Latest stories and news

20 July 2010
Skymania Review of The Big Questions: The Universe
Paul Sutherland of the Skymania website has kindly reviewed my latest book The Big Questions: The Universe.  He says, “Clark brings his considerable intellectual and literary skills to The Big Questions: The Universe, one of a series of volumes which also tackles Philosophy, Physics and Mathematics. Behind a modest cover and despite purely monochrome illustrations, he adds plenty of colour in the form of his text. ...”
Read the full review here. Don’t forget to check out the rest of Skymania for superb coverage of the latest astronomical stories – often reported with great humour.

19 July 2010
Rock star portraits: Unlocking asteroid secrets
I have a new story published by The Independent:
“Fragments from lost worlds or chunks of metal flying through space? Understanding asteroids is a difficult business, but hi-tech photography is helping unlock new secrets.
It takes just seven pixels to ratchet up the tension. Together, the seven create a small, elongated knot on a computer screen in the European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany. This is the European Space Agency's equivalent of NASA's Houston Mission Control.
    Situated in a faceless business park near the city's train station, it isn't glamorous from the outside. Only the row of European flags hints that something special goes on within.
    The seven pixels that have excited people are from the enigmatic asteroid Lutetia, a hunk of space rock about the size of Majorca. ...”
    This is a real behind the scenes look at what happened during ESA’s Rosetta flyby of Lutetia. Read the full story here.

17 July 2010
365 Days of Astronomy: What Were the First Celestial Objects?
This is the seventh of my twelve podcasts for the excellent series of daily podcasts known as 365 Days of Astronomy. My contributions are adapted from selected chapters of my recently published book: Big Questions: Universe. The book was published in the UK on 1 July and will be published in the US later this year.
If you’d like a preview of it, head over to 365 Days of Astronomy and listen as I discuss ‘What Were the First Celestial Objects?’.  A new podcast from the book will be posted every month, so watch this website for those.
To listen to June’s podcast, ‘How Did the Universe Form?’ Click here.
To listen to May’s podcast, ‘What are Black Holes?’ Click here.
To listen to April’s podcast, ‘Was Einstein Correct?’ Click here.
To listen to March’s podcast, ‘Why Do the Planets Stay in Orbit?’ Click here.
To listen to February’s podcast, ‘How did the Earth form?’ Click here.
To listen to January’s podcast, ‘What is the Universe?’ Click here.

16 July 2010
Cluster's decade of discovery
I have a new story published by ESA.
“ESA’s pioneering Cluster mission is celebrating its 10th anniversary. During the past decade, Cluster’s four satellites have provided extraordinary insights into the largely invisible interaction between the Sun and Earth. ...”

Read the full story here

BBC World Service: Science in Action
Also today, I talked on the BBC World Service’s great science programme Science In Action to presenter Jon Stewart about the drama of the Lutetia flyby.  You can listen to my segment of the programme here
The programme’s web page is here.

12 July 2010
Rosetta flyby: Battered Lutetia comes into view
In my role as Senior Editor for Space Science at the European Space Agency, I was lucky enough to be in ESA mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, to witness the flyby of asteroid Lutetia by the spacecraft Rosetta.  The flyby was a complete success, returning the most amazing images. You can see the official web story I wrote about it that night in the 10 July 2010 entry.  It generated so much interest that I found myself in great demand afterwards to write and speak about the experience.  For each re-telling of the story, I endeavoured to include new information to make each piece unique.  This is the article I wrote for The Guardian.
     “Images from the Rosetta spacecraft's weekend flyby of the asteroid Lutetia reveal its violent past. Asteroid Lutetia has been revealed as an irregular chunk of battered rock by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft.
     Rosetta approached to within 3,162km of the enigmatic asteroid at 18:10 CEST (Central European Summer Time) on Saturday and returned the first close-up pictures soon afterwards, each image taking around 15-20 minutes to download. ... “
Read the full story here.

Rosetta Flyby Diary
Also published today is my diary of the flyby. This appeared in The Times.
“ESA’s Rosetta mission has returned spectacular images of the mysterious asteroid Lutetia.  The battered surface is a mass of craters, strewn with boulders and grooves.  It is the largest of only nine other asteroids visited by so far.  This is how the mission built up.

