Good science happens when clever people ask insightful questions. Some papers at the national physics congress in Canberra last week took on their colleagues—asking penetrating questions of mainstream science. [continue reading…]

Victorian government supports plans to build a dark matter laboratory deep in Stawell Gold Mine.

The Victorian government has committed $1.75 million to help Australian scientists hunt for dark matter a kilometre underground in the Stawell gold mine in regional Victoria. The project will commence once the Federal government provides matching support from their regional development program.

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Physicists recognised this week at the national physics congress in Canberra have won recognition for:

• Using lasers to safeguard future communications
• Replacing Schrödinger’s famous ‘cat in a box’ with photons and mirrors
• Engaging students by changing the way we usually teach science
• Bending light for nanoscale photonics and light-driven computing

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• Football physics tackles hamstring injuries
• Finding airports 50 light years away
• A sun on earth- fact or fiction
• Laser tracking of carbon-coughing cattle
• A Victorian goldfields search for galactic dark matter

These topics and more on day three of the national physics conference, Wednesday 10 December [continue reading…]

Tomorrow at the national physics and optics conference in Canberra:

• The catastrophe of a four degree temperature rise – clouds not helping
• LabPunk – scientific jewellery
• Letting the quantum cat out of the box
• Finding airports on Alpha Centauri’s planets
• Laser beams guarantee data privacy for companies and governments
• Shrinking X-ray microscopes down to fit on the laboratory bench
• Using science to create patterns
• Bending light for faster communication and light-driven computing

There’s more information on these below and much more at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/category/conferences/physicscongress

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• The catastrophe of 4 degree rise – warning for Lima talks
• Lab junk into LabPunk
• Strobe light flashes to capture a speeding electron
• Using spider-web fibre optics for the world wide web
• Shrinking X-ray microscopes for a closer look at the cellular world

These topics and more on day two of the national physics conference – Tuesday 9 December

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• laser rod to lapel pin
• space–time silver cuff
• complex art from simple rules
• geometry, videos and lace on exhibition

Artworks inspired by science are on display and under discussion at the national physics and optics congress at the Australian National University in Canberra from 7 to 11 December. The congress theme is ‘The Art of Physics’.

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Today at the national physics and optics conference in Canberra:

• Obama’s energy guru on managing climate change and growth
• Strobe flashes to capture speeding electrons—Canadian physicist Paul Corkum
• 11 dimensions and librettos—Harvard physicist Lisa Randall
• Women are still losing the fight for gender equity in the physical sciences:
  • numbers are skewed at school, and worse at uni
  • but we have great female physicists talking at the conference
  • and some examples of progress from the UK.
• More creative ways to teach science:
  • learning best by being thrown in the deep end
  • visualisations that turn numbers into meaning
  • are MOOCs better than uni?

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