Free public lectures this month

Nuclear is for life, a cultural revolution

Professor Wade Allison, Oxford Physics  

Fri 11^th December 2015, 4.30-5.30pm

The lecture will discuss how there is no reason why nuclear energy should not be the ideal source of carbon-free energy. More information and booking can be found here: http://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/events/2015/12/11/nuclear-is-for-life-a-cultural-revolution-by-prof-wade-allison-public-lecture.

Christmas lecture: The light fantastic – a tour of the electromagnet spectrum

Dr Catherine Hayer, Oxford Physics  

Tue 15^th December 2015, 6.15-7.15pm (suitable for children)

Scientists use satellites to measure light to observe the Earth and the way it is changing around us. This demonstration lecture will explore these methods, as well as the properties of light itself, in a whistle stop tour of the spectrum. More information and booking can be found here: http://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/events/2015/12/15/the-light-fantastic-a-tour-of-the-electromagnetic-spectrum. 

Latest images of Enceladus, an ice-rich moon of Saturn

The Cassini probe has made a daring close flyby of Enceladus, an ice-rich moon of Saturn.

The Nasa craft swept just 50km above the moon's surface in a final attempt to "taste" the chemistry of water jets spewing from its south pole.

Enceladus has produced a series of major discoveries that mean it is now considered one of the most promising places to find life beyond Earth.

Scientists say it has an ocean beneath its icy crust.

What is more, the conditions in this global body of liquid water could be benign enough to support microbial organisms.

"Enceladus is not just an ocean world - it's a world that might provide a habitable environment for life as we know it," said Cassini program scientist Curt Niebur, in a media briefing on Monday.

"On Wednesday we'll plunge deeper into that magnificent plume coming from the South Pole than ever before. And we will collect the best sample ever from an ocean beyond earth."