- New favourite scientist /change of opinion - Since I haven't really found any scientist to replace Tesla, I mean that is going to take some beating! However in regards to changing opinions, I have constantly been changing my mind about which university to go to! I have now made up my mind on Nottingham as made official in this post and looking back I always liked but there was a lot of chop and change inbetween!
- Coolest picture / coolest thing I did - the coolest picture I have made HAS to be this one, although it certainly doesn't win any prizes for the most realistic! However the coolest thing that I have done must be starting this world trip series because it feels good to get it out of my head!
- Funniest post - the fact that I am struggling to think of this one is quite a worry... although anyone that knows me will concur that I am not a funny person! I suppose the Brian Cox mask is what gave me the most laughs.
- Favourite experiment / excuse to mention a favourite person - There haven't been a lot of experiments but I suppose that I have to say the most recent minstrel in hot chocolate experiment since i think I am still riding out the sugar rush! The best excuse to mention a non physics favourite person has got to be that post about Olly Murs!
- Most interesting factual post - I suppose this is the one that I found most interesting whilst writing. It was about making music from radioactive patterns and was a completely new concept to me and I wanted to show it to everyone!
Friday 13 April 2012
200th post!
I made it through another 100 posts! Well I will have by the end of this post. To follow tradition I will now proceed to list my favourite blogs this 100 under the following categories (although the categories aren't particularly well defined since they are a slight after thought!):
Top hat trumps
Ages and ages ago I said that I would make top trump cards for all the physicists that i came across but I only made one for Nikola Tesla and forgot about it all. So today I have added cards for:
- Harold Edgerton who developed stroboscopic photography which I have already discussed here.
- Isambard Brunnel who was in my 'reading about science' book as a great engineer who allowed giant steam powered boats to be built. And I mean, just look at that hat!
- Clerk Maxwell developed colour photography and the electromagnetic spectrum, by linking light with other forms of radiation. I found him in a magazine from a Kings university London magazine here.
- Dorothy Hodgkin is one of the scientists that I had never heard of before reading this article in the new scientist. I said that I had a lot to learn and now I have learnt. She did a lot of work using Xrays
- Andrei Sakarov is the other scientist I did not know but now I did. He developed thermonuclear devices and later became a human rights activist
Twitterness
On twitter today there was pure gold! Firstly CERN posted this website which just made me grin. It's all about this gnome that is being sent all around the world and having pictures taken in different physics related places. In each place the gnome is weighed and its to show that gravity isn't uniform around the world. The most interesting place was the SNO lab where it is underground and so was 1.03g less than it was in London. Aside from the fact that I'm jealous of a ceramic gnome, I did pick up some places for the world trip! I also follow 'omgfacts' which aren't always sciency but this one was! Its a bit weird though. Its about using human hair instead of silicon in a solar panel because of the static electricity. Which kind of makes my skin crawl but then it just seems super cool because human hair is just here. But then there must be some kind of problem with it because it was originally reported in the Mail in 2009. It would be cool though!
And then lastly NASA posted this image of the day and it just made me laugh because they all look so uncomfortable. They are the three men that were on Apollo 13 which was described as a successful failure because the oxygen tank ruptured but a lot was learnt in the rescue mission. And then I just really wanted the moon globe! I found 2 on Amazon, one was £70 and the other was £8 but I didn't get either because I decided I'd regret it later!
Ways to amuse myself
Today is day two of my physics revision this holiday and progress seems to have slowed. Considerably... However I have developed a new game! What you do is this:
In other physics revision news I have started a revision wall invovling diagrams on coloured card. And since penguins are easier to draw than people and there is a whole unit about fairground rides, I naturally have a penguin on a swing on my wall. As you do.
- Type the name 'emma' repeatedly without spaces. This is because thats my name and I find the double m particularly good to write (this part of the game is both challenging at high speeds and sounds like you are on a roll with writing revision notes!)
- Then you hit the backspace bar and hold it down. Take your finger off of the key. The point of the game is to release the backspace key at a point between an a and an e.
In other physics revision news I have started a revision wall invovling diagrams on coloured card. And since penguins are easier to draw than people and there is a whole unit about fairground rides, I naturally have a penguin on a swing on my wall. As you do.
Eastertide
So it was Easter at the weekend!
We went to my uncles for Easter as usual and he always sets up a treasure hunt. This year we moved to a new level with a traditional hunt followed by a personalised code to find a password and a contact name. Mine was an alphabet, number code followed by a Fibonacci division number code. It took me a long time. With assistance. But I think it was fun? The kind that is fun in hindsight!
