From watching a little-known festive film, to trying a Victorian parlour game or even spotting a once in a lifetime astronomic occurrence, academics at the University of Warwick have compiled a few ideas to help you enjoy something different – deliberately – this Christmas.
"It’s becoming more and more important that we think in whole system terms. How small changes can bring about large changes.” Professor Sandra Chapman, from Warwick’s Department of Physics reflects on delivering this year's Ed Lorenz lecture at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
In 793CE, monks recorded sightings of dragons in the skies above northern England. While the streaks of fire they witnessed were likely to be a meteor shower, they weren’t the first or the last to see dragons in the night sky. Dr Elizabeth Stanway looks at some of the other legends, myths and stories linking dragons and space.
From Gallifrey to Tatooine, planets with multiple suns feature widely in science fiction, but there are currently only ten real ‘circumbinary’ planets identified by space scientists. Dr David Armstrong from Warwick’s Astrophysics research group considers what we know about planets with two stars – and asks if life could exist there.
Exploring habitability, on our own world and beyond, is a research priority for the University of Warwick. Ares Osborn from Warwick’s astrophysics group, explores one aspect of this topic - growing food on Mars.
In a personal blog, written originally in 2013, Professor Don Pollaco describes the initial awkward moments during the life-changing evening when he met his hero, Neil Armstrong.
Many of the things we take for granted in the modern world rely heavily on satellites in space. But as they become redundant or fail, many become space debris and risk damaging other satellites. James Blake from the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group explores the growing need to safeguard satellites against the hazards they face on a daily basis.
We are familiar with the idea that the twinkling pinpricks of light in the sky are stars, like our own Sun, but not all those stars are the same. There are many types of stars, and we can see most of these in the night sky, explains Dr Elizabeth Stanway.
Professor Tom Marsh from the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group explains how to make a sundial and what it can tell us about our Sun.
It’s quite easy to see some of the other planets in our Solar system from your garden, balcony or on an evening walk. In fact, you might have already seen them without realising it, explains Dr David Brown from Warwick’s astrophysics team.
