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For those of us who revel in the place where science and humour intersect, the Ig Nobel Prizes never disappoint. Now in their 35th year, these satirical awards celebrate research that “makes people laugh, then think” – the kind of unusual, imaginative, and sometimes wildly impractical discoveries unlikely to pass muster at those other awards  in Stockholm. Founded in 1991 by Marc Abrahams – then editor of the   Journal of Irreproducible Results  and later co-founder of the An

For a few weeks in the summer of 2023, solid-state physics was one of the hottest trending topics on the internet (yes, really !). Social media was flooded with videos of what looked like a small piece of metal levitating above a magnet. Commentators proclaimed that this magical-looking phenomenon was about to change the world in ways we could barely imagine. This floating metal was said to represent a scientific breakthrough more than a century in the making. The “holy gra

If you ever land a job interview with Peter Thiel – the tech entrepreneur and billionaire investor behind some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names – brace yourself for one big question:   What important truth do very few people agree with you on?   It’s a tricky question, no doubt, but it offers an intriguing insight into what Thiel values, as he explains in his 2014 bestseller Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future:   This question sounds easy […] actually,

Innovation can be a high-stakes tightrope walk. Successful companies must continually refine and enhance their existing products to stay ahead – this is called sustaining innovation . But sometimes, a new and unexpected disruptive innovation will   sneak in and rewrite the rules entirely. When this happens, even industry leaders can fall down.  It’s a pattern we see play out time and again. Kodak, once the world’s leading photography company, failed to keep pace with the adve

NASA’s Artemis program is about to send humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.  Or is it? Artemis was set to make history by landing the first woman and first person of colour on the lunar surface. It aimed to lay the groundwork for a permanent Moon base, which some see as key to eventually reaching Mars. But amid political upheaval in the US, the future of Artemis now looks precarious. Might NASA be about to take a giant detour and head straight for the

Since Alexander Fleming stumbled upon penicillin nearly a century ago, antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives. They’re so widely used that it’s easy to forget that they’re among the most revolutionary medical breakthroughs in history. But we now face a grave problem: they’re becoming less effective and may soon stop working altogether. This is because bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant. Does this rise of “superbugs” threaten to return us to an era of u

“There’s more space in your life than you think!” Next year, NASA will send humans back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. And there’s good reason to believe that this new era of space exploration might benefit us in more ways than we realise. In a recent   video  we looked at NASA’s Artemis program. Should we be excited? Well, if you are someone who gets slightly giddy at the prospect of lunar colonies and humans making it to Mars – absolutely! But you don

From space travel to smartphones, many of today’s groundbreaking inventions first appeared in fiction.  But beyond predicting new technologies, science fiction can tell us something much more important. It invites us to imagine not just what’s possible, but the kind of future we want to create.  Here’s my short explainer on the subject: Predicting the future I’m going to take an educated guess that your introduction to many of today’s technological marvels came from the film

What does 2025 have in store for us gadget fanatics? A special blend of nostalgia and innovation, it would seem… This year, innovation is shaping up to be less about flashy breakthroughs and more about revisiting and refining what we already know – sometimes with a surprising twist. From breathing new life into old gadgets with AI enhancements to embracing the minimalist charm of less-is-more tech, 2025 promises a captivating blend of the familiar and the futuristic. Think ge

So the moment has finally arrived for AI to receive the Apple treatment. Marketed as “ AI for the rest of us ” and “personal intelligence right where you need it,” Apple Intelligence will roll out in the UK as part of updates for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac starting in December 2024. By partnering with ChatGPT – one of the most recognised AI interfaces – Apple will combine established expertise and computational power with its own innovative AI features. With AI proving transfo

In a logical world, longer life expectancy would be a reason to celebrate. Yet, the ageing population – marked by more retirees and proportionally fewer workers – has led to a crisis in adult social care systems worldwide. In countries like Japan, Italy, and South Korea, life expectancy now stretches into the mid-80s. But when the care system we’ll rely on in our twilight years is buckling under the strain, it’s hardly a surprise that we’re not all partying like it’s 2099. W

As a kid, if I ever pulled a funny face, I’d get the classic warning: “If the wind changes, you’ll stay like that!" Decades later, that line is still crystal-clear in my memory. While an economic statistic I heard on BBC radio this morning? Already forgotten. Somehow, those early warnings left a mark, cutting deeper than logic or rationality ever could. Now imagine you work in marketing and you really want your message to stick. Would you go for the dry radio stat, or lean in

Despite decades of development and billions invested, Virtual Reality (VR) has struggled to find a place in our daily lives. But with tech giants betting big on the next generation of headsets like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest, could this finally be the moment VR breaks through? Watch my short explainer to find out more: False starts and flops Picture the scene: a revolutionary new VR device transports users into a fully immersive, hyper-realistic world where they can

If you ever need clear evidence of a business's success, look for when its brand name becomes so ingrained in everyday language that it replaces a verb. Not convinced? You can Google it. It’s one of the reasons why many were perplexed by Twitter’s rebranding – millions of us “tweeted” daily, but when was the last time you “Xd”?   This puts Netflix in a rather unique linguistic and cultural, er, position, thanks to the phrase “ Netflix and Chill ” entering the lexicon as far b

“To understand life, we need to understand proteins,” said New Scientist magazine in July 2022. And yet, if we’re being honest, the topic of “protein folding” doesn’t sound all that exciting to most of us. Compare it to black holes, quantum computing or gene editing. You don’t need much prior knowledge of any of these to get a sense that they are thrilling developments at the cutting edge of science. But proteins? Well… To the uninitiated, protein equals nutrition. Important

Have you made the switch to electric yet? One of the challenges preventing more people from adopting electric vehicles is concern over battery life and charging capacity. Often referred to as "range anxiety," this is the fear of whether the car will reach the next charging station in time.   And even if you make it, will the charger actually work? The current charging infrastructure still leaves much to be desired, often forcing drivers to go miles out of their way to find a

Ken Kocienda, a veteran Apple software engineer and designer, played a crucial role in developing the Safari web browser, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. In his 2018 book, Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Job s, he offers an unparalleled insider’s perspective on Apple’s creative processes during this amazing era of breakthrough products. The phrase “creative selection” is Kocienda’s spin on “natural selection,” emphasising how Ap

Rarely does a day go by in recent times without the words "Elon Musk" popping up on our newsfeeds. And, for better or worse, his influence on our lives is unmistakable: Teslas are commonplace, Twitter is now known as "X" and half of all active satellites in orbit right now are from the SpaceX stable. But amongst the controversy surrounding him, there remains a fascinating tale about someone who was prepared to challenge conventional wisdom and refuse to take "no" for an answ

Science can sometimes feel like an abstract concept – something that happens in sealed-off labs full of people in white coats making impressive-sounding discoveries. But what if the workings of science can happen much closer than that? In your town, on your street… in your home?  This isn’t about inviting teams in hazmat suits round for tea (unless you really want to), but instead the idea that science is something that we can all get involved with. An ever-growing number o

Everyone loves a good magic trick. Take mind-reading, for instance. We can enjoy the stagecraft and illusion safe in the knowledge that it isn’t actually possible for someone to pry into our innermost thoughts. But what if it was? We may be on the verge of a technological breakthrough that takes mind-reading from illusion to reality. Brain scanning is one of the wonders of medical science. Its history goes back to 1924 and, over the years, the abstract signals and images coll