Can gravitational waves be waylaid by gravity?
Yesterday, I learnt the answer is 'yes'. Gravitational waves can be gravitationally lensed. It seems obvious once you think about it, but not something that strikes you (assuming you're no…
LIGO
8 posts
A shorter article about short gamma ray bursts lights up little
* Identify a simple and well-defined question * Describe the question and answer it * Get the fuck out Writing with these three rules in mind makes for a good science article. You stick to the poi…
Onto drafting the gravitational history of the universe
It's finally happening. As the world turns, as our little lives wear on, gravitational wave detectors quietly eavesdrop on secrets whispered by colliding blackholes and neutron stars in distant re…
On that 'Last Word on Nothing' post
A post published on the Last Word On Nothing blog yesterday has been creating quite the stir on Twitter. Excerpt: Physics writers, this is how you nab the physics haters — human emotion. You can expl…
Neutron stars
When the hype for the announcement of the previous GW detection was ramping up, I had a feeling LIGO was about to announce the detection of a neutron-star collision. It wasn't to be – but in my ex…
Are the papers behind this year's Nobel Prizes in the public domain?
Note: One of my editors thought this post would work for The Wire as well, so it's been republished there. "… for the greatest benefit of mankind" – these words are scrawled across a ba…
Are the papers behind this year's Nobel Prizes in the public domain?
Note: One of my editors thought this post would work for The Wire as well, so it's been republished there. "… for the greatest benefit of mankind" – these words are scrawled across a ba…
The nomenclature of uncertainty
Many science articles in the past year dealt with observations falling short of the evidence threshold but which have been worth writing about simply because of the desperation behind them. Has this prompted science writers to think about the language they use?…