It’s going to be a job with some ups and downs: Cramped living conditions and rubbish food, but great views and plenty to talk about at parties when you get home!
But if you’re not a millionaire or a member of NASA, how easy is it to get into space and experience some zero-gravity weightlessness? As it happens, pretty difficult…
Since 1996, a $10 million prize was offered for the first person to do it (governments not allowed), and amateurs have going at it like the clappers! There have been some mixed successes, and today’s blog is dedicated to some of man’s attempts to break free from Earth….Read more
Should you cut the red wire or the blue wire? Quick! Time is running out! Red digits are already counting down from 10 seconds. With wire-cutters tentatively poised, a snip of the red wire and then…
Wait! Is bomb disposal really anything like what we see in the movies?
A few days ago, I wrote about the Trowbridge bomb scare. It was a pretty exciting event for us simple Wiltshire-folk. The centre of town was ‘locked-down’: All pedestrians and cars were diverted away by anxious-looking police officers. Meanwhile ambulances, fire engines and a bomb disposal team swarmed around The Shires Shopping Centre.Trowbridge Police fight to keep control (photo: Wiltshire Times) No-one came to harm and it was later discovered that the abandoned suitcase contained nothing more than a hat and a sock! But not quite everyone was relieved: One unimpressed Melksham resident asked “Was it really necessary to re-open the Shires?!”
Clearly, my high quality reporting of the event did not go unnoticed: Rikki, a Bomb Disposal Engineer from the Royal Logistics Corps who was there that fateful day had read my blog post and decided to get in touch. Not wanting to let the opportunity pass by to get the low-down on real-life bomb disposal, Rikki was kind enough to answer some of my questions:
How do you deal with the pressure?
What is modern-day bomb disposal all about?
How does it feel to have helped save both Trowbridge’s ‘Poundland’ and ‘Greggs’!?…Read more
I was sat with friends and enjoying Christmas festivities, when this text came through:
“Why do bubbles stick to the straw in fizzy drink?”
My niece had come up with the question after watching bubbles dance around in a glass of soft drink. For a seven year old, this was a pretty good question. My sister (who also has scientific inclinations) was unable to give her a convincing answer, and knowing that I’m a sucker for trying to solve anything remotely scientific, she turfed it to me…
I looked into it and gave her my best answer. I also discovered that the science of bubbles is pretty interesting (no really). So if you’ve ever wondered about how and why bubbles form in a glass of soda/champagne/beer then read on!
Enter the fascinating & bubbilicious world of fizzy drinks…(with some stuff even seven year olds will enjoy)!Read more
I bet that you own at least one loyalty or ‘reward’ card. They sound like a great idea – You get money and points for just doing your normal grocery shop! Well, if you think you’re getting something for nothing, then you’re wrong…Ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett branded loyalty cards 'an invasion of privacy', but was he right?The barcode bleep is like the soundtrack to modern society. And in the 21st Century, we must shop to survive. But when you use a loyalty card, every bleep sets off an invisible chain of electronic events: In the UK, purchases are instantly fed into a huge computer database for detailed analysis. But why, and for what purpose? Today’s blog explores the murky world of the supermarket loyalty card…Read more
New Year’s Resolutions: Just what is the point? I used to hate the idea of resolving to do something good just because it was a new year. And yet there seems to be something magical about the stroke of midnight on December 31st: Many of us pledge to get fit, save money or stop smoking. Having witnessed family and friends make dozens of failed attempts, it’s tempting to think that Oscar Wilde had it right…
Resolutions are “pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil”. Oscar Wilde (1909), The Picture of Dorian Gray
What are your New Year's resolutions?These days I’m less of a resolution-hater. In fact I’ve actually quite warmed to the idea, and I’ve even made myself a few New Year’s resolutions for this year: To start writing a book, to change my gym routine and to make sure I have more fun! But will I just be like everyone else; starting with good intentions, but disappointed and disillusioned a couple of months down the line?
Psychologists have tried to answer these questions and a team of researchers from America did some intensive work to find out the secret of sticking to New Year’s resolutions. Read on to find out if you’ve got what it takes to carry through on your resolution…
Trowbridge locals look on in disbelief - "Why can't I get to Poundland!"...Trowbridge doesn’t seem like a likely target for terrorists. But yesterday, the centre of the town became ‘locked down’ as bomb disposal squads investigated a ‘suspect bag’.
I like the place, but a lot of people don’t. It’s the official county town of Wiltshire, a beautiful and historic region, yet Charles Moore from The Spectator described Trowbridge as a town lacking any “sign of talent, originality, workmanship, beauty or local pride”. He said the locals are “tattooed people shuffling round”. Even former front man of The Stranglers wrote a disparaging (but rather amusing) song “Don’t put me on a slow boat to Trowbridge”.
So it was with some surprise that yesterday, my afternoon shuffle to Asda was rudely interrupted by a police cordon and bomb disposal squad…Read more
Chocolate lovers beware: Reading today's blog could be beneficial to your health!Chocolate is the nation’s favourite indulgence. Every year we collectively chomp our way through four Olympic stadiums worth of the stuff.
Today’s blog is all about enjoying chocolate and leaving the New Year’s resolutions for another day. Research shows that the healthy chemicals from chocolate will soon be making their way into the next generation of cold and flu medicines. But be warned… this choco-extract is the same chemical that makes chocolate poisonous to cats and dogs.
I’ve prepared an irresistible chocolate recipe so you can test out chocolate’s healing powers at home. And just so the pet dog doesn’t feel left out, there is something in here for Fido too!Read more
Sub-zero temperatures can be hazardous. If frostbite, hypothermia and road accidents weren’t bad enough; now our milk bottles are exploding!
In a previous post, Ruth wanted to know the answer to her milk bottle saga:
Sweet-tasting cream erupting from a bottle of milk!
“My milk was frozen this morning so that the cream erupted out of the bottle in a column. I see why that happened but why did this bit of cream taste really sweet?”
After promising to investigate and learning about the science behind a simple bottle of milk, it seems Ruth has discovered an ingenious way to get naturally sweet cream…Read more
Christmas day is looming. That hallowed day of food, wine, gifts, food and then some more food is nearly here!
Mmm, tasty!In the UK, ten million turkeys will be cooked, 25 million Christmas puddings eaten, and six million gallons of wine drunk! The chances are that you will be eating roast turkey at some point this next week (unless you’re vegetarian).
But how many of us know the best way to cook a roast? Have you’ve ever wondered what actually goes on in the food you cook? If you like cooking or eating, then today’s post is for you!
Warning: Reading today’s blog may make you decidedly hungry…Read more
When I was a child, Johnny Ball used to be my hero. He hosted a UK TV programme, called ‘Johnny Ball Reveals All‘. With the enthusiasm of a five-year-old, he bounced across the TV screen while explaining science questions: ‘Why does a volcano erupt?’, ‘How do my eyes work?’ and ‘What is electricity?’ He was an inspiring and eccentric character, who helped give me a love of science.
We love Johnny Ball!
I’m still excited about science today, and try to share that passion with others. But some people don’t seem to get quite as passionate as me: My wife’s eyes normally glaze over when I start to get animated about quantum physics!
But I’ve stumbled across a new breed of science lovers: a movement of armchair scientists, on a mission to separate fact from fiction. They call themselves ‘skeptics’ and are determined not to fall victim to any hoax or scam. They meet together in pubs and cast a questioning eye over anything controversial. In recent months, numbers have been mushrooming and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. I picked the brains of Hayley Stevens, co-founder of the Bath Skeptic Society to find out more…. Read more
