Excting outreach activities

I really ought to write a proper update of what I am doing these days as part of my PhD but just quickly wanted to share something I am really proud of. Check out this virtual escape room/choose your own adventure to explore a nuclear power plant!

https://www.nuclearenergyfutures.org/escape-room

Illustrated by the amazing live illustrator Tom McLean in the UK!

Latest news trawl

Works been a bit slow of late (in fact I have actually have been given permission to read books and surf the web!) so I have been spending a lot of time on BBC news!

I have had a few 'origami phases' in my life but the lastest one is because a friend bought me a page a day calender. This one below has been my favourite so far but after reading this article about Origami robots, I feel its time to get a new favourite!

They are initially flat and then can ensemble themselves and will surely prove to be incredibly useful in many areas. For example space travel where space is tight and equipment needs to work remotely.

I also saw that the Rosetta mission has made progress by catching up to the comet! I wrote about this mission when I visited the royal society summer exhibition this year.

Fermats Last Theorem by Simon Singh

I started reading Fermats Last Theorem by Simon Singh about 2 years ago and finally finished this year! I had to start again but I didn't mind since it really is a such an interesting and enjoyable read. As I read it I had to keep bookmarking bits to remind me to include them in my blog post! I learnt so much its hard to know where to start! I really felt the excitement of each discovery and was really gripped by it at times. I fell in love with so many of the 'characters' (I realise of course that they are real people, it was just written like a story).

Firstly I have to give Galios a mention. We share the same birthday so he is now my favourite mathematician! Reading his chapter was almost like reading a  chapter from the three musketeers, actually Alexander Dumas was there, and his tragic life made his genius all the more profound.Next to capture my imagination and heart were Taniyama and Shirmura. A pair of friends who paved the way for Wiles and his proof but also provided a link between two parts of maths that would allow countless other proofs. SIngh suggested that they never received enough limelight so I did a bit of extra research and found this memoir that Shirmura wrote about Tanyiamas life and it was a real insight into another culture and a glimpse into his life.

There were a few female mathematicians mentioned who I naturally admire due to the adversity they must have faced and their determination to progress. Noether and Germain played large parts in this book.Some of the quotes from mathematicians perfectly sum up my feelings for the subject. If I were ever to tutor a student who didn't like maths I would read them some quotes from Andrew Wiles. This article here must be inspiring for anyone, especially about his mathematical method.

This quote from G.H. Hardy is now a favourite of mine: 'The mathematician’s patterns, like the painter’s or the poet’s must be beautiful; the ideas like the colours or the words, must fit together in a harmonious way. Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics.' I feel it aplies just as easily to physics.

Although the book doesn't go into much detail into the mathematical theory of it all, I did learn new things about maths. I had never heard of modular forms before and am sure penrose tiling will come up at some point. I also learnt how easy it is to make mistakes and believe a proof that says that 2 = 1.
At a point near the end of the book, Wiles needed to share his proof with a confidant without anyone knowing. So he hid the proof in a lecture series that his friend attended but noone could follow it. Now I understand why I so often got confused in my Thermal Lectures last year!

Then I just decided to have a browse of some popular maths books on amazon and accidentally bought 3... I think I've caught the maths bug!

The first two applications

I decided to start preparing for next years summer internship applications and found two that are already open! They are both really exciting but I'm dreading starting my covering letters... So I guess this post is an attempt to get started in a round about way and try and get some of my passion into my writing again. I mean I have written in the last 4 weeks but there is a slightly different tone when you're talking to clients about accounts... These opportunities for next year promise to be much more captivating!

The first is at IRENA which stands for International Renewable ENergy Agency. They cheated a bit with that N in there but it does sound better so I'll let them off! And I want them to like me so I definitely will! From what I've seen on their website they seem be to a type of council that works with different countries to encourage the use of renewable energy technologies more. To do this they research into new techniques, help set up systems and report on the usages in different countries. Like a network to share knowledge and resources more efficiently. So if you want to get into the renewable energy business, the centre of it all seems a pretty good place to be. There are opportunities in Abu Dahbi, United Arab Emirates and in Bonn, Germany. I would love the opportunity to go abroad and a summer is the perfect length for me. I have had such a great time on all my travels these last couple of years but the opportunity to live and work in a country would be a real chance to immerse myself in a culture. Even if I get homesick or things didn't go quite to plan, I don't think its something I could ever regret doing. I think I would prefer to be in Germany since its closer to home and therefore less scary but I can't afford to be fussy and to be honest maybe scarier is better. To further add to my excitement, they are currently relocating their head quarters to Masdar City and since discovering it in this post, I haven't forgotten my dream to visit it one day!

