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40,086 articles from Guardian Unlimited Science


MONDAY 12. AUGUST 2013


The worst thing about going on holiday is buying a new swimming costume

Trying on swimwear surrounded by giant mirrors is more harrowing than leaving home, daughter and dogI'm having a tough few weeks, emotionally, because soon I'll be off on my first holiday for 10 years, and to me, abroad is another planet. I must leave my home, daughter and dog, and even more harrowing, buy a new swimming costume. Mine has rotted. I'm not expecting a fun outing, it's just one of...

Erwin Schrödinger birthday celebrated in Google doodle

The late Nobel prize-winning physicist gave his name to the equation that lies at the heart of quantum mechanicsGoogle's latest doodle marks the birthday of Erwin Schrödinger, the Nobel prize-winning quantum physicist whose eponymous equation lies at the heart of quantum mechanics.Born in Vienna in 1887 to a factory owner and his Austrian-English wife, Schrödinger was tutored at home as a child...


SUNDAY 11. AUGUST 2013


Starwatch: The Perseids meteor shower

The Perseids meteor shower is now in full flow as meteoroid particles from Comet Swift-Tuttle rain into the Earth's upper atmosphere at 59 km per second. Although they are following parallel paths, perspective causes them to diverge from a radiant point in Perseus which climbs from about 30° high in Britain's NE sky at nightfall to approach the zenith by dawn. Our chart shows it at midnight,...

In praise of ... friendly robots | Editorial

Mechanical companions are making their mark again both in film and in real lifeThe world's first talking robot was launched into space this month. His mission: to serve as companion to astronaut Koichi Wakata. Roundish and 34cm tall, Kirobo (whose name combines the Japanese for "hope" and "robot") scores highly on any cute-ometer. But as part of a study to see how machines might provide emotional...