Introduction Did you know that a mere 5% of the universe consists of normal matter? This includes the atoms which make up all visible objects, ranging from cars and living organisms to even planets and stars. The other 95% contains dark energy and dark matter 1. But what exactly do we mean by these two …
Colonies of microorganisms cover a greater proportion of the Earth than we do as humans. Invading and multiplying, passing on their traits to their offspring and by natural selection, they are increasing in their destructive power (Fig.1). Despite their wreaking of havoc on humans on an almost day to day basis without them, we …
Microorganisms as a contributing member of modern-day society Read More »
Introduction Space. A vast expanse of which we know almost nothing about. Scientists have long riddled and wondered about the ‘balls of light’ seemingly hovering above the dome of our sky. But we have come far from the ancient times, when the Earth was believed to be flat and the centre of creation. We have …
White Holes: The Universe Isn\’t All Black and White Read More »
On May 6, the United Nations (UN) released the largest report on the state of the planet’s biodiversity in 15 years. Research was compiled from more than 15,000 government and scientific reports by over 145 different authors from 50 countries.[1] The conclusions were startling. Scientists estimate that about 1 million species are threatened with extinction. …
The Groundbreaking U.N. Biodiversity Report: 1 million Species at Risk Read More »
Introduction (Sona Popat) The day is July 20th, 1969. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins (Figure 1), the crew of the Apollo 11, land on the moon, and people around the world turn their eyes to the universe. A whole generation vividly remember the moment, with over half a billion people[1] gathering around their …
Celebrating 50 Years Since the First Moon Landing Read More »
Today, to mark the 500th anniversary of his death, we pay tribute to one of the greatest minds humankind has ever had: Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo Da Vinci: Artist or Scientist? (Sona Popat) Leonardo Da Vinci (Figure 1), who was born on April 15th, 1452 and died on May 2nd, 1519, was an Italian polymath, …
Hypoxic regions, also known as “dead zones”, are areas of the marine ecosystem characterised by a loss, or very low concentration, of oxygen. The number of dead zones worldwide has quadrupled over the last half century.[1] Over this period, many aquatic ecosystems have perished, and a large number of water dwelling creatures have felt the …
The first Earth Day was held nearly 50 years ago in 1970 when 20 million Americans united to launch a modern environmental movement. Since then, many innovative laws have been passed as a result of these annual mobilisations. Within a year, it lead to the formation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, as well …
Introduction The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 agreed that Space exploration ‘shall be the province of all mankind’.[1] At the time, this was sufficient. Satellites were beginning to be sent up into the atmosphere and in 1961 Yuri Gagarin had become the first man to leave Earth, but the prospect of deep space exploration on …
On July 20th, 1969, a scientific breakthrough was made. Neil Armstrong became the first human to ever set foot on Earth’s only Moon. Ever since this remarkable day, his famous words “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” have been memorialised. According to the Guardian, in that year alone, the total …
