Norwegian Continental Shelf (interview about nuclear physics, science communication, and hard work)
A while ago I was interviewed for the magazine Norwegian Continental Shelf. We talked about why I started to study nuclear physics, and about science communication, and that you usually have to work hard if you want to achieve something. Bente Bergøy interviewed me, and Sverre Christian Jarild photographed me - I think they both did a good job :) I love this picture! It's taken from outside the University library (where I love to work <3) Popular science blogger Sunniva Rose originally wanted to be a ballet dancer, but became hooked on nuclear physics instead. *“The cours... more »
Thoughts
This is all I can think of right now. Kind of chaotic, and I admit there are some challenges. However, I’m actually getting close, now…<3
10 things I’m looking forward to this fall
I’m not at all a falls kind of person, and luckily it’s still summer – and I’m hoping it will last for at least one more month, and that September will be a warm, nice summer/fall month too. However, fall will come, even though I like it or not, and I guess it’s better to just embrace it. As you may already know, this fall is my last semester at the University (or at least the last months I will receive any kind of salary from the University for working on my PhD – if I don’t finish before December 31, I’ll have to do it on my own time), and here are ten things I’m looking forward (... more »
Positivt syn på formidling?
God kveld fra høyt her oppe i Rose-slottet, alle <3 Før sommeren fikk jeg et veldig spennende oppdrag fra magasinet* Sykepleien Forskning*, om å skrive en tekst om formidling. Formidling er et tema jeg virkelig brenner for, og jeg har gjort en del valg ila doktorgraden som mange mener er dumme for en karriere i Akademia, og sannsynligvis har de dessverre rett i det... Jeg har valgt å bruke mye (til tider SVÆRT mye) av tiden min som jeg egentlig skulle ha brukt til å forske, og å skrive vitenskapelige artikler, til å formidle til et bredt publikum istedetfor. Heldigvis har jeg merket ... more »
I'm not dead (and I haven't stopped blogging either!)
I just needed a real break - a vacation - and I got it <3 I've been completely "off" from everything (physics and e-mail and blogging) during July, and it's been wonderful! But now it's time to start again; this is the last semester on my PhD (*troublebreathing*), and Alexandra starts school - so there's a lot going on in the Rose family this fall. Yesterday was Alexandra's first day at AKS (Aktivitetsskolen, which is where she'll be after school, before we're back from work), and Anders and I had our first day back again at the University. It wasn't the most productive day, but I ...more »
Not all done, and Alexandra's last day in kindergarden
Yesterday was Alexandra's last day (ever) in kindergarden... She started in August 2011, and now, more or less 5 years later, she's ready for new challenges. But it feels really strange, and a little sad - I'll be the first to admit. I think she's having mixed feelings too; one minute she's all about being a big girl and she can do everything and she takes responsibility, and she's really an angel - next minute she's winey and not cooperating at all, and says she isn't starting school after all, 'cause she's going back to kindergarden (all quite normal, I think ;) ). All in all I thi... more »
Figures: check. Tables: check!
I guess the title really says it all, but to be very specific: *I'm done with all the figures and all the tables for the article!* What remains (TODO list of tomorrow): - read the neptunium-article, and find out how the results were interpreted - place sentence about uncertainties in the analysis where it should be (aka. figure out where, which is the hard part - moving it is not) - check and fix all table and figure captions - read through everything and check that I'm referring to the right number of the figures and tables in the text - work on the discuss... more »
Almost there...
