WEDNESDAY 18th – FRIDAY 20th SEPTEMBER 2013
Physics for a brighter future
Cardiff University School of Physics and Astronomy
10.00 Welcome
10.10Blinks, wobbles and blips: Searching for exoplanets Dr Edward Gomez
How do you find something really faint, cold, and small next to something really bright, hot, and enormous? Astronomers have come up with some innovative ways to find planets outside our Solar System, but are we exploring the Universe, looking for extra-terrestrial life or maybe hunting for a new home?
10.35 Solar cells – in technology and in life Dr Emyr Macdonald
Solar energy is the most abundant of renewable sources. Silicon photovoltaic cells are effective but material and processing costs are high. How do plants harvest the sun’s energy? We explore the underlying physics and the lessons to be learnt for nanotechnology from the energy systems of the living cell.
11.00Refreshments (20 mins)
11.20The sound of strings Wil Roberts
Understanding how vibrations are transmitted from a plucked string to the radiated sound of a guitar is important in making choices in the design of an instrument. In this talk we’ll demonstrate the physics involved in the guitar and see how we can use it to make sweet music.
11.40The Mystery of Magnets Kane Esien
From over 4000 years ago when aShepherd's sandal got stuck to a magnet, totoday'shomes with a million million magnets in them.
Why are magnets so important today? What are magnets actually used for? Can a magnet save a life? Are you magnetic? What do nano-magnetslook like?Join us on a journey to find out what makes a magnet magnetic and what the future holds formagnetism.
12.00The mysterious case of the varying Beta decay rate Dr Annabel Cartwright
Beta decay is a thoroughly well understood phenomenon. If you have a beta emitter, say Carbon 14, you know exactly how fast or slow it should decay, plus or minus a little random noise... or so we thought! A new, chance discovery, may show that something very odd, and unexplained, is going on with beta decay, and Cardiff students are helping to track it down. Will this lead to a new early warning system for the planet?
12.20Lunch
1.20Where can physics take you? Dr David Cunnah
1.40The Universe: where does it end? Dr Chris North
It is a well-known fact that the Universe is expanding, but what exactly does that mean? What was it like when it was younger and how do we know all this? We will cover our current understanding of cosmology - not only what we know but what we don't know!
2.15End