Tag Archives: Exoplanets

Potentially habitable?

Posted on September 14, 2019 by ...and Then There's Physics

The exciting news in astronomy is the discovery of water in the atmosphere of a relatively small planet, known as K2-18b, that happens to lie in what we often to as the habitable zone of its parent star. The result … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, ethics, Research, Scientists, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 61 Comments

A giant impact outside our Solar System

Posted on February 6, 2019 by ...and Then There's Physics

I’ve come down to listen to a General Interest seminar about climate change given by retired physics professor, but I’ve discovered it’s next week. I’ll have to wait to find out if it satisfies the stereotype. Since there is no … Continue reading →

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Posted in Personal, physicists, Research, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 32 Comments

The exoplanets around GJ 9827

Posted on December 27, 2018 by ...and Then There's Physics

I hope everyone is having a good break. I have a bit of free time, so thought I would mention a paper I’ve just finished. It’s about the the three super-Earths that orbit a star known as GJ 9827. The … Continue reading →

Posted in ClimateBall, physicists, Research, Science, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , , , | 55 Comments

Estimating eta-Earth

Posted on August 3, 2018 by ...and Then There's Physics

I had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon, so thought I would work from home this morning and then planned to take the rest of the afternoon off to play golf with a colleague. However, I also played football earlier this … Continue reading →

Posted in Research | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Planetary thinking

Posted on June 15, 2018 by ...and Then There's Physics

I was wanting to write a brief post about a recent Adam Frank article in the New York times called Earth Will Survive. We May Not. I also have a post about an earlier Adam Frank article, and I also … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Scientists | Tagged , , , , | 74 Comments

Overhype much?

Posted on February 6, 2018 by ...and Then There's Physics

There has been quite a lot of news coverage suggesting that astronomer have, for the first time, discovered planets in another galaxy. It’s from a paper by Xinyu Dai and Eduardo Guerras called Probing Planets in Extragalactic Galaxies Using Quasar … Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Science, Scientists, Sound Science (tm), The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 31 Comments

Thinking like a planet

Posted on October 3, 2016 by ...and Then There's Physics

Adam Frank has a recent article called Climate change and the astrobiology of the anthropocene. The premise of the article is that we should think of climate change in terms of astrobiology and, in particular, the habitabilty of planets and … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, Global warming, Science | Tagged , , , , , | 201 Comments

A new exoplanet!

Posted on August 27, 2016 by ...and Then There's Physics

You might think I’m going to discuss the newly discovered explanet around Proxima Centauri, but – no – that’s pretty much been done to death. Instead, I thought I might tell you about our paper that was accepted on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal, Research, Science, The scientific method, Universities | Tagged , , , , , | 53 Comments

Thousands of exoplanets!

Posted on May 15, 2016 by ...and Then There's Physics

I was quoted in the newspaper today. One problem with talking to journalists, is that you don’t always know quite how they’re going to represent what you said, or – even – if you’re going to end up having said … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments

Matt Ridley on filters

Posted on August 9, 2015 by ...and Then There's Physics

I was following the responses – on Twitter – to Matt Ridley promoting Christopher Booker’s latest piece of nonsense. In doing so, I discovered that Matt Ridley recently wrote an article in The Times, called ET hasn’t phoned, but don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Climate sensitivity, ClimateBall, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 123 Comments