Friday 18:30 CEST
Suddenly the flyby seems real. Rosetta’s Navigation Camera returns a pictures showing Lutetia in the centre of its field of view. Lutetia is a small blob, just seven pixels across but already its elongated shape can be seen.  More good news arrives: the flight dynamics team have finished their calculations and Rosetta is bang on course. There is no need for a correction manoeuvre.

20:00
Spirits are high. Over dinner in a nearby pizzeria there is speculation that Lutetia may be a new class of asteroid altogether. It displays contradictory characteristics from ground-based observations: resembling a primitive C-class asteroid in some views, and a metallic M-class in others. If a C-class it would contain fragile carbon-bearing molecules and date from the very beginning of the solar system. If an M-class then it could once have been at the centre of a larger asteroid that was shattered. ...”

To read the full diary click here, but please note it is behind The Times paywall. At the moment it’s only a pound for a month’s subscription.

10 July 2010
Rosetta triumphs at asteroid Lutetia
I have a story posted over at ESA:
“Asteroid Lutetia has been revealed as a battered world of many craters. ESA’s Rosetta mission has returned the first close-up images of the asteroid showing it is most probably a primitive survivor from the violent birth of the Solar System. ...”
You can read the full story here.

7 July 2010
BBC Scotland: MacAulay and Co.
It was a very great pleasure to be back on the Fred MacAulay show (see 12 May 2010 for earlier appearance).  This time I was talking about the wonderful new image of the Universe from Planck, explaining how the Universe may have been born, how the Northern Lights are formed, and why my favourite colour is pink. You can listen to the interview here.

5 July 2010
Planck unveils the Universe – now and then
I have a new story published at ESA about the historic first all-sky image from the Planck satellite.
“ESA’s Planck mission has delivered its first all-sky image. It not only provides new insight into the way stars and galaxies form, but also tells us how the Universe itself came to life after the Big Bang. ...”
You can read the full story here

1 July 2010
The Big Questions: The Universe Published today
My new book is published today in the UK. And to prove it, this picture was taken by @maxtaylor on Twitter of the book on display in Waterstones Putney.
     From the cover: “The Big Questions series enables renowned experts to tackle the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, providing answers from history's great thinkers. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas. In Big Questions: The Universe, Dr Stuart Clark tackles the 20 key questions of astronomy and cosmology:
     What is the universe?
     How big is the universe?
     How old is the universe?
     What are stars made from?
     How did the Universe form?
     Why do the planets stay in orbit?
     Was Einstein right?
     What are black holes?
     How did the Earth form?
     What were the first celestial objects?
     What is dark matter?
     What is dark energy?
     Are we really made from stardust?
     Is there life on Mars?
     Are there other intelligent beings?
     Can we travel through time and space?
     Can the laws of physics change?
     Are there alternative universes?
     What will be the fate of the universe?
     Is there cosmological evidence for God?”

28 June 2010
Rocky mounds and a plateau on Mars
I have a new story published at ESA:
“When Mars Express set sail for the crater named after Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, it found a windblown plateau and mysterious rocky mounds nearby.
     Stretching across 190 x 112 km, this region of Mars covers an area of about 21 280 sq km, which is roughly the size of Slovenia. It is located to the southwest of the volcanic region Tharsis on the southern highlands of Mars, near the crater Magellan. ...”
You can read the full story here

25 June 2010
Wet era on early Mars was global
I have a new story published at ESA:
“Conditions favourable to life may once have existed all over Mars. Detailed studies of minerals found inside craters show that liquid water was widespread, not only in the southern highlands, but also beneath the northern plains. ...”
You can read the full story here.

