Dave

Hello, I have moved temporally from Melbourne to Q’land and still want to receive the information when the Space Station appears, but I’m not sure if the time & directions you send me is to sight the station in Qld

Thanks, Sandy

Hi Sandy
If you mean when you hear me on radio that is specifically for the area the station covers only. There is some good news to help you though. NASA’s Spot the Station service sends you an email or text message a few hours before the space station passes over your house.   Go to: http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ and add your details.

Hi Dave

I don’t know if this is a stupid question but perhaps you can enlighten me! If the universe is expanding, what is the source of the energy to provide the necessary propulsion? The reason why I ask pertains to the search for a propulsion technique. Perhaps the answer is right there in front of us. The problem, as I see it , is duplicating that source of energy in a controlled environment so we can harness it. I understand the Big Bang may have provided the initial force, but surely it is not perpetual. What causes planets to rotate? I will leave you with my thoughts otherwise my brain goes into overdrive:)= Thanks, William

Hi William

Unfortunately that is the $60,000 question… astronomers call it ‘Dark Energy’ because the expansion needs a reference name, but it is a name only. The force is quite unknown to modern physics. Something is making the Universe expand in all directions, probably from a single point at one time, and I guess the best description I can give is ant-gravity???  Yes, a propulsion system like this would enable faster than light travel.

Regards, Dave

Hi Dave,

I was meaning to say for a while now that the new ability to click on a story in your emails and be taken straight to that story, rather than the home page, is a welcome / convenient improvement.

Well done, Alister

Hi Dave

Listening to you on ABC radio this week you said( hope not miss quoting you ) “when the universe was created “  - Is that intelligent design created or another sort of created. Roger Z.

Hi Roger

The statement is generally made to indicate an ‘event’ that started this Universe off. We see an expansion of the universe so…logic dictates that, by reverse extrapolation, winding it all backwards, it must have had a starting point.   It’s science’s way of explaining it all.  Though not necessarily a correct one, it is purely an assumption based on observation.

I make no distinction as to ‘who’ or ‘what’ made it… merely to say ‘it exists’ and was assumedly “created” as I stated.