This night I had another "nightmare" - simply that I hadn't done the last calculations that are supposed to be in the article, and I couldn't manage to do them, and therefore not make the last figure either. Pretty straight forward to understand what that dream was all about, I guess ;) When I woke up this morning, it was also the case that I *hadn't done *all these things - but now I'm almost there! Today I fixed all the tables, and did the calculations. Since there are one and a half day left before Alexandra's done with kindergarden forever (OMG!), I think there's a quite good cha... more »
Result of today
Today is not so good again... I've tried calculating some stuff, and I just can't get the units right. I'm quite embarrassed, but I've spent much of today trying to get this thing right :/ (I've also got stuff into tables, and written two equations and several sentences on the article, but still - I'm moving with the speed of a snail.) Hopefully tomorrow'll be better <3 I felt really great this morning, but now not so much - anyway; this is my outfit today
DONE. (relieved)
I haven’t had the best couple of days lately. I've been feeling horrible, and like I’m drowning in work, drowning in stupid figures (oh, those stupid figures, and thank goodness for Anders, who have spent too much time helping me analyse these data, and make good fits). I haven't slept well; I've been having strange dreams about how Anders is a graph, and I'm the area beneath it (I'm an integral for crying out loud!), and that I can't oversleep since I'm late with a deadline, and so on. Kind of stressful. That’s, of course, the reason why I’ve been quiet here, and I’ve hated that po... more »
There'll be no summer holyday before...
There's no way I can go on vacation before I've finished this article. No. Way. Therefore I'm quite focused these days, and luckily my big problems from Monday turned out to be not so big after all :) Therefore I'm much happier than I was on Monday, even though I'm tired (we just got back home from work, and there's no reason we should be home earlier tomorrow). But long days is a good prize to pay for a real vacation where I can actually relax and focus 100% on Alexandra and Anders and having fun <3 Kind of crazy, though, that this screen makes me happier, (since there are obviousl...more »
When you want to give up...
...this is one those days. One of those days where everything seem hopeless, and it feels like I just want to give up and cry. I spent most of this day working on a plot, but the only thing I realised was that I have to go back and change another figure. AGAIN. For the one hundredth time - seriously. And after I've done that, I can start trying to understand the program that's suppose to make this other figure. One step forward and two steps back, in other words. F***K. my screen before I found out what I was doing was wrong my screen when I found out... It just feels like this is ... more »
Long day at work...
Finally home from work...! It's always a little crazy when we're doing experiments - meaning this "workday" started at my office yesterday before lunch, then I went to Vestby VGS to give a talk to the students there, and check out all their science projects (thank you so much for inviting me, I had a great time), and then it was straight back to the University and our lab, and finally the "workday" ended a two hours ago. When I got to the lab last night (a little bit before eleven) I learned that the "beam out of range"-alarm had stopped working, which means that the only way of a... more »
Nothing?
My PhD life today. mother and daughter, going swimming, no fighting What I did do: - discussions with Cecilie (thank you so much for listening to all my silly questions - you're super patient and great!) - working on figures; implementing what Cecilie suggested (not yet done) - take Alexandra to her swimming lessons - laundry - my dress for Jørgen and Janne's wedding this weekend is now clean, same goes for Alexandra's outfit <3 - fight with Alexandra daughter after swimming, playing in Akerselven, before fighting What I didn't do: - answer e-mails - pr... more »
Flink Pike?
Hørt om "flink gutt"? Nei...? Ikke jeg heller. Eller, altså, jeg har hørt om det som noe man sier til hunden sin, men ikke som noe man sier til gutter/menn, slik man gjør til jenter/kvinner - "Flink pike-syndrom". Det er liksom noe negativt. Anders er vel minst like mye "flink gutt" som det jeg er "flink pike" - men jeg har definitvt kjent på bekymringen om at "nå må du passe på så du ikke er for flink, da", noe jeg ikke tror Anders får høre, for det er vel aldri negativt at gutter er flinke (?). I denne ukens KK er jeg intervjuet av Inga Ragnhild Holst om nettopp det å være flink p... more »
Nails ready for PhD Day :)
Good morning everyone! It felt good to get my nails fixed yesterday. Now they're not too long, and have a bright, pink colour - just perfect for standing next to my pink poster on PhD Day this Friday ;) Big surprise: I'm the only one with a pink poster. (Wonder if I'm the only one thinking about matching my poster with my nails...? Haha, no I don't wonder about that - I'm pretty sure about the answer :D ) Today's plans are: - answering some emails - meet with Sunniva and discuss the article that's very soon ready for all the co-authors (we were supposed to meet yesterday,... more »
Why are my stupid plots stupid?!? (#phdlife)
Oh, I get so frustrated...! This day started great; I was sort of on a roll with making nice figures for thesis and papers, and then someone told my I should look into some stuff (some threshold for some electronics), and I did, and I realised some of my plots look really strange :/ I mean, they're not supposed to be like that, going up and down like that systematically - nature isn't that "pretty"... (Nature *is *pretty, but it doesn't work like this plot over here.) And I can't figure it out, so I'm back to feeling stupid again :P Baaah. I guess this is a good time to freshen up m... more »
Why is the nuclear sweat from fission always the same?