For me the rest of Easter involves church and chocolate. And since the miracles of Easter seem beyond our current knowledge of physics I propose a new chocolate related experiment with the aim to find the perfect time for which to leave a minstrel in a cup of hot chocolate. The perfect time being defined as allowing the chocolate to melt to an ideal amount as defined by me and not leading to a loss of flavour or break down of outer shell. I can tell that I'm going to enjoy this.
Although there are several challenges faced in this experiment.
My results showed that until 70s the centre still remained firm. However at 70s it was soft through but the shell had began to discolour although it was still hard. By 90s the shell had completely discoloured and by 170s the shell was far too thin and had begun to split.
70-80s is the optimum time immersed in the hot chocolate mix described above. However it does require quite a lot of patience!
We went to my uncles for Easter as usual and he always sets up a treasure hunt. This year we moved to a new level with a traditional hunt followed by a personalised code to find a password and a contact name. Mine was an alphabet, number code followed by a Fibonacci division number code. It took me a long time. With assistance. But I think it was fun? The kind that is fun in hindsight!
For me the rest of Easter involves church and chocolate. And since the miracles of Easter seem beyond our current knowledge of physics I propose a new chocolate related experiment with the aim to find the perfect time for which to leave a minstrel in a cup of hot chocolate. The perfect time being defined as allowing the chocolate to melt to an ideal amount as defined by me and not leading to a loss of flavour or break down of outer shell. I can tell that I'm going to enjoy this.
Although there are several challenges faced in this experiment.
- The subjective element of perfect melt levels - I decided that only my opinion matters
- Temperature control since the hot chocolate should stay at the same temperature for all the trials - I decided to immerse all the minstrels simultaneously and have a frenzied fish out, eat and record every 10 seconds
- A limit on the number of trials since I don't want to feel too sick - just 10 to begin and use skimmed milk.
- Mouth burns - half water, half milk
My results showed that until 70s the centre still remained firm. However at 70s it was soft through but the shell had began to discolour although it was still hard. By 90s the shell had completely discoloured and by 170s the shell was far too thin and had begun to split.
70-80s is the optimum time immersed in the hot chocolate mix described above. However it does require quite a lot of patience!
Thursday 5 April 2012
Destination: Masdar city
I hate that I first discovered this location while studying ecotowns in geography but it is a physics place since I rediscovered it while watching a brave new world! Masdar City is near Abu Dabi in the United Arab Emirates and I am about to get super technical now and try to embed a map?
Wow, I hope you are suitable impressed!
To be honest visiting Masda City seems the most realistic way to visit the future. It will be the first zero carbon, zero waste city which is quite an impressive title to own. Because they have built the city from scratch they have been able to implement an incredible infrastructure. There is an automated underground network of electric cars. This means that there will be no traffic congestion to ruin the landscape, no exhaust pollution, traffic accidents and make it much safer form pedestrians. And of course the eletricity is generated from sustainable, renewable sources. Plus they look completely awesome!
There are also lots of other innovative ways to make it such a sustainable city. For example it gets very very hot in this part of the world (feel free to look at the map again!) and so to air condition the streets they have this huge wind tunnel thing to get the wind from higher up and funnel it into the streets.
The only problem is that it isn't quite finished yet... Its planned to be finished by 2016 but you know these things hardly ever seem to finish on time so I won't book my plan ticket just yet! Or maybe that time machine would be handy after all... However James Cameron has visited (he made movies like Avatar and Titanic though I don't see why that means that he gets to go there... sorry that's just my jelousy talking!).
And the Masdar institute, is up and running and the university students are the first to live in the city. Why isn't there a leaflet for that in the careers library at school?! they don't have a physics degree programme as of yet but I may even have been tempted to take a material science course to go there!
Wow, I hope you are suitable impressed!
To be honest visiting Masda City seems the most realistic way to visit the future. It will be the first zero carbon, zero waste city which is quite an impressive title to own. Because they have built the city from scratch they have been able to implement an incredible infrastructure. There is an automated underground network of electric cars. This means that there will be no traffic congestion to ruin the landscape, no exhaust pollution, traffic accidents and make it much safer form pedestrians. And of course the eletricity is generated from sustainable, renewable sources. Plus they look completely awesome!
The only problem is that it isn't quite finished yet... Its planned to be finished by 2016 but you know these things hardly ever seem to finish on time so I won't book my plan ticket just yet! Or maybe that time machine would be handy after all... However James Cameron has visited (he made movies like Avatar and Titanic though I don't see why that means that he gets to go there... sorry that's just my jelousy talking!).
