Physics News from the AIP Term 2, No 4, 2011
Table of Contents
1. Update on our website and Physics Forum: www.vicphysics.org
2. Unit 3 Exam: What do you think?
3. The Language of Measurement: A resource for investigations
4. VCE Physics Podcasts: A Teacher Initiative
5. Forthcoming events for: Students and the General Public *
c) Into the heart of darkness: Supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies, Wednesday, 15th June, 6:30 – 7:30pm, Swinburne University Bookings still available
6. Forthcoming events for Teachers *
a) Responding to Climate Change in a Natural Interest: Garnaut Climate Change Review – Update 2011, 6:30pm, Thursday, 16th June, University of Melbourne
b) The Bionic Eye: diamond fabrication for retinal stimulation implants, 6:30pm, Wednesday 22nd June
c) 100 years of Superconductivity: July Lectures in Physics, Fridays in July at 8pm, University of Melbourne
7. Physics News from the Web
a) 3D TV without glasses
b) The secret lives of photons revealed
c) Magnetic fields reduce blood viscosity
* Events listed for the first time are in bold with details below. The details of the other events can be found on our website at www.vicphysics.org/forthcomingevents.html or in previous newsletters at www.vicphysics.org/aipnews.html
This newsletter is compiled by the Australian Institute of Physics (Victorian Branch) Education Committee.
This year the AIP Education Committee will be meeting at Kew High School, normally on the second Tuesday of the month from 5pm – 7pm, the next meeting is on Tuesday, 21st June, when the committee's review of the June Physics exam will be prepared. All teachers are welcome to attend this or any other meeting. You don't need to be a member of the AIP to get involved. If you would like to attend, please contact the chair, Sue Grant, at .
1. Update on our website and Physics Forum: www.vicphysics.org
The webpages on our website are now fully accessible.
The forum section of the website is also now operational and can be accessed from http://www.vicphysics.org/forum/ . Unfortunately when the website security was breached all postings after 2008 were deleted. At this stage the Forum cannot be accessed from the homepage of the vicphysics.org website, but that minor glitch should be overcome shortly.
2. Unit 3 Exam: What do you think?
The Physics Forum, http://www.vicphysics.org/forum/, has a section for you to express your thoughts on the Physics Exams. The AIP Education Committee considers these when it is preparing its detailed question by question review, which it forwards to VCAA.
To make a comment just go to the website above, select “Comments on VCE Exams” then the thread for “June 2011”. If you have never used the Forum before, you will need to register and nominate a password. An email will be shortly sent to you confirming your registration.
3. The Language of Measurement: A resource for investigations
"The Language of Measurement" is a publication by the Nuffield Foundation and the Association for Science Education (ASE) UK. The booklet describes the terminology used in school science investigations. It is designed to help teachers become confident about the special terminology associated with practical investigations, when it should be used, and what specific terms mean.. The aim of the booklet is to enable teachers, publishers, awarding bodies and others to achieve a common understanding of important terms that arise from practical work in secondary science, consistent with the terminology used by professional scientists.
The booklet is in three parts:
· an introduction giving a rationale for the approach taken
· a glossary of key terms
· investigations illustrating the use of the terms in context
The investigations include examples from school biology, chemistry and physics. 'The Language of Measurement' is also applicable to evaluating aspects of scientific claims made in the public domain.
It is available ₤6.50 to members of the ASE and for ₤10 to non-members. Individual ASE membership is ₤80.
Further details at http://old.ase.org.uk/htm/book_store/detail.php?SIID=298
4. VCE Physics Podcasts: A Teacher Initiative
Justin Vincent from Warrnambool College, a regular presenter at the Physics Teachers Conference, has set up website, www.vcephysics.com of podcasts and other resources for physics students.
The main focus is video / animated podcasts explaining concepts of VCE Physics. At the moment these are just for Units 3 & 4, (Units 1 & 2 wil be added next year). These podcasts are also available for free subscription through the iTunes store. PDF notes are also be available for download.
Students are currently able to discuss aspects of the podcasts. In the future, there will also be a forum available.
If you wish to contribute to Justin's website, please contact him at
If you have set up similar or complementary initiatives, please let the AIP Education Committee publicise your efforts.
5. Forthcoming events for Students and General Public
c) Into the heart of darkness: Supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies, Wednesday, 15th June, 6:30 – 7:30pm, Swinburne University
Lecture by Dr Darren Croton, Swinburne University
Free, but booking required. Contact: Elizabeth Thackray on or (03) 9214 5569.
This lecture was previously fully booked, but has been moved to a larger lecture. Bookings can new be made at: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFVULW5taVZKaV9IYlA2VDdRMVRqbnc6MQ
The lecture will now take place in the new ATC building (white with holes) on Burwood Road but also next to the EN building so can be accessed via Burwood road or via the railway walk RED entrance. ATC101 is on the ground level of that building.
A larger theatre will also be used for the 20 July, 19 August, 22 September lectures.
