astronomy

Ancient zombie ants, liquefying your body, recovering meteorites and more. What Tim's talking about on radio this week.

This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about tracking and recovering meteorites; liquefying your body; chlorophyll that works with low energy light; ancient zombie ants; and more…

1. Desert fireballs—An intelligent camera system has been set up to track and recover meteorites in the Nullarbor. It is expected to detect about three or four of them a year. Many of these will be recovered. As debris left over from when planets were constructed, they carry a unique record of the birth of the Solar System.—Australasian Science.

This story can be found in the latest issue of Australasian Science. [continue reading…]

Ancient zombie ants, liquefying your body, recovering meteorites and more. What Tim’s talking about on radio this week.

This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about tracking and recovering meteorites; liquefying your body; chlorophyll that works with low energy light; ancient zombie ants; and more…

1. Desert fireballs—An intelligent camera system has been set up to track and recover meteorites in the Nullarbor. It is expected to detect about three or four of them a year. Many of these will be recovered. As debris left over from when planets were constructed, they carry a unique record of the birth of the Solar System.—Australasian Science.

This story can be found in the latest issue of Australasian Science. [continue reading…]

National Science Week 2010: make a robotic dinosaur, hear about the laser and celebrate science with poetry

Welcome to this special bulletin from the Australian Institute of Physics for National Science Week (14 – 22 August).

We’ve identified 121 Science Week events around the country with a physics component.

You can make a robotic dinosaur; hear about the laser; celebrate science with poetry; see Australia’s brightest light (or at least its home at the Australian Synchrotron); join science quizzes; learn about black holes at the Large Hadron Collider; catch the AIP 2010 Women in Physics lecturer, Elizabeth Winstanley and much more.

[continue reading…]

How do black holes eat?

Using galaxies as cosmic telescopes to reveal the diets of the black holes at the heart of every galaxy.

Anglo-Australian Observatory Astronomer David Floyd has been able to observe matter falling into a super-massive black hole – one of the Universe’s brightest objects.

[continue reading…]

Physics in June 2010: manipulating neurons, exploring the physics behind the GPS and unlocking soccer-ball aerodynamics

Welcome to my monthly newsletter to people around the country with an interest in Physics. It has news and events for June 2010 and beyond.

This month the AIP is manipulating neurons in Canberra; discovering the real CERN in Sydney; exploring the physics behind the GPS at UQ; unlocking soccer-ball aerodynamics in Adelaide and investigating how diamonds can improve photonic devices in Melbourne. [continue reading…]

Physics in April 2010: life on Mars, the physics of art and jewellery, web 2.0 in physics education and the great unsolved mysteries of the universe

From Brian James, President of the Australian Institute of Physics

Welcome to my monthly email to people around the country with an interest in physics. It contains news and events for April 2010 and beyond.

This month’s AIP meetings include discussion of life on Mars, the physics of art and jewellery, web 2.0 in physics education and the great unsolved mysteries of the universe. [continue reading…]