izmeina: a snippet of Escher's circle of serpents (Default)
[personal profile] izmeina
One of the joys of having a sort of serpent sabbatical was the opportunity to visit the university open days. While still in zombie mode was simply too exhausted to attend the local one. For the very first time in about seven years had not indulged in this annual ritual. Had gotten our serpent snout in the Chemical Centre not once but on two separate occasions last year. This had been the major incentive last time. Had been eying up the place for years and years and waiting for the one annual chance to sneak a peek

But having ditched the toad only in the last week or so, the old serpent spark had returned. The zombie form became reanimated. So instead of the usual staying at Petunia’s place on Saturday night and staying curled up in the serpent sack until at least 11am, remained at the Lair that night instead and was out and about by 7am in the morning. Most unusual indeed and a very good sign. Such an early start would be necessary due to last year’s experience of missing not one but three buses going to the university as they were all packed like sardines from the very first stop.
It was so good to feel awake and alive again. Even the miserable drizzling rain was insufficient to put a dampener on the big day of adventure

It turned out that there was no need after all to go to the first stop at this early bird hour as no more than a dozen prospective students boarded at that stage but it was best not to take chances. So no regrets. It also meant having more time to plot and plan the grand adventures before the official opening at 10am

Last year turned up around midday and picked up a program only to discover that I had just missed the intriguingly titled talk in the arts faculty “Expelliarmus - active Latin from medieval to modern times and beyond”

So that was most definitely not going to happen this time. The there was the obligatory ‘Magic of Chemistry’ show which is so good that it is worth seeing twice in the one day. Decided that once a year would be sufficient since there are so many temptations and so little time to indulge in them all

So found the arts building and watched two peacocks strutting about in a small sort of quadrangle. There were a few geeks showing off their collection of medieval replica swords and some strange sword like objects that did not look particularly lethal at all. Asked what they were for since they would not be much use for lopping off heads or hands. It turned out that they were training swords and were modeled from illustrations in medieval manuscripts.
By then it was time to look for those wand waving Latin mavens. Was so looking forward to this lecture in spite of holding a deep detestation and loathing of Latin. It is clunky and ugly and is best left for Gregorian chant where at least it does sound beautiful and you don’t have to see the ugliness on the page.



Was certainly not expecting a sign posted on the door declaring that due to unforeseen circumstances this workshop had to be cancelled. So it was not a lecture but a workshop! That made missing it even worse. Now will need to wait a whole year for another chance to find out just what goes on behind those darkened doors. A bit miffed but it was not like we were going to die of boredom for lack of things to do. So that meant a quick cross over the jungle gardens to the science sector.

Another obligatory stop over is the physics building. This is one of the best toy shops of all. They had the tubs of liquid nitrogen steaming away ominously and the students wearing gloves and goggles and carrying long pairs of pliers for tossing things in the cauldron and fishing them out. The shrinking and growing rubber balloon was particularly amusing. A normal orange party balloon would shrink not snap when placed in the bubbling cauldron of nitrogen and when removed it would soon return to its previous inflated state.

The poncy little camelia flowers were not so lucky. They just crumbled into dust when removed from the swirling liquid.

Looking ever so innocently at the stash of magnets and assorted metallic tubes on the table right next to the tank of icy evilness, Izzie could not help but ask what would happen if you put one of the magnets into the liquid nitrogen. That one is easy the student declared and proceeded to drop one in for a quick dip. Fishing it out he ran it through the top of one of the metallic tubes to see what difference it would make. He said that extreme cold makes magnets stronger and the proof was there before our eyes. The magnets already dawdled slowly down the tubes when held at 45 degrees or even almost vertically. But after a nap in the nitrogen bath they positively seemed to be sleeping in there. They did eventually tumble out after what seemed like an eternity. But this was the kind of thing that was truly magical and leaves three card tricks and rabbits in hats for dead.

He added that they used the extreme cold to power up the magnets used in the magnetic resonance imaging devices which were over in the Bayliss building and also on display but locked safely at a distance behind a large very thick glass screen. There were even a few canisters of nitrogen sitting on the lab bench in case top ups were required. Those critters had such powerful charm that even hip replacements or prosthetic limbs would be attracted to them from a distance of five metres. Wearing a pace maker in there would be as good as a death sentence. The odd idiot student who sneaked stuff past the metal detectors would soon find such objects flying through the air like missiles.

This place turns out to be one hairy scary candy store but that was all the more reason to love it.
There was the spinning silver coloured Egg of Columbus and an assortment of magnets and jumping rings. There were strange mats with little circles of iron filings so you could play with magnets on the mat and look at the magnetic fields they create. It was fun guessing what was going to happen with the various rings of metal when placed on the induction coil. They were made of assorted metals such as copper, iron and aluminium and some were proper rings while others had a tiny gap where the two ends of the metal meet but not quite join together. A circuit breaker one could say and that is exactly what they turned out to be.

Correctly predicted that nothing would happen to the rings which were not quite the full doughnut. But was most surprised that the aluminium ring which did form a complete circle jumped the highest of all. Had expected it not to just sit there and not budge. It is apparently a very good conductor of electricity and magnetizes very easily but just only when the switch is turned on.
There were tours of their super computer which is not much more than a set of training wheels for the big one that will be built at Bentley for the Square Kilometre Array astronomy project. It looked like little more than rows and rows of machines stacked on top of each other in large cabinets. It was very noisy and was more like a large refrigerator in a commercial kitchen than a computer as we normal muggles know them. There was not a screen or keyboard in sight. The geek specs were totally lost on Izzie. We only knew that the numbers were all rather large.

Also picked up a leaflet promoting a free talk on astronomy by one Brian Schmidt. Free and here! Gold medals in physics interest the Izzie far more than those from the pool or track. Already booked online and offered to add Uncle Vernon to the attendance list. He claims to be fascinated by the stars, the sun, moon and planets, the universe and the meaning of life. But he was not interested. He much prefers to stay at home glued to the idiot box feasting like a dementor on his eternal diet of doom and gloom. Such a misery guts.

After the warnings about those hairy scary magnets at the MRI centre, that was the next port of call. It was amazing how such innocent looking devices could be so dangerous. But there were more treats in store in that building too. A table full of test tubes, squeezie bottles of ethanol and dish washing liquid along with piles of plastic punnets of strawberries looked seriously intriguing. Izzie thought they were joking when they said that you could join the queue to extract DNA from strawberries but they were dead serious. This opportunity to be an amateur mad scientist was too tempting. It involved squishing and smashing a strawberry in a plastic bag mixed with water and detergent. The sludge would then be filtered into a test tube with a dash of alcohol. Then like water and oil the mix would separate into two separate components with the alcohol remaining on top but joined by tiny strings of slime. And that was the strawberry DNA. They siphoned off the clear liquid and put it into a tiny test tube which you got to keep as a souvenir.
But the feast of geekishness was not yet over. There was still the chemistry magic show conveniently right next door just after 3pm. Having been to see it last year was certainly going to be in the front stalls this time. Once again it was absolutely fabulous. Even the hordes of squealing beasties were impressed and amazed. We wonder how many of those will turn up doing the show some ten years from now. Yesss. Get them when they are young. It nearly always works.

But it’s never too late for an old serpent to learn new tricks. Not to get a real job or anything so meaningless and mundane but just for the sheer joy of enjoying and appreciating another tiny weenie pretty piece in the jigsaw of the universe
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izmeina: a snippet of Escher's circle of serpents (Default)
izmeina

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