In which a tiny Stirling cycle engine pumps its own cooling water #UselessContraptions #Engines #thermodynamics

That is cute, isn't it, the upper case superscript D as the unit symbol for penny or pennies. Also that vending machines on railway atations dispensed single 'tablets', the unit of chocolate. Don River Railway #trains #railways

Sit here and wait for your flight in comfort. How nice! Don't mind if I do. #CanberraAirport #aviation

Here is the bad news: The first Blue Mountains Mariyung service will run from Lithgow on 13th Oct. Farewell my beloved V-sets! So sad! Now for the good news: The Mariyung is fully accessible and disability friendly! #trains #railways

The French mathematicians of Kangaroo Island. A strange tale. Kangaroo Island, off the coast of South Australia, was inhabited by the Indigenous Kartan people until possibly several thousand years after sea levels rose and cut it off from the mainland about […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

In which the Transport Workers Union condemns Qantas' plans to close its base at Canberra. Read through and scroll down to the immortal, visionary comment – "There is nothing to stop the TWU starting their own airline." […]

How do people react when you introduce yourself as a mathematician? The strangest reaction Michael Small received was from someone who proceeded to ask about hair treatments and facials and related matters. Turned out that the questioner had heard 'beautician' rather than 'mathematician' 🤣 […]

"AI will exacerbate the existing problems of scientific publishing, and the options for cheating will multiply. It remains to be seen whether the scientific community has the resources necessary to counteract this." If you have lived under a rock for the last two years, here's a quick summary […]

Well... who among us hath not botched a 3-point turn? #railways #trains #railroads

The moon seems very big and bright this evening. #moon

Today's historic photo of the day: A 2000 class diesel Railcar sits in the background as ex-Queensland Railways BB18¼ class #steam loco no 1072 runs around its Zig Zag Railway narrow gauge train at Top Points station, Clarence, NSW, April 4 2007. The Zig Zag […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

No, these photos aren't from Vivid. They're Parramatta Square on a foggy weeknight. #Parramatta #photography #StreetPhotography #NSW #australia

Well I never. Bicycles are actually people, and people are actually bicycles. This video proves it. 'The video develops the idea that movement in animals and humans can be understood as a kind of wheel, connecting the natural wheel of life to the bicycle. What appears to be straight walking is a […]

Excellent article: Eight steps towards a shared Indigenous agenda in science. 1. Recognize science’s colonial legacy. Western science is rooted in colonization, racism and white supremacy: it has been an active participant in the assimilation, marginalization and genocide of Indigenous people […]

Friday is fun day on the West Coast Wilderness railway. Today the crew made up a goods train with a flat and a wagon and a real brake van then steamed it up and down the rack. They played trains all day long. We hates them and it's not fair. #trains #railways

The Ticket Window: a rare triple for my forthcoming blockbuster exhibition. Maryborough railway station Vic. 05/08/2025. See! The third window even has the original wooden hatch! And I'll be darned – the etched glass sash of the first window is up and here is […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

In which Network Rail inadvertently takes an awesome photo #trains #railways #urbanphotography#railways#trainsttps://www.vibewire.com.au/?p=263919

Driving under a whale. Cool place to hang out in Sydney, if you time it right! This is General Holmes Drive as you enter the tunnel under the runway. Better than actually flying in a Qantas A380, all of which are rather dated and tatty inside, even in business class #planes […]

Has the ABS only made 40 graphs in 2025 so far? Where is the graph showing the number of graphs they have made each year since 1901? Has the ABS been replaced by AI? If pi charts are on the way out, meh, but I would mourn Venn diagrams. #statistics

Interesting piece of regional and industry dialect – 'Accommodation, beef and work vehicle supplied'. I can confirm that in far NW Qld language usage such as 'beef provided' means 'meals provided' (at contractors accommodation). So vegetarian truck drivers […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

Its such a shame the city of Sydney doesn't appreciate that the elevated train station at the quay is an incredible asset for the city. The view from the platform is 10/10 (i can't bring myself to use the word 'iconic', but if there was ever an appropriate use for it...) and the facade has its […]

A curious little story. The world's biggest sundial that wasn't. 'To mark its centenary in 1995 the British Astronomical Association NSW Chapter wanted to build the world’s largest sundial. It had identified three potential sites on the 150th meridian: Bermagui, Lithgow and Marulan.' Well […]

An incomplete list of people excluded from 'international' conferences that are in-person only and aren't streamed or recorded - People with caring responsibilities - People with disabilities - People with health vulnerabilities - People who don't fly in recognition of climate emergencies - […]