Not a bad start to this week; I've "finished" my draft for Sunniva, sent it away to her, and planned for us to meet tomorrow. I've also caught up with the fission gamma analysis (it really is that way; if I'm away from some kind of analysis or something for more than two days, it's always a lot of work to get into it again - luckily I get better and better at writing good notes, and keep everything in a system, so I know what I did and how I thought, and therefore it's not so often anymore that I have to spend an entire day just trying to understand what I was thinking the last time ... more »
One small step...
...at a time... Today is another day where I feel I've been highly ineffective, but is still not sure if that's true. I *have* read four(?) articles (when I say "read" I don't really mean read, like picking up the article, starting at the first side, and read all six pages or whatever; but more like, pick up an article, scroll down to the place where it's written something about the stuff I'm working on right now, read that part and look at most of the tables), and looked at two PhD theses. I've discussed a paragraph in my article with Sunniva, about some part of my analysis, that I... more »
Six plots (#phdlife)
Today has been a good day; meaning I've worked continuously all day, and feeling like I've been effective. Still, when I look at what I've actually accomplished, it doesn't really look like much: six different ways of plotting one of the resonances I'm studying - to try to see if there is some kind of pattern in it. Pattern hunting. Good thing is that I've might have found something, but I'm not sure before I've discussed it with Sunniva tomorrow. I also managed to write a couple of sentences on my article... BTW: I finished my poster for PhDDay, which is next Friday, yesterday, ... more »
It's getting real...
I am so sorry I've been away for a week now, but Jon (my supervisor from Paris) was here, and we've been working more or less non stop. Don't get me wrong; I love these kinds of visits, and of course there's also been time for socialising after a long day at the office - what Jon calls *work hard, play hard.* If we'd skipped the socialising bit I guess I would've had time for updating here, but the part where we're actually also friends, and not just colleagues is so important - I don't even really see that as an option. Therefore I'll repeat: I'm sorry I've been away, but I'm not ... more »
My kind of poetry...
(what I really was looking for was "what is Hauser-Feshbach")
Forskningen er internasjonal! (rant)
Hver morgen, når klokken er seks, våkner vi at at radioen skrur seg på, og det er selvsagt P2 som gjelder hjemme hos oss - jeg digger P2 (#voksenpoeng)! Jeg er nesten alltid superfornøyd og imponert over kvaliteten på det som denne radiokanalen serverer mellom klokken 6 og 9, men i dag ble jeg småskuffet og litt irritert; det var nemlig en merkelig sak som handlet om at forskere publiserer "for lite" på norsk*. For å utdype denne Twitter-meldingen litt, og forklare hvorfor det ikke er et valg å publisere for eksempel fysikk på norsk: I akademia så er det publisering som gjelder:... more »
Working your ass off - hairdos
I've been working my ass off analysing data since Monday morning - wanting to be as prepared as I can for Jon's visit later this week. It's tedious work: studying a plot, finding time limits, change your code, run the program, check the results, write everything down and put it into different folders - and start all over again. Repeat until dead tired. But speaking of working my ass off, even though I work hard, I still want to feel fresh - without spending too much time or effort on it...entering the three *working your ass off hairdos:* *1. messy bun2. messy braid no 13. messy br... more »
10 facts about getting a PhD
