Since I’m currently doing revision classes because the examination period here at Maynooth University begins shortly after Christmas, and some of our students haven’t done examinations for a while because of Covid-19 restrictions, I thought I would use my YouTube channel (which has several subscribers) to present a video version I made last spring of a post I did a few years ago about how to solve Physics problems. These are intended for the type of problems students might encounter at high school or undergraduate level in examinations or indeed in homework. I’ve tried to keep the advice as general as possible though so hopefully students in other fields might find this useful too.
Follow @telescoperArchive for the YouTube Category
Some Tips on Answering Physics Exam Questions
Posted in Education, YouTube on December 14, 2021 by telescoperAstrophysics & Cosmology Masterclass – The Video!
Posted in Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff, YouTube with tags Astrophysics, Cosmology, Masterclass, Zoom on November 15, 2021 by telescoperAs promised here is the video recording of the Astrophysics & Cosmology Masterclass we held by Zoom last Friday.
Open Access and the Open Journal of Astrophysics
Posted in Open Access, YouTube with tags Open Access, open science, The Open Journal of Astrophysics on September 18, 2021 by telescoperHere is the video recording of the Invited Colloquium at the International School Daniel Chalonge – Hector de Vega I gave via Zoom on15th September 2021, introduced by Prof. Norma Sanchez.
In the talk I give a review about the absurdity of the current system of academic publishing, about what Open Access publishing means, and give a short introduction to the Open Journal of Astrophysics, an arXiv overlay journal.
I’m sorry if the recording is a bit choppy but that’s an occupational hazard with Zoom recordings and rather limited broadband!
The talk itself lasts about an hour, but was followed by an interesting discussion session so although the full video is rather long (2 1/2 hours) I’ve put it all there on Youtube.
You can download the video here. A PDF of the slides may be found here. You can also view the slides on slideshare:
Follow @telescoperThe State of the Universe Video
Posted in Biographical, Talks and Reviews, The Universe and Stuff, YouTube on June 29, 2021 by telescoperAnd now the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Here is a recording of the Invited Colloquium at the International School Daniel Chalonge – Hector de Vega I gave via Zoom on 23rd June 2021, introduced by Prof. Norma Sanchez.
In the talk I give a general review of the current state of cosmology, discussing the standard model of cosmology and some of the possible ways in which it might be revised or extended. It’s not a very technical talk but does assume some knowledge of cosmology. I hope a general audience will get something out of it.
I’m sorry if the recording is a bit choppy but that’s an occupational hazard with Zoom recordings and rather limited broadband!
This is an edited version of the session which in total lasted well over three hours including lengthy discussions and a trip down memory lane at the end. I cut out the introduction but kept a few of the questions and answers at the end, so it’s still rather long despite the rather brutal edits.
A video of the full event can be found here (1.6GB) and a PDF file of the slides can be found here. The slides are also available to be viewed here.
Watch “Why the Universe is quite disappointing really – Episode 7” on YouTube
Posted in The Universe and Stuff, YouTube with tags acoustic waves, Big Bang, Cosmology, decibels, sound waves on September 3, 2020 by telescoperBack for Episode 7 of this series in which I explain how we can measure the strength of acoustic waves in early Universe using measurements of the cosmic microwave background, and how that leads to the conclusion that the Big Bang wasn’t as loud as you probably thought. You can read more about this here.
Watch “The Eddington Eclipse Experiment of 1919” on YouTube
Posted in History, The Universe and Stuff, YouTube with tags 1919 Eclipse Expeditions, A.S Eddington, NewsTalk Radio, Pat Kenny on August 6, 2020 by telescoperI’d forgotten about this little video made after I appeared on the Pat Kenny show on NewsTalk radio last year. It was just me and the camera in a little room, but it turned out less like a hostage video than I’d feared..
Cosmology Talks: Eva-Maria Mueller on the last (e)BOSS Data Release
Posted in The Universe and Stuff, YouTube with tags arXiv:2007.08991, Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, Cosmology Talks, eBOSS, Eva-Maria Mueller on July 20, 2020 by telescoperToday is another big day for cosmology as the last and final – why do people say that? – data release from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is now available. That is the culmination of 20 years of effort with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Here is a pretty picture showing the enormous scales probed by the survey:
There is an overview paper on the cosmological implications of the survey on the arXiv here. Fortunately, the latest Cosmology Talk on the YouTube channel of Shaun Hotchkiss features a very interesting presentation by Eva-Maria Mueller who is the first author of that paper:
Watch “Why the Universe is quite disappointing really – Episode 6” on YouTube
Posted in The Universe and Stuff, YouTube with tags Gravity, Newton's Gravitational Constant, Why the Universe is quite disappointing really on June 30, 2020 by telescoperI had to suspend the production of these videos for a month or so while I dealt with examination matters, but after that short hiatus, here is Episode 6 during which I explain just how weak and feeble the force of gravity really is. Combined with the fact that the Universe has such a low density (see Episode 5), the weakness of gravity means that the cosmos evolves extremely slowly.
Watch “Why the Universe is quite disappointing really – Episode 5” on YouTube
Posted in The Universe and Stuff, YouTube with tags emptiness, galaxies, Space, the-universe on May 21, 2020 by telescoperEpisode 5, in which I explain using a golf ball just how empty the Universe is. It is so empty, in fact, that even the crowded places are very empty. And as for the empty places, they’re practically nothing.
Watch “Why the Universe is quite disappointing, really – Episode 4” on YouTube
Posted in The Universe and Stuff, YouTube with tags astronomy, dust, galaxies, M31, M64 on May 19, 2020 by telescoperEpisode 4, in which I show that spiral galaxies are very grubby – they contain huge amounts of dust. And not only galaxies – astronomical dust is everywhere we look. The Universe may be big, but it sure is dirty..
In the Dark 