Entries tagged "astronomy"
2012-05-19
Walking through a narrow, predominantly damp and shady deciduous woodland yesterday afternoon I was suddenly greeted by sunshine on my right cheek and a group of Early Purple Orchids by my left foot.
The two experiences were almost certainly related. The break in the trees, at a spot where the path had swerved towards the edge of the woodland, had allowed sunlight into the otherwise dark dank green. There had been no orchids for a hundred metres and there were no orchids for the hundred metres beyond that spot. The only environmental variable that I could tell had…
2012-02-07
The last astro quiz proved so popular that I thought we'd do another.
This fantastic photo was taken by the expedition photographer, James Walker.
Thanks, James, for permission to use it here. Do check out James' website, there are some stunning images, but only after you've had a go at answering the questions below.
Which way are we looking in this picture?
Bonus: roughly what latitude was the photo taken at?
Good luck! I'll post the answer here in a few days.
Photography tip from a pro: The tomb in the…
2012-01-05
This really is one of the best astronomical photographs I have ever come across. It is amazing even before you notice that the sea is glowing with bioluminescent algae.Congratulations Sim on taking this fantastic photograph and allowing me to share it and thanks Mark for sending it my way.To celebrate this great pic, I thought a little quiz would be fun. Or to be more precise, several shades of the same question...To make this more interesting I'm going to give you the opportunity to test yourselves at the level you feel most comfortable with. Anyone who has been on my…
2011-08-30
The research that I have been doing for the book I am currently writing led me to an interesting study. Academics have found that there is an inverse relationship between wealth and awareness of nature. This trend appears to be true in places as different as Indonesia and the UK.
The number of local plant species that people can identify tends to be inversely proportional to their income. The study did not reveal whether this was a cultural phenomenon or purely economic one, ie. do people know solely because they need to or also because they want to?…