24 June 2010
Was Venus once a habitable planet?
 I have a new story published by ESA:
“ESA’s Venus Express is helping planetary scientists investigate whether Venus once had oceans. If it did, it may even have begun its existence as a habitable planet similar to Earth. ...”
Read the full story here

22 June 2010
Absence of sunspots makes scientists wonder if they're seeing a calm before a storm of energy
I am delighted to say that my story from 13 June New Scientist has been republished by The Washington Post with a light edit. In this piece I describe the peculiar magnetic behaviour of the Sun these past few years and the insight this is giving us on how the Sun affects the climate and weather patterns.
You can read the full story here for free

17 June 2010
365 Days of Astronomy: How Did the Universe Form?
This is the sixth of my 12 podcasts for the excellent series of daily podcasts known as 365 Days of Astronomy. My contributions are adapted from selected chapters of my forthcoming book: Big Questions: Universe.
So if you want a sneak preview of the book, to be published in the UK in July and in the US in the autumn/winter, head over to 365 Days of Astronomy and listen as I discuss ‘How Did the Universe Form?’.  A new podcast from the book will be posted every month, so watch this website for those.
To listen to May’s podcast, ‘What are Black Holes?’ Click here.
To listen to April’s podcast, ‘Was Einstein Correct?’ Click here.
To listen to March’s podcast, ‘Why Do the Planets Stay in Orbit?’ Click here.
To listen to February’s podcast, ‘How did the Earth form?’ Click here.
To listen to January’s podcast, ‘What is the Universe?’ Click here.

15 June 2010
Rosetta’s blind date with asteroid Lutetia
I have a new story published by ESA:
“ESA’s comet-chaser Rosetta is heading for a blind date with asteroid Lutetia. Rosetta does not yet know what Lutetia looks like up-close but beautiful or otherwise the two will meet on 10 July. ...”
Read the full story here.

13 June 2010
What’s Wrong with the Sun?
Magazine issue 2764
I have the cover story on New Scientist this week.
“SUNSPOTS come and go, but recently they have mostly gone. For centuries, astronomers have recorded when these dark blemishes on the solar surface emerge, only for them to fade away again after a few days, weeks or months. Thanks to their efforts, we know that sunspot numbers ebb and flow in cycles lasting about 11 years.
    But for the past two years, the sunspots have mostly been missing. Their absence, the most prolonged for nearly a hundred years, has taken even seasoned sun watchers by surprise. "This is solar behaviour we haven't seen in living memory," says David Hathaway, a physicist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
    The sun is under scrutiny as never before thanks to an armada of space telescopes. The results they beam back are portraying our nearest star, and its influence on Earth, in a new light. Sunspots and other clues indicate that ... ”
    To read the full story, click here (a subscription may be required).

10 June 2010
Herschel and Planck win the French Grand Prix
I have a new story published by ESA:
“Yesterday in Paris, ESA’s Herschel and Planck science missions were honoured by the French Association for Aeronautics and Astronautics. The association’s Grand Prix 2010 award for “outstanding space endeavours” was bestowed upon these groundbreaking missions. ...”
You can read the full story here

17 May 2010
365 Days of Astronomy: What Are Black Holes?
This is the fifth of my 12 podcasts for the excellent series of daily podcasts known as 365 Days of Astronomy. My contributions are adapted from selected chapters of my forthcoming book: Big Questions: Universe.
So if you want a sneak preview of the book, to be published in the UK in July and in the US in the autumn/winter, head over to 365 Days of Astronomy and listen as I discuss ‘What Are Black Holes?’ A new podcast from the book will be posted every month, so watch this website for those.
To listen to April’s podcast, ‘Was Einstein Correct?’ Click here.
To listen to March’s podcast, ‘Why Do the Planets Stay in Orbit?’ Click here.
To listen to February’s podcast, ‘How did the Earth form?’ Click here.
To listen to January’s podcast, ‘What is the Universe?’ Click here.

14 May 2010
Storm Worlds Premiere on National Geographic in USA
The awesome power of a solar storm is about to visit the United States of America - thankfully in an imagined form.  Storm Worlds: Cosmic Fire brings to life the amazing 1859 Solar Storm that I wrote about in The Sun Kings.  It is one episode in a three eipsode series looking at the extreme weather that can occur across the worlds of the solar system.
     The series premiers on National Geographic on 16th May, 8pm ET. Here’s a clip from the programme of me explaining how British astronomer Richard Carrington saw the 1859 flare:

And here is another clip in which I describe the cataclysmic aurora that engulfed the Earth in the wake of Carrington’s flare.  

