What do you do?
Physics has always been my vocation. Perhaps it’s because my dad is an engineer, so that my earliest memories are of soldering irons, microscopes and torque … Read more
Where will humans be in the future of spaceflight?
Broadly speaking, spaceflight can be divided into two camps: manned missions and unmanned missions. And historically, both have been received very differently since we can … Read more
Are flaws in peer review someone else’s problem?
That stack of fellowship applications piled up on the coffee table isn’t going to review itself. You’ve got twenty-five to read before the rapidly approaching … Read more
Girls need to learn how to fail, too
The Institute of Physics has been working hard for many years to increase the proportion of girls doing physics. As their most recent report on … Read more
Space station’s detector has not found dark matter, despite what some media reports say
Let me start with this: the AMS-02 detector on the International Space Station has not detected dark matter. It hasn’t found “indications” of dark matter, or even … Read more
Australian astronomy is older than you might think
Hello from Sydney! Welcome to my blog that will cover physics and issues affecting physicists, with an Antipodean slant. I’m a rare breed: a medical … Read more
Striking a balance between science and communication
Since this is meant to be the first of many regular blog posts I have promised to write for the Institute of Physics, I thought I … Read more
Planck’s data is extraordinary, but will it teach us anything new?
The recent results from the Planck satellite have garnered considerable interest among both scientists and the media. But from the discussions that have followed, I am learning … Read more