How a balloon-borne experiment can do the job of the Hubble space telescope
Giant helium balloons are a cheap, more environmentally friendly alternative to rocket launches – and you get the satellite back.
Fionagh Thomson, Senior Research Fellow in Disruptive Technologies, Space/Environmental Ethics, Visual ethnographer, Durham University
• conversation
March 20, 2024 • ~9 min
March 20, 2024 • ~9 min
Pollution from coal power plants contributes to far more deaths than scientists realized, study shows
The longest-running study of its kind reviewed death records in the path of pollution from coal-fired power plants. The numbers are staggering − but also falling fast as US coal plants close.
Lucas Henneman, Assistant Professor of Engineering, George Mason University •
conversation
Nov. 23, 2023 • ~8 min
Nov. 23, 2023 • ~8 min
How we're building the world's biggest optical telescope to crack some of the greatest puzzles in science
From improving our understanding of dark matter to revealing the location of Earth 2.0, the Extremely Large Telescope promises answers to some of the biggest scientific questions of our time.
Derryck Telford Reid, Professor of Physics, Heriot-Watt University •
conversation
Nov. 8, 2023 • ~6 min
Nov. 8, 2023 • ~6 min
Science experiments traditionally only used male mice – here’s why that’s a problem for women’s health
Clinical trial funders now insist studies use female participants. But it will still take a long time for our understanding of how medicine affects women to catch up.
Sarah Bailey, Senior Lecturer, Neuropharmacology, University of Bath •
conversation
Aug. 15, 2023 • ~8 min
Aug. 15, 2023 • ~8 min
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