Blog

What shape is the ocean on a cubical planet?

Here's a repost of something I wrote almost a decade ago, wondering what shape an ocean would take on a non-spherical planet. I do hope...

The Rare Earth Hypothesis

We are told that the Earth is a typical planet, orbiting a typical star, at nowhere in particular in the universe. But is it? In the next...

Future Universe: Part 2

I continue my discussion with Dr Karl about the Future of the Universe. However, we are still digging through the past to understand why...

Unknown Pleasures

I am part of the GALAH Survey, a project to observe hundreds of thousands of stars in the Milky Way to try and piece together its...

The German Tank Problem (Part II)

Again, a repost of something I wrote about in 2012, the German Tank Problem. This time with a twist. TL:DR - the mathematicians win...

Space magnets, asteroids, coral sex

Do magnets work in outer space? What would happen if you opened a jar from space on Earth? Do germs have the ability to move on their...

The Future History of the Universe

What is the future history of the universe? To answer this question, we have to look firstly into the past. A new chat with Doctor Karl...

The German Tank Problem (Part I)

As part of my plan to get back into blogging, here's a repost from 2011 discussing a classic statistical problem. I followed it up a year...

The Cosmic Revolutionary's Handbook

Great chat this morning with Dr Brian Keating on our recent book.

Black Holes and the Mystery of the Ergosphere

A new chat with Dr Karl, talking about black holes, spin, and the mysterious ergosphere (which is not a sphere!). Listen here

Should academia be like Logan's Run? All out at 40?

Time to rebirth a bit of blogging. It's been a while, but I recently saw an article about how old professors are blocking the career...

A Theory of Music

In our latest video, Luke teaches me a theory of music. This is challenging, as I am tone deaf at the best of times. But you have to live...

Vice Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Research

Speaks for itself :) Very pleased to be recognised by my colleagues and the university.

Dark Matter, Expanding Space, and More

A new video from Alas Lewis and Barnes, answering viewer questions. If you have a question you would like us to tackle, let me know!

The Dark Side of Galaxies: They're cannibals

I recently spoke to The Young Stars, a STEM program that reaches smart young minds around the worlds. Check out the video and Q&A session.

The One-Way Speed of Light

How fast does light travel? Well, you might say the speed of light, but physicists have only ever measured the two-way speed of light,...

The 2020 Nobel Prizes in Physics with Dr Karl

In my latest chat with Dr Karl, we discussed the 2020 Nobel Prizes in Physics - just what was the prize for? Learn about complex...

Do you expand with the Universe?

I chatted with Derek Muller at Veritasium about this very question, and he made this cool video. Check it out.

The Supernova that Measured the Universe

I spoke with Derek Muller about how you can use gravitational lensing time delays to measure the expansion of the universe. As usual,...

Do we live in a simulation?

In my latest chat with Dr Karl, we ponder the question of whether we live in a simulation. This might sound strange, but some scientists...