11 February

The Northern Lights in Tromso

The Northern Lights in Tromso

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS PUBLICATION: IRISH INDEPENDENT (TRAVEL) EDITOR: MARY O’SULLIVAN The 21st of January is a special sort of day in Tromsø.  In each of the local schools, the children get together to sing traditional songs and bake little cakes called ‘sonbolle’, a sugar pastry filled with raspberry jam.  This celebration isn’t religious or historical; […]

18 February

Life on Mars?

Jonathan McCrea Life on Mars (Main) Publication: Irish Times Growing up on a small farm in Kildare, Joe Roche spent many clear nights gazing at the stars, dreaming of becoming an astronaut. He couldn’t have known that 20 years later, he would be undergoing a medical examination as part of the selection process for a […]

24 November

A Week with the Xbox One: Hands On Review

As Christmas rolls around once more, it is time for another clash of the consoles.  This week, both Sony and Microsoft showed off their new products.  A review of the PS4 will follow when we get our hand on the box. First things first.  I’m a huge fan of Xbox and have been a proud […]

28 August

An Open Letter to Tim Cook, Apple CEO

Dear Tim, Firstly, I hope you don’t mind me addressing you like that, it seems that you are the face of Apple and if we were speaking face to face I’m sure you’d insist that I not call you Mr. Cook.  Also, Mr. Cook sounds like an ill-judged Mr.Men/Breaking Bad crossover.  Let me also state […]

9 June

Here Comes the Science Bit: An Interview with Dara O’Briain

Watching Dara O’Briain attempt to cross the packed Green Room at this week’s Cheltenham Science Festival, it was impossible not to be reminded of the analogy that CERN scientists came up to explain that infamous particle, the Higgs Field.  It goes something like this:  Imagine a famous person suddenly appears at a busy party.  As […]