The second is at Sellafield which is a company that decommissions nuclear power stations. I applied last year and didn't get it but this year I am that bit older and am applying much earlier. I'm hoping that and a bit of luck will give me more of a chance to hopefully reach interview stage. The placement will either be in Manchester or West Cumbria and even though its not a new country it is still a brand new place which will hold its own surprises I'm sure. From looking at the website it seems a very structured placement and will surely lead to greater things. The Beacon Museum in Cumbria has a Sellafield  exhibition which sounds interesting! Oh and Brian Cox was at the opening ceremony... Not that I care... Just mentioning....

So... I guess I had better get started then... Wish me luck!

Geneva in London!

Around Christmas last year I went to the science museum with my Dad to visit the Hadron Collider exhibition there and it was really good! Actually probably the best exhibition I've ever been to and better than the museum in Geneva! The exhibition had the perfect balance of bits to read with bits read to you and was pitched at a really good level. I found it very interesting and my Dad could still follow it. It was exciting! We got free badges! We took selfies! And of course I got to feel all clever when I recognised an equation of two, that were mostly on the wall for decoration, and explained what they meant to my Dad!

I remember really enjoying the quote from Paul Dirac: 'In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone , something that noone ever knew before. But in the case of poetry, it's the exact opposite'. And quite ironically that sentence is poetic in itself!

It is slightly embarassing for CERN that this was so much better but then this year the group visiting from Nottingham were allowed down into the tunnels and I think that would have made the trip more worthwhile. This was my post about my visit.

At the science museum we also had time to look at the 3D printing exhibits and I was really impressed with the wide range of applications for this technology. It was something I had heard of but not really considered before, it seems so futuristic!

Career Plans (oh so serious)

There came a point this year when I had to face the whole careers decision situation and actually get serious about it. Looking for summer internships was by no means easy. The Internet is a wonderful place but the vast sea of information is also quite daunting. Especially when your starting place is as vague as 'maybe something in science would be nice'...

So I can't remember how but I stumbled upon gradcracker which helped give my searching some direction. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a career in science. I saw how many opportunities there were in the oil and gas industry so starting researching that and terms like 'geophysicist' drew me in.

And then I got rejected from Shell and a couple of others and didn't even hear back from a couple of others. But the important thing is what I learnt for this year:
1) apply as soon as possible
2) practice as many numerical tests as possible because under the pressure of a time limit its very difficult to remember how to calculate percentage difference
3) Get 2nd and 3rd opinions on my CV and potential answers

But also I need to get my general knowledge up for interviews and not be too shy to ask my person tutor for a letter of recommendation.

I did however get accepted for a discovery day at BP which was a real eye opener. We had talks from current interns, senior staff as well as members of HR involved in the selection process. I met some interesting peers as well! I really got a feel for the company and can easily imagine a life there. I remember coming home in my free BP hoodie so excited. I felt like I finally could see life after university and it was a lovely life with MRI scanners and rock samples and graphs and numbers! I guess I'll apply this year, I'll give it my all and if I don't get it then I'm sure I'll learn some more for when I apply for the graduate scheme. And hey, if none of that works out its cool, something else will come up. Whatevers meant to be, will be but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and wait for it to come to me.

That said, I'm also looking at the nuclear energy industry and at research placements at universities.  Watch this space.

Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2014!

A biologist, a skeleton and the coolest person
ever and another skeleton

I put this week in my diary a few weeks ago, I was determined not to miss the exhibition this year! I didn't get as much free stuff as last time but I think I was just particularly lucky last time... I still learnt lots of things though! And I can't think of a better place to catch up with a nerdy friend. Conveniently my friend is a biologist so I could pretend we only went to the biology exhibits for her - actually being interested in biology would just be embarrassing ;)

One exhibit was about 3D photography. They're developed a flash system that you add on to a normal camera and it quickly takes a series of photos and uses the shadows to create a 3D image. Maybe in a few years I'll be taking my holiday  pictures in 3D? There's more information here, it's interesting because it's so different to 3D techniques currently used.

