British schoolkids’ teddies win space race 6 Dec 200818 Sep 2017 I just love this: Cambridge University’s Space Flight club got local school children to make space suits for these teddy bears, which were attached to a helium balloon that rose to 30km, enough to see the curvature of the earth. All teds were recovered safely. I expect Prof. Steve Steve to take the next flight up… Education General Science Humor Technology
Administrative For the past week, I’ve actually been in Germany 15 Oct 2009 You know those stories about absent minded professors? I just showed that you don’t actually need a professorial appointment. I was meeting Steve Clarke, a leading philosopher who is at Oxford, at 12.45. I turned up on the dot at St Cross College (they have such great names here!), but… Read More
General Science The man who changed the world 24 Dec 2007 OK, so today is Christmas day, December 25. On this day* a man was born who changed the world. He affected a growing tradition that has left no part of the world untouched, for good or ill. He revealed the workings of the universe. He spent his life teaching us… Read More
Administrative Five-fiftysix meme 1 Dec 2008 New: Solutions listed Mike Dunford, who is still trying to get me to pay for that time he put me up in Hawaii when his wife was on active service in Iraq (if I knew what I’d have to pay, both in climbing horrific rainforested slopes to release wallabies, and… Read More
Can’t you see the curvature of Earth just by standing on the beach and looking at the horizon – or by going out at sunset and looking east to see the shadow of Earth on the sky? Having said that, I remain envious of the teddies!