I'm going to Tokyo this summer! I have never been so excited!
I got the eight-week internship with RBS in Japan! This means that I will get to go and live in Tokyo for two months and work in a different section of their business every week. And will also get to eat nothing but Japanese food and buy jeans that are the right length for me AND collect a ridiculous amount of Hello Kitty paraphernalia! :D I will try and write a slightly more sensible post once I have found out more and managed to calm down a bit. Oh, and once I have told Selex that I know won't be able to work there... Crap.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Sunday, 26 April 2009
This is not a cat blog
But I do love cats. And Maru is one of my favourites. His affinity for cardboard boxes is unrivalled.
As a good friend once told me, "curiosity didn't kill the cat, Schrodinger did. Maybe."
As a good friend once told me, "curiosity didn't kill the cat, Schrodinger did. Maybe."
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
I haven't met a physicist who doesn't like xkcd
One of my most recent favourites. The mouseover text reads "Sure, we could stop dictators or pandemics, but we could also make the signs on every damn diagram make sense."
From xkcd
Friday, 10 April 2009
When did I say that again?
I had been talking to a friend recently about Facebook and we were wondering whether everybody's account appeared in Google searches. So I just searched for my name + Facebook and accidentally came across an article in the Independent where I am quoted! It came out last Thursday and can be found here.
It was a bit of a surprise as I had forgotten even speaking to the reporter - I got a phone call straight after I came back from the 'Building the Britain of the Future' expo in Westminster in January. It makes for interesting reading (and I think I make a vaild point :P) and it's nice to see that the media are still picking up on points that have been made recently by the PM and Lord Drayson.
It was a bit of a surprise as I had forgotten even speaking to the reporter - I got a phone call straight after I came back from the 'Building the Britain of the Future' expo in Westminster in January. It makes for interesting reading (and I think I make a vaild point :P) and it's nice to see that the media are still picking up on points that have been made recently by the PM and Lord Drayson.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
I break stuff...
I feel kind of bad about this one though. In my most recent lab, I burnt out a diode and blew a fuse. When I put it like that, it doesn't seem so bad as diodes cost about 0.2p and fuses are pretty cheap too. Only thing is, the diode I killed was soldered onto the delicate inside of a cryostat, which is maintained in a vacuum. To repair said dead diode, a new one had to be carefully soldered into place and then the whole kit had to be vacuum pumped for 48 hours. Oh, and the fuse I blew was the digital multimeter's fuse , which isn't that easy to replace either. Oops.
As you can guess, the lab technicians aren't my biggest fans right now... And it was a result of me being reckless and not checking that all the dials were turned to 'zero' before I switched stuff on - I sent 9V through electronics that can only handle about 1V. At least I learnt my lesson. For now.
The weird thing about it though was that I then walked over to the next bench (I now had to share their equipment since mine was out for the next two days) and as soon as I stood there, all their kit started reading 'zero'. When I stayed a safe distance away and they reset it, it was all okay. They were surprised but I wasn't - I have a really bad habit of breaking stuff without even trying! I am on my 4th iPod, have killed my speakers twice and blew up the PSU of our family PC. Even my Dad's phone had a funny turn when I used it the other day. I really hope that my phone lasts - I just bought myself a Blackberry Bold and love it to bits.
Maybe it's a good thing that CERN and Fermilab turned me down - I'd have had to warn them about my reputation. Maybe I should be studying theoretical physics instead of experimental!
As you can guess, the lab technicians aren't my biggest fans right now... And it was a result of me being reckless and not checking that all the dials were turned to 'zero' before I switched stuff on - I sent 9V through electronics that can only handle about 1V. At least I learnt my lesson. For now.
The weird thing about it though was that I then walked over to the next bench (I now had to share their equipment since mine was out for the next two days) and as soon as I stood there, all their kit started reading 'zero'. When I stayed a safe distance away and they reset it, it was all okay. They were surprised but I wasn't - I have a really bad habit of breaking stuff without even trying! I am on my 4th iPod, have killed my speakers twice and blew up the PSU of our family PC. Even my Dad's phone had a funny turn when I used it the other day. I really hope that my phone lasts - I just bought myself a Blackberry Bold and love it to bits.