Next we spoke to a lady about ionic solvents. I was drawn over to the stall about it said that they could be used to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere. This is because they can act as a base and so readily absorb acidic CO2. Whats special about ionic solvents is that they are inflammable so we can use them in large quantities without the huge safety risks. They also work at lower temperatures and smaller timescales so have a wide range of applications replacing the many solvents currently used in industry.

We learnt about the antibiotics used by ants and the growing need to develop more antibiotics as bacteria become resistant. We got free stickers and sweets from here too! There were real ants too but just looking at them made me feel all itchy!

The last stall we had time for was the one called 'catch a comet'. An excited physicist explained to use about a 10 year mission to land a spacecraft on a comet. It will collect data about the particles in the comets tail and get a core sample. Actually this blog post should serve as a reminder to check what they've found by the end of August! I got a poster for my wall!

European space agency!

Last Christmas I went on the Physsoc trip to Amsterdam! And like the stereotypical physicist, I didn't go to Amsterdam to party or experiment with recreational drugs, no, I went to visit the European space agency!

Pretending to get my hand radiated?

Handstand on the moon!

Shuttle hat

Like my trip to Geneva I can honestly say I had the best time. The 10 hour coach journey wasn't amazing but you soon forget that!

I'd love to tell you all the things I learnt here but I'm not sure it was a particularly educational trip... I just remember having fun with the interactive stuff and being impressed by the size of it all!

Falling out of love

Every time I start a new term at university I think 'this time, I'll make time for my blog, this time I'll do it', and then it doesn't happen... You'd think doing physics most of the day every day I'd have plenty to keep this blog going but if I'm completely honest, this year has been a bit of a drag. When I was trying to think of the coolest thing I learnt this year, I honestly couldn't think of anything and that makes me really sad. I suppose maybe I feel this way mostly because my nightmare revision period has tainted my memory of the year.

My favourite module was my first optional one. It was mostly mathematical but we derived Newtonian laws and saw how they all tied together and I loved that. Not just taking things for what they are, really getting inside them and applying them in the ways I always have but in a way that seems natural this time. And then I always love learning a new mathematical technique that lets you get that bit further. It feels like getting a weapon on Zelda and moving up a level. But all that was half a year ago so I've half forgotten the excitement of it....

So yeah, next year will be better and I'm going to use this summer to fall in love with Physics again. And where better to do it than on this blog where it all started? And although I think of last year being the biggest struggle, I came out of it all with a pretty impressive 69% so it ain't all bad ;)

I'm also using this summer to work in an accountants office... I know, I know, it sounds like I'm selling out... And if I'm honest, I am. I desperately wanted a job this summer. I need experience for my CV, something to get me out the house and stop me going crazy, and sure the moneys nice. I've mentally spent it a thousand ways already. And trust me, anyone who's done audit commission work will tell you that daydreaming is the only difference between you and the computer on your desk...

Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, it's only been a week and I'm naturally an optimistic person. It's nice having the evenings and weekends free. I have learnt a lot this week and maybe it's not something that I'm particularly interested in but I do love learning. I'm a little less optimistic about the next 3 months but the people are nice and I get to see my family more than in term time. And my boyfriend is also in London, so as exciting as an internship in a German university would have been, this job does have its perks. He isn't a physicist but he's seen my blog and didn't break up with me so I reckon he's a keeper.

I did apply for many physics related internships but to no avail, I'm sure I'll talk about that some more later. I'm gonna be needing some posts to help me with all that this year.

I'm sorry that this comes across as a rather negative post but it's just the way it came out... I hadn't fully realised quite how tired of it all I had become... I suppose this summer is about fixing that! This is a good reference point I suppose...

Expansion Train: Calling at Quintessence, Big Bang Theory, Dark Energy, Neutrinos

I read an article in the telegraph that talked about Prof Wetterichs research into how the universe may not be expanding. He says that is it is not necessary that the universe should grow to make the maths work out, growing mass could also work.