For more information, click here.

12 May 2010
Volcanic ash in Meridiani Planum
I have a new story published over at ESA:
“Deposits of volcanic ash colour this view of the Meridiani Planum, as seen by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera. They also give clues to the prevailing wind direction in this region of Mars. ...”
Read the full story here

Also today:
Newton’s apple tree flies into space
A small piece of the original apple tree said to have inspired Newton is about to be flown into space on the Space Shuttle.  It was with great pleasure that I accepted an invitation from BBC Scotland to be interviewed by Fred MacAulay on his morning radio show MacAulay and Co.  We talked about gravity, one of the topics I tackle in my upcoming book: Big Questions: Universe (see 13 April Update for more information), and also the mysterious MacAulay effect...
Listen to the interview here.

11 May 2010
Herschel finds a hole in space
I have another Herschel story published over at ESA:
“ESA’s Herschel infrared space telescope has made an unexpected discovery: a hole in space. The hole has provided astronomers with a surprising glimpse into the end of the star-forming process. ...”
Read the full story here

6 May 2010
Herschel reveals the hidden side of star birth
I have a new story published at ESA:
“The first scientific results from ESA's Herschel infrared space observatory are revealing previously hidden details of star formation. New images show thousands of distant galaxies furiously building stars and beautiful star-forming clouds draped across the Milky Way. One picture even catches an ‘impossible’ star in the act of formation. ...”
Read the full story and see the first results images here

I wrote a number of supporting stories, published on the same day:

Herschel resolves the cosmic infrared fog
“ESA’s Herschel space telescope has discovered that previously unseen distant galaxies are responsible for a cosmic fog of infrared radiation. The galaxies are some of the faintest and furthest objects seen by Herschel, and open a new window on the birth of stars in the early Universe. ...”
Read the full story here

Tracing the Milky Way’s hidden reservoirs of gas
“ESA’s Herschel infrared space observatory has found that hydrogen fluoride molecules are everywhere in interstellar gas clouds. They betray hidden reservoirs of gas, and may ultimately become a key tracer of star-forming gas clouds in distant galaxies. ...”
Read the full story here

Herschel takes the temperature of an interstellar cloud
“The unrivalled ability of ESA’s Herschel infrared space observatory to discern detail in celestial objects has been used to take the temperature across a star-forming cloud. For the first time, an entire cloud has had its temperature mapped from the centre to the edge. ...”
Read the full story here

26 April 2010
Planck highlights the complexity of star formation
I have a new story published over at ESA:
“New images from ESA’s Planck space observatory reveal the forces driving star formation and give astronomers a way to understand the complex physics that shape the dust and gas in our Galaxy. ... ”
Read the full story here

Also today, I have a new story published by New Scientist:
Martian tubes could be home for 'cavenauts'
“OUR ancestors made their first homes in caves. Now it looks like the first humans on Mars will do the same.
An analysis of Martian geography suggests where to look for the right kind of caves. "At least two regions, the Tharsis rise and the Elysium rise, contain volcanic features which may be suitable locations for caves," says lead author Kaj Williams of NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.
What's more, the analysis suggests that caves in these regions will contain a ready supply of water, in the form of ice. ...”
Read the full story here

