The map of the oldest light in the universe shows intriguing deviations from expectations. Will these oddities be explained away or are we at the beginning of a revolution in cosmology?

I have a new post on my Across the Universe for The Guardian.

“Today is a great day. The European Space Agency has released the most precise map so far of the oldest light in the universe. The best news is that is reveals an 'almost perfect universe'. By that they mean it almost conforms to expectations – but not quite.

While the basic 'big bang' picture of our universe's birth is confirmed, the unexplained aspects of the data are where the real excitement lies because these could be signposts to new physics. At the press conference this morning, Professor George Efstathiou, University of Cambridge, UK said that the Planck data showed that, 'Cosmology is not finished.' ...”

You can read the full story here.

The most detailed picture yet of the early universe is to be revealed today in Paris

I have a new post on my Across the Universe for The Guardian.

“The most detailed picture yet of the early universe is to be revealed today in Paris. Taken by the European spacecraft, Planck, it could tell us about events that took place during the first second of the universe's existence. ...”

You can read the full story here.

Here is a rough translation of an interview I conducted with Teresa Guerrero from the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Just a few minutes of conversation are enough to understand why the British Stuart Clark (born in Welwyn Garden City, 1967) is one of the best known popularisers of science in his country. The astrophysicist, author and journalist is a regular contributor to magazines such as 'New Scientist' and newspapers like ‘The Guardian’: "I would like to see in print as many science pages as sport. The world we live in is the way it is because of science, so I think it is very important that we talk to the public about these issues, that we can get them interested and become familiar with it all," he says to ElMUNDO.es in the auditorium where, a couple of hours later, he will give a lecture 'Can we ever understand the universe?' Clark has visited Madrid, on the invitation of Banco Santander Foundation to participate in the cycle 'The limits of science' .

To continue reading the interview, click the Read More underneath the Tags.

You can read the original Spanish article here.

It was with great pleasure that I accepted an invitation from the Fundacion Banco Santander to lecture in Madrid. It was part of their series of lectures on The Limits of Science, organised in association with Eduardo Punset.

Last year I made two television programmes with Eduardo. You can watch the first here and the second one here.

My thanks to Fundacion Banco Santander and Eduardo for asking me to join in. You can watch a recording of the lecture here.

Many thanks to Kathy Stevenson who has reviewed The Day Without Yesterday. She writes, “Clark’s strengths are in his firm grasp of historical context and his easy-to-read prose, along with an obvious passion for his subject and desire to project this to a wider audience.”

You can read the full review here: