News

14 August 2025 – Physics equations

The physics equations have been updated, and new PDFs uploaded.

10 August 2025 – Scientific calculators

I have some ideas about what makes a good scientific calculator, including that it should be as easy to use as possible without sacrificing common functions. Recommendations included!

7 July 2025 – Extra-solar object inbound

A comet-like object has been found in the solar system that originated outside the solar system. This is the third such object to be found (after 1I/'Oumuamua and Comet 2I/Borisov), and has been named 3I/ATLAS, after the ATLAS telescope in Chile which discovered it. (The I shows it is an interstellar object).

At present the object is inbound, travelling at about 60 km/s, making it the fastest interstellar object observed. It should have its closest approach to the Sun in October, while remaining outside of Earth's orbit, and give a total of eight months of viewing.

This article from RNZ (from this ABC article) gives more info. The article also outlines the hope astronomers have for the Vera C Rubins Observatory. In just its first ten hours of operation it found 2,000 new asteroids ("new" as in "previously unknown").

5 June 2025 – Walls in classrooms

Shirley Bays High School in Christchurch is putting walls in its open plan classrooms to turn them into real classrooms. After six years of distraction from movement and noise, the $800,000 transformation started during the recent school holiday is already showing how valuable real learning spaces are.

RNZ writes:

The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive and instantaneous.

"Hugely positive feedback. The staff on the first day were absolutely thrilled. One of our teachers was hugging the walls in her classroom because she was so thrilled to have walls. But the boys are just much happier," said [Principal Tim] Grocott.

29 March 2025 – Phillip King, deaf primary school teacher

Yes, Phillip King is actually deaf, and is actually a primary school teacher. He started working as a relief teacher one day a week in 2023 and it went from there. RNZ explains:

In 2024 King took on a relief job at Oranga School in One Tree HIll.

The primary school’s associate principal Laura Ferris says: “The kids absolutely loved him and they were so engaged... and we just saw that and thought ‘wow, what have we found here?’”

...

“He’s very good at recognising ... individual strengths in children and then using that in that collaborative environment. ... It’s a real family-like context where everyone kind of has a role and contributes.’

I learned some sign language when I was at intermediate school; having a deaf teacher seems a really good thing.

20 March 2025 – Sam Ruthe, record-setting miler

He did it! Yesterday Sam Ruthe set a sub-four minute mile time, the first 15 year old to do so. He now holds the fastest two mile times for a 15 year old – 3:58.35 and 4:01.72. See below on 12 Feb, or more at RNZ. Video here – great to see the support from Ethan Smolej and Sam Tanner.

7 March 2025 – Physics equations updated

The physics equations have been updated, and new A4 and A5 booklet versions are available to download. A few typos fixed, and a few new formulae included. Enjoy.

26 February 2025 – Hydrogen is still flammable

In another one of those stories that highlight just how incredibly useful a little education is – along with at least some common sense – we have a 33 year old woman in Vietnam celebrating her birthday earlier this month. The restaurant had prepared a balloon arrangement on the ceiling, and gave her some floating balloons to hold before she was handed a cake to blow out its candles.

The floating balloons were filled with hydrogen, not helium. The largest balloon drifted over the cake and the candles set the hydrogen alight. She survived with first and second degree burns to her face, but is expected to make a full recovery, although it will take several months.

Vietnam needs to be protected from whoever thought it was a good idea to mix hyrogen balloons and birthday candles without everyone knowing exactly what the situation was and taking some appropriate precautions (like not using hydrogen). More on the story, including a video clip, in this NZ Herald article. More on the dangers of hydrogen in my own news item from 2021.

12 February 2025 – Sam Ruthe, runner

It the last little while there have been a few articles about 15 year old middle-distance runner Sam Ruthe, but this article at RNZ sums up very nicely his recent accomplishments, his family lineage ("Granny is still faster than Sam over 400 metres."), his potential, and the importance his family is placing on a support network.

It's going to be awesome seeing what he gets up to in the next few years, but I'm particularly keen on seeing a sub 4 minute mile from him before his next birthday. It looks really promising: the day after that article, he got a world record time for 1500m by a 15 year old.

10 February 2025 – Present situation

Sorry, my schedule is now full and I'm very unlikely to accept any new students.

Ian.

27 October 2024 – UK MP of science has dyslexia

Sorry, I've been meaning to post something about this Guardian story for several weeks. Peter Kyle, the UK secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, is "profoundly dyslexic". He left school with no qualifications and got a job with Body Shop – after five applications. His boss, Anita Roddick (the founder of Body Shop), encouraged him to go to university, and after three failed applications (and going back to school at 25) he was mysteriously accepted.

He found out later that Anita had threatened the university she would return her honourary doctorate if they didn't accept him. Peter Kyle is a firm believer that we need more education and better education, and good on him. Also good on him for not giving up!

One of the guys I did physics with at Auckland University was dyslexic. Famous lecturer in a hallway after looking at student's work: Are you dyslexic or something? Student: Um... actually yeah. Lecturer: Oh.