The main evidence for the growth of the universe are the red shifted measurements of light by Hubble, this was always explained by the doppler shift by which waves bunch up in front of a moving object and disperse behind which changes the frequency by an amount depending on the speed. By these measurements the speed of the universe expansion was calculated and theories of a time when the universe was all concentrated at one point, a singularity at the beginning of the universe, were formed. This is the big bang theory and it is widely accepted now.

When we look at police cars driving past us we can hear the change in frequencies which is a demonstration of the doppler shift. Apparently light is emmited by atoms and the frequency emmited depends on the mass of the particles. When we look at light from a great distance away, because the light has taken time to reach us this is light from the past. The lower frequencies than expected (we know what is expected by comparing to things we know in that area, like a supernova usually has a certain light pattern) could be due to the mass being lower in the past.

I feel like the higgs boson discoveries would be involved in either proving or disproving this theory. When I tried to research I came accross 'Quintessence' which is to do with dark matter and is considered to be a fifth fundamental force by some physicists which is both attractive and repulsive in different situations depending on the ratio of kinetic to potential energy. All I know about dark energy and matter is that it makes up all the stuff we don't know because there is less mass than there should be according to the expansion models.Neutrino's seem important in all this.

Another article described the size of things shrinking. And plays around with a shrinking gravitational feild. It's possible I'm more confused now than I originally was but it is important that these ideas don't stay to fixed in my mind. But if it isn't expanding, if there was no beginning, is there an end and were we created and if not, why are we here. It causes a whole new way of thinking. I can't help but feel insignificant again...

On the 11th of Septemer 11.30 to 12.30 Prof Wetterich is giving a talk about his theory at CERN, yup you guessed it the imaginary World Trip is making a return to CERN for that... Apologies for the train of thought style of this post.

On track for 802,701?

I just finished reading 'The Time Machine' by HG Wells and whilst it isn't very physics based with its information, I found it an interesting read that explored the far reaches of my imagination.

Following this post about what the future holds, to use a time machine to find out the truth would be incredible. But the author chose to go further than that. To skip past the unimaginable technological advances and scientific discoveries to an alien world where humans have evolved in two different ways as products of what society required them to be. I won't ruin it the book by saying anymore here.

The book, though about time travel  to the future, is a product of the society at the time of the author. It was written in 1895 and I wonder what a modern author would come up with when looking that far ahead. It was brave to consider the decay of intellect, I would find it hard to let go of that when imagining even 802,701. Its difficult, when considering social class I think of the gap closing but that is only in our country, there is a whole world out there with a very different life to what I see around me. It still stands true today that my food is grown and my clothes are made by the other people only it is even more like 802,701 now than it was in 1895 because those other people are on a whole other continent to me, there are even further from my mind. how long until they are underground.

The first chapter was probably my favorite actually, the way the time traveler describes why time travel should be possible was quite convincing. He described how not long before we could not traveling higher than a jump in the up and down dimension. But then we built machines. And that we are already travelling in the forward direction of time and why should we not build a machine to alter our speed and direction. But then of course there are all kinds of paradoxes so it would be against nature as it is against nature to travel into space which is why it is so difficult. Difficult but not impossible. Weird.

It was only a few chapter in that I remembered the big bang episode when they bought a model of the time machine.

£500 Phone + £0 Speaker = Logical?

I got an IPHONE!! And its possible that I am slightly obsessed, well slightly more than slightly. So I saw this design for an iPod speaker made out of a toilet roll I figured I had nothing to lose by trying it! Except maybe half an hour and some dignity when my family called me a cheapskate.

I mean it makes sense, sound is caused by the displacement of air so if you displace more air, it sounds louder right? I built this and after playing around with the drawing pin positions a bit I managed to get it to stand up on its own.

When on a quiet volume the tube did make the music louder but at the highest possible volume the tube made no noticeable difference.

I then found this design and it looked like this:

It was so fiddly I nearly gave up twice but I stuck with it. I ended up sacrificing presentation for stabilty which was a difficult but inevitable choice. This design is more portable and looks pretty cool but doesn't really work much better, probably a little worse. So now I know.

Ada Lovelace

I decided it was about time I read up about Ada Lovelace. And then it all got very complicated and now I've spent all afternoon researching her... But lets start with what she did to be so famous, famous enough to get this Google Doodle on her 197th birthday, although she only lived for 36 and maybe more importantly had a computing program named in her honour.

