Physics Stop

Physics is a science. Or maybe not.

Marcus Wilson • Mar 14, 2017

• boundary work,
• mathematics,
• physics,
• Science,
• theory

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 on the role of mathematics … Read More

Weather records

Marcus Wilson • Mar 11, 2017

• Australia,
• climate change,
• Rainfall,
• Temperature,
• weather records,
• Wind

I came across the following on the BBC website  “Australia’s summer broke 205 records…” It draws from the recent Climate Council report. The BBC article doesn’t list them all 205 of them, but does pull out the most impressive – the hottest summer on record for Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra,  and the wettest on record … Read More

Jewel Cave: Blowing potholes

Marcus Wilson • Mar 07, 2017

• air flow,
• caves,
• geology,
• jewel cave,
• Science

As part of our trip southwards last week, we visited one of the many caves scattered across the Margaret River region. The immediate impression on entering the ‘Jewel Cave’ is its vast size. It’s hard to estimate just how big the main cavern is, but as a rough guess maybe 100 metres by 50 metres by 10 or … Read More

Trusting someone’s engineering calculations

Marcus Wilson • Mar 03, 2017

• engineering,
• Gloucester Tree,
• Science,
• tree

We put our trust in someone else’s calculations and measurements all the time. It’s just part of the modern world. Cross a bridge, drive a car, use anything electrical, and we implicity trust that the people who designed it, built it, installed it and tested it have done their job correctly. Occasionally things go wrong and disaster strikes, but, by … Read More

Physicsstop back in business

Marcus Wilson • Feb 07, 2017

• acoustics,
• physics,
• playground,
• Science,
• sound

I have been rather conscious of my looonnnnggggg absence from the blogosphere. That really is down to other commitments getting in the way, and then falling out of the habit of blogging.  Hopefully this will be a restart. I have a good opportunity here – I have just started a period of study leave (what used to be called Sabbatical … Read More

Video: laminar flow, microorganisms and mangroves

Marcus Wilson • Jun 21, 2016

• flagella,
• laminar flow,
• mangroves,
• microorganisms,
• turbulence

This movie is a demonstration of laminar flow. My colleague Julia Mullarney used it last week in our Osborne lectures to high-school students to demonstrate what turbulent flow ISN’T. Video showing Laminar Flow and demonstrating fluid flowing in layers. This apparatus was developed by John DeMoss and Kevin Cahill of the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University … Read More

Probability madness

Marcus Wilson • May 10, 2016

• Probability,
• Science

Probability crops up in many places in physics, not least quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics where we are only sure of things in an average or ‘statistical’ sense. Dealing with probabilities can be a headache for many students. They are also a headache for many in everyday life. There are numerous occasions where we need to estimate the likelihood of … Read More

The universal joint

Marcus Wilson • Mar 10, 2016

• engineering,
• physics,
• planetary orbits,
• Science,
• universal joint

…No, it isn’t something everyone smokes…  But it is common in machine mechanisms. The universal joint is a neat way of turning rotation in one plane into rotation in another. A common use is on driveshafts where you want the direction of the shaft to bend. There’s a neat animation on Wikipedia of how the thing moves. Despite … Read More

The storm surge

Marcus Wilson • Feb 26, 2016

• Science

I shudder to think what it must have been like in the path of Cyclone Winston. It is hard to conceive of winds 230 km/h sustained for minutes at a time. I remember vividly what is now known as the Great Storm of 1987 (an extra-tropical cyclone) which pulverised south-east England on 15/16 October 1987. There were (according to … Read More

The problem with science communication

Marcus Wilson • Feb 24, 2016

• engagement,
• Science,
• 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 was clear … Read More