Eighty years ago today, a young American astronomer discovered tiny Pluto. Clyde Tombaugh was searching for a predicted ‘Planet X’ that might explain oddities in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus. Tombaugh spent months painstakingly photographing the same sections of sky and studying the images with a blink comparator. On 18 Feburary 1930, he noticed that on photographs taken a few nights apart that January, one ‘star’ had moved, indicating that it was actually a nearby object moving against the fixed […]
Our world-class collection forms an enduring record of scientific, technological and medical achievements from across the globe. Come behind the scenes as we explore new object acquisitions and meet the conservation team.
A few months ago, I showed you two ship models on show in our maritime galleries, both called Savannah. The 1818 version was the first steamship to cross an ocean (even though she did so mostly under sail power)… …while her 1959 namesake was the world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship. The first nuclear ship was a naval submarine, USS Nautilus, launched in 1954, with British equivalents following a few years later, such as HMS Resolution. The latest British nuclear boat, HMS Astute, […]
Space Curator Doug Millard reminisces about the day the public was able to get up close to the Apollo 10 command module.
David Rooney discusses even more history of the lighthouse.
David Rooney takes a closer look at the lighthouse and its role in sailor’s final approach to port.
David Rooney recaps ‘Time and the Moon’, a Science Museum event hosted by the BBC’s science correspondent, Pallab Ghosh.
David Rooney takes a closer look at crystal controlled marine chronometers.
Keeper of Technology and Engineering, David Rooney, celebrates 125 years since bicycles took the form that we know today.
Alison Boyle, Keeper of Science Collections, says goodbye to The International Year of Astronomy 2009.
Keeper of Technology and Engineering, David Rooney, takes a closer look at Waterloo Station by Terence Cuneo.
Alison Boyle, Keeper of Science Collections, celebrates Galileo Galilei’s discovery of Jupiter’s moons.
David Rooney, Keeper of Technology and Engineering, celebrates the anniversary of the first Channel crossing in a balloon.