Maybe it's a good thing that CERN and Fermilab turned me down - I'd have had to warn them about my reputation. Maybe I should be studying theoretical physics instead of experimental!
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Jobs
Had my interview with Selex on Friday afternoon. I'm finding it really hard to tell how it went - it seemed much more like a chat than an interview and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing! Before my interview, I got to catch up with one of the guys who had given me a tour of the site in January which was nice. He wanted to ask me some questions about the Nuffield Bursary project that I did as they're thinking of providing one for next year. It's always good to hear how the scheme is growing as it did so much for me.
Then I had the interview. It was meant to be a competency-based interview where they could find out whether I can work in a team, whether I'm a good communicator, what my skills are, that kind of thing, but it kind of just turned into a normal conversation. I'm hoping that it's because I was the last person to be interviewed and that they'd just stopped sticking to the script by the time they got to me. Hmmm...
There are 11 people going for 4 places and I should find out by the end of this week so fingers crossed! It's a 12 week placement and the pay is fantastic so I really do hope that it all works out. I've still to hear about Tokyo too though. The suspense is killing me!
Then I had the interview. It was meant to be a competency-based interview where they could find out whether I can work in a team, whether I'm a good communicator, what my skills are, that kind of thing, but it kind of just turned into a normal conversation. I'm hoping that it's because I was the last person to be interviewed and that they'd just stopped sticking to the script by the time they got to me. Hmmm...
There are 11 people going for 4 places and I should find out by the end of this week so fingers crossed! It's a 12 week placement and the pay is fantastic so I really do hope that it all works out. I've still to hear about Tokyo too though. The suspense is killing me!
Monday, 16 March 2009
Cats + Laser Pens
Physics Camp
Well I had an unusual weekend. I went away with 45 students, 18 lecturers and some researchers to the Burn House, near Edzell. This weekend away is designed for us to give conference-style physics presentations to each other, get to know each other better and (although I don't think they plan for this) watch our lecturers get really drunk with us.
The house was amazing - absolutely huge and sat in the middle of acres of beautiful grounds. Only thing is, it's in the middle of nowhere with no phone reception, no internet or general access to civilisation. I'm not exactly a fan of the country, and the air smelt of poo the whole time we were there.
All the same, I had a really good time, even if I did have to walk 4 miles to Edzell to send a text. The talk sessions were mostly really interesting and I think mine went down quite well. My presentation was on neutrinos - looking at the history of their discovery and the experiments that lead to theories of neutrino mass and oscillations, on the way showing that the Standard Model is not a complete model as it doesn't account for the neutrino's mass. I got asked some really interesting questions at the end too which was good.
The evenings were the best bits - I had such a laugh with my friends but have a serious amount of sleep to catch up on now. I hadn't been looking forward to going to the Burn but yesterday I didn't want to come back and have to go to lectures, as I'd had such a good time. This morning was not fun - could hardly keep my eyes open and started a new lab this afternoon. It's titled 'low temperature experiments' and is crap. I get to use liquid helium (which has a temperature of around -269°C) which I thought would be exciting. I was sorely disappointed. I now have so much lab report to write up which I should probably go and do now.
The house was amazing - absolutely huge and sat in the middle of acres of beautiful grounds. Only thing is, it's in the middle of nowhere with no phone reception, no internet or general access to civilisation. I'm not exactly a fan of the country, and the air smelt of poo the whole time we were there.
All the same, I had a really good time, even if I did have to walk 4 miles to Edzell to send a text. The talk sessions were mostly really interesting and I think mine went down quite well. My presentation was on neutrinos - looking at the history of their discovery and the experiments that lead to theories of neutrino mass and oscillations, on the way showing that the Standard Model is not a complete model as it doesn't account for the neutrino's mass. I got asked some really interesting questions at the end too which was good.