I write about this work I'm doing all the time, but I have never written anything about what really constitutes a PhD, so I thought this week you'll get 10 FACTS about how to get a PhD: 1. After you get a master's degree, you can continue with a PhD 2. The actual PhD work is 3 years, but many of us also have 25% teaching so that we have the job for 4 years in total (the teaching is normally done during the time you also work on the degree) 3. To be admitted to the PhD program at the University of Oslo, you have to have quite good grades; B as an average on the co... more »
Plot of the day
Hi everybody <3 I know it's Friday, I know I didn't write anything yesterday, and I know it's time for Friday Facts... Unfortunately, I'm pretty busy today with data analysis, in addition to the fact that Anders' office mate had his PhD thesis defense today - and after that I've been busy getting Alexandra from kindergarten to my parents in Skedsom (who are taking care of her until tomorrow). Now I'm on my way to the thesis defense dinner, and suddenly this day is over :/ So, I'm sorry there won't be any facts today, but I'll fix it by the end of the weekend! For now, here's a pictur...more »
by TiMo
Last week, when I was out with girls, Anita told me *you have to wear something Norwegian for your thesis defence...what about byTiMo, it's just perfect for you! *I hadn't really heard about it before, but she showed me their Instagram account, and I could see why she thought I needed something (or more) from them ;) On Saturday, when Anders and I were out, being a couple, drinking wine, and shopping for the 17th of May, we stumbled across by TiMO on Byporten (I had no idea they had a shop there), and of course I had to go in. Anita was so right, and I ended up with two dresses (An... more »
10 facts about nuclear physcis
A normal misconception about nuclear physics is that it's all about nuclear power and/or atomic bombs, and that that's it. This is far from the truth, and therefore I think 10 facts about nuclear physics is a good idea today :) 1. nuclear physics is all about the atomic nucleus - discovered by accident by Ernest Rutherford a century ago, when he was bombarding a thin gold foil with alpha particles 2. there's so much we don't know about the heart of the atom - the nucleus; and that's why we are a lot of people around the world still spending all of our lives to st... more »
Sunniva recommends: Pandora's Promise
I'll make this short and sweet: I finally watched the documentary *Pandora's Promise*, where filmmaker Robert Stone profile energy experts and environmentalists who once were strongly against nuclear energy, but now embrace it. You should watch it too, that's all I can say. Watch it. And Robert Stone, you get three hearts: <3<3<3 The entire thing is on Netflix.
Thursday blues
- bad conscience (I spend too little time on my degree, and too much time procrastinating) - procrastinating - writing for an hour as I feel bad (my conscience bugging me since I procrastinated when I got to the University, instead of writing) - searching the University's web pages for a template for my thesis - turns out it doesn't seem to exist (help?!), but I found myself as poster-girl on the frontpage of the phd education. Lol. - going to the MNKOM lunch talk, to listen to all the science communication students (as I was also making some notes from an article #multitasking) - f... more »
Too fun!
Today hasn't been the best day, and it's totally my fault: Or, the headache (which is finally gone) was just my own fault, but Anders left for a conference at half past four this morning, and therefore I didn't get any coffee to wake me up (he makes me coffee in bed every day <3), and it was really hard to get out of bed, and also I miss him (no, it's not the end of the world - he's coming back tomorrow night again), so those reasons are not something I'm in charge of. But yesterday was a fun day; so fun, that I woke up with a headache this morning...:P First part of the day was of c... more »
When can we say that a nuclear power plant is safe?
