Whta??!

There's been something playing on my mind this weekend that I just can't get over... I can't understand how there is a flaw in this simple but contradictory maths.You see the problem is this:

A third times 3 is clearly 1 whole right? But then when you convert a third to its decimal equivalent it is 0.3 recurring. Now multiply 0.3 recurring by 3 and you will get 0.9 recurring. Surely it should be 1?! Now I see that 0.9 recurring can be rounded to one without losing much accuracy but it is still incorrect to say that 0.9 recurring is equal to 1, right? Right? Oh my goodness... My stupid calculator messed it up because it converts everything into fractions! I wonder what my old calculator would have done...

Career Update

I seem to have gone to about a million open day/lecture course/interview days at universities and so have met a fair few university undergraduates. None of these, at least none who I though to ask, have any idea what they 'want to be when they grow up'. To be honest this has made me feel much better and more comfortable with the fact that I have absolutely no idea either! It kind of feels like I'll just do whatever comes along. But with all this university decisions it feels like I should have some idea so that I can make a decision.

I feel like going Medical Physics would be a good idea. I mean the measure of a discoveries significance in my mind always seems to be how many lives it has saved. I've always thought of medicine as a noble career choice but have known that I'm by no means cut out to be a doctor. Therefore medical physics is perfect right? I don't have to cut people open but I can make a real difference in peoples lives. It feels nice to have goals. Except don't make me choose a particular part of Medical Physics, come on one step at a time guys!

Deciding decisions is distressing

I went to see Warwick on Wednesday but have been dreading writing this post and so have left it a few days. For a couple of weeks now I have delayed the inevitable decision making in regards to my firm choice of university course because 'it wouldn't be fair to decide without seeing Warwick' but now I have and I don't want to decide...

By the end of Wednesdays trip mostly all I could confidently say was that the campus was lovely and Warwick is closer. If I'm completely honest the distance is important to me. I'm not sure if this should be an important decision factor but the lunch with undergraduates at Warwick was so awkward it was almost painful! Worse than the one at Nottingham...


If life were easy I guess I would just scoop up the Nottingham physics department and put them in the middle of Warwick university but since that can't happen I'm supposed to make an actual decision... The one on one tutor meeting at Nottingham was something quite special that really made me feel relaxed and comfortable and like I was already at the university... I want to go to Nottingham!! But Warwick was all shiny and new and there was an actual climbing room and they have really exciting labs... I want to go to Warwick!!


So that I can take an extra long time making a decision I have started a complex colour coordinated table full of information about each university. Actually the research has been really useful because I hadn't realised but to stay on the main campus at Nottingham it is all catered accommodation whereas Warwick is all self catered. I don't really know what I'd prefer. On the one hand, self catered seems cheaper, healthier with more freedom but the catered is easier, quicker and maybe actually better as I won't be getting takeaways, eating out or having a diet of only biscuits due to laziness...

I can't tell if this is an instinct to root for the underdog but in most of the rows Warwick seems to be winning and I give a little mental cheer every time Nottingham wins. So what is that? Just to further complicate things my fortune cookie on Friday told me 'wherever you go, go with all your heart'.

I also seem to be spending an extraordinary amount of time day dreaming about actually going to either university! It has to be said that this has helped a little but basically just shown me that I would be perfectly happy at either, which although is a lovely thought it is completely unhelpful in decision making... Shall I just flip a coin??! Gahhh...

I love the internet!

So I signed up to a new blog thing, I probably have a problem with signing up for things to be honest but today has been a good day for it! I signed up for a theory test and started student finance! Its just so fun! Anyway I'm supposed to make a post with is thingy in and see what happens?!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Oh cool, its just a linky thing, and now I'm all set! It just seems to make following and finding blogs a little easier, I like it!

So far I found this really funny post about how different types of physics can be like different partners that you have relationships with, theres a male version and a female version. String theory made me laugh so much! Because its one of the only jokes I actually got, I can't wait to understand the other half!

I also found this page where they discuss the science of an Agatha Chistie novel which I found interesting because I had a whole Agatha Christie phase a few years ago but didn't even notice all the different poisons. I didn't know that Christie was a member of the royal society of apothacaries and so have a new level of respect for her. I mean she passed a test to be a member, wrote 65 fantastic books but the pinacle of her career has got to be that doctor who episode about her, giant wasp and all! Thats when you know you've made it

Imperial interview

Today was my interview at imperial and it was quite a nice day except for the actual interview part!

