IOP Groups
Medical Physics Group Newsletter
No. 16, October-December 2003
The cover image used for this newsletter is of a nuclear medicine scan of a thyroid gland. The image shows uptake of Tc-99m Sodium pertechnetate, it was acquired using a pin-hole collimator on a Scintronix gamma camera. The image is courtesy of Dr John Dickson, Nuclear Medicine Department, Royal Free Hospital, London.
The Newsletter aims to provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas between those active in the field of medical physics and those who have an active interest in the subject.
Legs dangling over a vertical drop of 180 feet I can’t honestly say that my life was flashing before my eyes, but I did wonder how I’d allowed myself to be talked into this situation. 180 feet is nothing in comparison to say, Mount Everest, but with feet dangling over the edge, and held in by a flimsy harness, it’s a long, long way down. Finally the carriage is released and plummets down a slope that is just 3 degrees off the vertical, reaching a top speed of 68 mph. We are prevented from a trip to the antipodes, by the welcome curve of the exit track at the bottom, which takes us momentarily through a force of 4.5 G’s. Incidentally, I note with some pride that astronauts experience only 3 G’s on take-off.
On the subject of astronauts, I see that English astronaut, Michael Foale, is to command Expedition 8, a long duration flight to the International Space Station this October. Expedition 8 will devote nearly 200 hours to research, including microgravity studies in life sciences, physics and chemistry as well as extensive Earth observations.
Commander Foale says, "When we look back fifty years to this time, we won't remember the experiments that were performed, we won't remember the assembly that was done, we may barely remember...any individuals. What we will know was that countries came together to do the first joint international project, and we will know that that was the seed that started us off to the moon and Mars."
But I digress when I should be setting a competition question. Returning to my predicament at the start of this ramble - where was I?
Send your answers to me at: jeffrey.jones@rfc.ucl.ac.uk. Answers such as "in a world of his own" will not win - unless that’s the best entry received. There will be a book prize, a smug sense of superiority and popular approbation courtesy of the next newsletter for the winner. In the event of more than one correct entry the winner’s name will be drawn from a hat on December 19th.
Jeff Jones
The ordinary "horseless carriage"
is at present a luxury for the
wealthy; and although its price
will probably fall in the future,
it will never, of course, come
into as common use as the bicycle.
The Literary Digest, October 14, 1899.
The Group’s website has been completely redesigned and offers a bright new gateway to the world of Medical Physics. The new website aims to give up-to-date information about the Medical Physics Group and its activities together with more general information about the world of medical physics.
The webmaster, Greg Jones, has designed the site so that it is available in a "frames" and "no-frames" version, useful to those with older web browsers or text-only browsers. Greg is hoping to develop the website into a leading resource for those with an interest or desire to work in Medical Physics.
Greg is asking for pictures of Medical Physicists at work for display on the website. Every picture used will be accompanied by a credit for the photographer and their Institution.
Greg Jones can be contacted via e-mail at: webmaster_mpg@operamail.com
The "Periodic Table of Poetry" is an interesting idea. There is a poem ascribed to each element of the periodic table. The website given below directs you to - "Click on your favorite element for a poem"
http://www.superdeluxe.com/elemental/table.htm
The members of this Group have proved to be (surprisingly) good at composing poetry and the haiku in particular were very popular with readers. As ever, I invite you to send in your own contributions of any kind of "poetry" for inclusion in this section. Contributions can be anonymous but in all cases must be your own work or be accurately attributed.
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
and drinking largely sobers us again.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
The Red Flag Act
In 1865 the Red Flag Act required every road locomotive to have three passengers before it could be driven. One passenger was given the task of steering (by far the best job), another passenger was needed to stoke the fire. Fire?! The early road locomotives were steam driven. Finally, the third "passenger" was required to walk ahead waving a red flag to warn on-coming traffic of their approach and to help control excitable horses encounter en-route. The flag waver didn’t have to be particularly swift, the maximum allowed speed of the road locomotive was 2 mph in town. Out on the open road they were allowed up to a breath-taking 4 mph!
Items for the Newsletter
The Newsletter is published quarterly; this edition covers the months October through December 2003.
If you would like to make a contribution to the January to March 2004 Newsletter, e.g. news items, meeting reports, diary dates, letters, poems etc., please send them to:
Jeff Jones, Department of Medical Physics, The Royal Free Hospital, London NW3 2QG. (E-mail: jeffrey.jones@rfc.ucl.ac.uk)
Closing date for submissions: 26 September 2003.
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