Trevor O'Donoghue

Is there anybody out there?

27th January 201718th November 2016 by Trevor O'Donoghue

The Arecibo Radio Telescope. One of our tools in the search for extra terrestrial life.

At the start of the 20th century an Italian by the name of Marconi began experimenting with wireless telegraphy. Soon after, wireless telephony and radio broadcasting were developed. Since those early days, humans have been pumping out radio, television and communications signals from our planet in an ever increasing quantity and strength.

Like a wave that travels outward when a stone is thrown into water, radio and TV signals travel by electromagnetic wave at the speed of light in an ever expanding sphere away from the earth. Theoretically, anyone with a powerful enough receiver on another planet would be able to eavesdrop on us. So how likely is this, and if they are listening, are they coming to visit?

Supermoon Illusion

27th January 201714th November 2016 by Trevor O'Donoghue

A true to life representation of the supermoon size vs the average full moon

Step outside on On Monday the 14th November just after sunset and look to the north east and you will see a large moon rising (assuming it is clear). Looks huge, right? Much bigger than normal? Lots of reports in the media about this massive supermoon and how the full moon won’t appear this big again until 2034. But what exactly is a supermoon and is it rare?.

Evolution and the mistake

5th February 201911th November 2016 by Trevor O'Donoghue

“Evolution forged the entirety of sentient life on this planet using only one tool: the mistake”.

The above quote is from Dr Robert Ford, one of the main protagonists in a popular, TV show, Westworld. A simple sentence, but one which sums up evolution and one of the forces behind it quite succinctly. In truth, the quotation applies, not only to sentient live, but to all life on our planet, and if life has evolved elsewhere, and enjoys a healthy competition for resources, then it will probably apply there too.

Tripping the light fantastic

27th January 201721st October 2016 by Trevor O'Donoghue

Our nearest galactic neighbour, The Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light years away

Last week scientist announced that the amount of galaxies in the universe had been underestimated by as much as a factor of 20. Major news, but not something that really affects our daily lives. The discovery does however, illustrate the vast scale of our universe. Thankfully, we as humans have developed the brain capacity, the intelligence and the curiosity to help us understand our place within it. Take for example the speed of light. It travels at 300,000 km per second. Pretty much instantaneous for us on earth, but really noticeable in the realm of the galaxies, stars and planets. Light from the moon takes little over a second to reach us, whilst light from the sun takes over 8 minutes. That means that the light from the sun that is hitting your eyeball is over 8 minutes old.

The Ig Nobel prizes

27th January 201714th October 2016 by Trevor O'Donoghue

An Ig Nobel prize winner, Thomas Thwaites in his Goat Suit. — An Ig Nobel prize winner, Thomas Thwaites in his goat suit.

The Nobel prizes are awarded each year to recognise outstanding advances in physics, chemistry, literature, peace, economic sciences and physiology or medicine. Over the years The Nobel prizes have also played host to some celebrated controversies, dubious peace prize recipients, a medicine and physiology prize awarded for frontal lobotomies and some notable figures being overlooked.