When stationary is fast

One of the great lines on the cult BBC show 'Red Dwarf' goes (approximately, from memory) like this: Can't you go any faster, like so we're not being overtaken by stationary objects? I'm sure my youngest sister would be able to correct the wording, and tell me immediately which episode it's from, who says it […]

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Version control

I’ve commented before that there are a lot of skills that our science graduates need to have, that don’t get explicitly taught at university. That’s because they don’t neatly fit into compartmentalized degree courses where the structure is dictated by technical knowledge. So things such as how to give a half-decent presentation, how to keep […]

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Dishwasher dynamics

How long does it take you to load the dishwasher? Placing all those tricky-shaped objects in position to maintain the perfect balance between getting the maximum numbers of objects into the machine and placing them so that they clean optimally.  Most likely, less time than it takes to load ours. This isn’t because it’s a […]

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Quantum mechanics: Reality is back

With an exam imminent, I’ve had a queue of students outside my door wanting help with their quantum mechanics. This semester, they’ve come across the Schrodinger equation and the wavefunction for the first time and, unsurprisingly, some are struggling to grasp it. "But what IS the wavefunction?", they say. "How do you derive the Schrodinger […]

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Is maths real?

 A friend has just started a Bachelor of Arts degree here at Waikato. As part of her first year study, she’s chosen to do a Philosophy paper. Apparently, one of the questions that has been posed, is "Is maths real?".  Well, what is real? You certainly can’t put ‘maths’ in a box and give it […]

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Mega- and nano-everything

 While generally speaking I’m very pleased to hear physics words appear in everyday conversation, I would prefer for them to be used approximately correctly. ‘Exponentially‘ is a case in point – it gets used for something that keeps getting bigger, regardless of how exponential it really is.  So, while ‘nanotechnology’ is a good word to […]

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