Destination: Svalbard

The Svalbard islands are a part of Norway located in the Artic Ocean.

This is a truly remarkable place. They have a variety of activities (e.g. skiing) and incredible views and unique wildlife. Plus you can stay in an actual ice hotel!

In the summer the Sun never sets and in the winter the Sun never rises. This poses an interesting dilemma for me as to when I should make my trip to this area. In the Winter it offers wonderful views of the Northern lights plus the nightlife must be incredible! Northern lights are also called an aura and are due to the deflection by the magnetic fields of the earth of charged particles ejected from the Sun which cause excitation and the emission of light. This is scientifically interesting and just jaw droppingly beautiful.

Then in the summer there are unique astronomy opportunities like the Venus transit which I've obviously now missed but hey I still haven't ruled out that time machine.

The Neverending Calculater Saga

Just when you think that nothing else could possibly happen, disaster strikes. It all started before my Physics resit. Just before we go in I have the sudden realisation that the calculator I hold in my hand has a lid. You aren't allowed to have calculator lid in an exam. This is a rule that I have previously overlooked and in these previous instances I have handed the lid into an invigilator who are always available and willing to return such items and so these situations have passed without issue.

However in this instance the nerves of the exam got to me. This gave me a mild case of verbal diarrhoea and an exaggerated sense of panic. So pre-examination when I exclaimed 'Oh no, I still have my calculator lid' with an expression of sincere concern on my face, it was only natural for my teacher to offer to take the illegal item from my hands. I didn't want to give it to her. I knew it was a bad idea and that there was a high probability that I would never see this item again. And yet.... I gave it to her. I don't know, maybe I was embarrassed by the situation. Or maybe it was the high volume of knowledge stored in my short term memory store that clouded my judgement but I handed her that calculator lid and I have since regretted my actions in that moment on many occasions.

I tried several times to reclaim my lid but there was always a class and then on the last possible opportunity, on the day of my last exam I saw my teacher. She said quite nonchantly that my lid was still awaiting my collection and so I went to the classroom. I went there and my lid was nowhere to be found. Then I went to the staff room and to find my teacher. And, well... She was nowhere to be found. I'm not saying that she kidnapped my calculator lid, fled the scene of the crime and is keeping my lid for an undetermined period of time. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that I can't say that that isn't definitely not what happened. I'm just saying.

Now I am faced with the a dilemma before me. Do I email my teacher asking her to kindly bring my calculator lid to prom and return it to its rightful owner or do I leave it. I am quite certain my bag is large enough but should I move on with my life and pretend it doesn't matter to me? But no, how can I!? How can I go on with my keys unprotected? My calculator could turn itslef on at any point in my bag... It isn't solar powered, that could lead to some serious battery lossage... I'm pretty sure that counts as calculator abuse and she could be taken away from me. No, I have to send that email, it is decided.

Guillaume Le Gentil

So I watched this venus transit programme on BBC Iplayer today. I know the transit happened a while ago now but I was busy and missed it so since I have the luxury to catch up I figured there was no excuse really. A luxury not available to the poor French astronomer Guillaume Le Gentil of the 18th Century.

Transits are very rare because they require the alignment of the orbits of the earth and Venus which depends on the angle and position and so only occur twice every century or so. There was one scheduled for 1761 and so it was decided that to try and measure the distance of the Sun from the Earth as many measurements as possible should be made. This involved the participation of over 100 astronomers from different locations from all over the world. Guillaume Le Gentil was assigned India and so made his way to the French colony Pondicherry but travel was not so easy in those days. Boats were the best mode of transport and war had broken out between France and Britain. There were many pitfalls along the way and by the time Guillaume was to reach the Island the British had taken over and so he was forced to take measurements from the ship which meant a severe loss of accuracy as well as an inability to have an accurate measurement of location.

So after going to all that effort he decided to wait out 8 years until the next transit in 1769. The days leading up to the transit were beautiful clear skies but on the day... Well... It was cloudy, he saw nothing and was driven to the brink of insanity. To make matters worse his journey back took 3 years due to storms and illness.He was away for 11 years but during this time he was declared legally dead, his relatives spent his money, his wife remarried and lost his seat at the academy. Fortunately the King intervened and everything was restored to him and he remarried apparently very happily but I worry that this is a sugar coated happy ending.... So yeah I feel very lucky to be able to watch it in the comfort of my own home on demand.

Yeah, I'm going on about wave particle duality again

I started reading 'the universe in a nutshell' last night and I decided to do it properly, I mean with a textbook and exercise book by my side and everything! So I went off on a bit of a wave particle duality tangent and suddenly it clicked. Like I never really liked the idea of a photon as a particle because it doesn't have mass but then I realised, energy and mass are equivalent! It seems obvious now... Its just how you look at it. I still can't visualize but its just a concept....

Unravelling the mystery of the Higgs

So prepare yourself for a stream of consciousness, I apologise in advance but lets be honest its only me reading this!!

I have heard that the Higgs boson is a force carrier which I understand to mean that it acts on behalf of the field. Like the driver of a bulldozer is the field but the bulldozer exerts the field, acting between the field and the particle under attack.  But this seems very abstract when I think of it where the bulldozer is virtual and is only sometimes there and the field isn't a person its just like a magnetic field and actually a magnetic field has an exchange particle of its own...

But then the Higgs itself even has mass so it must interact with the field itself but how because is there a higgs boson acting between the field and another Higgs and another acting between the field and this one and so on?! And then where does it stop because it surely cannot be infinite?

Then this video talks about how there is an electron field and in concentrated areas of this field electrons can be found. Which I guess is okay. But then the Higgs field is different because this video suggests that is the Field that we interact with.

But then mass and energy are equivalent. So how does that work? I never really like that idea because to me mass was a thing but now it isn't a thing so it should be easier, right?

I'm into the live stream already but the room is empty so far... Exciting! But I don't expect to understand... I'm starting to think it will be better to forget everything I've ever known...

The mystery of the Higgs

So, I was as excited about the Higgs discovery as any person with a very very very basic understanding of the particle but... Well my understanding is so basic that its super frustrating! I watched a clip where the scientist was like 'yeah we found the higs boson' so I was like  'YAY!' But then he was like ' we don't know which one...' and I was like 'errrrr, there's more than one?!' mind blown...

Then  my teacher sent me this link for a live stream on Thursday at 4pm so I have a deadline to figure out as much as I possible can before then so that I can try to follow it! So yet again, HSW is my saviour as well as physicsorg!

The boy who harnessed the wind

It seems that there is never enough time but I have managed to read 'the boy who harnessed the wind' which is all about the life of William Kamkwamba so far and it was incredible. I mean really inspirational and just amazing. The book took us back to his childhood which I found really interesting. In geography we looked at the spread of disease and the causes of famine and this was addressed in depth in the book but the first person narrative allowed a really personal connection with the issues. By the end of the book I was left with an intense realisation of just how lucky I am and just the wish that others can be as lucky.

At times I cried so much that the pages were soaked through and other times I laughed so much that I went around telling everyone the story of how at the barbers power cuts can happen half way through a hair cut and you're just told to leave and come back in an hour with half of your hair missing!

My only complaint could be that I wanted more physics but I guess that's not what the book was about. It was about the strength of determination and the achievements possible with limitless aspiration. Also the importance of science to survive in our modern world. So yeah, definitely recommended.