I Dream of Utopia

All you ever wanted to know about photons… Dr Peter Mosley, University of Bath (MA PhD Oxford) BRLSI 27th April 2016 19:00 Notes by William Gaskell This talk discusses how to make photons one at a time and the bespoke fibre technology, photonic crystal fibre pipeline developed in Bath. A photon is a fundamental excitation of the electromagnetic field. A beamsplitter is a half silvered mirror which has a 50% chance of either reflecting or transmitting a photon interacting with it. It divides the photon due to wave/particle duality but if we place detectors after the beamsplitter we would only detect a single photon arriving either after being transmitted or reflected. There is a random chance of the photon appearing at either detector in a 50% beamsplitter. Quantum Information can use this effect for a very high quality random number generator (for example in Monte Carlo simulations). Using a string of single photons as a key can more securely encrypt a signal and also

I don't think complaining to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards will amount to anything as I would complain about the commissioner if she allowed a complaint from someone who is less able to communicate than me. Especially if he would tell people about his complaint to mislead them. My complaint against Ben Howlett MP for Bath was that he needed support in chasing up the issues I had raised with ministers directly as I wanted to meet directly with Amber Rudd, the energy minister, as I am a leading member of British society with an interest and expertise in the science, technology, economics and policy of energy, rather than being fobbed off by a letter from the Lord Bourne as I actually wanted to make billions of pounds from brokering a deal that worked. I don't think any British person who has been talking about nuclear power recently has a clue about the situation from the government's perspective anymore, which is sad given that some people are actually paid t

William Herschel Society and the Society for the History of Astronomy Conference at BRLSI, 02 nd April 2016 1       John Chuter on Somerset Astronomers – British Astronomical Association Names in development of astronomy in Somerset: Roger Bacon 12th-13th century John Pond 18th century Observatory at Westbury sub Mendip John George Hickley 1810-1889 Rector of Walton church, rectory now owned by Millfield School. Sent letter of invitation to astronomical scientific society to local Conservative MP. Rev Phillips 1868-1942 Had his own observatory on Headley and made some drawings of Jupiter. Reginald Waterfield Locally educated, early WHS member Harold Ridley Bequeathed £59,000 to BAA for fund in his name. From treasure trove of items: Record of total eclipse in Sweden in 1851. Sir John Hippisley 1804-1898 Another wealthy astronomer with an observatory at Stoneaston Park, whose image is similar to that of Sir John Naismith. He had a friendship with