Today is a beautiful Tuesday here in Oslo, and I just have to say a little bit about the safety of a nuclear power plant! I want to share an excerpt of a text written by someone that knows more about this particular theme than I do - Gianni Petrangeli, who has written the textbook *Nuclear Safety* (I have highlighted some of the points): "*Is it possible to conclude that a nuclear power plant is safe* and, if it is, what are the conditions which make this conclusion possible? The answer to the first question is: '*Yes, it is possible*'. The conditions for such a conclusion to be v... more »
Monday
meetings, yes - plural started reading about, and writing about the so called generation 4 reactors (the next generation of nuclear reactors, that will use their fuel more efficiently, reduce waste production, be more economically, and have even higher standards of safety and proliferation resistance) then realised that everything that should be written about these reactors in my thesis could (and should!) probably be summarized in one or two sentences... So even though I haven't actually deleted any of it yet, that'll be the first thing I'll do tomorrow. Well, maybe I can view it a... more »
Today's office
When you're working on a PhD you never *really* have the day off - there's always *something* than needs to be done: an article you should read, an article you should comment, an abstract you should finish, an analysis you should work on, and of course, if you've done all the reading and the commenting and the analysis and everything, there's your scary *thesis* that you need to work on. Today I've had a Skype meeting with Supervisor Jon, and then I went with Trine to Espresso House at Majorstuen to write. The nice thing about a job like ours is that we can work in cozy places - like... more »
Goal of the day
After yesterday's *not feeling so great and mostly procrastinating-day*, I think I'll try baby steps today: My goal is to find/produce the figures of these fission gamma rays (they will be far from "ready", but I'll make them as good as I can), and send them off to supervisor Jon. Goal number two is to fix my abstract for PhD Day: I said I did it yesterday, but then there was some problem - probably that it was 100 words too long, so I need to shave it a bit, and retry. It will be done by the end of this day :) Thanks so much to the best officemate ever, Gry, who's smiling and tell... more »
Crying in the cantina
Tuesday: - procrastinate - coffee with Anders - crying in the cantina - dugnad in the kindergarden - going home - crying in the shower - feeling stupid - thinking (hard) about the thesis - submitting abstract for PhD Day It's phdlife.
Preparing for PhD Day!
This is a blogpost there are good reasons why I shouldn't write...but I do it anyway, and if you are a PhD candidate here at the University, you should definitely keep on reading (if you're not, you should at least read the end of this blogpost): On June 10th, the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Science Library are arranging PhD Day, and all PhD candidates at the Faculty are invited to participate in the Poster session (aka Poster competition). *There's a 10 000 NOK prize for the best poster*, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to win it... However, I also ... more »
SoMe lately
Good morning, and happy Monday everyone <3 I'm just here to say a quick hello, before going to the University; unfortunately it will be a short week this week, because of Thursday, so I have to be very effective today and tomorrow (on Wednesday I'm getting Alexandra in kindergarden and everything, so then it's just time for a normal, short day). The clock is ticking too fast :/ Maybe it's a good idea to have one, main goal this week, instead of trying to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that? If so, my main goal this week is called *"prompt fission gamma rays"* - in there... more »
10 differences of the RBMK and a PWR
Since it was 30 years since the Chernobyl accident on Tuesday, I was thinking it would be a good idea with 10 facts related to that as a little "comeback" of Friday Facts (so sorry that I don't manage to make these facts every week, it's just that lately I've either been travelling, or really busy with my PhD, which I sort of have to prioritize sometimes ;) ). Or, not just ten facts, but ten differences between the Chernobyl type RBMK reactor ("reaktor bolshoy moshchnosty kanalny", meaning high-power channel reactor), and the standard pressurized water reactor (PWR). Ready? Let's... more »
Not a good night...
