Excerpts
from IFS and Bits
Newsletter of the Institute of Fundamental
Sciences
Newsletter No 28: 19 July 2000
Edited by: Terri M Palmer
Index
Messages
from the Head of Institute
Friday
Tea Club
So
Long, Farewell
IFS
GRF Recipients
Welcome
New Staff and Students
Siemens
Science Experience
More
Science at SCICON 2000IF
NOAH LIVED TODAY……
This
Month's Puzzle
Answers
to Last Month’s Puzzle
MESSAGES FROM THE HEAD OF INSTITUTE
Moi-Tin Chew
It is a pleasure to welcome Moi-Tin Chew to IFS. Moi-Tin is a half-time Senior
Tutor for the next six months and will be working with Bob O'Driscoll in the area
of electronics. Moi-Tin has considerable experience in this field having worked
in Singapore for more than 15 years. We are certainly delighted that she has joined
us as we have lost considerable expertise in this area over the past few years.
Her presence will be of a significant boost to our activities and I am really
delighted that we will be able to use her many skills over the remainder of the
year.
Another Grant for David Harding
It's a pleasure
to congratulate David Harding yet again for another external grant. This time
he has obtained a sub-contract under an HRC grant to Brian Monk at the University
of Otago. This has an approximate value to us of $300 000. David has been very
energetic in seeking external monies and his further success is a well-deserved
reward for his efforts. It is strange that all of his successes have come in such
quick succession but they are extremely welcome and a great boost to our research
effort. The monies represent further external recognition of the quality of work
undertaken in the Centre for Separation Science and David can feel well pleased
by his leadership in that area. Congratulations again to all concerned.
Darren Engelbretson
As I reported in a previous edition of
IFS and Bits Darren Englebretsen will be with us for the next five years on a
Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship. We are extremely pleased to welcome
him back home and trust that he will find his time with us both challenging and
successful. His scientific and personal contributions will undoubtedly add considerably
to our future achievements in the Institute.
SCICON/Siemens/Winter
School/Sampler Day Involvement
The inter-semester break was not only filled
with exams but with a wide variety of community-related events. A large number
of staff were involved in each of our three Disciplines and I would like to thank
all those that contributed to making these events so successful. I won't attempt
to list all the staff involved as this would be a very large number indeed. Suffice
to say your contributions were not only appreciated by myself but also by those
for whom the events were planned. The feedback I have received has been uniformly
positive and your willingness to contribute to these events at the present time
is greatly appreciated. These types of activities help to maintain IFS reputation
in the basic sciences and helps considerably to combat some of the negative press
comments that we have been subjected to in recent weeks.
Hector
Medal Ceremony for Paul Callaghan
In May I had the pleasure of attending
a medal ceremony at Government House. During the evening Paul Callaghan was awarded
the Royal Society's 1998 Hector Medal. It was certainly a great evening and an
opportunity for the large audience to recognise and congratulate all of those
scientists who have received special recognition for the quality of their research
work. All of us know about Paul's research in the area of NMR Microscopy so I
will not reiterate his many accomplishments again at this point. Needless-to-say,
however, we are very proud of his success and are pleased to be part of the reflected
glory. The staff of the Institute of Fundamental Sciences will all wish to join
with me in adding our congratulations to Paul, who epitomises all that is best
in academia.
David A D Parry
If you would like to sample more delectable treats such as those listed below all you have to do is add your name to the Friday Tea Club list. This group meets for morning tea in the staff common room every Friday. Each week a member is chosen to provide morning tea for the group. For more information contact Noel Foot.
Caramel Weet-Bix Squares
Base 25 gms Butter 125 gms Sugar 1 Egg 1 cup Self raising wholemeal flour 2 tbsp Custard powder
Caramel Mixture 1 tbsp Butter 1/2 ´ 397 gm can Sweetened Condensed Milk 1 tbsp Golden syrup 1/2 cup Chopped walnuts
Topping 1 cup Coconut 1/2 cup Sugar 4 Weet-Bix, crushed 1 Egg 2 tbsp Melted butter
- Cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat well.
