Static electricity is, above all, fun, but it also can be annoying at times. I was at a conference in Queenstown last week, and was haunted by static everywhere I went. I’m guessing that atmospheric conditions were pretty dry, meaning that electric charge didn’t leak away quickly. When you know that you are going to […]
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A refreshing approach to science
A few weeks ago when I was visiting Dunedin I was in conversation with a new PhD student and her supervisor. The PhD student was saying how she felt everyone should help each other in their research – share all their data, share all their methods and know-how, to make the world a better place […]
Continue readingElectromagnetic fields and the brain
Yesterday afternoon I visited Westmead Hospital and talked to a couple of psychiatrists on the use of electromagnetic fields in treating certain conditions. Treatments like the controversial but effective electroconvulsive therapy for depression, and transcranial magnetic stimulation for Parkinson’s and stroke, are becoming well used. However, there is little understanding of why they work. It’s a case […]
Continue readingMysterious power generation
One consequence of being a physicist is that you can’t go anywhere without seeing physics calculations that need doing. I’ve just been to our library hunting down books on the medical technique of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which was an interesting exercise in itself, since one textbook I found also has a chapter on homeopathy. […]
Continue readingWhy do I need to know about quantum mechanics?
In my last lecture before the Easter break, I spent a bit of time putting the subject matter into a broader context for the students. It was a second year lecture in our short paper on ‘Quantum and Solid State Physics’. The paper is mostly taken by electronic engineering (the majority) and physics students. It’s […]
Continue readingQuantum Chicken
Our neighbours have a dog – one of those small, yappy, pointless pooches with an excessive bark-to-weight ratio. It runs about their garden, keeping our cat out and gets very loud when I venture over to the compost bin. The neighbours’ garden is fortunately well-fenced, meaning the creature thankfully can’t invade our side. So, imagine […]
Continue readingPotential energy and climbing upwards
At the end of last week, seeing a good(ish) weather forecast, we had a short break away in Wellington, taking the train both directions. Despite the lovely weather (Wellington isn’t ALWAYS blowing a gale) we didn’t get to see the volcanoes en-route, in either direction – they were shrouded in cloud as is often the […]
Continue readingElectricity Show
I’m guessing many of you readers saw the ‘Sunday’ programme last Sunday. (Would be silly if were on another day of the week). Carlos Van Camp, the guy with the lightning show, was pretty impressive. What was refreshing was how the whole piece was presented without mangling the science, which is something that media are […]
Continue readingThermal expansion again
Our new house (new to us – it’s twelve years old) can make some ferocious noises sometimes. It has some huge steel beams supporting the roof – these being held up as far as I can tell partly by steel supports and partly by concrete walls. I’ve been trying to work out just what is […]
Continue readingOpposite charges repel, don’t they?
Well, the answer to that is, um… well…. it depends…. Now, I’m not suggesting what you’ve learned at school is not true. Take a point charge (e.g. a proton), and bring it close to another point charge (e.g. another proton) and the two will repel, with an inverse square law (Let’s not take them close […]
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