Science, Nature and Tech

What is the Orionid Meteor Shower?

This October Earth will be passing through the tail of Halley’s comet, which will mean a shower of meteors flashing across the night sky. Our science editor Sam Gouldson explains.

What is Halley’s Comet?

A comet is a lump of rocky particles, ice and dust all bound together like a dirty snowball. When the comet nears a star, its surface transforms from a solid to a gas. The star’s light shines through these gases and makes them visible to observers as a fuzzy cloud around the comet’s centre, and a tail streaming out behind.

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Science, Nature and Tech

Winter Wonderings – Why Can You See Your Breath When it is Cold?

This is the first in a series of posts by Sam Gouldson called Winter Wonderings. Sam will take a closer look at some of the amazing things that winter brings, such as snowflakes, ice and snow and explain the science behind the season!

You may have noticed that you can see your breath when the weather is cold, especially if you exhale really hard. But what causes this and why doesn’t it happen when it’s warm?

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Art & History

Does Atlantis Exist, and Where Does the Name Originate?

Around 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote about an island situated in front of the Pillars of Hercules, that disappeared under the sea in one day and one night. According to Plato, the capital of Atlantis was built on a hill and surrounded by rings of water, which were joined by tunnels large enough for a ship to sail through. A huge canal connected the outer rings of water to the ocean.
The possible existence of the island of  Atlantis has intrigued scholars and scientists over the centuries.

In 1800s a man called Ignatius Donnelly wrote a  bestselling book called Atlantis, the Antediluvian World. After studying flood history, Ignatius put forward the suggestion that Atlantis was not fiction, but the recording of a natural disaster.

Most modern academics insist that Plato created the story, and was perhaps inspired by events that happened during his lifetime, but that the island never existed.

The subject of dreams, of magical tales and many a search, Atlantis has long captured our imagination. But where did all of this spring from?

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Art & History

Prehistoric Art

When we visit art galleries or learn about art in school, we tend to think of paintings on canvas, sculpture or photographs.  Often these will be clearly recognisable as people or objects like food and flowers, and we can relate to them as familiar in some way.
Art and pictures have been around ever since people first were recognised as human by historians, in pre-historic times.  Prehistoric simply means history which dates before written accounts are available to study.  The earliest humans did not have writing with which they could communicate and this means that art and pictures were even more important to them.

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