I got a little lost on the way there but easily got back on track after getting on the wrong train! So I ended up still being on time but was the last one there nonetheless which is pretty awful when you consider that I live the closest out of the 10 others there, one girl was from Denmark! What am I saying, one girl? I mean the only other girl...

We had a tour which was very nice and showed how close lots of things are even though it's a city but also showed how busy it is. I don't particularly like the idea of having to fight for a desk in the library!

Then we had lunch which was free and yummy and only a little awkward. The other people were really friendly and I actually spoke to most of them. Particularly the Irish guys cause they have cool accents! And of course the girl because that's what happens in physics, us girls stick together!

Then we had a meeting as a group and a department tour with an academic and she was lovely! It gave us a chance to relax before the interview although that didn't stop me getting flustered with my negatives but I'll come to that in a second... We snuck into the back of a 3rd year lecture and from what I could gather it was about particle physics and for some reason when something is to do with z and w bosons the mass has to be massive? So yeah very educational!! We also got to see the labs and talk about experiments which surprisingly got me super excited.

Then came the interview! Well no, first came the wait while another guy had an interview and then came the interview! The wait was actually quite enjoyable, I just got to chat about physics with a guy in a heavy metal band, something I've never done before and can now cross off the list!!

In the interview I got to talk about MRI, Tesla and endoscopes, I totally didn't mean to mention medical physics so much - I don't know what's wrong with me!! I only quite like it... Then came the questions there was a math and chemistry one but the worst was the physics one. I got in a right mess and started saying rubbish... The question was basically why when I open and close a freezer twice is it harder to open the second time. It's something to do with pressure or something but I said it was the normal reaction force of the gas on the door... I'm so stupid... But I've learnt about interviews a bit? Yeah I basically wasted the day... But the important thing is that I bought a hot chocolate on the way home and found a free marshmallow in it! Loving life :)

News Check

Okay so since my interview is tomorrow but I really already prepared for it when I thought I was going to have an interview yesterday all that's left to do it a last minute news check. Anything could have happened since I checked it in a study period this morning! They could have confirmed the presence of the Higgs field or found living organisms in that mars meteorite or found a way to have superconductors at room temperatures.

Well there's nothing quite that exciting... I found out that they have used 3D printers to make an artificial jaw though! I heard about this in the Steven Hawking's a brave new world programme where they can use a computer to design the exact details of an object an the computer builds the image a layer at a time. Its really good because it can make things lighter, its more economical as there isn't waste from cutting bits away and it is very precise which is particularly important for the jaw in this case. In the article that it also means less time in hospital and make it easier to get used to a new jaw.

This isn't brand new but I found it strange that the space mission to Mars where they were going to drill, take samples and atmospheric measurements is in danger due to the likelihood America pulling out their financial backing as well as their skills increasing. But this is also happening parallel to the meteorite from mars being donated to the Natural History Museum after landing in Morocco last July. I'm looking forward to seeing what studies of this meteorite shows.

Well I guess they'll be all for now, I'll update you tomorrow!

I'm now a Twitterer! Tweeter? Twit? Ahhh, you know...

Near the very end of the exams I signed up to twitter. In the sense of wasting time and feeling slightly more like a stalker of various celebrities such as Olly Murs and the Glee cast as well as my real life friends, particularly the frequent tweeters getting twitter was an awful idea! But then it is so much more interesting that facebook and it is actually educational! Really it is! I'm always getting cool physics things in my feed the only problem is that sometimes I don't have time to read them all! In terms of physics I follow:

1. Alby Reid - his blog was recommended in the physics review
2. Diamond light source
3. iCub
4. Fermilab today
5. Institute of Physics
6. Space weather
7. Simon Singh
8. New scientist
9. CERN
10. NASA
11. and of course - Brian Cox

So I'm @emazingness if you want to follow, as in amazingness but with emma cause that's my name and people call me that because I'm so amazing! Just kidding, no one calls me that... I made it up myself...

And the winner is...

So for all this interview craze I've had to seriously think about what my favourite parts of physics are. I mean its not really an important decision at the moment but it just feels like I should have a favourite so I've made a decision... *drum roll*... At the moment it is definitely....

Please join us after the break!