While translating papers about Charles Babbage's work (he is considered the father of the computer) from Italian she added notes that included an algorithm encoded for processing by  a machine. The first ever program and for this she is called the founder of computing. However Charles Babbage's analytical machine (to perform arithmetic calculations, an improvement on his earlier difference engine which computed additions) was never finished and so her code for calculating Bernoulli numbers ( a number series) was never actually tested. But the concepts were revolutionary nonetheless. Modern day constructs of the machines are at the science museum, I wish I had read about this before I went!

And now a bit of background. Her father was the poet Lord Bryon and he is actually one of the few poets I have heard of since I always loved his poem 'We'll go no more a-roving' although I'm not sure I always knew what 'a-roving' was. I suppose it could still be as innocent as I first thought but I highly doubt it after reading about his life.

I find it interesting that most websites I have read consider Adas achievements to be a collaboration of her fathers literary talents and her mothers mathematical skills when her parents separated a month after she was born and her father left the country four months later. And if Wikipedia is to be believed her mother only cared for her so far as to keep custody and check she wasn't as insane as she believed Bryon to be. But I quite like the fact that Bryon called her mother the 'Princess of Parrelograms' and Babbage later described Ada as an 'Enchantress of Numbers', pretty neat nicknames right? With his poems, her work for the abolition of slavery and their daughters work in building the foundations of computer programming, the scandal should hardly be important.

But then it's almost human instinct to crave drama I suppose. But most of the story seems to have been told by Ada's mother, Annabella. I find it hard to believe that she would allow her daughter to be named after her husbands half sister if she did believe him to have had an incestuous affair with her. By all accounts she was a very intelligent woman and accusing a husband of insanity is probably one of the few reasons for divorce that would not implicate a woman in that era. That said, Lord Bryon would hardly be the first mad poet and it appears to run in the family. It was so very hard to see through the walls of a Victorian household, I could hardly guess at the truth and I'd be surprised if Ada had access to it either. Although she is reported to have said that her mothers confession that Adas cousin was her half sister only confirmed Adas own suspicions. And she certainly had secrets of her own, with affairs and gambling debts rumored. Although I could easily convince myself it was all just down to a miscalculation in her experiments... And she certainly resisted an affair with the tutor her mother sent to her house.

Anyway the 14th of October is in my calender to celebrate Ada Lovelace day. It is meant as an inspiration for all women in science by all the women in science but there's plenty to think about just looking at her alone.

Actually it turns out her and her fathers grave is just a half hour bus ride away from where I stay at university, I wonder if it is too morbid to visit... Its at the Church of Our Lady of Magdalena (NG15 7AS) . Watch this space I suppose.

Physics Dates

As well as learning plenty of Physics this last year I have also started exploring the world of romance. Well I say world but its more like a very small corner. And I say exploring but I still haven't taken off my lifejacket or stabalisers, I'm not very adventurous I'm sure you're unsurprised to hear. And actually I say I'm just starting now but even that isn't even particularly true... You see that thing is, I never told you about a date I went on a couple of years ago. Yep, I kept a secret. 

The first physics date I went on was with an actual Physicist. I say actual but obviously he wasn't qualified or anything. I wasn't a 17 year old dating a 60 year old and that was why it had to be a secret and I've been traumatised this whole time which is why I keep avoiding the subject and getting carried away. That's not what happened. But maybe it did kind of traumatise me. Having a really awkward uncomfortable date can affect you before every date for the rest of your life....Anyway, I met him on the week I was at the Queen Mary summer school. I kind of had a few conversations with him and then a couple of months later when he asked if I wanted to go to Greenwich observatory I took 2 weeks to reply. But we went and I'm sure I would have enjoyed the observatory a lot if I wasn't trying to think of things to say or wishing the ground would swallow me up. Actually I think I'd like to go back at some point because the park is really pretty around there and the line marking Grenwich mean time is there which is cool.

The second physics date I went on was with a guy I actually like and have no problem talking to. That said he isn't a physicist... But he also isn't 60 so I guess he's alright. We went to the science museum and played on the interactive games that are meant for kids and learning but chasing each other with bird shadows is fun at every age. He answered a quiz and found out that he had a feminine way of thinking which I personally find to be a positive outcome though he was less convinced, There was a way to see what you will look like when you're older too and to be honest, the future him is not half bad looking at all ;) 

I suppose there actually was a kind of a date in between the second and first. Well I thought it was a date at the time but I'm not sure he or the other people who joined us for lunch thought so... 