Check http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/outreach/?topic=freelectures for details
6. Forthcoming Events for Teachers
a) Garnaut Climate Change Review – Update 2011, 6:30pm, Thursday, 16th June, University of Melbourne
Speaker: Prof Ross Garnaut
Venue: GM 15 Theatre, Melbourne Law School, 185 Pelham Street, Carlton
Booking required: http://garnautupdate2011.eventbrite.com
In November 2010, Professor Ross Garnaut was commissioned to provide an update to the 2008 Climate Change Review for the Australian Government and community. Since then, the Garnaut Climate Change Review—Update 2011 has released a series of papers addressing developments across a range of areas including climate change science and impacts, international mitigation progress, carbon pricing, land, innovation, and the electricity sector. Professor Garnaut delivered his final report to the Prime Minister on 31 May 2011. At this forum, he will discuss the key findings of his update and present his recommendations for action on climate change in the national interest.
b) The Bionic Eye: diamond fabrication for retinal stimulation implants, 6:30pm, Wednesday 22nd June
Free monthly talk presented by the Australian & New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) in association with the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Science. All welcome. Free pizza and drinks after the talk.
Lecturer: Professor Steven Prawer
Venue: GTAC Lecture Theatre, Gene Technology Access Centre, Corner Royal Parade & Story St, Parkville. For more information: http://www.anzaas.org.au/vic/.
c) Superconductivity: July Lectures in Physics, Fridays in July at 8pm, University of Melbourne
Friday 8th July: Absolutely no resistance: The strange discovery of superconductivity, Prof David Jamieson
Friday, 15th July: How it touches your life, Dr Cathy Foley, CSIRO
Friday, 22nd July: The Superconducting Unioverse - Breaking Symmetry, Prof Ray Volkas
Friday 29th July: Superconductivity in space: Neutron stars and Gravity waves, A/Prof Andrew Melatos
Venue: Elizabeth Murdoch Theatre A
For details, check http://outreach.physics.unimelb.edu.au/July-Lectures-in-Physics/Program
7. Physics News from the Web
Items selected from the bulletins of the Institute of Physics (UK) and the American Institute of Physics.
a) 3D TV without glasses
b) The secret lives of photons revealed
c) Magnetic fields reduce blood viscosity
a) 3D TV without glasses
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/indepth/46154
Liquid-crystal displays that let viewers watch images in 3D are the latest success story in the electronics industry – the only problem being that special spectacles are required. But, as Jonathan Mather explains, liquid-crystal technology is also ideal for "glasses-free" 3D displays.
An in-depth article explaining the technology.
b) The secret lives of photons revealed
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/46193
An international team of researchers has, for the first time, mapped complete trajectories of single photons in Young’s famous double slit experiment. The finding takes an important first step towards measuring complimentary variables of a quantum system – which until now has been considered impossible as a consequence of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
In the double slit experiment, a beam of light is shone onto a screen through two slits, which results in an interference pattern on the screen. The paradox was that one could not tell which slit single photons had passed through, as measuring this would directly distort the interference pattern on the screen. “In most science, it is possible to look at what a system is doing presently and so, determine its past or future. But in quantum mechanics, it is considered inconceivable to consider the past at all.” says physicist Aephraim Steinberg of the Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control at the University of Toronto, Canada who has led this new research.
Now, using a technique known as “weak measurement” Steinberg and his team say they have managed to accurately measure both position and momentum of single photons in a two-slit interferometer experiment. The work was inspired by one of Steinberg’s colleagues, Howard Wiseman of Griffith University, Australia, who proposed in 2007 that it may be possible to use weak measurements to determine momenta and positions in the double slit experiment. Steinberg was immediately fascinated and began to see how this would become experimentally viable.
c) Magnetic fields reduce blood viscosity
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/46226
Researchers in the US claim that exposing a person to a magnetic field could reduce their risk of a heart attack by streamlining the flow of blood around their body. While the work currently remains just a proof-of-principle, the researchers believe that their technique could ultimately provide an alternative to drugs in treating a range of heart conditions.
Heart attacks and stokes can strike for a variety of reasons. But research suggests that all such vascular conditions are linked by one common symptom – high blood viscosity. Drugs such as aspirin are frequently prescribed to help lower blood viscosity, but these can have unwanted side effects often related to irritation of the stomach. Now, an alternative to drugs may be at hand following recent work by Rongjia Tao at Temple University and his colleague Ke Huang at the University of Michigan.
In their experiment, Tao and Huang showed that applying a 1.3T magnetic pulse to a small sample of blood can significantly reduce it's viscosity. About 8 ml of blood with a viscosity of 7 centipoises (cp) – above healthy limits – was contained at body temperature (37 C) in a test tube. The tube formed part of a device called a capillary viscometer used to measure viscosities. The sample was then exposed to a magnetic field applied parallel to the direction of flow of blood via a coil around the edge of the test tube. After one minute of exposure to the field, the blood's viscosity had been reduced by 33% to 4.75 cp. With no further exposure to the field, the viscosity had only risen slightly to 5.4cp after 200min, which is still within healthy limits.