Sorry too much Xfactor in my life? Well, its particle physics. Maybe you already guessed because I seem to mention it a lot but I hesitated about saying it is my favourite because it can be so damn complicated and seriously frustrating! So here are my reasons;

1. Its damn complicated and seriously frustrating!
2. It was the unit that I most looked forward to on the alevel course, well that and time travel but I'm afraid that's going to be hugely disappointing. All the time I had little clues of particle physics being dropped on physics lecture courses and in random Internet research and I was desperate to get my teeth stuck in and actually understand stuff!
3. Its so exciting at the moment! What with the neutrino debacle and the higs field drama, particle physics is where its at! It all feels so fresh and current

But I fully expect this to change, hopefully as frequently as I discover new things. I would never have thought I would like medical physics but once I got into it, it was so good! Plus it feels like it has so many worthwhile implications. I mean I'm sure that particle physics will lead a revolution one day but medical physics seems ever so Nobel at the moment but maybe that's just because I started reading 'Call the midwife' by Jennifer Worth

A Brave New World

As part of my interview preparation this weekend I watched 4 episodes of 'A brave new world with Steven Hawkings'  and parts of it were really really really interesting! I mean seriously interesting, we're talking adorable baby robots and underground automated road networks here. But then other parts were so mediocre I could barely keep my eyes open - in fact in some cases I didn't even bother trying.

There was quite a bit of biology in there too but I have to admit that some of it was pretty cool. Like they are growing meat. Actual meat to eat from growing muscle tissue. This would be really great in terms of landuse and famine and growing populations and animal cruelty but I don't know if I would actually eat it... I mean I feel a bit uncomfortable eating processed meat as it is. Plus its super expensive at the moment

The cutest thing I saw were these Icubs! At first I felt like I really wanted one and the experience learning software seems pretty incredible plus they look really cute when they smile (well the lights on its face is in a smiling pattern). But then I saw this robot concentrate and its expression was super freaky to be honest! Then I had visions of Irobot as a reality, I mean they are practically named the same thing!! Maybe I watch too many films but honestly I am struggling to see their actual worth. The way the programme presented it was as though there were robot schools where the robots learnt but surely it would only take one to learn and then the memory could be shared between devices? They win points for cute factor even if they are 200,000 euros.

The next best thing was the SNO lab in Canada. Its 2km below ground so that their measurements of neutrinos can be done without interference of cosmic background radiation. Its basically a big bowl of water with millions of sensors to detect interaction within the water. The only problem is that this programme lacked technical depth. I have no idea why they use water because I thought lead was a good material that they usually use because it is very dense which makes nucleus interactions more likely.The presenter was actually allowed inside the bubble chamber and was the first to ever film inside! She was lowered down on a harness and even though she looked completely excited there was also a hint of fear!

My other favourite moment involved the almost crazy level of enthusiasm from my favourite Maggie Pocock in regards to exoplanets and the detection of them using telescopes and the fact that they block signals from distance stars in their orbits.

Informal meeting at Nottingham

I have to admit that for a second there the revision all got too much and I was starting to hate physics. But then  I started getting ready for what I thought was going to be an interview at Nottingham university and I started reading through old posts to try and remember things I had done. It was so much fun, I had completely forgotten some stuff and the reasons to like physics were exactly what I needed! I remembered physics isn't about memorising facts and learning how to write things in the exact right way and cramming every scrap of information from a specification into your head.

So I loved Physics again and now I doubly love Physics! Yesterday was my visit day at Nottingham which was exactly what I needed to shake off this 'ahh, uni is too scary, I want to get in bed and never leave' mood because now I'm super excited and just cannot wait.

It turns out that Nottingham had already decided to give me and offer and predetermined the conditions so the informal meeting with an academic actually was exactly that! It was so relaxed and really friendly and I felt totally comfortable. I realise that they were representing the university but everyone I spoke to yesterday was really friendly and I can completely imagine going there. Plus the fourth year projects sound amazing! The whole lecture, exam system breaks down and your just like a researcher, learning in a really hands on way which would be really hard but so fantastic. And they have loads of medical physics stuff which I discovered in my revision was actually really interesting. Definitely more interesting the second time round, I never really liked it in class!

I definitely got an information overload though! It was all really interesting but at one point it felt like the guides were having a competition over who could say the most interesting facts and it was exhausting! Plus there was a minimum of awkward situations throughout the day, I mean I only threw a pen at one person, had a search party for one button and only had one 'ask pardon 3 times and then just nod then realise what you agreed to and have to backtrack' situation - I'd count that as a success! A great day though but now I have had a change in heart over my first choice... Should probably wait to see Imperial and Warwick though.

