It’s a bright, frosty Monday morning in late November and I’m sitting in the Berrill Café at the Open University, waiting for Graham. He is stuck in a bit of traffic on the A5. Eventually he makes it and we have a quick coffee and discuss plans for the coming week. Our aim is to…

Let’s face it, a meteorite dropping out of the sky and landing in your garden doesn’t happen very often. In fact, it’s a pretty uncommon event to say the least. You probably have more chance of winning the jackpot on the National Lottery than you have waking up one morning and finding a lump of…

It was a bit of a shock last week to find that the Open University had decided to go all festive. Christmas already! Oh no! Not yet, surely? But yes! In the Berrill Cafe the staff are now wearing pixie hats, Santa is in his grotto and the air is filled with the sound of…

It’s not easy trying to figure out the origin and early evolution of the Solar System using just a bunch of smashed up space rocks. A bit like trying to study an ancient civilization when all you have are a few bits of broken pottery and a rusty broach. Yes, making sense of the meteorite…