30 mins read

Death and Secrecy in Ice Valley

The Isdalen valley is an unforgiving place. It sits in the shadow of the largest of a group of mountains overlooking the Norwegian city of Bergen, its rocks whipped bare of grass by bracing winds. Translated literally, Isdalen means ‘the ice valley’, but locals give it a more sinister name – Death Valley, after a string of suicides in the Middle Ages.  This story begins in November 1970. The depths of winter were drawing in; driving rain would soon be giving way to walls of snow and the vegetation in the valley strained to soak up the few hours of daylight that remained in the ever-shortening days.

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Health and Disease

forest covered by smoke

Smokescreen – The Deadly Secret Veiled in Vapour

12 mins read

It all starts with a plume of smoke on the horizon. Wispy and ethereal, the twisting, blooming columns of white and grey belie the danger and devastation to come. Within moments, the plume begins to darken, an orange glow appears

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Matter and Energy

Fission under our feet

A mass spectrometer is a complex mixture of wires, electrodes, metal piping and whirring machinery. Inside, chemical compounds are ionised, accelerated and deflected by powerful electric and magnetic fields, separating

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24 mins read

The Living Head: A Gruesome Curiosity

What does it mean to be dead? Advancing medical science continually challenges our definition. Can we be said to be dead when we stop breathing or if our heart stops? In centuries gone by, perhaps, but in recent decades the technology has been developed to rescue people from the grips of death. One thing though has remained a virtual constant – if we lose our heads, if that amazing brain that makes us who we are is destroyed then we are no more. Throughout history decapitation has represented the most emphatic, most absolute confirmation of death. But is there more

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The Natural World

THE JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME

Atoms, Compounds and Molecules