Completion

The wall is finished!! I can't quite remember why it was ever called the wall since it is clearly just a load of physics pictures etc. on the side of a door?! I did the best I could to take a picture of it, it was kind of awkward because I couldn't get a good angle to take a picture of it in one go... It's a bit of a frankinsteins monster! In the sense that it is all pieced together, it isn't very much like frankinstiens monster in actual fact...

Extra points if you recognise that awful little sketch as a scene from pirates and the Caribbean...

I've got all sorts on there but the Summer science exhibition seems to be the main contributor. I used little pictures from physics sections of old university prospectus's to fill in some of the small gaps but the only problem is that they weren't labelled and therefore I have absolutely no idea what they are! Ah well, I'll know one day and then I'll be able to feel really successful.

That's an actual xray of a toblerone right there!

Plus a picture that I've been sticking physics stickers on and will continue to do so

A random moon I cut out as a last minute addition just because I could!

You really can't see but that is a poster for the uncaged monkeys who I never got to see even though there was no Oxford interveiw!

However now it is done it feels like I should come out of the closet so to speak and continue my work on a more visible area... I guess I'll have to consider it since I just made my resolution to do whatever I think of all of 10 minutes ago...

The End...? ( sherlock movie reference! )

That which does not kill you, makes you stronger

So I survived my exams! Which pretty much feels like an achievement in itself and I can confirm that at times I actually found myself enjoying geography! Which is most definitely an achievement but don't worry I'm back to hating it again so the world is back in order. It was easy to like geography once I learnt a few things about myself:

1. I need clear goals where I can see obvious improvement to keep me going
2. Finishing something feels much better than giving up and having fun instead
3. The quickest way to my heart is undoubtedly through compulsive stationary use. I mean seriously once the paper clips, coloured flash cards and cute little page tags got involved I was imagining being a geographer my whole life! Sitting on mountains collecting samples in colour coded sample bags or drawing up population models on a huge piece of brightly coloured card, putting in little pins and wrapping string around them to link bits.
4. The less time I have, the more I do
5. I NEED COFFEE
6. Evenings are for sleeping and a quick ten minute nap is such a slippery slope!

And all these things will help me with my physics revision in May for my inevitable resit...

The next orbital period

I had my last 'January' exam today and I am sooooooooo glad it is all over!! I had 7 exams in total and I think I should be okay for about 3 of those.... I hate January modules, I really didn't feel ready.  On my blog list I have written that 'Physics exam = pants' and to be honest that pretty much sums it up! At least its only a month until I know for sure.

Due to my revision frenzy I didn't get to do the whole new year thing which I kind of missed to be honest so I'm just going to do it now! Last year was really great - I mean it really really honestly truly was. I had the best birthday ever and millions of precious little moments with my family and friends throughout the year. Everything seems so precious now because this year everything is going to become so different. I will leave the school I have been at for 7 years and move to a completely new area where I don't know anybody - anybody. This prospect both excites and terrifies me in sudden and nauseating waves.

I have a few resolutions that are supposed to make me a better person or something:

1. Just do it. If I have an idea I'm just going to go for it. I'm fed up of thinking about things I will never ever do!
2. Keep in touch. For real, like the sisterhood of the travelling pants or something! Actually that's an idea I'm going to have to make happen now isn't it?
3. You know how I love to have three things in a list.... I guess it'll just have to be the super cheesy line 'that I'll never forget who I am' or apologise for it or whatever. I'll never change, except maybe I'll change my phone voice...

Oh right, I'm supposed to make everything about physics? Oh... Well in terms of physics this has pretty much been THE year. I mean its the only year where I've actually loved the subject all of the time (exam periods don't count - the pressure muddles my thinking...). I've been to so many places - the diamond light laboratory was the actual best! The royal society summer science exhibition was incredible, all the university visits were pretty inspirational and every physics lesson (well, except the ones after school...) was a joy in itself. I started an actual blog for physics, I mean how mad is that? And next year is going to be incredibly, I'm going to learn about all kinds of awesome in an amazing place! So  guess I should have some kind of physics related resolutions?

1. Never give up. Its going to get seriously tricky at times but well that's why I like it right?
2. Always think 'What would Tesla do?' Brian doesn't work quite so well because in most cases it would only involve dreamily looking into the sky mumbling 'a million million million million million million.... million million'
3. Learn about all the things I thought I'd never understand e.g quantum entanglement and how on earth people come up with this crazy theories!