A Night With The Stars

ramseyoptom · #1 by **ramseyoptom** » Dec 18, 2011 9:43 pm

At the moment Brian Cox is giving a lecture on quantum mechanics to a lecture theatre full of celebrities in The Royal Institution. And it is good, he is a good and entertaining lecturer.

Catch on iplayer where possible. :cheers:

Animavore · #2 by **Animavore** » Dec 18, 2011 9:50 pm

I'm sure it'll appear on YouTube also. Have it on recording myself. It's Battlefield 3 night with the guys on Playstation forum.

Ironclad · #3 by **Ironclad** » Dec 18, 2011 10:00 pm

Gah! Missed all but the last 2mins. iPlayer will have this soon I hope. Thanks for the heads-up.

Animavore · #4 by **Animavore** » Dec 18, 2011 10:02 pm

i-player usually has any show immediately after it airs.

Ironclad · #5 by **Ironclad** » Dec 18, 2011 10:02 pm

Oh righty. Ta :smoke:

chairman bill · #6 by **chairman bill** » Dec 18, 2011 10:04 pm

'Twas a great programme. Well worth watching.

MacIver · #7 by **MacIver** » Dec 19, 2011 12:12 am

Yea, 'e explains things right well 'e does. :drunk:

Animavore · #8 by **Animavore** » Dec 19, 2011 12:37 am

Animavore · #9 by **Animavore** » Dec 19, 2011 11:57 am

Nooooooooo! It didn't record! Damn you, stupid Sky Box.

ramseyoptom · **#10** by **ramseyoptom** » Dec 19, 2011 12:11 pm

Animavore wrote:Nooooooooo! It didn't record! Damn you, stupid Sky Box.

Ah... The uncertainty of modern technology based on QM. Schrodinger's Cat for the modern age. :grin:

Animavore · **#11** by **Animavore** » Dec 19, 2011 12:13 pm

It's ok, I'm 'recording' it off the interwebs right now.

Blip · **#12** by **Blip** » Dec 19, 2011 1:05 pm

It was interesting: he has the gift of being able to explain really complex ideas in an accessible way. Recommended, for physicists and non-physicists alike.

Animavore · **#13** by **Animavore** » Dec 19, 2011 1:11 pm

Finally.

MacIver · **#14** by **MacIver** » Dec 19, 2011 4:52 pm

ramseyoptom wrote:
Animavore wrote:Nooooooooo! It didn't record! Damn you, stupid Sky Box.

Ah... The uncertainty of modern technology based on QM. Schrodinger's Cat for the modern age.

If you throw your Sky box off a cliff it is in a state of superposition, both smashed to bits and not, until you look over the edge? :ask:

Darkchilde · **#15** by **Darkchilde** » Dec 20, 2011 6:25 pm

That was really good. Just finished watching it. It was brilliant and funny.

natselrox · **#16** by **natselrox** » Dec 20, 2011 6:35 pm

Animavore wrote:

Oh yeah! Science taught as it should be!! :clap:

Gotta watch the whole series! :thumbup:

Stagman · **#17** by **Stagman** » Dec 20, 2011 10:47 pm

What I find very pleasing about his way of presenting things is that he almost never says 'um', 'ah', 'er' etc.

twistor59 · **#18** by **twistor59** » Dec 21, 2011 5:50 pm

It seems that professor Cox has been confusing a few people (and not just Jonathan Ross and Sarah Milikan):

http://physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=561511

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/18527/does-the-pauli-exclusion-principle-instantaneously-affect-distant-electrons

campermon · **#19** by **campermon** » Dec 21, 2011 6:00 pm

twistor59 wrote:It seems that professor Cox has been confusing a few people (and not just Jonathan Ross and Sarah Milikan):

http://physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=561511

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/18527/does-the-pauli-exclusion-principle-instantaneously-affect-distant-electrons

Yes...I raised an eyebrow when he explained the pauli exclusion principle....I made a mental note to revisit the topic...and then forgot to!

if memory serves, the PEP operates on the states of particles that are in systems (atoms, molecules etc..). In theory PEP could operate over infinity, but for microscopic systems 'infinity' is a few millimetres, cm's at max.....

:ask:

Darkchilde · **#20** by **Darkchilde** » Dec 21, 2011 6:01 pm

twistor59 wrote:It seems that professor Cox has been confusing a few people (and not just Jonathan Ross and Sarah Milikan):

http://physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=561511

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/18527/does-the-pauli-exclusion-principle-instantaneously-affect-distant-electrons

I was wondering about that, myself. Okay, then, this means that it needs a bit more digging and reading on my part.