lachlan Writes Science 