How a booze-making machine became an engine for mass communication

Hello, friends!

I’ve not been outside nearly as much as I’d like in recent weeks (when deadlines cluster, I tend to hunker down *flinches at beam of light flickering through blinds*), but I did manage to peel myself away from the desk chair for an unusual exhibition at Birkbeck last Friday.

Otherworldly brings together drawings, paintings and objects that imagine – based on the latest research in astrobiology – what life on other planets and moons might look like. I loved the drawings by Lo Cleary, which depict life around a hydrothermal vent system on an icy moon like Europa or Enceladus.

Otherworldly closes on Friday.

Elsewhere this week, the Royal Astronomical Society hosts another art-science collab, just before Chris Lintott brings us up to date with gravitational wave research. Let’s go!

🍿 online talks and events 🐧

All times are GMT.

Wednesday 4 December

Exploring cosmological phenomena: an artist’s perspective, hybrid event by the Royal Astronomical Society, 17.30, free: Artist Ione Parkin discusses the Creativity and Curiosity project, where visual artists work with astrophysicists, cosmologists and planetary scientists to create astronomy-inspired artworks. Book by tomorrow (Tuesday 3).

Black holes and bangs, hybrid lecture by Gresham College, 19.00, free: Professor Chris Lintott discusses what we’ve learnt from our detection of gravitational waves – ripples through spacetime caused by the collision of massive objects such as black holes – and tells us how gold is made.

🔭 in a sky near you… 🌟

Jupiter at its brightest: On Saturday (7 December) just before 9pm, Jupiter will reach opposition, that sweet spot where it appears its largest and brightest. Find Orion’s belt low in the southeastern sky at about 9 and look about a thumb-to-little-finger span (at arm’s length) above it to find the golden nugget of Jupiter.

👀 closer to Earth 🐦

Ooh, aren’t you a wag? What’s that sprightly little black and white bird with a long nodding tail that won’t quit? It’s probably a wagtail, often seen near water and gathering in large roosts in the winter. I’m particularly fond of them as they’re one of the first species I learnt to really notice – this city girl only really saw pigeons, parakeets and the odd raven before. (It was a sadder time.)

Why the wagging? According to Discover Wildlife, there are a few ideas – it might be to flush out insect prey, or to signal their alertness to predators.

💫 we need answers

Last week I asked:

I’ve posted five clues on Bluesky if you’d still like to have a go. As for the answer…

The machine in question is a wine press, which became an engine for mass communication after Johannes Gutenberg adapted its design to create… a printing press.

Um, actually: Although Gutenberg is widely credited with inventing the printing press in 1436, there had been woodblock printing in China since the 9th century, and the first book made using moveable type was printed in Korea in 1377.

Show your working: I lifted the wording for this question from Steven Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From. Given the themes covered in the book, I’m thinking he’d be ok with that.

🤔 until next week…

As we’ve recently welcomed a wave of new readers (hi!), I feel ok reaching into the archive for this one:

Add a ‘g’ to me and I shine like the Moon. Add a ‘u’ to me and I glow like the Sun. Add an ‘s’ to me and I become deadly. What am I?

Answer comes next week. See you then! x