And the Masdar institute, is up and running and the university students are the first to live in the city. Why isn't there a leaflet for that in the careers library at school?! they don't have a physics degree programme as of yet but I may even have been tempted to take a material science course to go there!
Tv Scientist vs. Researcher
I read the first line of an article debating this in Eureka and decided to have a go at it before my head is full of their ideas.
On the one hand practising scientists are more important. Without their work the scientist super stars would having nothing to report. Actually in many ways without the previous work of practising scientists in the development of printing techniques, radio communications as well as televisions and the various camera and computer technologies connected to this, the TV scientists job would literally be impossible. But maybe that's taking it all a little too far... Scientists make cutting edge research that can advance the human race, how can you possible fault the work of genius that will save lives or revolutionise them.
On the other hand scientists in the media are more important. This is because by showing people really cool really useful work, the work can get attention and then comes funding so that the work can progress and get even better. It is also important to show people how wonderful science is and encourage them to want to contribute to this. Without science programmes and other forms of media, a lot of people would not be exposed to the wonders of science other than inside a classroom which is not the ideal learning environment for some people. Why should science only be for official scientists? Sharing knowledge is an important job.
Actually the article raised many of the same points as me. However there was a really good example in support of the TV science stars. Dr Evan Harris argued that Andrew Wiles proof of Fermat's Theorem is only well known due to Simon Singhs book about it and this is a very good point since that is the way that I learnt about it. Dame Athene Donald just gave examples of TV scientists that I had never heard of which proved her point that their lifetime is short. But it would have had more impact if I recognised any of the practising scientists names... I really have so much to learn!
On the one hand practising scientists are more important. Without their work the scientist super stars would having nothing to report. Actually in many ways without the previous work of practising scientists in the development of printing techniques, radio communications as well as televisions and the various camera and computer technologies connected to this, the TV scientists job would literally be impossible. But maybe that's taking it all a little too far... Scientists make cutting edge research that can advance the human race, how can you possible fault the work of genius that will save lives or revolutionise them.
On the other hand scientists in the media are more important. This is because by showing people really cool really useful work, the work can get attention and then comes funding so that the work can progress and get even better. It is also important to show people how wonderful science is and encourage them to want to contribute to this. Without science programmes and other forms of media, a lot of people would not be exposed to the wonders of science other than inside a classroom which is not the ideal learning environment for some people. Why should science only be for official scientists? Sharing knowledge is an important job.
Actually the article raised many of the same points as me. However there was a really good example in support of the TV science stars. Dr Evan Harris argued that Andrew Wiles proof of Fermat's Theorem is only well known due to Simon Singhs book about it and this is a very good point since that is the way that I learnt about it. Dame Athene Donald just gave examples of TV scientists that I had never heard of which proved her point that their lifetime is short. But it would have had more impact if I recognised any of the practising scientists names... I really have so much to learn!
Derby hall?
I just got my confirmation email through to say what accommodation I have been allocated! I will be in....
DERBY HALL!!
Derby hall? Yeah, it didn't mean anything to me either so I started some research and found this website that has 360 views outside the hall and inside the dining room and common room and bar and it all looks lovely! I mean from what I can see but that isn't a lot... But theres grass?! plus the pictures are from 2003... And every time I look at the picture of the shared study room it seems to get even smaller.... Ahhhhh! Starting to worry!! Gosh I can't just be excited for 10 seconds... Apparently its a party hall though!
Also, apparently its pronounced darby... Why do I always pronounce things the wrong way?!
DERBY HALL!!
Derby hall? Yeah, it didn't mean anything to me either so I started some research and found this website that has 360 views outside the hall and inside the dining room and common room and bar and it all looks lovely! I mean from what I can see but that isn't a lot... But theres grass?! plus the pictures are from 2003... And every time I look at the picture of the shared study room it seems to get even smaller.... Ahhhhh! Starting to worry!! Gosh I can't just be excited for 10 seconds... Apparently its a party hall though!
Also, apparently its pronounced darby... Why do I always pronounce things the wrong way?!
Magic?
I was searching through my science dump app again and this time I found this video which is pretty impressive! It is a magic show using Ipads and I really enjoyed it, especially the robot bit!
Except I realise that it isn't exactly physics related... But it sort of is? I mean science and technology are always linked together. If it weren't for our scientific knowledge technology like the Ipad could not exist. But then in turn it is also important to remember that technology like the Ipad can then help develop our scientific knowledge. I read somewhere about various apps developed to use on Ipads for data collection and also the sensors used in the Xbox connect console but I can't find it...
