Marcus Wilson • Oct 18, 2019 •
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting me to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars proving … Read More
Marcus Wilson • Sep 21, 2018 •
I have talked about some of the strange quantum mechanics effects before. An example is the two-slit experiment. If we fire photons (particles of light) at a pair of slits, and then measure where they appear on the other side of the slits, we get a two-slit diffraction pattern – exactly what we’d get if the photon travelled … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 15, 2018 •
by Jean Balchin Yesterday I was incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of world-renowned cosmologist and pioneer in theoretical physics, Stephen Hawking. Here are a collection of tributes to the great man. Professor David Wiltshire, Theoretical Physicist, University of Canterbury, comments: Stephen Hawking. Wikimedia Commons. “Stephen was the most courageous person I have known. He had … Read More
Ryan Ridden • Jan 16, 2017 •
Colours are everywhere. The colours we see come from light with different wavelengths, but light isn’t the only thing physicists say have colour. In the quantum world the subatomic particles known as quarks have colour. As with everything quantum mechanical the colour of quarks isn’t what it may seem. Quarks can come in a variety of six colours, from red, … Read More
Ken Perrott • Jun 19, 2014 •
Credit: xkcd. Apparently the above quote “You can safely ignore any sentence that includes the phrase’ according to quantum mechanics” is used by Robert P. Crease and Alfred Scharf in their upcoming book The Quantum Moment: How Planck, Bohr, Einstein, and Heisenberg Taught Us to Love Uncertainty. Good advice. Read More
Aimee Whitcroft • Apr 20, 2012 •
Well, I know have a full linup and details for nerd nite Wellington #10, which is happening this Monday, 23rd April, from 6pm at Hotel Bristol. Details are already available on the nerd nite Wellington website, Facebook page etc, but I figured I’d share them here, too :) I’ve changed the format a little and [...] … Read More
Aimee Whitcroft • Apr 03, 2012 •
This month’s edition of nerd nite Wellington looks to be a cracker. Or, possibly, a corker.  To celebrate the 10th edition,we’ve got people talking about making mad gadgets (and noises with them), KiwiMars and quantum mechanics. April 23rd, from 6pm. And two of them are Scibloggers! Elf Eldridge and Roger Hanson, to be [...] … Read More
the-cosmic-engine • Feb 16, 2012 •
An introduction to quantum physics for new comers, but a novel take for the seasoned campaigner. This blog - a brief background. Read More
the-cosmic-engine • Feb 02, 2012 •
Here’s the dream: New Zealand continues its superbly innovate and world beating work in the dairying industry and continues to star in Hollywood thanks to the amazing efforts of Weta Workshop and Peter Jackson. These two outstanding examples show that NZ can take on the world and win. But this is not enough; we need more world class companies, we … Read More
Aimee Whitcroft • Feb 02, 2012 •
It is widely agreed that quantum mechanics is pretty cool. Even if one doesn’t quite understand it*. And so, we are presenting you, our readers, with a quantum mechanics blog/blogger! Meet Dr Roger Hanson, who will be head blogger at The Cosmic Engine (a blog). Originally having gained his … Read More