Ah and there was a guy who would send me the cutest physics jokes which always made laugh! Unless I had already heard them in which case I politely pretended to laugh... He was chemist which kind of sucks for him, mostly because there aren't as many good jokes but also because he has to wake up in the morning to do chemistry *shudders at the thought*

The Phoenix Lander

So I found this pattern to build a model of Phoenix Lander Model so how could I really resist making it? The balloon helps it fly but my landing is considerable less smooth than the demonstration on the internet..

But considering the actual Phoenix Mars Lander looks like this, I'm not sure I did such a great job anyway!

NASA has a long term Mars exploration program and this lander is one of many that have visited Mars. In August 2007 this one was sent to the northern arctic plain to test the soil and ice that had previously been found there. On the 14th of August 2008 it actually took the picture below which you can see a morning frost that reportedly disappeared around 6am when the sun came up.

Sources: NASA.

I Have No Idea

I was chatting to my friend the other day about how communications have changed. I forgot than when I first made friends with her 8 years ago, I hardly spoke to her outside of school at all. I had a pay as you go sim card and only a shared family computer at home. And now I have a laptop, an Ipod touch, a mobile phone with unlimited texts and I have several conversations with people everyday. And that seems normal to me.

And then I wondered where we will be in 8 years time. I mean I know I personally will be on a beach somewhere having my third holiday of the year, playing around with some formulas, with my husband who also got a Nobel prize for our work in some obscure field of physics. Ok now I'm singing 'I wanna do maths on the beach' Vengaboys remix... Where was I going with this?

What I think I meant was, where technology and knowledge will be by then. I also worry about the state of the world but that always feels very far out of my hands. Maybe one day I will be amazing but right now I just feel very ordinary. And so I wonder what an ordinary life will be like and what will seem normal by that point.

Usually the unknown scares me but right now I'm just excited.

It's easy to see how things I learn in nanophysics lectures will affect things like data storage but then the implications of that are huge. Saving weight in space crafts means you can go further. Smaller components means you can investigate deeper into the body. Custom made materials can get very science fictiony and the possibilities are endless. And my excitement over this just makes module choosing very difficult, I was supposed to be a medical physicist...

Then today I found this website which is very sleek and looks at different aspects of life and where they are headed. There's a post on data collection which is interesting because obviously I know it happens, its obvious what with personalised adverts and targetting tesco vouchers but I didn't realise terrorism task forces actually checked up on suspicious searches.I really like this website.

Physics Blunders

So a years worth of social interaction, there are bound to be plenty of embarrassing stories from that right? Although I did have the sudden realisation at some point this year than no matter how awkward I feel or how much social anxiety I get there are lots of people who are much much worse. Where to begin?

This one makes me cringe the most. There was a competition to build a device to transport an egg as far as you could in a team of 10. So precompetition I made a few group message faux pas but nothing too serious. Then there's the awkwardness of two members of the group liking each other but not liking them and both telling me all about it like I have the faintest clue what either of them are actually thinking. But that's nothing compared to getting up in front of everyone with this pathetic cart with a driving system that acted as a break and the only reason we didn't go backwards was that gravity just so happened to be on our side. If one of the carts hadn't caught fire I'm pretty sure we would have come last. And to be the only group using fire, I think we know who the real winner was. That said we had a cape on our egg. 

I went on nearly every physics social but the barcrawl I wore the 'Particle Physics Gives Me a Hadron' to was something special. The only other night that tshirt made it out was as a forfeit for one of my block friends. It was an interscience social so I got tricked into a whipped cream competition in the name of physics... I also had a few awkward encounters with a chemist who didn't deal well with rejection and ran to the next bar away from a love struck physicist who I spoke to once before but who somehow knew I was perfect in every way... The playzone social was sober and a lot easier to handle! There was a Christmas barcrawl that I predrank for and so have the excuse to not quite recall all the embarrassing things I said on that one. But I made it home with an inflatable guitar so there's something to be proud of that night.

