The ubiquitous 'they' have discovered that time moves forward , even at a quantum level.
This makes for vaguely depressing news for anyone seeking an elixir of eternal youth, in that you can't reverse the flow of the ageing process.
They are however, closer to identifying the mysterious trigger that sets this process in motion.
I love such tantalising information.
It holds a vague promise of greater understanding.
The very carrot that, when dangled before our nose, keeps us moving forward...
In the meantime, back to the anti-aging creams and Botox.
In the never ending attempt to control time, a new material has been created, using Fullerene, also known as 'Bucky balls,' : in this case, carbon molecules containing nitrogen atoms.
The new variation can be used in atomic clocks, reducing their size and increasing timing accuracy.
Boffins at Oxford University have developed it, and media spin has declared it as 'the most expensive material' ever, at £ 200 million a gram.
Emperors new clothes then - after all, at that price...
On which note , as we approach the festive season of 2015, how is your world shaping up ?
Personally, I had high hopes for the discovery of alien life in the inner solar system, and a resultant celebration of new technologies as we join our spacefaring companions in an era of endless,blissful, advancement.
Sadly, this has not proven to be the case, but I have cleared a path in the snow on my driveway for any wayward ufos.
Combined with the ufo landing pad on my roof , this should clearly notify any approaching aliens of my welcome.
Which brings us to the equally stultifying news that SETI may be a wholly inappropriate 'listening mode' for intelligent life, given that radio frequencies are inefficient and the maths involved in accurately detecting any signal from a distant star would be wishful thinking to say the least.
Personally, I'm not convinced that any intelligent race would be prepared to spend the time and ludicrous amounts of energy needed to send a signal a thousand light years away on the remote chance of someone intercepting it. .
The recent discovery of Fast Radio Bursts from beyond our galaxy which turned out to be a microwave in the next room , serves to remind us of the frighteningly mundane reality in which we operate (and almost certainly led to a fair amount of egg on the face of the astronomers concerned) .
I particularly like the fact that the mysterious FRB signals could not be detected - unless someone actually opened the microwave , interrupting the power cycle.
Alien contact - or half - heated breakfast?
You decide!
In fairness, all serious arrays of sky watching telescopes are situated far from population centres with their inevitable sources of light pollution: this, combined with extreme boredom and cabin fever might have the inevitable result of even the smallest stimuli having a disproportionately huge effect.
On a farewell note, the Japanese probe Akatsuki* has finally settled into orbit around Venus (after a delay of five years), and is now connected to the 'Deep Space Network'.
Ensuing science based on atmospheric conditions may clear a path for proposed Venusian cloud cities...
* Akatsuki literally means ' Dawn'. So now we have Dawn orbiting Ceres , and Dawn orbiting Venus.
This makes for vaguely depressing news for anyone seeking an elixir of eternal youth, in that you can't reverse the flow of the ageing process.
They are however, closer to identifying the mysterious trigger that sets this process in motion.
I love such tantalising information.
It holds a vague promise of greater understanding.
The very carrot that, when dangled before our nose, keeps us moving forward...
In the meantime, back to the anti-aging creams and Botox.
In the never ending attempt to control time, a new material has been created, using Fullerene, also known as 'Bucky balls,' : in this case, carbon molecules containing nitrogen atoms.
The new variation can be used in atomic clocks, reducing their size and increasing timing accuracy.
Boffins at Oxford University have developed it, and media spin has declared it as 'the most expensive material' ever, at £ 200 million a gram.
Emperors new clothes then - after all, at that price...
On which note , as we approach the festive season of 2015, how is your world shaping up ?
Personally, I had high hopes for the discovery of alien life in the inner solar system, and a resultant celebration of new technologies as we join our spacefaring companions in an era of endless,blissful, advancement.
Sadly, this has not proven to be the case, but I have cleared a path in the snow on my driveway for any wayward ufos.
Combined with the ufo landing pad on my roof , this should clearly notify any approaching aliens of my welcome.
Which brings us to the equally stultifying news that SETI may be a wholly inappropriate 'listening mode' for intelligent life, given that radio frequencies are inefficient and the maths involved in accurately detecting any signal from a distant star would be wishful thinking to say the least.
Personally, I'm not convinced that any intelligent race would be prepared to spend the time and ludicrous amounts of energy needed to send a signal a thousand light years away on the remote chance of someone intercepting it. .
The recent discovery of Fast Radio Bursts from beyond our galaxy which turned out to be a microwave in the next room , serves to remind us of the frighteningly mundane reality in which we operate (and almost certainly led to a fair amount of egg on the face of the astronomers concerned) .
I particularly like the fact that the mysterious FRB signals could not be detected - unless someone actually opened the microwave , interrupting the power cycle.
Alien contact - or half - heated breakfast?
You decide!
In fairness, all serious arrays of sky watching telescopes are situated far from population centres with their inevitable sources of light pollution: this, combined with extreme boredom and cabin fever might have the inevitable result of even the smallest stimuli having a disproportionately huge effect.
 |
| Akatsuki orbits Venus © JAXA |
On a farewell note, the Japanese probe Akatsuki* has finally settled into orbit around Venus (after a delay of five years), and is now connected to the 'Deep Space Network'.
Ensuing science based on atmospheric conditions may clear a path for proposed Venusian cloud cities...
* Akatsuki literally means ' Dawn'. So now we have Dawn orbiting Ceres , and Dawn orbiting Venus.
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