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 […]
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Physics 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 readingWhere Western Australia’s money comes from
As if you didn't know already, digging holes is important in Western Australia. And there is a LOT of Western Australia to dig holes in. Sitting in a park in the centre of Perth is a great collection of stuff that comes out of these holes – the 'Ore Obelisk'. It's a great idea – […]
Continue readingThe problem with science communication
Yesterday I was part of a very interesting workshop on Science in Society, in Auckland. There was a plethora of good examples of science communication discussed – including forest restoration on the East Coast, biological control of pests in vineyards in Canterbury and improvement of health outcomes for Native Americans in Montana. For me, it […]
Continue readingThe world’s most beautiful equation
Don't miss the BBC poll on what is the world's most beautiful equation. Are you a fan of Einstein's field equation, or does the Riemann zeta-function hold you in raptures? There's some great commentary on the twelve candidates here. How did I vote? Well, that would be telling, but the fact that my very first […]
Continue readingDon’t confuse accuracy with precision
Going back to my last post, our fancy balance proclaims that it weighs objects from 0 to 200 g with a precision of 0.001 g (that's one milligram). And it does – put an object on and the balance gives you an attractive-looking number on its prominent display reading 184.139 g, or something similar. […]
Continue readingWeighing magnetic properties
It's a New Year and there are lots of things to do at work before the students get back in any numbers. There are still summer students and research students here, and in the last couple of days I've been working with a summer student on getting a new piece of equipment running for our […]
Continue readingTip or slide?
We had our departmental Christmas lunch on Tuesday, outside in the campus grounds. We had some lovely sunshine, but the wind did rather spoil things. I've certainly got used now to living in a very wind-free place – a fresh breeze is something quite unsual here. We were hanging on to our paper plates, but […]
Continue readingFeedback, feedback and more feedback
I've recently received the final report from the Conference Organizing company that looked after the New Zealand Institute of Physics (NZIP) conference, back in July. The report includes such things as the final accounts, the breakdown of who attended, and feedback from participants. It's the feedback that is particularly interesting. When we attend an event, […]
Continue readingAttacked by an umbrella
We have a spring-loaded umbrella at home. The idea is that you press a button, and it automatically springs into shape – its shaft springs out and the canopy unfolds. I've often wondered about the wisdom of such a mechanism and thought what would happen if it went off in an inconvenient confined space, such […]
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