Archive for April, 2014

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After the Chaos Ball

Posted in Biographical, Football on April 5, 2014 by telescoper

I’ve been taking it easy today, recovering from a late night which involved attending the Annual Ball of the Chaos Society (that’s the Cardiff University Physics and Astronomy staff-student society). It was a grand affair, held in the National Museum of Wales and beginning with a drinks reception among the splendid Impressionist paintings and sculptures and continuing downstairs with a dinner dance, as shown in the picture. A few of us older reprobates then adjourned to a bar for a nightcap or several, all of which left me nursing a hangover this morning, although it was nice to see so many familiar faces again.

I’d like to thank the Chaos Society for inviting me and also send my condolences to the new boss of my old Department, Matt Griffin, on Cardiff City’s home defeat by Crystal Palace this afternoon. It looks pretty certain now that Cardiff will be playing Brighton in the Championship next season..

P.S. In the interest of balance I should point out that Newcastle got thrashed too, 4-0 at home to Manchester United. Their poor run continues against teams from the Midlands.

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Another Travelblog

Posted in Biographical on April 4, 2014 by telescoper

Once again I find myself on a Late Western train from Paddington to Cardiff. I was going to travel after work yesterday, but it was such a busy day that when I finished all I had to do about 6.30pm I was too tired to face the four-hour-plus journey. I hadn’t had time to stop for lunch either, so decided dinner in Brighton followed by an early night was a better plan.

Anyway so ends the penultimate week of teaching term; one final push and we’ll be into the Easter holidays, at which point I’ll actually be taking a short break myself, despite the apparently widespread belief that a Head of School is not allowed to take a holiday.

Twelve-week teaching terms are a hard slog, but on balance I much prefer not having to take a break part-way through, which tends to happen when Easter happens earlier in the year.

On Wednesday this week we had the termly meeting of Senate; next week there’s a cluster of end-of-term events, including two staff-student balls (one for Mathematics and one for Physics & Astronomy; naturally I have to attend both). There’s also our final UCAS Applicant Visit Day on Saturday 12th, which promises to be very busy especially if the weather stays fine…

This weekend, before all that, I’ll be relaxing in Cardiff and possibly recovering from the event I’ll be attending tonight at which I hope to see quite a few old friends. More of that anon, perhaps.

In the meantime, as the train trundles towards South Wales, I think I’ll have a short snooze. I hope I don’t miss my stop!

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An Inspirational Photograph..

Posted in Biographical on April 3, 2014 by telescoper

Getting home and feeling a little jaded after a very long day, I saw this photograph and decided to post it here because I think it’s inspirational.

The picture shows a visiting group of A-level physics students being given a guided tour of the Sussex University campus by Daniel, one of our first-year Theoretical Physics students.

You can see Daniel on the right of the photograph, with the white stick. He’s blind.

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A Problem of Capacitors

Posted in Cute Problems, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on April 3, 2014 by telescoper

Time for another entry in the Cute Problems  category. I’ve been teaching a course module  in theoretical physics this term so here’s one that my students should find a doddle…

A spherical capacitor consists of an outer conducting sphere of fixed radius b and a concentric inner conducting sphere whose radius a can be varied. The space between the spheres is filled with air which has a breakdown electric field strength E0. What are the greatest achievable values for (i) the potential difference between the spheres, and (ii) the electrostatic energy stored in the capacitor?

Answers via the comments box please.

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A Well Worn Story

Posted in Poetry with tags , on April 2, 2014 by telescoper

In April, in April,
My one love came along,
And I ran the slope of my high hill
To follow a thread of song.

His eyes were hard as porphyry
With looking on cruel lands;
His voice went slipping over me
Like terrible silver hands.

Together we trod the secret lane
And walked the muttering town;
I wore my heart like a wet, red stain
On the breast of a velvet gown.

In April, in April,
My love went whistling by,
And I stumbled here to my high hill
Along the way of a lie.

Now what should I do in this place
But sit and count the chimes,
And splash cold water on my face,
And spoil a page with rhymes?

by Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)

 

 

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Day Trip to Harwell

Posted in Education, Science Politics with tags , , , on April 1, 2014 by telescoper

Only time for a quick post as I’ve just got back from a visit to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory which is located at Harwell (in the heart of the Midlands).

I was there to find out about the Science and Technology Facilities Council‘s Apprenticeship scheme, as we are planning to introduce a similar scheme at the University of Sussex and needed some advice about how to set it up. I hope to write more about that in due course.

Anyway, it was a very informative and useful visit with the added bonus that we also got an impromptu guided tour of the Diamond Light Source (and its associated workshops where some of the current STFC apprentices are employed). The Diamond Light Source is actually shut down at the moment so various upgrades can be performed, and we were therefore allowed up close to where the beam lines are. That was very interesting indeed, especially when I saw that special devices are apparently deployed to counteract the effects of Cold Dark Matter..

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