Ever wonder what happened to that $100 million interstellar spaceship program? Me too. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

Participation in Australian high school #Physics is declining! The proportion of Yr 12 students studying physics fell from 14.9% in 2015 to 12.1% in 2023; gender ratio unchanged. (Luckily this hasn't impacted the number of students studying Physics @sydney.edu.au, but it is a broader issue).

A smartphone is not all that different in shape from a skateboard, in Australia, they are willing to take risks, and so “The mobile phone as a free-rotation laboratory” was born, www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~wheat/paper... (for tl;dr, there is a video via the DOI link). 2/3

The Faculty of Science student awards 2025. Science is amazing and our students are the future which is more amazing still. @sydney.edu.au @sydneyphysics.bsky.social

In an era that is very cynical about higher education, it's great to see students from a range of cultural and educational backgrounds working together, sharing their experiences and recommending books to read. Both on campus and online. (Credit to @manicule.bsky.social and Tristram Alexander)

A terrific Sydney Ideas talk with Katie Mack and Tara Murphy! @sydneyideas.bsky.social @astrokatie.com @taramurphy.bsky.social @sydney.edu.au

This week I helped graduate 165 students (including 24 PhDs, one supervised by me, and 10 university medallists). Congratulations to James and all of the graduates! @sydney.edu.au @sydneyphysics.bsky.social

I am super excited to be hosting the incredible Katie Mack @astrokatie.com presenting "The End of Everything" at the University of Sydney @sydney.edu.au Join us on July 10 to learn about five ways the Universe might die! Registration is free... www.sydney.edu.au/engage/event... ⚛️ #Astronomy ⚛️

Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens Mount Tomah in Bilpin. Highly recommended! They have giant Redwoods, and so much else.

The yo-yo trick -- which way will it roll? A PHYS1001 demo. @sydney.edu.au @sydneyphysics.bsky.social

Laura Driessen from @sydneyphysics.bsky.social Raising the Bar at Hermann's Bar @sydney.edu.au

Welcome University of Sydney @sydney.edu.au to Bluesky!

A rolling spherical neodymium magnet with a maximum surface field of 8000G. It experiences a torque due to the Earth's magnetic field and does a little dance. #physics

A very interesting new discovery from Iris de Ruiter (our most recent Sydney radio transients / @ozgrav.bsky.social group member)! A new long period radio transient, which turns out to be an unsual white dwarf - cool dwarf binary system theconversation.com/mysterious-r... #RadioAstronomy

A lecture demonstration from the PHYS1001 lecture today @sydneyuni.bsky.social @sydneyphysics.bsky.social

We're advertising a continuing position in the School of Physics at Sydney! Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Theoretical Optics & Photonics Deadline April 3rd usyd.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/USYD_EXTERNA... Base Salary Level B/C, $122,830 - $173,492 p.a + 17% superannuation #Physics #AcademicSky

Lecture 1 in PHYS1001 for 2025. A great turn out with 300+ students. I am explaining the Tippe Top and the Euler disk. @sydneyuni.bsky.social @sydneyphysics.bsky.social youtu.be/Bf82WQaLQD8

A packed Faculty of Science Welcome Week event at the Seymour Centre today -- wonderful to meet the new students @sydneyuni.bsky.social

It's solargraph Monday with the @solarcan.bsky.social Puck

Another solargraph -- the path of the Sun on the sky captured with a pinhole camera (the @solarcan.bsky.social Puck).

Another solargraph. The @solarcan.bsky.social Puck was attached to my skylight but it got rained on heavily and I think some water got in. And it was pointed too low, the skylight is angled south. The Sun has skimmed the top.

Another #solargraph with the SolarCan Puck. I pointed a bit low. :-) @solarcan.bsky.social

Solargraphy with the Solarcan Puck: an image of the path of the Sun on the sky. Also an image of the view it was looking at. #solarcan @solarcan.bsky.social

First day back at work, time for a flashback... Check out this video for the School of Physics (@sydneyuni.bsky.social) from 1977, the year I was born...! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg61... "They often use large computers to check their theories..." ⚛️ #physics #astronomy ⚛️

#Physics #art 3 - Today's piece is "The Tippe Top", by Mike Wheatland (@manicule.bsky.social) with photography by Jayne Ion. Mike is a solar physicist who also looks at how to demonstrate interesting features of mechanical and dynamic systems for undergraduate research students.

Last weekend I helped graduate about 700 Sydney University students in Beijing. It was wonderful to meet the students and their families. @sydneyuni.bsky.social

Tents on Eastern Avenue means Semester 2 is about to start!