The evenings were the best bits - I had such a laugh with my friends but have a serious amount of sleep to catch up on now. I hadn't been looking forward to going to the Burn but yesterday I didn't want to come back and have to go to lectures, as I'd had such a good time. This morning was not fun - could hardly keep my eyes open and started a new lab this afternoon. It's titled 'low temperature experiments' and is crap. I get to use liquid helium (which has a temperature of around -269°C) which I thought would be exciting. I was sorely disappointed. I now have so much lab report to write up which I should probably go and do now.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
CMS by Da Vinci
A fantastic sketch of the Compact Muon Solenoid in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci. I got it from this article. The artist has done more of these, but I can't find any others online. Shame, I would love to see some more.
Monday, 9 March 2009
In other news today...
"Son-Of-A-Bitch Mouse Solves Maze Researchers Spent Months Builiding"
Sometimes I wish that the stories on the Onion were real...
Sometimes I wish that the stories on the Onion were real...
O genki desu ka?
I just made and then devoured a batch of tori kara age. I got the recipe from the Wagamama book (which I blatently stole from my mum...) and they were absolutely delicious. Went very well with rice and pak choi.
Tucking into some good Japanese food has got me super excited about the prospect of working in Tokyo over the summer. Still waiting to hear back from the Saltire Foundation - now I'm nervous!
On the plus side, I have an interview with SELEX now, so fingers crossed for that one.
I wonder what other Japanese food can I make with what's in the fridge?
Tucking into some good Japanese food has got me super excited about the prospect of working in Tokyo over the summer. Still waiting to hear back from the Saltire Foundation - now I'm nervous!
On the plus side, I have an interview with SELEX now, so fingers crossed for that one.
I wonder what other Japanese food can I make with what's in the fridge?
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Summer 09
I have now applied for:
An international student placement at Fermilab, Chicago
A summer student placement at CERN, Geneva
A summer placement in Systems Engineering at Selex Galileo, Edinburgh
An internship with RBS Securities, Tokyo (through the Saltire Foundation)
So far, have only heard back from Fermilab who said no, but recommended that I apply again next year. I'm starting to wonder what on Earth I'll end up doing. I do not want to have to work in a restaurant to make some money again...
An international student placement at Fermilab, Chicago
A summer student placement at CERN, Geneva
A summer placement in Systems Engineering at Selex Galileo, Edinburgh
An internship with RBS Securities, Tokyo (through the Saltire Foundation)
So far, have only heard back from Fermilab who said no, but recommended that I apply again next year. I'm starting to wonder what on Earth I'll end up doing. I do not want to have to work in a restaurant to make some money again...
Thursday, 5 March 2009
X-Rays and Neutrinos
Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy studying physics until I take a step back and look at what I do each day.
Today I took an x-ray of a crystal (on dental x-ray film) to work out what it was. From the image of the diffraction of the x-rays, we worked out that it was a big chunk of table salt. My lab partner didn't let me lick it... Although my friend did check out the x-ray diffraction of a malteaser.
I then came home, made soup, ate soup, filled in an internship application and finished my presentation on neutrino oscillations. Well, that's a bit of a lie as I've almost finished the PowerPoint but haven't actually rehearsed it or learnt it. And I have to give it at 2 o'clock tomorrow. I think I'll just wing it and see how it goes - that's what I tend to end up doing anyway.
Today I took an x-ray of a crystal (on dental x-ray film) to work out what it was. From the image of the diffraction of the x-rays, we worked out that it was a big chunk of table salt. My lab partner didn't let me lick it... Although my friend did check out the x-ray diffraction of a malteaser.
I then came home, made soup, ate soup, filled in an internship application and finished my presentation on neutrino oscillations. Well, that's a bit of a lie as I've almost finished the PowerPoint but haven't actually rehearsed it or learnt it. And I have to give it at 2 o'clock tomorrow. I think I'll just wing it and see how it goes - that's what I tend to end up doing anyway.
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