23 April 2010
Storm Worlds – Cosmic Fire
Prepare to be blown away – the great solar storm of 1859 is coming to life on a television near you!
I have great pleasure in announcing that the television programme I helped make last year is about to be transmitted.  The episode is called Cosmic Fire and is part of a three episode series called Storm Worlds (Storm Planets in Canada).  The producers contacted me after reading The Sun Kings and wanted to bring a giant solar storm to virtual life – both recreating the 19th Carrington storm from the book and imagining what would happen if something similar took place today.
From the series website:
“What would happen if the “perfect storm” erupted on the surface of the Sun?
This question is on the minds of some of the world’s finest space scientists, because the more we learn about weather on the Sun, the more we learn that our star – the source of our sustenance and life – may also prove to be the source of our destruction. In 1859, a massive solar storm known as a Coronal Mass Ejection caused an unprecedented worldwide display of colour and beauty in the form of the Northern Lights. But it also spread havoc through the newly established telegraph system. Now, scientists believe that if a storm on the same scale were to happen again, it could destroy us ... ”
Read more about the series here
Watch it on television in the following countries:
History Television Canada - 10th May 9pm ET/PT
Nat Geo France - 9th May at 10:35pm CET
Nat Geo Latin America - 9th May 11pm
Nat Geo Germany - 12th May 10pm CET
Nat Geo US - 16th May 8pm ET
Nat Geo HD UK - 16th May 8pm GMT
Nat Geo UK - 16th May 8pm GMT
Nat Geo Turkey - 19th May 9pm EET
Nat Geo Australia New Zealand - 6th June 7:30pm
Nat Geo HD Germany - 20th June 10pm CET
Nat Geo HD France - 17th July 8:35pm CET

17 April 2010
365 Days of Astronomy: Was Einstein Correct?
This is the fourth of my 12 podcasts for the excellent series of daily podcasts known as 365 Days of Astronomy. My contributions are adapted from selected chapters of my forthcoming book: Big Questions: Universe.
So if you want a sneak preview of the book, to be published in the UK in July and in the US in the autumn/winter, head over to 365 Days of Astronomy and listen as I discuss ‘Was Einstein Correct?’. A new podcast from the book will be posted every month, so watch this website for those.
To listen to March’s podcast, ‘Why Do the Planets Stay in Orbit?’ Click here.
To listen to February’s podcast, ‘How did the Earth form?’ Click here.
To listen to January’s podcast, ‘What is the Universe?’ Click here.

14 April 2010
Quiet sun puts Europe on ice
I have the lead story in New Scientist this week:
“BRACE yourself for more winters like the last one, northern Europe. Freezing conditions could become more likely: winter temperatures may even plummet to depths last seen at the end of the 17th century, a time known as the Little Ice Age. That's the message from a new study that identifies a compelling link between solar activity and winter temperatures in northern Europe. ...”
You can read the full story here

13 April 2010
Big Questions: Universe available for pre-order
A big thank you to all those who have already ordered my next book Big Questions: Universe, due out in the UK in July and in the US in the autumn/winter.  Also, the book has recently been sold to Holland for a Dutch edition. I’ll pass on more details about US and Dutch publication dates as I get them.
     From the cover: “The Big Questions series enables renowned experts to tackle the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, providing answers from history's great thinkers. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas. In Big Questions: The Universe, Dr Stuart Clark tackles the 20 key questions of astronomy and cosmology:
     What is the universe? How big is the universe? How old is the universe? What are stars made from? How did the Universe form? Why do the planets stay in orbit? Was Einstein right? What are black holes? How did the Earth form? What were the first celestial objects? What is dark matter? What is dark energy? Are we really made from stardust? Is there life on Mars? Are there other intelligent beings? Can we travel through time and space? Can the laws of physics change? Are there alternative universes? What will be the fate of the universe? Is there cosmological evidence for God?”
     For those in the UK, Amazon.co.uk are offering a discount on pre-orders

12 April 2010
Baby stars in the Rosette cloud
I have a new story published over at ESA:
“Herschel’s latest image reveals the formation of previously unseen large stars, each one up to ten times the mass of our Sun. These are the stars that will influence where and how the next generation of stars are formed. The image is a new release of ‘OSHI’, ESA’s Online Showcase of Herschel Images. ...”
You can read the full story here

8 April 2010
Venus is alive – geologically speaking
I have a new story published over at ESA:
“ESA’s Venus Express has returned the clearest indication yet that Venus is still geologically active. Relatively young lava flows have been identified by the way they emit infrared radiation. The finding suggests the planet remains capable of volcanic eruptions. ...”
You can read the full story here

30 March 2010
The Sun comes back to life
I have a new story posted at ESA:
“After the most profound lull in solar activity for nearly a century, the Sun is finally coming back to life. But will the solar activity return to previous levels? ESA’s venerable solar watchdog SOHO is there, watching and measuring, providing unique information about our nearest star. ...”
You can read the full story here.

