There is no denying it. I am middle-aged. The latest evidence is the progressive-lens glasses. I had tried to put off getting these for as long as possible (warning to you younger readers – they are not cheap!) but it was just getting too difficult without them. We pretty-well take for granted good vision, but […]
Continue readingYear: 2017
Sycamore seeds and wind turbines
At the recent NZ Institute of Physics conference in Dunedin we heard about a wide range of different physics topics -measuring electrical forces; atomic frequency combs; why a highly gendered physics class is not a good thing and measuring forces with your phone. One very simple but thought-provoking presentation was by Tim Molteno – on […]
Continue readingI do not appreciate people trying to kill me
To the idiots in Te Awamutu who thought it fun to shine a powerful blue laser at flight NZ5622 on its approach to Hamilton airport at 8.34 last night: You may be surprised to learn that I would actually like to spend the rest of my life being able to see. And when I'm on […]
Continue readingIncey-wincey spider…
….is about 2 cm long and lives behind the heat pump unit in the courtyard outside. She’s been out every evening since we got here. Can anyone identify her? She doesn’t appear to feature on Western Australia’s most deadly list (which, incidently, includes the white tail). I’ve left it till after we’ve left to post […]
Continue readingImproving gender balance in physics
The Institute of Physics has just released a report on recent interventions designed to improve the uptake of physics at 'A'-level by girls*. Although there have been considerable efforts in the UK to improve the gender balance over two decades, there has not been any substantial change – about 20% of a typical A-level physics […]
Continue readingBell ringing
Only a week more to go in Perth. Time here has gone so quickly. It’s then off to UK for Easter to see my family before returning to Waikato. On Saturday we had a tour of the bell tower on the waterfront. It’s a great looking structure (in my opinion) – and houses the original […]
Continue readingThe indeterminate cheese flake
A couple of days ago I arrived 'home' to discover our local ant colony at work. There's a nest located somewhere in the bushes at the front of our temporary home, and the occupants have become rather adept at raiding our kitchen. Anything left on the kitchen bench is fair game for the taking. Ants […]
Continue readingHaving just visiting the Electronic Engineering building…
,,,I have the following question. Why is it that electronic engineers like to find themeselves the most labyrinthine building on campus and place their reception area somewhere that no-one is likely to find? I can only assume it is because they don't want their own private world disturbed. Best leave them be.
Continue readingPhysics is a science. Or maybe not.
A couple of hours ago I gave a talk to the 'education group' in the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Western Australia. Broadly speaking, the audience was a group of physicists and engineers who are interested in education. I recycled a talk that I'd given a couple of years ago […]
Continue readingWeather records
I came across the following on the BBC website "Australia's summer broke 205 records…" It draws from the recent Climate Council report. The BBC article doesn't list them all 205 of them, but does pull out the most impressive – the hottest summer on record for Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra, and the wettest on record […]
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