- Sift together the flour and custard powder and add to mixture.
- Spread mixture into a greased and lined 20 cm ´ 30 cm sponge roll tin.
- Make caramel mixture by combining butter, condensed milk and golden syrup in a small saucepan. Cook for approximately five minutes until the mixture darkens and becomes caramelised, stirring all the time. Add walnuts and spread over base.
- Make the topping by mixing together the coconut, sugar and crushed Weet-Bix. Add the beaten egg and butter and stir well. Spread over the caramel mixture.
- Bake 180°C for 30 minutes. Cut into squares when cold.
The Institute would like to say goodbye and all the best to the following visiting students, visiting scientists and staff:
- Theo Appledoorn (Visiting student with Geoff Barnes)
- Pepijn Looijaard (Visiting student with Geoff Barnes)
- Simon Schurr (Research Assistant with Igor Boglaev)
- Benny Chor (Visiting Scientist in Mathematics)
- Vanessa Leung (Temporary Lecturer in Physics)
The following graduate students were successful in the latest IFS Graduate Research Fund round:
| Nandana Ariyaratne | $1 250 |
| Indira Chandrasena | $800 |
| Rakesh Desai | $1 100 |
| Donna Giltrap | $1 600 |
| Michael Liu | $1 350 |
| Tammy Smith | $2 000 |
| Alison Winger | $1 350 |
Welcome
New Staff and Students
Several new staff and students have joined the Institute in the last couple of months. We would like to welcome them and wish them all the best with their employment and/or studies:
- Dr Darren Englebretsen (Wellcome Trust Senior Research Officer)
- Ms Moi-Tin Chew (Half-Time Senior Tutor in Electronics)
- Mr David Chou (PhD student with David Harding)
- Mr Stewart Collie (PhD student with David Officer and Tony Burrell)
- Mr Mark Hunter (Research Officer with Paul Callaghan and Craig Eccles)
- Dr Sanjeev Gambhir (Research Officer with David Officer and Tony Burrell)
- Ms Daina Grant (PhD student with David Officer and Tony Burrell)
- Ms Celine Peuriere (Visiting student with Paul Callaghan)
Twenty four students (mainly fifth formers) from a range of schools including one from Christchurch arrived to carry out an experiment making a copper/mercury/iodide thermochromic material (ie one that changes colour when you heat it) in the laboratory.
Josine
van Melsem, Andrew Brodie and Jo Hislop were kept very busy making sure the students
did not burn or otherwise damage themselves over a couple of hours. Patricia Sheilds,
with advice from Graham Freeman, had put the lab together so that everything worked
well.
We had prizes for the students who most accurately determined the temperature at which the material changed colour and the group that was the tidiest. The transition temperature was determined by laminating a small sample of the copper/mercury/iodide compound between two plastic sheets and heating it in water. There was also a prize for the person who made the most artistic design from the thermochromic compound when it was laminated in this fashion.
All the students enjoyed themselves and hopefully took away the message that science is fun as well as challenging. However, they were not impressed by the old age of our 100-level computers!
Andrew Brodie
The quantity and quality of the science presented was one of the most commented on features of Scicon 2000, which was held at Massey University, Palmerston North in the first week of July.
Scicon 2000, a "science odyssey" attracted 400 participants to the biennial national science educators conference. Most of the participants were high school science teachers, but the primary school strand attracted more than 60 and there was a special forum for lab technicians. (We have heard that the equivalent Australian conference held at the same time in Perth attracted 150!)
A very significant contribution to the conference came from the Institute of Fundamental Sciences, both from technical help for laboratory presentations and from the staff who gave lectures, seminars and workshops.
Tony Wright
And the Lord spoke to Noah and said, "In one year, I am going to make it rain and cover the whole earth with water until all flesh is destroyed. But I want you to save the righteous people and two of every kind of living thing on the earth. Therefore, I am commanding you to build an Ark." In a flash of lightning, God delivered the specifications for an Ark. In fear and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build the Ark. "Remember", said the Lord, "You must complete the Ark and bring everything aboard in one year."
