Author Archives: John Pullen

The first thing to note is that we are not talking about replacing someone’s tongue which may have been lost in an accident. At least, not yet. An artificial tongue has been designed to help to identify chemicals in a liquid environment. Don’t be disappointed, it is still interesting. Our tongues contain taste buds whichContinue reading “Artificial Tongue Licks the Problem of Taste”

The movie “Alien” had the catchphrase, “In space, nobody can you hear you scream.” The fact that in space, there is a vacuum which means that sound cannot travel as it can on Earth. However, there are exceptions. The vast majority of space may be silent, but that does not mean that it is inactive.Continue reading “What Does Space Sound Like?”

Anyone who uses a computer, especially at home, is probably already conscious of internet speeds. It is usual that for those living in more rural areas, the internet speed slows down and can keep the operator waiting ages for something to download or upload. So, I suppose that if I tell them that there isContinue reading “The Olympic Games for the Internet”

Okay, that is probably not completely correct, but we are getting closer and closer to witnessing the birth of our universe, in other words, the Big Bang. To be able to even contemplate getting close to this event, we have to use bigger and bigger telescopes and place them in very special locations in space.Continue reading “Seeing the Beginning of the Universe”

Discovering ancient artifacts, such as statues and parts of statues is not that unusual. However, what is unusual, is finding seventeen huge stone heads, all of which have different characteristics fashioned onto them, making each one an] unique individual. They were found in Mexico and come from the Mesoamerican period around 1200 BCE to 400Continue reading “The Mysterious Giant Heads of the Olmec”

In the previous article, we heard about the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence or AI, going into space and exploring the more distant planets and moons in our solar system. But one of the problems that has to be ironed out before we can rely on them is to cure AI computers from hallucinating. What doContinue reading “My AI Computer is Hallucinating”

There cannot be many people who are unaware of artificial intelligence or AI for short. It is very rapidly assisting or, as some might say, taking over our lives. There does not appear to be that many occupations that will escape AI and a great many jobs may also go. Whether these will be replacedContinue reading “Your AI Astronaut Has Arrived”

A large percentage of schoolchildren are likely to know the answer to the question, “What happened 66 million years ago?” The answer will come back, “An asteroid killed the dinosaurs.” And they would be correct. The asteroid which has been calculated to have been around 8 miles across, crashed into the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.Continue reading “The Lizards Who Survived the Asteroid Strike”

We do not understand the oceans as well as the land. And so, when an anomaly appears, it leaves a lot of oceanographers scratching their heads and heading back to the drawing board, or in their case, their ocean charts. The anomaly in question lies to the south of Greenland, in the Atlantic Ocean. ItContinue reading “The Strange Cold Spot in the Atlantic Ocean”

We all have blood of a certain type. Some are very common whilst others are less common. The first time blood was grouped was in 1901 when the Austrian-American biologist, Dr Karl Landsteiner identified the most common group, the ABO group. Different groups come about because there a different proteins and sugars on the surfaceContinue reading “The Rarest Blood in the World”