Except I realise that it isn't exactly physics related... But it sort of is? I mean science and technology are always linked together. If it weren't for our scientific knowledge technology like the Ipad could not exist. But then in turn it is also important to remember that technology like the Ipad can then help develop our scientific knowledge. I read somewhere about various apps developed to use on Ipads for data collection and also the sensors used in the Xbox connect console but I can't find it...
Wednesday 4 April 2012
Pretty Physics
In my clear out the other day I found a book called 'Reading about Physics' which seems an odd title and it is really for children so hardly goes into any depth at all but since I didn't read about Physics as a child it doesn't seem too strange to do it now. Anyway it is quite interesting and in the 'watching things move' chapter Dr Harold Edgertons work was referenced in regard to stroboscopic photography.
This picture is my favourite! It is a bullet passing through an apple. Pretty cool huh?
It works like this. All the lights are turned off and the shutter of the camera is left open. Any light that is reflected will be shown on the film. Then a strobe light flashes at a certain frequency and this produces an image that shows the movement because only when the strobe light is on is the image built on. This is really good because it allows us to see things that are normally too fast.
For example this has been useful in biology by calculating the speeds of a hummingbirds wings and the flight patterns of the Luna moth.
Also in sport it is interesting to look at technique and make improvements. This is a back dive and the larger the gaps between the feet shows a period of faster speed.
And of course in art, this picture titled the Coronet was included in the Museum of Modern arts first photography exhibition. It is a drop of milk hitting a red plate which is so simple and yet very effective. This also demonstrates another field studied by this technique, surface tension. It is also an opportunity to quote Dr Harold Edgerton, he said “There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ result or a complete study of a phenomenon. For example, although I’ve tried for years to photograph a drop of milk splashing on a plate with all the coronet’s points spaced equally apart, I have never succeeded.”
There's this wonderful website all about Dr Harold Edgertons work, his life and what a wonderful person he was. He has been added to my list!
This picture is my favourite! It is a bullet passing through an apple. Pretty cool huh?
For example this has been useful in biology by calculating the speeds of a hummingbirds wings and the flight patterns of the Luna moth.
Also in sport it is interesting to look at technique and make improvements. This is a back dive and the larger the gaps between the feet shows a period of faster speed.
And of course in art, this picture titled the Coronet was included in the Museum of Modern arts first photography exhibition. It is a drop of milk hitting a red plate which is so simple and yet very effective. This also demonstrates another field studied by this technique, surface tension. It is also an opportunity to quote Dr Harold Edgerton, he said “There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ result or a complete study of a phenomenon. For example, although I’ve tried for years to photograph a drop of milk splashing on a plate with all the coronet’s points spaced equally apart, I have never succeeded.”
Destination: 200million years ago
The world trip has suffered a slight set back as I have had a mental block on places. Somehow I woke up in the middle of the night a few nights ago thinking that Jurassic park would be a good place to visit. This thought was followed by the question 'which country is Jurassic park?' and then 'Dinosaurs are so pretty'. Yeah, 3 o'clock in the morning isn't the best time for me... In the morning I decided that time travelling or visiting fictional places and surviving giant ferocious animals that are likely to eat me was taking the imaginative element of this too far... But then I realised that there are no rules and I can do whatever I want!
The film/book is actually centred around an Island near Costa Rica where genetic scientists have cloned dinosaurs to create an amusement park. But I would rather go back in time to when there really were dinosaurs.
I would love to see what the world was like then. I mean we don't even really know how big the biggest dinosaur is because the bigger a dinosaur is the less likely it is that it will all have been fossilised. I found the top ten biggest dinosaurs so far but even when I read that one of them was measured 120 feet from head to tail, I can't even imagine it. The thought of what nature can create will never fail to amaze me. And I want to see it. All of it!
Of course, I will take suitable precautions such as a space suit for example. This is important since we don't know exactly what the atmosphere was like back then right? I don't want to get radiated or be unable to control my temperature or not get enough oxygen and actually it could be very important to contain whatever bacteria I may be carrying since I don't want to change the course of history... Then of course I will need on invisibility cloak, scent disguiser and silencer so that I am undetectable and won't be eaten... You may be thinking that this is too far fetched now but its easy once I have a time machine since I can just stop off somewhere in the future to pick up all that stuff before I go back!
So yeah, that's going to happen!
The film/book is actually centred around an Island near Costa Rica where genetic scientists have cloned dinosaurs to create an amusement park. But I would rather go back in time to when there really were dinosaurs.
