February/March Update

Hi everyone,

Now that reading week is over the physics society has many events underway. Here is an exhaustive list of planned events for the rest of February and into March.

Phys Soc Coffee Talk: On Thursday, February 28th, the physics society will be sitting down with Bruce Campbell, a member of the Carleton Theory team, to host a discussion entitled "Things That We Don't Know". The discussion will be held at Rooster's on the 4th floor Unicentre from 6 to 8pm.

Canadian Association of Physicists Lecture: On Friday, February 29th, Eldon Emberly from Simon Fraser University will be giving a talk entitled 'How cells measure space and time'. This will take place in Unicentre 180 at 10am. Don't miss it!

Abstract:

You don't have to look far to see the sophisticated technology that we have developed to measure space and time, whether it be the complex inner-workings of a watch or the GPS equipped compass that you might use on a backcountry expedition. But what about microorganisms? How is a microorganism, which calculates via biochemical reactions, able to make accurate measurements of time and space? In this talk I will highlight some of the amazing biological circuitry that cells use to keep time, showing how physical modeling can be used to gain insight into how these clocks function. But cells are also capable of measuring space - it's essential

that developing organisms put tissues where they are meant to be. I will discuss how cells measure their spatial location and how they overcome the complications of living in a noisy chemical environment.

Squash Tournament: The annual tournament will be held on February 29th and March 6th from 4 - 7pm . To sign up, talk to Steven Crane, visit HP 2221, or e-mail cuphyssoc@gmail.com. It's not too late to sign up! There is a 5$ registration fee.

Hockey Tournament: This will also be held in March. If interested in playing in this tournament talk to Mike Cunningham or Hass AbouZeid, visit HP 2221, or e-mail us. Dates also TBA.

Sudbury Neutrino Observatory: The plans for our annual trip to snow are underway. Please send us an e-mail early if you are interested. Priority will be given to upper year students who have not visited SNO yet. Plans will be finalized once we have an idea of how much interest there is.

Upcoming Phys Soc Executive Elections: It's that time of year to elect the exec members for the coming academic year. If interested in being nominated or nominating someone else drop by HP 2221 or send us an e-mail.

Hope to see you all on Thursday!

Renée

Welcome back

Welcome to the 2008 winter term! Now that we're two weeks into class, things have finally gotten underway. We have lots of fun things planned for this term, so here's a brief overview of what's in store:

Next week there will be an undergrad level seminar on dark matter. The speaker is Dan Hooper from Fermilab and he will be speaking at 1:15pm in 208 Tory on Tuesday, the 22nd.

Abstract:

Over seventy years, the evidence has steadily grown that much of the Universe's mass is non-luminous. Still today, however, we have not identified what makes up this mysteriously dark substance. Many experimental programs that hope to change this are underway, including deep underground detectors, gamma-ray telescopes, neutrino and anti-matter detectors, as well as particle colliders. Each of these efforts are searching for clues of dark matter's identity. With the new technologies needed to observe these particles rapidly developing, the hunt to discover dark matter's identity is well underway.

For more information see the physics seminar webpage.

On Wednesday, January 30th, the physics society and the math society will be joining forces for a pub night! Check the posters around Herzberg for more information.

Also on the 31st (tentatively - weather permitting), the phys soc will be taking a trip to the top of the Herzberg building for look through the observatory. The date will be finalized as it approaches.

The phys soc will be starting a series of evening discussion groups with different members of the faculty next month. Our first one will be with Bruce Campbell on the 14th of February from 6pm to 8pm at Rooster's. Come have a coffee and take advantage of this opportunity to get to know a faculty member and learn something you probably didn't know about physics! Topic TBA.

The annual squash tournament will be held at the end of February. To sign up, talk to Steven Crane, visit HP 2221, or e-mail cuphyssoc@gmail.com. Dates TBA when finalized.

Also, two hockey tournaments are in the works. To sign up for those, talk to Mike Cunningham or Hass AbouZeid, visit HP 2221, or e-mail us. Dates also TBA.

Well, that's it! Keep checking the feed for more information about upcoming events!


Renée Yoxon, Co-VP CUPS
Experimental Physics Undergrad