The future of human space flight should become clear during October, with Nasa’s panel of experts due to report to the White House by the middle of the month. But the whole business has become very murky. The report was rumoured to have been submitted in early September, yet the White House denied receiving it. Its arrival is anxiously awaited, as it is expected to be sceptical about spaceflight programmes—upon which many jobs depend. Then again, there may be little cause for worry. Obama’s advisers are well aware of how popular these things are with the public.
Darwin centenary fatigue has not set in yet. Ongoing highlights include the Natural History Museum’s new Darwin Centre, feted as “the most significant expansion at the museum since it moved to South Kensington in 1881.” Darwin is also the inspiration for the Ballet Rambert’s new show, The Comedy of Change, which comes to Sadler’s Wells in November. Directed by Mark Baldwin, it draws on Darwin’s theory of sexual selection via courtship dances and extravagant visual display—anticipate plenty of peacock strutting.
Darwin is sometimes called biology’s Newton: a dubious accolade, given what an odd man Isaac Newton was. These oddities can be explored at the Royal Society on 6th October, in an event dauntingly titled: “Maths, the Universe and Everything: Inside the Mind of Isaac Newton.” In the evening Rob Iliffe, director of the Newton Project, will open up Newton’s perplexingly diverse musings on alchemy, religion and science. Did they form a unified worldview, or did he want to keep them distinct? Entry is free, but registration is required.
Darwin centenary fatigue has not set in yet. Ongoing highlights include the Natural History Museum’s new Darwin Centre, feted as “the most significant expansion at the museum since it moved to South Kensington in 1881.” Darwin is also the inspiration for the Ballet Rambert’s new show, The Comedy of Change, which comes to Sadler’s Wells in November. Directed by Mark Baldwin, it draws on Darwin’s theory of sexual selection via courtship dances and extravagant visual display—anticipate plenty of peacock strutting.
Darwin is sometimes called biology’s Newton: a dubious accolade, given what an odd man Isaac Newton was. These oddities can be explored at the Royal Society on 6th October, in an event dauntingly titled: “Maths, the Universe and Everything: Inside the Mind of Isaac Newton.” In the evening Rob Iliffe, director of the Newton Project, will open up Newton’s perplexingly diverse musings on alchemy, religion and science. Did they form a unified worldview, or did he want to keep them distinct? Entry is free, but registration is required.
