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Gifts from The Morning Star
The science of rainbows inspires new miniature laser technology
Mirrors are the technology behind modern lasers. New research shows that lasers can be made inside water droplets, using the reflective properties of water, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL
A laser display at the Eden Project in Cornwall, 2017

EVERY four years, each Olympic flame starts its life in a parabolic mirror in Greece, lit by reflection of the sun. 

The curved sides of the mirror reflect light to the same point, intensifying the light so brightly that it can cause the torch to catch alight. 

The same phenomenon was responsible when the concave face of a London skyscraper, nicknamed the “Walkie-Talkie,” concentrated the sun’s heat onto a luxury car parked below, melting parts of its metal and glass exterior. 

The ‘Walkie-Talkie’ skyscraper in London which melted part of a nearby car in 2013
The 95th Anniversary Appeal
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UNRECOGNISED POTENTIA:L: Girl students conduct an experiment by throwing cotton balls to demonstrate the instinctive reaction of flinching at The Big Bang Fair 2025, for young scientists and engineers, at the NEC in Birmingham on June 18 2025
Science and Society / 16 July 2025
16 July 2025

What’s behind the stubborn gender gap in Stem disciplines ask ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT in their column Science and Society

The ruins of Guernica after it was bombed by the Nazis on April 26, 1937
Science and Society / 2 July 2025
2 July 2025

While politicians condemned fascist bombing of Spanish civilians in 1937, they ignored identical RAF tactics across the colonies. Today’s aerial warfare continues this pattern of applying different moral standards based on geography and race, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

LETHAL PLANS: Keir Starmer visits a defence contractor in Bedfordshire
Science and Society / 4 June 2025
4 June 2025

The distinction between domestic and military drones is more theoretical than practical, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

UNEASY COHABITATION: Southern Ridges, Singapore, 2015 Pic: Zairon/CC
Science and Society / 21 May 2025
21 May 2025

Nature's self-reconstruction is both intriguing and beneficial and as such merits human protection, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

 

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