24 March 2010
Where's the science in the UK's space agency?
I have a new post over at the New Scientist blog, The S word (The science of politics and vice versa) :
“Yesterday the UK Space Agency was launched, to much excitement and enthusiasm.  Forty million pounds was announced to set the whole thing up (that's about half the budget shortfall at the STFC that precipitated the astronomy and physics funding crisis about two years ago). 
It will be located alongside the ESA offices in Harwell, Oxfordshire.
The UK space industry, we were told, supports 68,000 jobs directly and indirectly, and contributes £6 billion to the economy. The plan is to grow this over the next 20 years to create 100,000 jobs and contribute £40 billion a year to the economy. But largely absent from the morning's announcements was any mention of science. ...”
To read the full blog entry click here

23 March 2010
CosmoThriller coming in 2011
Regular readers will know that for the last few years I’ve been working on a trilogy of novels.  They dramatise the key turning points in astronomical history, those moments when our view of the universe changed completely.  The revolutions in thought were ushered in by the astronomers Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke, and Albert Einstein and Georges Lemaître.
     The working titles for the volumes are: The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth, The Sensorium of God, The Day without Yesterday.  I am thrilled to be working with Birlinn Polygon, who are as committed as I am to making this series something special.  It’s the story of astronomy, but not as you know it!
     To find out more about the publisher, click here.
     To read the press release about the books’ sale, click here.
     Twitter users: to celebrate with me, and tweet the good news, click here.

22 March 2010
Geekpop Review and Video
Well, what a blast Geekpop was!  It was great to meet everyone and chat to many of you before and after the show.  Despite a few nerves about the size of the venue and our mighty volume, judging by the whoops and number of heads banging up and down – it may have been heavy but you liked it!
     The picture was snapped by Richard Grant of Lablit.  You can read a review on the great Lablit website here. And you can see us playing Neutron Stars here.
     You geeks rock hard!  See you next year? Hope so!

21 March 2010
Teen galaxy spotted in stellar 'growth spurt'
I have a brief news item published over at New Scientist:
“Call it a cosmic growth spurt. A young galaxy is making stars over 100 times as vigorously as the Milky Way. ...”
You can read the full article here

19 March 2010
The groovy moon
I have a new story on the Mars Express Phobos Blog:
“Without doubt, Phobos is the grooviest moon of the Solar System. By that I mean, that it is covered with a multitude of parallel grooves. Initially, it was thought that these markings radiated away from the largest crater on Phobos. Called Stickney, the crater has a diameter of 9 km and is the most obvious feature of the moon’s pockmarked surface. Some thought that the grooves were debris ejected across Phobos during Stickney’s creation. ...”
Read the full story here.

18 March 2010
Newly discovered planet could hold water
 I have a new story posted at ESA:
“The Corot satellite strikes again with another fascinating planet discovery. This time, the newly discovered gas giant planet may have an interior that closely resembles those of Jupiter and Saturn in our own Solar System. ...”
Read the full story here.

Also today:
It’s Geekpop tonight!
You can read my festival diary entry right here.

17 March 2010
Planck sees tapestry of cold dust
I have a new story posted at ESA:
“Giant filaments of cold dust stretching through our Galaxy are revealed in a new image from ESA’s Planck satellite. Analysing these structures could help to determine the forces that shape our Galaxy and trigger star formation. ...”
Read the full story here.

Also today:
365 Days of Astronomy: Why Do the Planets Stay in Orbit?
This is the third of my 12 podcasts for the excellent series of daily podcasts known as 365 Days of Astronomy. My contributions are adapted from selected chapters of my forthcoming book: Big Questions: Universe.
So if you want a sneak preview of the book, to be published in the UK in July and in the US in the autumn/winter, head over to 365 Days of Astronomy and listen as I discuss ‘Why Do the Planets Stay in Orbit?’. A new podcast from the book will be posted every month, so watch this website for those.
To listen to February’s podcast, ‘How did the Earth form?’ Click here.
To listen to January’s podcast, ‘What is the Universe?’ Click here.

