mastodon 4.6.9Physics, bubbles, oceans, hot chocolate and curiosity. Associate Professor at UCL, writer, broadcaster. Author of Storm in a Teacup and Blue Machine: https://linktr.ee/helenczerski #fedi22 #physics #ocean #climate #bikes
The Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is coming round again and the shortlist is stunning.
See the whole shortlist here: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/galleries/2025-shortlist and there will be an exhibition of all of them at Royal Museums Greenwich after the winner is announced.
*cough* If you're gift shopping for anyone interested in how the world works, do consider these. Storm in a Teacup is all about the physics of everyday life and Blue Machine is all about how the ocean works - the water itself, which is the biggest story on Earth. Share the joy of nature & science!
Do you remember the Shoe Event Horizon from the brilliant Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? (explained in pic if not)
Is that where we are today with online fast fashion clothes shopping?
Listen now to this week's Rare Earth, all about fast fashion, its effect on the environment, and options for what happens next as this giant industry perhaps faces the end of the road:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001vbt0
If you need a bit of ocean in your day (and who doesn't?), here's me in full ocean-enthusiast mode, on the BBC podcast/videocast The Climate Question. Now available both as a video-podcast and good old-fashioned audio-only podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-E7hOs900g&list=PLz_B0PFGIn4dlFahw2svjb6-aW_BVOn4x&index=2
It doesn't look that dramatic but this was me this morning with a big insulated jacket on, in a -10C cold lab, looking at experiments to investigate potential sea ice enhancement. We're covering geoengineering on Rare Earth soon... a HUGE topic. Could/should/will it ever escape from the lab?
It's incredibly disappointing to hear that a quarter of UK schools don't have a specialist physics teacher. It's essential that we can all see the basics of how the world works & it's fun to satisfy that very basic curiosity. Physics gives us all agency in a complex world.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/sep/02/quarter-schools-england-lack-physics-teacher
How could/should/will we get around the cities of the future? A car for everyone is never going to work in a city, but once we go back to seeing the streets as places for people to get around (rather than "where the cars go") how could it all work? Cities and technology are constantly evolving, and so our city streets will too. For this week's Rare Earth, on air at 12 today and online afterwards, we talked to Chris Boardman, Stephen Potter and Karen Lucas about what the future holds. Listen here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002n7p1
We've just recorded a Rare Earth on animal migration & this app is amazing. It's called Animal Tracker (www.icarus.mpg.de/29143/animal-tracker-app ), and it's real time data on 100s of animals - birds, foxes, bison & more. Their tracks are fascinating, taking clear routes with intent. More to come next wk on the air!
It's a huge honour to receive the Athelstan Spilhaus Award from the American Geophysical Union for public engagement. But it's particularly pleasing because the Spilhaus projection was the original UK hardback cover of Blue Machine, and still the best of them all. Kudos to David Ho for originally suggesting that it could go on the cover.
If you're in London today (Sat 20th), don't miss the spectacle that is the Great River Race! This historic race is a fabulous way to see all sorts of traditional (from many traditions) boats - skiffs, coracles, gigs & more - race through central London. You can keep up here: https://greatriverrace.org.uk/live-map/
Did you know that we only have tequila because bats pollinate agave plants *at night*? While we're asleep, the ecological action carries on. So what are we missing out on and how important is it? Join us for this week's BBC R4 Rare Earth (on air & online now) to find out.
Still gutted about the news on a lack of specialist physics teachers. Storm in a Teacup has been translated into 21 languages, & is still in print 7 years after I wrote it. Clearly people ARE interested in the physics of the world around them and how it works. This should be for everyone.
Patrick Grant from the Great British Sewing Bee, Professor of Sustainability, Design and Fashion Kate Fletcher and clothing sustainability consultant Simon Platts... these were our fabulous guests on this week's Rare Earth, all about the fashion/clothing industry and how to make it less wasteful. It was a fascinating conversation, and you can hear the whole thing from Friday lunchtime onwards. But before then, here are our panel's headline thoughts about to how to make the clothing industry better & more sustainable.
Programme link here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002mc4w
Spot the stylishly dressed! Here we all are in the studio today for this week's Rare Earth, on fashion/clothing. Can the massive fast fashion consumption machine be turned off, and what could /should we make our clothes from? Hear it all online or on air on Friday: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002mc4w
Pictured: Simon Platts, me, Kate Fletcher, Tom Heap and Patrick Grant (yes, hte one from the Sewing Bee).
The nuts and bolts of our world are literally made from steel: furniture, tools, buildings, containers & more. But making all this steel produces 8% of our carbon emissions, so one of the pillars of a clean future is green steel. Can it be done? We find out, in this week's Rare Earth:
Useless private medical tests=bad. But I heard recently (as an eg) abt work on a clock accurate to 1 second in the lifetime of the universe, while (peri)menopause is still poorly researched. Data *would* help, if collected & analysed properly, directly benefitting 1/2 of us. Why aren't we doing it?
On BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth next week we'll be covering urban wildlife, and we'd love to hear about the fun/creative/unusual things happening near you to make space for wildlife in towns/cities. Do reply to this and let us know!
In this week's edition of Rare Earth on animal migration, @tomheap.bsky.social and I had a great time finding out about the incredible things we're learning as tracking tech improves and how migratory animals are faring in a changing world. And some AMAZING stories of almost unbelieveable migrations.
Available now on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002jhmd
What are the current and future environmental impacts of data centres/AI? Who is responsible - companies or individuals? This week's Rare Earth (on BBC R4 at 12:04 and available online afterwards) got pretty lively as we dug into it all. One not to miss!
It's 20 yrs since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans & flooding is becoming a fixture in their lives.
In Front Yard Floods, out on the BBC World Service today, we met the local communities who taking flood protection into their own hands, to give their city a future.
@Badgardener@mountains.social Lovely, thank you
