Have you ever sat in a lecture where an over-enthusiastic lecturer is waving his arms around excitedly, forgetting he is holding a laser pointer, and wondered what would happen if he accidently shone the beam into your eyes? Surely, you might think, the makers of laser pointers have anticipated such things. Well, last week I attended […]
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Magic pixies
The physics textbooks tell me that protons and neutrons are both made up of three quarks. These little things amuse me, because no-one has actually ‘seen’ one. (By ‘seen’, I don’t literally mean seen visibly, but rather I mean some method by which a quark can be isolated and leave a tell-tale quark-signature in some way). […]
Continue readingUnder pressure
I got some new taps for my kitchen yesterday. The boring technical specitications on that bit of paper marked ‘important – please read’ said ‘do not exceed a pressure of 800 kpa’. Now, leaving aside the fact that it should be ‘kPa’ not ‘kpa’, that means 800 kilopascals. A pascal is the pressure caused by 1 […]
Continue readingWhat’s in a name?
Since I’m talking about the Large Hadron Collider, I should tell you what a hadron is. Put simply, it’s something that feels the strong nuclear force. Clear? Probably not, so let ‘s explain.
Continue readingThe Large Hadron Collider
Last week I gave a talk on the Large Hadron Collider at the ‘cafe scientifique’ event in Hamilton. For those who don’t know what cafe scientifique is, the idea is that a scientist gets to discuss some science to an audience of the general public in a public friendly environment (which means a cafe). And […]
Continue readingReflections on reflections
My four-year old niece from Otago phoned her grandmother in Bay of Plenty: "Grandma, do you have reflections in the North Island?" "I think so dear, why?" "Well, find a spoon and have a look." Now, I think it most likely that niece was intruiged by the right-way-up / upside-down reflections from the convex and concave […]
Continue readingPower to the people
No, before you hit ‘close’, this isn’t anything to do with the election. Last Saturday, I walked up Mt Te Aroha. For those not familiar with this part of the country, Mt Te Aroha is part of the Kaimai range, and rises majestically 950 metres above the Hauraki Plains, about 50 km North-West of Hamilton. […]
Continue readingNewton in action
On the subject of luging, it is the perfect place to illustrate some physics. For those unfamiliar with the Skyline complex, the idea is you sit on a small cart and freewheel down a concrete path, negotiating the various bends inconveniently sited to slow your speed. Great fun, and lots of physics.
Continue readingPhysicists are normal people too
A month or so ago, my wife and I had a day of being tourists in Rotorua. While at the bottom of the Skyline Gondola, which takes people up to the luge tracks, I was accosted by a researcher carrying out surveys on tourism in the Rotorua region. Being a helpful sort of guy, I […]
Continue readingPhysicsStop – the beginning
I’m Marcus Wilson, a lecturer at the University of Waikato. Welcome to my Physics blog. PhysicsStop is where you can take a break from whatever exciting thing you are doing and read my take on the equally exciting physics that is out there in the world for all to enjoy. No, seriously, physics is not as […]
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