Sixth Form Evening Lectures
How Physical Sciences and Mathematics Make a Difference in the World
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2024 Evening Lectures Programme
Lecture 1 – Why does space sing? (And why should I care?)
Our planet, like others in our solar system, possesses a magnetic field which acts like a cage that traps particles shot out by the sun. Helpfully, this stops the particles from frying us and our electronics. A curious by-product of the particles being trapped here is that they can “pluck” the magnetic field lines like instrument strings, and make coherent chirps which sound an awful lot like birdsong in the morning.
In this talk I’ll recount my journey to uncover something fundamentally cool about space: how does some of it sound? Is it a marvellous melody or more of a siren song?
Lecture 2 – Should I worry about space weather?
We interact with atmospheric weather every day of our lives and humanity’s increasing skill in predicting the weather benefits us all. Would it surprise you to learn that the near-Earth space environment, thousand of km above the Earth’s surface, also experiences “weather”? In this lecture, I will introduce the electromagnetic weather in space and how it can affect our lives.
Lecture 3 – How can we store energy, and why is it important?
Renewable energies, like solar and wind, are intermittent, so they must be stored to ensure that they are available when needed. This talk will introduce two storage methods: phase change materials, which store thermal energy by transforming a substance between liquid and solid states, and hydrogen, which can be produced through electrolysis using renewable electricity and stored and used as needed.
Lecture 4 – How much, how fast? Predicting ice sheet melt.
The Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets have been losing ice in recent decades. Ice loss causes sea levels to rise all around the globe, including here, along the coast of north east England. The melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is currently the largest contributor to sea levels rise, but the Antarctic Ice Sheet has the potential to far exceed this. If all of Antarctica’s ice were to melt, global sea levels would rise by more than 50 metres.
What will happen under sustained global warming? How much and how fast will the ice melt and sea levels rise?
Lecture 5 – The James Webb Space Telescope: New Eyes on the Universe
The James Webb Space Telescope is the most advanced telescope ever constructed, and it was launched into space on Christmas Day 2021. Since then, it has provided a completely new view of our universe, beaming back incredible images of everything from the planets in our own Solar System to the most distant galaxies ever observed.
Come along to learn about some of the greatest discoveries, and how astronomers at Northumbria University are using this extraordinary telescope.
Lecture 6 – The complex beauty of fractal geometry
In this lecture, Matteo will explain – with the aid of some computer graphics – how fractals can be defined as geometrical objects characterised by two properties: self-similarity, and non-integer dimension. Differently from the ‘smooth’ figures of classical Geometry, such as circles or triangles, fractals turn out to be ‘rough’ and infinitely complex.
How to book a place and attend the lectures
How to find us
The evening lectures will take place in Ellison Building A-block, room ELA 009.
The Ellison Building A-block is the building number 10a on the map below:
You want to enter the building using the automatic gyratory doors located in Northumberland Road as seen in the photo below:
The entrance can be found with:
- Postcode NE1 8SG
- What 3 words: ///scouts.shower.exit
Alternatively you can use the entrance (set of automatic double doors) located on Ellison Place:
- Postcode NE1 8ST.
- What 3 words: ///moth.under.golf
Here is a short video showing the location of the room ELA 009:
Joining online
We encourage you to attend the evening lectures in person.
We understand, however, that this is not always possible, so we will be live-streaming the lectures using the Town Hall feature in Microsoft Teams. You don’t need to have Microsoft Teams installed on your device.
After booking a place for the evening lecture just press the Join online button next to each evening lecture description.
The button will open a webpage which you lets you choose to watch the either in your web browser, or join via the Teams app.
We recommend you join the lecture using a laptop/desktop computer rather than a mobile device.
Throughout the lecture you will be able to ask anonymous questions to our presenters using a moderated Q&A.
Click here to find out more about how to join and participate in a Town Hall meeting.
Previous Lectures
2023
- 09 Nov – Nature’s Blueprint: the physics of bio-inspired surfaces by Prashant Agrawal
- 16 Nov – Talking in Light: Satellite Laser Communication by Mansour Abadi
- 23 Nov – Heating with light: a possible way to new solar cell design by Giulia Longo
- 30 Nov – Why does space sing? And Why should I care? by Daniel Ratliff
- 30 Nov- When plants eat animals: what physics and chemistry can we learn? By Ciro Semprebon
- 07 Dec – Snowflakes in the Oven: Coronal Rain in the solar Corona by Patrick Antolin
- 07 Dec – An introduction to quantum Chaos by Remi Dubertrand
- 14 Dec – Complex beauty of fractal geometry by Matteo Sommacal
2022
- 02 NOV – Moulding the flow of light by Daniel Ho & Mike Taverne
- 09 NOV – Electrical currents in space by John Coxon
- 16 NOV – Make food waste, wood waste by Madeleine Combrick
- 23 NOV – Mathematical fractals by Matteo Sommacal
- 30 NOV – the Cahotic Quantum world by Remy Dubertrand
- 07 DEC – From lasers to Masers by Juna Sathian
- 14 DEC – Tackling climate change with solar photovoltaics by Neil Beattie
2021
- 09 DEC – Magnetic fields in the Universe by Stephane Regnier
- 02 DEC – Complex & intelligent systems by Ben Huard
- 25 NOV – Mathematical fractals by Mattteo Sommacal
- 18 NOV – Solar cells and light emission by Giulia Longo
- 11 NOV – Engineering solutions from waste by Madeleine Combrink
- 04 NOV – the Chaotic Quantum World by Remy Durbertrand
- 21 OCT – Engineering porous materials by Dominica Zabiegaj
- 14 OCT – Space Weather by Clare Watt