Exactly one year later, fierce storm clouds covered the earth and all the seas of the earth went into a tumult. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front year weeping. "Noah", he shouted, "Where is the Ark?" "Lord, please forgive me!" cried Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems.
First, I had to get a Resource Consent for construction and your plans did not meet the codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans and get an engineer's report from the Council. Then I got into a fight with New Zealand Fire Service over whether or not the Ark needed a sprinkler system and smoke alarms, and the Ministry of Health over the provision of smoking or non smoking areas. Then the Residents Association objected, claiming I was violating SAM zoning ordinances by building an Ark in my front yard that was a recreational watercraft and therefore a threat to existing homes.
Then I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark, because of the ban on native logging on the West Coast. They tried to get me to use Fijian Jara but I couldn't get the necessary dispensation from Customs & Excise to import timber from a Pacific Island nation that wasn't party to the international working party on the life cycle of native timbers. I finally convinced DoC that I needed the wood to indirectly save the kakapo from extinction which seemed to get a bit of a reaction. However, the Royal Forest and Bird Society objected and won't let me catch my kakapo. No kakapo, No wood.
Under the new Employment Contracts Act, the carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement under the provisions of good faith bargaining before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer. OSH arrived and now I have to produce a Hazard Management and Safety procedure before they start work and ACC are insisting we pre-pay our annual premiums on the basis we may not be returning. So now I have 16 carpenters on the Ark, but no kakapo and no wood.
When news got out that I was rounding up other animals, MAF arrived and insisted I build quarantine facilities to hold them in for the six months before sailing. They also wanted blood samples to prove no genetic engineering practices were involved.
The next thing I know, the Regional Council is knocking on my door. They want an Environmental Impact Report on the proposed flood: the area it would cover, the amount of water in cubic metres, impact on local micro-ecosystems, velocity and force of water, cost to manufacturing and production and local transport, areas for possible relocation and resettlement. I tried telling them they were missing the point entirely.
Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Race Relations Office that our selection criteria does not fairly reflect the age, gender, religious and race diversity of Earth.
Finally WINZ has waded in. They have seized my assets for alleged non-payment of child support. It seems a local baseball coach is claiming I knocked her up last year at the tapu lifting ceremony for the relocation of the New Plymouth cemetery. Mrs Noah is beside herself. She's enrolled herself in the Women in Leadership Seminar and has applied to the Waitangi Tribunal for her share of Tainui's corporate box at Ericson Stadium and is leaving me.
I really don't think I can finish the Ark for another five or six years", Noah wailed. The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine and the seas began to calm. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up hopefully. "You mean you are not going to destroy the earth, Lord?" "No", said the Lord sadly. "I don't have to. The government already has."
Email recently received by David A D Parry
There were these three fellas travelling around Australia. They came up to a hotel one night and sorted out a room for one night only with the Manager. They discussed the cost of this, and found that it would be AU$30.00 for the room. "Nice and easy" the three travellers said, and gave the manager the money. This was easy as there were three of them so they all gave him AU$10.00 each. Shortly after they were checked into their room by the concierge, the Manager felt that since these fellas were so nice he would give them a AU$5.00 refund. The concierge again made his way up to their room. Now, this concierge really wanted something for himself for doing all this extra work. After a long think, he thought he would keep AU$2.00 for himself and give the others AU$3.00. This way the three fellas would get $AU1.00 refund each, and they would have the same amount. He knocked on the door and gave them their refund……
If the concierge gave them a refund of AU$1.00 each, then they really only paid AU$9.00 each. If this is true then the total amount paid for the room would have been AU$27.00 (3 ´ AU$9.00). If they paid AU$27.00 and the concierge kept AU$2.00 for himself, then what happened to the other AU$1.00??
Answers to Last Month’s Puzzle
Phil Etheridge summed up the answer to this puzzle in a single sentence. On the triangle without the hole, if you look along the "hypotenuse" of the triangle, it dips down and on the one with the hole it dips up. A more in depth explanation can be found at http://www.grand-illusions.com/triangle1.htm