Is medical physics worth the cost?

I’ve often talked about how great medical physics is. The MRI scanner, for example, contains some fantastic physics – interaction of atomic nuclei with magnetic fields  (which you need quantum mechanics to explain properly) – and is supported by clever mathematics too. And the PET scanner uses anti-matter (specifically anti-electrons from beta plus decay) to […]

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Good science speaks for itself

I was at the NIWA science fair at the Hamilton Gardens yesterday morning, talking to some of the children who had put together displays on their science projects.  I can’t say anything specific, not least because the prizes haven’t been anounced yet, but I will say that, as ever, it is a real privelege to […]

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Computer models

For the last couple of days, I’ve been engaged with a student of mine on a computer-modelling problem. Specifically, it’s an electromagnetic problem, working out how the electric field behaves between an array of electrodes. It’s a useful thing to do, because the outputs of the model will help guide future experimental work, and help […]

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Climate data (yes, again)

I don’t usually rant too much on my blog – it’s not my style, but the news yesterday about a legal challenge to NIWA’s temperature data is just too provoking. Yes, I know it has been well-blogged about already by other Scibloggers, but for good reason. There deserves to be some sensible scientific comment made. […]

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Ice on windows

 No, not ice on car windows this time, but ice on aeroplane windows. John Fouhy has sent this question to me, and I don’t know the answer. I have a couple of ideas, but what do you think? Below I reproduce John’s question in full, along with the picture.  Airpoints Gold Card holders, help us […]

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Cold and humid

Saturday was one of those days that the Waikato winter is famous for. Cold and damp – by damp I mean humid as well as raining – in fact the kind of weather that reminds you that you are living in an area that used to be one massive swamp. The sort of dampness that […]

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