I would love to see what the world was like then. I mean we don't even really know how big the biggest dinosaur is because the bigger a dinosaur is the less likely it is that it will all have been fossilised. I found the top ten biggest dinosaurs so far but even when I read that one of them was measured 120 feet from head to tail, I can't even imagine it. The thought of what nature can create will never fail to amaze me. And I want to see it. All of it!
Of course, I will take suitable precautions such as a space suit for example. This is important since we don't know exactly what the atmosphere was like back then right? I don't want to get radiated or be unable to control my temperature or not get enough oxygen and actually it could be very important to contain whatever bacteria I may be carrying since I don't want to change the course of history... Then of course I will need on invisibility cloak, scent disguiser and silencer so that I am undetectable and won't be eaten... You may be thinking that this is too far fetched now but its easy once I have a time machine since I can just stop off somewhere in the future to pick up all that stuff before I go back!
So yeah, that's going to happen!
Tuesday 3 April 2012
Old News
There has been four and a half days of Easter holidays so far and I have done no homework or revision at all so far. But its about to get very serious now that I have tidied. This is important for two reasons, the first being that I now have space to work and the other is that I found the coloured fine line drawing pens so I'm expecting my productivity to double at least!
I have at least booked my accommodation for Sussex and Nottingham though! I got a bit of a shock when I found that the prices for Sussex are the same as they are for Nottingham but Nottingham includes all my food and Sussex is self catered. And also when I read that they cannot guarantee that I will get accommodation on Campus since Sussex is my insurance and therefore I may stay with a host family in the nearby town. I really can't imagine that!! I guess I had better get revising so that I get the grades for Nottingham!
Whilst tidying I found a newspaper insert from December 2010 which was all about future technologies and the such like. I can't believe it took me over a year to read but it's actually probably slightly better this way. For example, my favourite article in it was all about piezoelectric threads in clothing to generate electricity using the kinetic energy transferred when we move. Another application could be in carpets schools and shopping centres or in 'trees' to use both wind and sun energy. The article then went on to make various jokes about plugging in your pants but I forgave them for that because it seems a perfect solution to greenhouse gases and depleting fuel stocks. Although I suppose production of the threads is an important factor in the renewablity... Anyway its good to have read it now since I actually understand how piezoelectric crystals work now! Basically by deforming the crystals, the charges are rearranged and a current flows. This works the other way too, so that by applying a current the crystals deformed. When this occurs at the correct frequency ultrasound waves are produced. But that's off topic! I am a little confused since the article says that the technology is inexpensive but the Internet says platinum wires must be used?! At the end of the article it says that the fibres should be on the market in a few years so I think I'll hide the article somewhere so that I can find it during my next clear out!
PS. The university of Bolton website is possibly the least useful website I have ever tried to use! I realise I'm about a year late but I couldn't find anything about the piezoelectric threads!
I have at least booked my accommodation for Sussex and Nottingham though! I got a bit of a shock when I found that the prices for Sussex are the same as they are for Nottingham but Nottingham includes all my food and Sussex is self catered. And also when I read that they cannot guarantee that I will get accommodation on Campus since Sussex is my insurance and therefore I may stay with a host family in the nearby town. I really can't imagine that!! I guess I had better get revising so that I get the grades for Nottingham!
Whilst tidying I found a newspaper insert from December 2010 which was all about future technologies and the such like. I can't believe it took me over a year to read but it's actually probably slightly better this way. For example, my favourite article in it was all about piezoelectric threads in clothing to generate electricity using the kinetic energy transferred when we move. Another application could be in carpets schools and shopping centres or in 'trees' to use both wind and sun energy. The article then went on to make various jokes about plugging in your pants but I forgave them for that because it seems a perfect solution to greenhouse gases and depleting fuel stocks. Although I suppose production of the threads is an important factor in the renewablity... Anyway its good to have read it now since I actually understand how piezoelectric crystals work now! Basically by deforming the crystals, the charges are rearranged and a current flows. This works the other way too, so that by applying a current the crystals deformed. When this occurs at the correct frequency ultrasound waves are produced. But that's off topic! I am a little confused since the article says that the technology is inexpensive but the Internet says platinum wires must be used?! At the end of the article it says that the fibres should be on the market in a few years so I think I'll hide the article somewhere so that I can find it during my next clear out!
PS. The university of Bolton website is possibly the least useful website I have ever tried to use! I realise I'm about a year late but I couldn't find anything about the piezoelectric threads!
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