Author Archives: Jim Franklin

POWER ON

By | 06/05/2024

The drive to electrification Technology As we are now a quarter of the way into the 21st century we have seen huge leaps in technology, 50 years ago, computers were the size of a small apartment, phones were attached to walls by a cable, homes were connected to the phone network by copper, Radio and… Read More »

Humanity to Mars

By | 21/10/2023

ARTICLE IN PROGRESS, IT WILL UPDATED AND EXTENDED PERIODICALLY. Getting to Mars The race is on – within 20 years humanity will have established itself on the lunar surface, with at least 1 permanent settlement, likely more as the Chinese go it alone, but the plans also involve human boots on the surface of Mars… Read More »

The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Universe

By | 24/03/2023

A lot of people out there have an interest in the heavens to one extent or another, some take it to the level of professional qualifications, some have simply educated themselves and know as much, if not more, than some professional astronomers – but the educational information available on the internet is a mixed bag… Read More »

Revisiting where we may find life and the Drake equation

By | 25/10/2022

Where should we look for life? Developed in 1961 by the late Frank Drake, a giant of the SETI community, it was an initial attempt to ascertain how many intelligent civilisations might exist that humanity could potentially communicate with. Every parameter was a best guess, nothing definitive was known, and whilst our knowledge has improved… Read More »

Betelgeuse Update – Smaller and Nearer than first thought.

By | 17/10/2020

This article was originally published by the Australian National University and all rights are reserved by them. Supergiant star Betelgeuse smaller, closer than first thought Friday, October 16, 2020 — It may be another 100,000 years until the giant red star Betelgeuse dies in a fiery explosion, according to a new study by an international team of researchers.  The study, led by Dr Meridith Joyce from The… Read More »

Colonising Mars

By | 07/09/2020

There is a lot of debate about colonising Mars, in fact the conversations have been had for more than 100 years, but realistic plans to at least land humans on Mars are around 50 years old. In 1976 the debate grew when NASA successfully landed the Viking 1 and 2 landers on the Red Planet,… Read More »

NUCLEOSYNTHESIS IN STARS

By | 27/01/2020

How the elements are made The manufacture of all the elements of the periodic table is the result of nucleosynthesis within stars, successively heavier elements are created by combining the atoms that form the nuclei of lighter elements. The most abundant element in the observable Universe is Hydrogen, which occurs in three “flavours” or isotopes, the… Read More »

Life in the Universe : Where is it; Will it be intelligent; Can we Communicate; Can we meet?

By | 02/01/2020

Humans have pondered these questions about the Universe, to one degree or another, for at least several hundred years, perhaps thousands of years, yet despite the advances in society, science and our overall understanding of the Universe, we are still no closer to answering these questions, or are we closer than we think? To answer… Read More »

Supernova Classifications

By | 31/12/2019

The story of Betelgeuse has kicked things off, so it seems appropriate to discuss Supernova. I am sure if I asked the question; “What is a Supernova“ Most would answer the obvious, “An old star exploding at the end of it’s life“ Whilst true, it is also not accurate either. There was a time when… Read More »