Jozua van Otterloo's Blog

Imagine what is going on inside the sun! Scientists have been trying to get a glimpse at the interior of the sun without much luck since we cannot send any probes there.

Today we can only use spectroscopy from space telescopes or solar eclipses to guess how it looks like inside our star. It is said that if someone could view a solar eclipse from its core he would see nothing because of the intense radiation there. So let’s learn about 10 secrets about the core of our star!

What is the greatest poem about love? What is the most treasured one throughout the centuries?

You’ll be surprised to know that this poem was not written in a romantic setting. Actually, its original hearers were a bunch of people who could not even look each other in the eye!

Before I share my translation of this ancient poem with you, let’s look at why its author penned it down.

Nearly 2000 years ago a group of ...

How did you get where you are in life right now, and why? And how does it affect the people around you?

Are you adding value to others? Are your life and your work helping you to invest in your relationships?

Just reflect on these personalized questions of how and why. This will help you in living a more fulfilled life, and to enjoy th...

Stranded passengers. Grounded aircraft. Closed airports. The cause: an obscure volcano in Iceland with an unpronounceable name rocked aviation and transport in the Northern Hemisphere.

Now we’re eleven years on, and another volcano in Iceland is spewing hot lava and gasses: Fagradalsfjall of the Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula, not far at all from the capital Reykjavik. But… no flights cancelled, no passengers stranded. What’s the difference? Why could one vo...

Worry grips you. How will we get through that? What if? What can happen? How can I provide?

Worry takes up all your attention. It forces you to think about the big unknown. It puts your focus on the uncertainty of the future and tries to fill in the blanks…

Anxiety of the future, the big What If. Worries, we all experience them from time to time. However, when battling anxiety, worry tries to capture us in a cage of irrational fear of the future. This fear cripples our efforts to face the ...

2020, it certainly hasn’t been a year like many other. How did it fare when it comes to volcanic eruptions? As the news was dominated by many other topics, you could be forgiven for not knowing of any erupting volcanoes over the past year. So, here’s a summary for you.

There have been 67 volcanic eruptions recorded from 63 individual volcanoes over the past year. Of these, 22 eruptions started up in 2020.

So, 45 eruptions had already started before 2020. Some eruptions can last for decades...

Just as when things started to look up, something else happens. Just as a glimmer of hope appears, it fades away in the face of another issue. Pandemic, vaccine, fear. Political crisis, elections, doubt. Disaster, relief, abandonment. A roller coaster drives us through fear, hope and disappointment.

How do we react? How do we respond? How can we manage these conflicting emotions and stay healthy?

How can we keep our relationships healthy? Can we even help others in the face of this global ...

There is a storm raging in the world. A paralyzing and potentially lethal cocktail of a pandemic, rumours, protests and warmongering. Anxiety and uncertainty, both economically and politically, dominate our thoughts, our actions and sometimes our relationships.

How do we act? Do we react? Do we just let it happen? Or can we do something about it? Something that will make a positive change. Something that will help turn the tide.

There are different ways to act; some are better than others....

What is going on in the world? Viruses and pandemics. Political standoffs and limitations of people’s freedoms and rights. Information overload and confusion. Conspiracies, some completely ridiculous, others gaining political and media credentials.

The world was already a messy place, but it seems only to get messier. It’s a pretty scary place if you don’t understand its workings. How institutions work or decisions are made? How biology works and infectious diseases spread? Who to trust, who...

The problem with anxiety is that it’s an internal process. It’s invisible to those around us. As it often flares up for no apparent reason, those around us can’t often tell, or if they can, they can’t understand.

Anxiety forces us into isolation. “They won’t understand me, anyway,” is a thought that easily creeps in. We grow silent as this prison tightens around us.

Anxiety, it’s an irrational fear overload that holds us back in forming and building meaningful relationships. The unknown, t...