The Walton Bridge petition
IoP Ireland is campaigning to have the new bridge across the Liffey in Dublin named after ETS Walton Ireland’s only physics Nobel prizewinner. This is the last week to vote. Please support
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Classroom Physics
March’s Classroom Physics focuses on the seasons. There are many misconceptions in this topic, so our pull-out is full of activities designed to help build students’ understanding…
SciFest student has an asteroid named after him after and came second in the world at ISEF 2015
Christopher Carragher from Our Lady’s Secondary School in Castleblaney has got an asteroid named after him. The Monaghan student had an asteroid named after him after he came second in the World award in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics category at ISEF 2015 which was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this week. Chistopher got to Pennsylvania after winning the SciFest 2014 national final last November. His project was about aiding people with memory loss. Memory Buddy!
Around 1,700 students from over 75 countries compete at Intel ISEF for a prize fund totalling $4million. Christopher takes away $1,500 prize money. After becoming concerned about the signs of short-term memory loss in a family member, he decided to design an automated system called Memory Buddy.
Memory Buddy
Memory Buddy uses Google Calender to alert the person about appointments and medication via flashing lights, sound and also via the TV. It also includes a remotely controlled medicine drawer to give the appropriate medicine at a specific time – there’s even a feedback facility to notify a carer when medicine has or has not been taken. An organiser for care rotas and appointments also comes with Memory Buddy.
Christopher said the whole experience has been “amazing”. “I met students from all over the world, and heard speeches from famous scientists like Nobel laureates Sir Harold W Kroto and Martin Chalfie. It’s been great to see all the projects that other students from around the world have been working on and it has been brilliant to spend a week together sharing our ideas”.
Sheila Porter of CEO of SciFest said that Christopher Carragher’s project “demonstrates that great science is characterised not by rote-learning and memorisation but by creativity and investigation”.
Christopher was representing Ireland at ISEF and come second in the World in his category is an impressive achievement for him is and a testament to the very high quality of science education in Ireland. "To continue producing the highest calibre of science students in Ireland, we need to celebrate their achievements more, to promote inquiry based learning and encourage students to take their learning beyond the classroom." via thejournal.ie
‘Apples and Atoms’ Walton sculpture
A sculpture celebrating the life and work of Ernest Walton, Ireland’s only Nobel laureate for science and a former Trinity College Dublin graduate and professor, has been officially unveiled at the college outside the Physics Department.
Born in Dungarvan, Co Waterford in 1903, Walton was a pioneering nuclear physicist, who together with John Cockcroft, designed and built the first successful particle accelerator, which enabled them to split the atom in the early 1930s.Walton was professor of physics at Trinity College from 1947 to 1974. He and Cockcroft were awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize for Physics.
Today’s unveiling was performed by Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn at a special ceremony at Trinity College.
The ‘Apples and Atoms’ sculpture was designed by artist, Eilís O’Connell RHA.
How they ‘split the atom’ & brought the news to the world
To mark the 80th anniversary of the ‘splitting of the atom’, the Celsius research group at Dublin City University is pleased to invite you to an afternoon of science and culture in the Helix, DCU, on Friday 13th April.
Prof Brian Cathcart, Kingston University, London, author of ‘The Fly in the Cathedral’– how a small group of Cambridge scientists won the race to split the atom’ will reflect on how the news spread from the Cambridge laboratories at the time.
Prof Philip Walton, professor emeritus of physics, NUI Galway, will also speak about his father’s winning the Nobel Prize for Physics (1951), while Prof Dermot Diamond, DCU, will guide us through Flann O’Brien’s satirical treatments of the physics of his time.
The event will also have songs with a physics theme composed by mathematician‐and‐musician Tom Lehrer, performed by Charles Delap (vocals) and Fiachra Trench (piano).
Event: How they ‘split the atom’ and brought the news to the world
Location: The Gallery, The Helix, Dublin City University,
Time: Friday 13th April 2012, 4pm
Location: The Gallery, The Helix, Dublin City University,
Time: Friday 13th April 2012, 4pm
SciFest Winner Adam Kelly
Irish student achieves global success at international science fair! SciFest winner Adam Kelly wins Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award and will have an asteroid named…