For the average person"Å¡ physics is full of incomprehensible and irrelevant mumbo-jumbo which for many is just too difficult grasp.
However"š two leading physicists - who are adept at making physics palatable - will be leading a free evening event to check out the Universe's most awesome theories and the questions that only physics can answer including: What is matter? What happened at the beginning? Who was Schrödinger's cat? Is a Star Trek-style transporter really possible?
This one-off free event takes place on Thursday 11 January"š 19.00-20.30 at the Dana Centre - the Science Museum's adults-only bar and café dedicating to discussing contemporary science"š medicine"š technology and the environment.
Brian Clegg"Å¡ author of the bestselling book Infinity will talk about the strangest concept in all of physics: quantum entanglement. It was dreamed up by Einstein in 1935 to try to disprove quantum theory"Å¡ but for once he was proved wrong when entanglement was eventually demonstrated in the lab. The concept is simple but bizarre. Two quantum particles - photons or atoms"Å¡ for instance - can be put in a special entangled state that means even if they are separated to opposite ends of the universe"Å¡ a change in one is instantly reflected in the other.
Since the 1990s applications of entanglement have been bursting out from the laboratory"Å¡ including unbreakable encryption"Å¡ quantum computers that use particles like photons are their bits rather than computer chips (and will be able to solve problems that would take a conventional computer the lifetime of the universe to work through)"Å¡ and quantum teleportation"Å¡ a small scale but real equivalent of a Star Trek transporter.
Dr Brian Cox"Å¡ University of Manchester and commentator on This Morning and BBC Radio 4 will talk about missing bits of understanding in the Universe"Å¡ in particular the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in CERN in Geneva. LHC is a particle accelerator which will recreate conditions similar to the Big Bang. Due to switch on in December 2007"Å¡ it will collide beams of protons at 99.999% the Speed of Light to try and answer one of the Universe's great unsolved mysteries: "What is the origin of mass?"Â
The LHC will be explored further in a new exhibition opening on the 3rd April in the Science Museum.
Blow your Mind!
"¢ Thursday 11 January"š 19.00-20.30
"¢ Dana Centre"š 165 Queen's Gate"š London SW7 5HD
"¢ Nearest tube is Gloucester Road
"¢ Our events are open to anyone aged 18 and over. Most events are free"š but places should be pre-booked by calling 020 7942 4040 or e-mailing tickets@danacentre.org.uk
"¢ People across the UK and beyond can experience live events by webcast and more on www.danacentre.org.uk
Finally"Å¡ Professor Tim Sumner"Å¡ Imperial College"Å¡ will talk about his search for a mysterious substance called 'dark matter'. As yet we can't see it"Å¡ but the behaviour of what we can see suggests it"Å¡ and the related 'dark energy'"Å¡ must make up the majority of the universe.
By www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Posted December 26th, 2006 by ruzik_tuzik