15 March 2010
Phobos flyby images
I have a new story posted at ESA:
“Images from the recent flyby of Phobos, on 7 March 2010, are released today. The images show Mars’ rocky moon in exquisite detail, with a resolution of just 4.4 metres per pixel. They show the proposed landing sites for the forthcoming Phobos-Grunt mission. ...”
Read the full story here.

11 March 2010
Shocking recipe for making killer electrons
I have a new story published over at ESA:
“Take a bunch of fast-moving electrons, place them in orbit and then hit them with the shock waves from a solar storm. What do you get? Killer electrons. That’s the shocking recipe revealed by ESA’s Cluster mission. ...”
Read the full story here

10 March 2010
I share the cover story on BBC Focus this month, as I contribute to the “Our future in space” special issue. The series of articles proposed a six step plan into the future.  My contribution is to “Step 3: Mine Space”.
“Forget the Hollywood idea of shiny spacesuits and utopian living.  Once the elite tourist rush is over, the first true space colonies are going to be more ‘gold rush’ mining towns.  They will be industrial bases constantly in search of new resources to exploit: materials to build with, water to drink, rocket fuel to get home with, even air to breathe.  Astronauts are going to have to live off the extraterrestrial land, no matter how hostile or uninviting that land may at first seem.  This is the only way that space colonies are going to be possible, and we have the size of the Earth and its gravity to blame. ...”
You can read the full story in Issue 214 of BBC Focus, on sale at newsagents now.
You can also listen to a podcast in which I discuss the article here

8 March 2010
Martian moon's secrets to be revealed during fly-bys
I have a brief news story posted over at New Scientist:
“The deepest secrets of Mars's moon Phobos are set to be revealed, following a series of 12 fly-bys by Europe's Mars Express spacecraft. Six have been completed, including the closest ever pass of the moon, at 67 km, last week. ...”
Read the full story here.

6 March 2010
Geekpop - The Science Sessions
As those of you who regularly follow the blog will know, every now and again my alternate universe rock-god persona breaks through from somewhere in the multiverse.  Well, its happening again.  This time the place to be (armed with earplugs) is The Miller, 96 Snowfields, London Bridge SE13SS (www.themiller.co.uk) on Thursday 18th March at 7.30pm.  Dr Stu and the Neutron Stars will be performing a number of songs, including a couple of old favourites from Rush and Pink Floyd.  Be there and be square – and remember neutron stars are heavier than metal.  Tickets are £2 in advance (£3 on the door).  Buy them here

04 March 2010
Phobos flyby success
I have a new story published over at ESA: 
“Mars Express encountered Phobos last night, smoothly skimming past at just 67 km, the closest any manmade object has ever approached Mars’ enigmatic moon. The data collected could help unlock the origin of not just Phobos but other ‘second generation’ moons. ...”
Read the full story here.
Read the frequent updates on the Phobos flyby campaign at the Mars Express Blog here

Also today:
Shields down! Earth's mag field may drop in a flash
Magazine issue 2750
I have a brief news story in New Scientist today:
“EVEN if we knew precise details of Earth's core, we would not be able to predict a catastrophic flip in the polarity of its magnetic field more than a decade or two ahead. ... “
Read the full story here

01 March 2010
Dark matter could meet its nemesis on Earth
Magazine issue 2749
I have a news story in this week’s issue of New Scientist:
“A SPINNING disc may be all that is needed to overturn Newton's second law of motion – and potentially remove the need for dark matter.
     The second law states that a force is proportional to an object's mass and its acceleration. But since the 1980s, some physicists have eyed the law with suspicion, arguing that subtle changes to it at extremely small accelerations could explain the observed motion of stars in galaxies. ...”

Read the full story here

Also published today by ESA:
Mars Express heading for closest flyby of Phobos
“ESA’s Mars Express will skim the surface of Mars’ largest moon Phobos on Wednesday evening. Passing by at an altitude of 67 km, precise radio tracking will allow researchers to peer inside the mysterious moon. ...”
Read the full story here

Don't forget to take a look through the archive for previous updates.

July 2009 - February 2010

June 2008 - June 2009

March May 2008

December 2007 - February 2008

September - November 2007

June - August 2007

March - May 2007