Special brew
One of the biggest environmental problems of the early 21st century is discarded electronic waste. It’s chock-full of materials which are often toxic and even if not are persistent. Heavy metals, plastics – they’re all in there and none of them are…
Mar 28 24March 28, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost
Window on the womb
We’re used to the idea that we can find out about developing foetuses by sampling the amniotic fluid in which they grow. Several medical conditions – most notably Downs syndrome and sickle-cell anaemia – can be detected by testing amniotic fluid: the…
Mar 28 24March 28, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost
Where are we now?
One of the biggest stories in science this week concerns a negative: According to an influential group of geologists, the planet is not in the Anthropocene era. The international Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS), which rules on the…
Mar 28 24March 28, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost
Folding games, wetsuits and the warm thrill of confusion
NB: From tomorrow, all non-Monday posts will be set to subscribers-only. I’ve never been much for video games. My hand-eye co-ordination is terrible; a series of MRI scans in my 40s revealed that the area of my brain responsible for these tasks is…
Mar 28 24March 28, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost
A Koan on the moon
It might not exactly count as science news, but I couldn’t not mention the first US soft-landing on the moon in over half a century, and the first led by a commercial company: the spacecraft Odysseus touched down at crater Malapert A, near the lunar…
Mar 28 24March 28, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost
Wax on, wax off, wax push
Phase change materials are interesting things. I first came across them as materials for building: most people will have noticed that buildings made of stone or concrete tend to be quite cool inside, even when the weather is extremely hot. This is…
Feb 26 24February 26, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost
Having the relatives for dinner
My eye was caught this week by a feature article about the history of human cannibalism To be precise, I first saw it thanks to a comment by a friend enquiring “Did a cannibal write this?”…
Feb 20 24February 20, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost
Sunshine superman
These digests of latest research stories which catch my eye will be paid-for content on the Alcedo newsletter once it’s up and running. We’ve been using solar cells for longer than you think. The underlying science – the photovoltaic effect, when…
Feb 20 24February 20, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost
JET set: a new record for fusion
I’ve been writing about nuclear fusion since about 2005 (when, of course, it was supposed to be available by now) so the news about the largest ever amount of energy obtained through it - at JET, the Joint European Torus experimental tokamak in…
Feb 20 24February 20, 2024
Article at Alcedo newsletter on Ghost






