Been fitting in a bit of science between the science media shows … went up to Edinburgh last night on the Caledonian Sleeper. I would thoroughly recommend Scotrail’s night train … having been across south west France recently on SNCF‘s version, which is ok as far as it goes, Scotrail win hands down. I woke and ate breakfast just beyond Carstairs, as the rolling hills of South Lanarkshire passed by. They looked absolutely beautiful in the early morning sun. And Edinburgh Waverley Station’s ironwork shone bright.
A very interesting meeting at the Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions occupied my morning, discussing the possibilities for neutron scattering studies of matter at high pressures and temperatures into the next decade or more, especially resulting from the planned European Spallation Source in Sweden. And then south once more.
But I am getting ahead of myself. What of the end of last week at the beeb? I spent a Thursday interviewing folk at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition and at the Science Museum. Unfortunately the Marantz Recorder I was using conspired against me, and technical failures (on my part) led to a worthless day of work with little useful material obtained.
In the meantime I have been building a couple of stories that may appear in the coming week, with plenty of telephone interviews and data gathering. This will involve my first “outside broadcast” on Monday, when I attempt to go out and get some radio beyond the immediate vicinity of New Broadcasting House.
Meanwhile, back at HQ, the Dark Matter and Dark Energy piece will appear once more, this time in World Service’s “The Science Hour” tomorrow …
a flatlander's tale 