Photo album – Christmas party, Dec. 20, 2012
All posts by Henry Leparskas
Enjoying our newly renovated Physics and Astronomy building
Here is a small photo album of the end of renovations in the fall of 2012, as well as the community making use of the newly renovated building.
We welcome Dr. Andrea Soddu to our faculty
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Andrea Soddu will be joining the Physics and Astronomy faculty on January 1 2013.
No green Christmas in south-central British Columbia
I just received a report that BC back country ski resort Sol Mountain Lodge has received over 5 metres of snow since December 1.
Bing Crosby would have loved it, and I won’t complain if I have to scrape my car windshield tomorrow morning. [photo and report: Alf Skrastins, Calgary]
Yet another ISS flyby – this evening, Fri. 14 Dec at 5:46pm
Don’t forget that you can have NASA email you directly with announcements of favourable ISS flybys for your location. Sign up at http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
The weather still looks a bit hopeful for the viewing of the International Space Station this evening. Yesterday evening was a bit cloudier than anticipated, but the station was still visible.
Tonight it will be a bit lower: in the sky towards the south;
SpotTheStation! Time: Fri Dec 14 5:46 PM, Visible: 4 min, Max Height: 54 degrees, Appears: SSW, Disappears: ENE
Pauline Barmby gives Science Here and Now lecture
The Faculty of Science and London Public Library joined forces once again, presenting another installment of Science Here and Now.
The speakers for this December 11 talk were Dr. Pauline Barmby (shown in photo) from Physics and Astronomy and Dr. Linda Howie from Anthropology.
Their presentation was titled, “The End of The World as We Know It?“, a look at world astronomical catastrophe myths, including the most recent myth which claims that the Mayan calendar indicates the certain end of the world on December 21, 2012.
We Welcome Lisa Tocker to our staff.
You can find Lisa in our main office in PAB 138.
ISS flyby this evening, Thurs. Dec 13, at 6:36 PM
SpotTheStation! Time: Thu Dec 13 6:36 PM, Visible: 2 min, Max Height: 83 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: NNE
Welcome to Yves Rambour in his new glassblowing shop
The Department of Physics and Astronomy welcomes Yves Rambour to his new home in the Faculty of Science glassblowing shop.
This new facility is located in Physics and Astronomy PAB 7.
Yves has been at Western for 10 years, and previously worked at the University of Waterloo. He has 35 years of glassblowing experience and is a member of the American Scientific Glassblowers Association.
Creating steam with water, sunlight, and nano particles
I heard this on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks today. Scientists at Rice University have been able to create steam by putting gold or carbon covered silicon dioxide nano particles in water and shining sunlight on it. They say that 80% of the sunlight’s energy goes into the production of steam, while 20% heats the water independently.