helenczerski

helenczerski, 1 month ago to random

The death of Peter Higgs is sad news. I remember him being in the green room at the Cheltenham Science Festival years ago, and he was so humble and polite to everyone. Dara Ó Briain (the comedian) was there, and he'd brought an empty jam jar with a hand-written label that said "this jar contains 1 Higgs Boson. Certified by... " and he got Peter Higgs to sign the bottom. (apparently that's the average number present). The jam jar made everyone very happy.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/09/peter-higgs-physicist-who-discovered-higgs-boson-dies-aged-94

helenczerski, 1 month ago to Humanism

Lots of us lead meaningful lives without religion. @humanists_uk is about to publish this book: "What I Believe", a series of conversations with a range of people (including me) about how we think about the world and the richness of the many non-religious perspectives. Do check it out.

https://humanists.uk/2024/04/04/new-book-release-what-i-believe-sheds-light-on-the-values-driving-todays-leading-humanist-thinkers/

#Humanism #philosophy #books

helenczerski, 1 month ago to books

I'm only 20% of the way through Fire Weather, but it's already the best book I've read this year by miles. It's a stunning story about our relationship with oil & fire, absolutely beautifully written, 🧪 plus stuff like this:

"One way to visualise a tank of gas is to imagine a mass of ancient plant matter weighing as much as 15 blue whales..."

#books #climate #oil #science

helenczerski, 1 month ago to science

The fabulous Cheltenham Science Festival is coming up (June 4th-9th), and I'm hosting loads of interesting sessions: the origins of life, the deep sea, where our waste really goes and the big critical question of how we use our land with so many demands on it. Come along and listen in! Full schedule here:

cheltenhamfestivals.com/science
Tickets go on-sale on 24th April

#science #CheltSciFest #Cheltenham #Festival

helenczerski, 1 month ago to climate

The Fully Charged/Everything Electric team really is one big family, and I love these photos. The London show was our 14th (inc all international shows) and every one is so exciting - so many new ideas/techs for cleaner energy and transport, and they’re already the present, not just the future. Onwards and upwards!

#Climate #energy #electrification

helenczerski, 1 month ago to london

The final day of Everything Electric/Fully Charged LIVE is about to kick off here at the Excel in London - not too late to come along if you’re nearby. This is the place to see the future (and the exciting present) of clean energy and transport. Home energy, micromobility, zero-carbon kitchen &more.

https://uk.everythingelectric.show/london

#london #EV #energy

helenczerski, 1 month ago to cars

One very noticeable (and welcome) shift at Everything Electric London (previously Fully Charged LIVE) is the sudden increase in the number of small EVs. In the future, where we really need cars, they should be as small as possible. More of this! #EverythingElectric #cars

If you’re in or near London, you can still come along to see it all tomorrow or Saturday.

https://uk.everythingelectric.show/london/ev-test-drive

helenczerski, 1 month ago to books

The Hay Festival is coming up (May 23rd - June 2nd) and the full line-up of events has now been published here:

www.hayfestival.org/wales

Rare Earth will be recording an episode in front of a live audience for the first time, and I'll also be talking with Helen Scales about the ocean and my book Blue Machine.

Do come along and share all the fun :)

#books #HayFestival2024 #ocean #science #climate

helenczerski, 1 month ago to climate

Interested in the future of clean home energy (inc advice zone), electric vehicles, electric micromobility, a zero-carbon kitchen, EV test drives and FAR MORE? Everything Electric LONDON (the new incarnation of Fully Charged LIVE) is at the ExCeL in London on Thusday, Friday and Saturday this week and there are still tickets available for all those days. Come along and join us to meet a cleaner, better future.

#Climate #London #energy #EV #future

helenczerski, 1 month ago to Futurology

Sewage is back in the headlines, for all the wrong reasons. But how did we end up here, and how could/should we manage our rivers when we're expecting themto be water sources, trade routes, boundaries, drains, wildlife habitats, and rubbish dumps & more? On Rare Earth we dug deep into all this just 3-4 weeks ago, and it's still available to listen here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wrhm

#sewage #water #rivers #RareEarth

helenczerski, 1 month ago to science

Cosmic Shambles has a NEW instagram account: @thecosmicshamblesnetwork and this is going to be THE place to keep up with all the shambling. For science, comedy, music, ideas and live events, do follow us there.

#CosmicShambles #science #comedy #music #ideas

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helenczerski, 1 month ago to climate

Proposal: We measure how good we are at being citizens of Earth by how we deal with our "rubbish". Do we consider it a valuable resource to be reused (mature approach, based on understanding planetary cycles), or do we just push it off to Away (childish denial). Current score: Could Do Better...

