I’m not sure if there is anything Christmassy about the universe, but I guess the stars can sometimes look like tinsel or baubles floating in the inky depths of space. Following the excellent Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People (marred only by the unexpected – I hadn’t read the small print – and slightly unwanted sales pitch for the New Humanist magazine / credo), here are some links to the Hubble ultra deep field and the known universe in perspective along with the nano scale. Wondrous stuff.

Finally, if you want to be blown away by the Nocebo effect, the paper is available in its full glory.