If you look closely between the towers, you can see a tower. #cities #Parramatta #buildings #architecture #city #NSW #australia

Roadside sign of the week. Coastal Otago. Through the murky gloom of what passes for daylight in these parts I spotted the sea lions along the beach! Must be sleeping. Or are they piles of seaweed? Park the car, take a walk and find out! On second thoughts […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

Nelligan's Railway Hotel is a very mathematical pub. The Lunch Special is served on Reuleaux triangle plates. Such a cool shape! Consider the dishibana* tho. *Ancient Japanese art of dishwasher stacking #mathematics #geometry

Oamaru railway station #railways #railwaystation #architecture

Standing at the station. #train #rail #railways #city #cities #StreetPhotography #railway #Parramatta #NSW #australia

A model of the corruption of information in authoritarian societies is developed. 'All realistic autocratic regimes are inherently unstable and eventually lead to the degradation of society.' True, that #mathematics https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167278924001003#b1

Hmm. An unusual accumulation of trains noon at Canberra station. What is going on? #trains #railways #interestingthings

Protest this Saturday, 21June, 12 pm at Parramatta Square. Stand with Yuendumu, stop all black deaths in custody. Details from Facebook as follows: 🖤JOIN US IN PROTEST 🖤 WE STAND WITH YUENDUMU JUSTICE FOR KUMANJAYI WHITE June 21, also marks 18 years since the NT Intervention was announced […]

back in the 1980s, "radical" was all the rage. And yet, somehow, algebra teachers somehow failed to seize the day and make algebra cool. What, exactly, was the root of the problem? #math

Oho, this is new! 'Morning dust' #weather

Wiring Problem by Tom Gauld ( https://www.tomgauld.com ) https://www.tdmacgregor.com/shop/p/wiringproblem #maths #geometry #tomgauld

Venus still brilliant well after dawn just before sunrise! #astronomy

This week I attended a workshop given by a science communication consultant, which promised to 'improve your Powerpoint skills'. As a LaTeX user I have always used Beamer for presentations, because anything microsoft is hopeless for mathematical content, but I thought the workshop would provide […]

Memories of lost trains in the underpass at Flinders Street Station. #melbourne

Get up for a show in the wee small hours tonight you sods! A good friend of mine in the know says there will be one of the best meteor showers of the year for the southern hemisphere. Australian viewers can expect to see 10 to 20 meteors per hour between 2am and 4am. Do as I say and not […]

Le Ziggurat de Canberra, a couple of blocks from my house, complete with elevated colonnade. See the little ladders? Looking a bit archaeological, but demolition - never! 1970s heritage. Luckily (I mean, of course, unluckily) brutalist architecture is cheap to […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

Today's historic photo of the day: It was exactly 40 years ago today that ownership of the #railway line in the ACT passed from the Commonwealth to the NSW government. To mark the occasion, a day of festivities was held at Canberra railway station. A special […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

Birth of a new Mathematics Institute! @SydMathInst The Sri Lankan Mathematical Society warmly invites all mathematics enthusiasts, academics, and educators to a meeting on 2nd May 2025 at 1:00 PM at the University of Kelaniya. The purpose of the meeting is to […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

@railmaps I like the idea of creating a frequent Newcastle -> Central Coast -> Sydney -> Wollongong -> Unanderra -> Moss Vale -> Canberra service. Then running connecting shuttle trains to Port Kembla, as well as (fully electrified) to Bomaderry. By frequent, I mean potentially every 10 or 15 […]

In which the ACT Government elevates its public communications to Year 1 level, having learned at Story Time in the library not to be afraid of whitespace on the page. A giant crane has arrived in Canberra to work on the Molonglo River Bridge A great, big, huge, enormous crane! The crane is […]

Malapropism of the day. Or is it a genuine complimentary form of address? Am I being culturally obtuse? This email is from a student who enquired about a research project. I don't quite know how to reply to the student! #language

A curious thing about being a mathematics person is that I (and lots of others) get unsolicited emails from people who believe they have solved some very difficult problem but have nobody to discuss or share it with, and they ask for my help, either in suggesting what they should do with their […]

Local train and car bridge near the Sydney CBD. #Sydney #australia #rail #trains #architecture#trains#nsw#Sydney#rail#engineering

Mount Lyell No. 2 Abt is spun on the turntable at the end of the run up the rack #trains #railways #steam

Today's historic photo of the day: Exactly forty years ago today, 4422 heads the Sydney-bound Cooma Mail up the hill north of Michelago, NSW, March 9 1985. The Cooma Mail was a passenger #train that connected Cooma and Sydney. Named the 'Mail' because in […] [Original post on mastodon.online]