London and South East
Events - Milton Keynes Centre
Meetings will be held on Tuesday evenings at 7.30 p.m. in the Robert Hooke Seminar Room at the Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes. Further information can be obtained from Prof. Raymond Mackintosh (tel 01908 653 881/01908 652 489; e-mail r.mackintosh@open.ac.uk) or Beverley Harker (tel 01908 655 253; e-mail b.j.harker@open.ac.uk).
Tuesday 7 October
Radiotherapy physics: fighting cancer
Mrs Sarah Misson, Radiotheraphy Physicist, Southampton Oncology Centre
Radiotherapy physics is a growing field; with rapid technological advances and increasingly complex treatments, the need for physics support in cancer care is increasing. This talk will aim to provide an insight into the current and future uses of radiotherapy in the fight against cancer.
Tuesday 4 November
Black holes for beginners
Dr Carolin Crawford, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
So what exactly is a black hole? Why is it black? How do we find black holes? What would happen if you fell into one? What do we learn about physics from studying them? Come along and learn the answers to these questions and more – and you don’t have to be an Einstein to understand!
Tuesday 2 December
Vis lucis, vis luminis: how optics shaped physics
Prof. Ian A Walmsley, Hooke Professor of Experimental Physics and Head of Atomic and Laser Physics, University of Oxford
Optics has provided the phenomena or the technology to enable many of the major advances in physics over the past 400 years. The speaker will discuss the role that it has played in advancing science and point out how it remains a vital subdiscipline, despite its extraordinary long history at the forefront of research.
2009
Tuesday 3 February
Liquid nitrogen demonstrations
Dr Peter Ford MBE
National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
Liquid nitrogen is a well-known cryogenic coolant, boiling at 77K (-196C). At such a low temperature it is possible to show a variety of interesting demonstrations, including gases changing into liquids and vice versa. Materials can change dramatically at these low temperatures, as can be seen with experiments on such everyday objects as tennis balls, bananas, bells and batteries. Striking electrical demonstrations are possible at liquid nitrogen temperatures including the “jumping ring”, which demonstrates Faraday’s laws of electromagnetic induction. The speaker will also discuss some of the principles behind obtaining low temperatures, and his presentation will conclude with the spectacular “liquid nitrogen monster”.
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