“A Night With The Stars” (BBC 2) truly meant a night with the stars. But the celebrity kind, rather than the celestial. Professor Brian Cox invited members of the celebrity world to watch, and even participate in, a lecture at The Royal Institute, London. Oh, and it was going to be about Quantum Physics. The deeper meaning of Quantum Physics.

With volunteers like Sarah Millican, James May, Jim Al Khalili, Simon Pegg and others, you could already tell that this was going to be a night of pure entertainment, with a hint of scientific knowledge. From the Double Slit Experiment to the Pauli Exclusion. Task ranging from sand pouring to some, less than complex mathematics. Poor Jonathan Ross… trying to divide numbers with powers of 10. Luckily Jim Al Khalili was on hand to give him some helpful advice, seeing as Brian thought it would be funny to abandon the poor man!

But the most definitive achievement of the night, was the waving up and down of a very long spring by Simon Pegg and Jim Al Khalili. They got as far as 6 nodes on a standing wave, and that’s tough.
Then again, James May having all his hair blown back and with a sooty face may have been an exciting result of his experiment. Sadly, Mr May did not turn into a mad scientist.

Being a Physicist myself (though technically, me being an Astrophysicist is even better) made this all the more entertaining. Not because I enjoyed watching someone squirm with maths I did in my head in seconds, but because the victims, no sorry…. volunteers know how to
be funny. Their way of turning their utter confusion into comedy made it entertaining not only for me, but for the live audience and the audience sitting at home. And I bet that it made the physics behind it be absorbed into the minds of the viewers. Who knows, someday Sarah Millican might achieve a PhD in Quantum Physics.

And I don’t think I have ever heard it said better than Professor Brian Cox’s last line, “It is just beautiful Physics”.

[All Photos Copyright of the BBC]

So here is the interview with Ted Nield from the Edinburgh International Book Festival (though we weren’t actually in Charlotte Square).

The interview can be viewed here (or on the interviews tab).

(Photo © Ann Giles)

Dr Ted Nield looks at the destructive past, the investigative present and the forever unknown future of meteorites. He covers the history, places they have landed and he describes in detail the accounts of the witness who saw them fall, be they peasants from the 18th century or car owners from the 20th. And then the theories to explain what they were and where they came from, including the possibility of a red dwarf star called Nemesis a couple of lightyears away having an effect on the Oort cloud, where the meteorites live on the very edge of the Solar System.

He also dives into the many theories involving meteorites such as: how a meteorite might have participated in the demise of the Dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous, known as the KT-boundary; or the biodiversity spike in the Ordovician when there was a sudden increase in fauna and how meteorites might have paved the way for these new species.

He delves into how evidence of the meteorite showers have been discovered over the past few decades from fossilised fragments of meteorite in Sweden, and how geologists have slowly pieced together extraterrestrial bombardments throughout time.

And he explores the implications of another massive meteorite shower, and what the likely outcomes for the planet and its inhabitants be. And I’m not going to tell you what he said, you’ll have to read the book for yourself to find out!

So if you want a good book to read that is both about meteorites, and about how such varied life may have come about on our planet, this is the book for you. He writes in an excellent, clear and simple way about complex geological theories and how they relate to the fire balls that fall from the sky. And no previous knowledge is required about geology, palaeontology or anything. It is just that well written!

My only problem with the book is that the dust cover feels weird. And I prefer the hidden cover of the book behind the dust cover. That’s it.

But that really is my only complaint so doesn’t that show you how good the book is?

But today has been a brilliant day. I’ve just interviewed Ted Nield. And that was also my first ever interview, so I hope I did alright!

I had lots of questions and he had lots of answers, and we covered things from favourite rocks to geologically incorrect films to the likelihood of human survival during a meteorite strike.

But we did talk for about an hour. So it’ll take some time to actually write it up, but it was a brilliant interview (from my end anyway) and I hope to bring it to you all soon!

Physics – A
Maths – A
Geology – A*

So I’ll be attending the University of St Andrews as a student in September. I. Can’t. Wait!