Luke Drury
An artist’s rendering of the merger of two neutron stars. Image: Robin Dienel/The Carnegie Institution for Science via The New York Times
Space . . . a new frontier is announced

A collision of two neutron stars, 130 million light years away, has opened up “a new window on the Universe”. The spectacular event which occurred on (...)

The Astro-H satellite after a perfect launch from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre. Contact has been lost with the satellite.
Irish-based researchers lament failed satellite mission

A satellite mission that had significant involvement from researchers in Dublin has failed after its solar panels broke, cutting off its electricity s(...)

EO Wilson and Richard Dawkins: had a disagreement about evolution
Unthinkable: How can scientists disagree on basic ‘facts’?

Academic spats make great spectator sport. Take the evolutionarily sparring contest between Richard Dawkins and EO Wilson, which centres on how natur(...)

Steorn CEO Shaun McCarthy with the company’s “everlasting/self-charging” battery whose technology could be adapted to power smartphones in about a year. (Photograph: Eric Luke / The Irish Times) Steorn chief executive Shaun McCarthy with the company’s “everlasting/self-charging” battery, whose technology could reportedly be adapted to power smartphones in about a year. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
Fact or fiction: Irish firm invents everlasting battery

When he bribes the golden-ticket winning children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur Slugworth wants just one thing: the ever-lasting gobsto(...)

Prof Luke Drury, president of the Royal Irish Academy, who won the Young Scientist of the Year in 1969. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons
Former winners reflect on the Young Scientist Exhibition

In a long career, Royal Irish Academy president Professor Luke Drury has amassed no shortage of scientific accolades so it’s a measure of the esteem i(...)

Illustration: Dearbhla Kelly
The Border: smart or dumb?

Prof Luke Drury’s challenge to people to think as “engaged citizens in a smart society” in 21st-century Ireland has interesting implications for how w(...)

What is smart? What is society?

The ‘Irish Times’ Blueprint for a Smarter Society begins today. The initiative was inspired by a speech this summer by Prof Luke Drury, president of t(...)