Then there was that second year who asked me out on a date, I hesitated and he said 'you can say no if you want' but apparently that wasn't a genuine escape clause and he was surprised when all I said was 'no'. But that was quite early on in the year, I like to think I would react nicer now... However I really thought my comebacks were getting better until a vaguely attractive guy tries to banter me and I just freeze over and squeak... 

Oh there was this other time that me and Charlotte were crying with laughter at something she found on facebook in a lecture. The lecturer stopped the lecture and told the girl in the scarf to be quiet or she would be thrown out at the speed of light and everyone laughed. I wasn't wearing a scarf but I was dying of embarrassment and so all my friends text me to laugh at me again, as only true friends do.

Thinking predrinks was the time to play the physics playlist on my laptop. Turns out there really never is a group of people to share that with!

I still don't know if lab guy genuinely thinks I'm a complete idiot or just really enjoys sarcasm. Either way his impression of me when I bumped into him on a night out was ridiculously far off, I have never asked him how electricity works in a high pitch voice thankyou very much. That said there have been plenty of embarrassing moments in labs such as not being able to find the on off button, getting lost on the way back from the taps, trying to blag my way through the verbal explanation marks and backing myself into a corner.

I feel like there would be more to add to this list if I wasn't so comfortable around with my physics friends that anything particularly silly I do they just laugh and tell me about the time it happened to them.

Robot Friends, Lab Meat and Nuclear Leaks - the Future now

It's funny, I was just like 'ohh lets do one of those 'What's in the News' posts', I click over to BBC news and see lab grown burgers, Fukushima instability and talking robots in space, it feels like I'm looking at the news from a year ago still. I talked about the nuclear power station here and growing meat and robots that learn here.

So Fukushima update... Basically the site is still dangerous, now due to groundwater leaks the Pacific Ocean is being contaminated with radioactivity making it incredibly dangerous to life on a large scale. Apparently ti's been an issue for months but only coming out now. I read somewhere the other day about sunflower heads being very good at absorbing radiation actually. But this is on such a large scale and they need to stop the leaks first of all. Actually in the new Wolverine movie there was a scene with the atomic bomb and it was quite disturbing, all of his skin burnt off but the guy under the metal door was fine.

And now the burger! They can still only make small amounts of meat because otherwise they would need to create artificial circulatory systems but obviously the larger the bulk they can make the cheaper it will be. Google is one of the main backers at the moment which surprised me. What also surprised me was the use of stem cells for the research which I know is controversial. It does raise many issues still over unknown sideeffects and what it would mean for vegetarians on religious grounds. But then world hunger is such a strong counter argument its hard not to hope this goes well.

The robot is kind of slightly disappointing... It seems to be more of a psychological study rather than doing any particular task. The description of its twin being on earth makes me feel like this is a Disney cartoon just waiting to happen and actually the design was modeled on Astro boy so that's not far off.

Computing: Nightmare or Actually Kind of OK

Last year I had a computing module which at times I absolutely hated and at other times found genuinely enjoyable.

The things I enjoyed:

1. I got like 90 something percent overall (that's involving fortnightly coursework and an end of year class test)
2. I had friends in the workshop on a Monday afternoon which was a lovely break from lectures
3. There's a moment of anticipation in the break between writing a code and running it where you are hoping beyond hope it works and sometimes it does and you can be all smug and proud of yourself
4. Sometimes I got it and my friends didn't. I mean I'm not competitive and we always helped each other but when you feel dumb in all your other modules, starting new like everyone else and doing alright is encouraging
5. Being friends with the guy who lost 50% on his coursework because his friend thought it would be funny to put a picture of a nude man eating grapes at the bottom of his code before he submitted and not tell him. He was right, it was funny
6. Asking MatLab 'why?' and then finding out that Math students weren't told about that quirk and knowing I made the right degree choice

Things I hated:

1. There's a moment of anticipation in the break between writing a code and running it where you are hoping beyond hope it works and sometimes it doesn't and you have literally no idea why
2. It's the night before handing in coursework and you're going out in a couple of hours so really shouldn't leave it to finish in the morning because you'll be tired but you've spent hours and hours rerunning code and you just have no idea. Then you see you read the question wrong all along and fix it in 2 seconds but you can't even be pleased it's fixed you're so fed up with it. 
3. Thinking you get it and then talking to friends who are writing fractal programmes and Ipod Apps...