#climate #environment #waste #Earth

helenczerski, 1 month ago to climate

I have just discovered that those odd waste/recycling bins that are all over the oldest bits of Bergen, Norway, link to an UNDERGROUND PNEUMATIC WASTE TRANSPORT SYSTEM. The waste collects for a bit and then WHOOSH... it's off to the recycling centre. All underground. No bin lorries (garbage trucks), fewer road vehicles, less noise... amazing. @davidho says that my (considerable) excitement about this is entirely unreasonable. I disagree.
https://www.envacgroup.com/how-it-works/the-envac-system/

#climate #waste #Norway

helenczerski, 1 month ago to science

The hardback version of Blue Machine is so very beautiful but the paperback version is coming soon (May 2nd) and (ta-da!) here is the new cover, on the right. If you think ocean is only blue liquid filler, this is for you.

'Blue Machine is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read.' - Dr George McGavin

#science #ocean #books

helenczerski, 1 month ago to random

Colleagues at UCL just shared this with me and it's GREAT. It's an open letter from Tim Berners-Lee, pointing the way towards a much fairer and better web. Do share with those who still need convincing to move from Xs of this work to here and BlueSky!

https://webfoundation.org/2024/03/marking-the-webs-35th-birthday-an-open-letter/

helenczerski, 1 month ago to climate

In the same way that you wouldn’t want someone to operate on your kidneys without a good general medical education covering blood, bones & the rest of the human system, I don’t think we want climate interventions trialed by people who don’t understand how Earth works & only consider the local problem and not the whole system it is an integral part of.

#Earth #climate

helenczerski, 1 month ago to physics

Nice to see that UCL is apparently making its contribution to physics here in Norway. Just found @jonbutterworth ’s Smashing Physics and my book Storm in a Teacup on the English language non-fiction bookshelves here in Bergen.

#UCL #Physics #books

helenczerski, 1 month ago to ocean

Nice to be asked to join BBC Newscast today, to talk about deep sea mining alongside Justin Rowlatt. What's hidden down there, and do we really need it up here?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hkg3zw

#ocean #DeepSea #science #BBC #Newscast

helenczerski, 1 month ago to climate

OOH. On a ferry on the Sognefjord in Norway and AIS tells me this car ferry we just passed is the Ampere, the world’s first battery electric car ferry. It’s been operating in this fjord since 2015. 1000kWh Li-ion battery, aluminium hull, takes 120 cars.

https://archive.nordregio.se/en/Publications/Publications-2016/GREEN-GROWTH-IN-NORDIC-REGIONS-50-ways-to-make-/Clean-tech-and-renewable-energy--/Amper/index.html#:~:text=Ampere%20is%20an%2080%20by,of%20the%20normally%20used%20steel.

#climate

helenczerski, 1 month ago to climate

A backwards step:

“Britain’s car share clubs face closure as last insurer pulls out”

Even at current levels of car use, it’s silly to have so many- they’re expensive in materials, energy & money. As alternatives improve we need more car-sharing, not less.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/mar/17/just-when-we-need-them-most-britains-car-share-clubs-face-closure-as-last-insurer-pulls-out?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

#climate #cars #Future

helenczerski, 1 month ago to ocean

Beautiful run this morning along the fjord in Sogndal in Norway. The great oceanographer Harald Sverdrup was born here in 1888, before going to Bergen, Scripps, then Oslo. Today we measure ocean currents in Sverdrups (one million cubic meters per second), but I can't find any tribute to him here 😥

#ocean #Sverdrup
#Norway #Running

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helenczerski, 2 months ago to instagramreality

Here in Bergen, they were ready for social media centuries before social media was invented.

#Trolls #SocialMedia

helenczerski, 2 months ago to climate

Amazing opportunity for students (& other young people) here - Everything Electric LONDON tickets are FREE for under-25s:

"Young adults (16-25) will get free admission to the show. Tickets can only be bought at the show when proof of age is provided."

If you know young people who are interested in working in or studying a clean future for energy and transport, this is for them. Please do pass the word on!

https://uk.everythingelectric.show/london/visit

#climate #students #London #Electrification

helenczerski, 2 months ago to books

In Blue Machine, I wrote about both the Heard Island experiment (an audacious attempt to take the temperature of the whole ocean using sound) and also haddock mating calls. It was therefore very pleasing to find posters at the huge Ocean Sciences meeting a few weeks ago on those completely unrelated topics (apart from both involving sound), sitting right next to each other.

#Books #ocean #science

helenczerski, 2 months ago to books

The Hay Festival (23rd May - 2nd June) isn't far away and the OCEAN will be there! If you're there and hear the excellent Helen Scales and I discussing what an ocean really is, what it means to be citizens of an ocean planet, and talking about a positive future for the blue of our blue planet.

Blue Machine will just have arrived in paperback & HS's book What the Wild Sea Can Be will just have been published.

https://www.hayfestival.com/hay-on-wye/home

@hayfestival #HayFestival2024 #Books #ocean