the experiment is behind this thick, blue door (just before the migraine) I had such plans for last night! I had the evening shift at the cyclotron, and in addition to baby sit the experiment, I was planning to answer a lot of e-mails, prepare for my teaching today, work on my gammas from fission results, and I had planned to make a long blogpost about Chernobyl. Then I got a migraine, and could just barely be at the lab, and didn't get to do anything at all! Luckily the cyclotron was behaving, so it was an easy shift, and I could even get an hour sleep - the only thing that helps.... more »
"Chernobyl equals 100 Hiroshima bombs..." (foredrag)
"Radiation and reason" by Wade Allison So tonight I'm preparing for a talk I'm going to give at Kongsberg Library tomorrow, which is the day that marks the 30 years anniversary for the tragic accident in the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, and I feel like I need to address some of the myths and misconceptions about the accident and its consequences. The statement in the title of this blogpost is one of these myths, and it's of course NOT true. CHERNOBYL DID NOT EQUAL 100 HIROSHIMA BOMBS! The thing is that this statement comes from someone (only) looking at the release of one is... more »
Grandmothers of Chernobyl
On Tuesday it's 30 years since the tragic accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and I see all kinds of articles and films and talks about the accident popping up on Facebook (and basically all over the internet) these days. Not so strange, really. A friend of mine posted this video of "The Moonshine Grandmothers of Chernobyl", about old women living inside the exclusion zone in Chernobyl, that I really think you should watch :) (Click on the link just below the picture.) https://www.facebook.com/AJWitness/videos/10156797667900557/?pnref=story It's soon time for bed here in... more »
One last "natural" post
So I was on the radio this morning (Kulturnytt - you can hear it here), and one thing that Berit made a point of was "natural carrots" versus "un-natural beta-carotene": In a study someone had isolated beta-carotene (that you find in carrots), and seen that it actually may increase the risk of getting some types of cancer (I haven't read the study, so don't take this as a warning - I have no idea of how big this risk increase is supposed to be, or how much you actually had to eat to see this increase, or if the study was even done on people, or what), but eating carrots seems to be ... more »
2 years since we met...and happy birthday!
Yesterday it was two years since I was sitting alone in my office at Science Library; it was the middle of Easter, and was making my last preparations for the talk I was going to give later that day, in Hamar, at "The Gathering (TG) 2014". As aI often do, I shared a couple of pictures on Instagram and Facebook... ...and suddenly I got a message from a guy… I had never really talked to him before, but since I didn’t know anyone in Hamar, I was just happy to have someone to meet for a coffee, maybe eat something, maybe have a beer with. In the middle of my talk I saw a new person in... more »
"Natural" (rant) on the radio
Remember this blogpost/rant, about how I hate the word "natural"? Well, tomorrow I'm going to be on the radio (Kulturnytt), to rant a little bit more about why I think it's silly to use naturality as an argument for anything. Of course, a lot of things that people like to think about as natural are good, but that's not *because* they are "natural" - like I said in the other blogposts: a lot of things that are 100% "natural" are not at all good for us... Judging by the first pictures you get from a "natural" google search, water is one of the things that's very "natural". Well, what ... more »
Abstract accepted! (#phdlife)
The week after Easter, just before we went on vacation, I got a very nice email. It read as follows: *Subject:* *ND 2016 - Decision on your abstract* Dear Mrs. Rose, The organizers are pleased to note that your abstract ND/793 was accepted as a *regular* contribution to the conference. The slot allocated to your contribution is 20 minutes: 15 minutes for your presentation and 5 minutes for questions. To confirm your attendance please complete at your earliest possible convenience your full registration for the conference at www.nd2016.eu (General Information, drop-down menu: Regis... more »
En gavepakke til sjalu og kontrollerende kjæreste?
Hei alle fine, håper dere har hatt en fin torsdag :) Snart er det plutselig helg igjen - det går sykt fort (hjelp hjelp, hver dag som går er det samme som én dag kortere igjen av doktorgradsarbeidet mitt)! Nok om det, og over til noe helt annet (og viktigere enn at det snart er helg igjen?): Har du hørt om iPhones "Share my location"? Det hadde ikke jeg, før Anders for noen uker siden fortalte meg om det, og vips skrudde det på på telefonen min slik at vi kunne teste det ut. "Share my location" går rett og slett ut på at du kan dele hvor du er til enhver tid med en eller flere. Feks... more »
I hate the word "natural" (rant)
Yes, this really annoys me; how people argue that *since it's natural it's better/good for you*, and of course *un-natural is bad for you...* Well, here are a couple of things that are natural, and some things that are un-natural: - the sun, that for example can give you a serious sunburn - not very good for you, but completely natural - sunscreen - not natural, but good for you if you're going to spend time in the sun - water - natural; and good for you if you drink it (just not too much - it's always about doses), but deadly if you inhale it. (Think about water ...more »
Science doesn't know everything...
...that's why we are still doing science! If we knew (or thought we knew) everything, we would've stopped - and I'm pretty sure the government wouldn't have used any money on universities or anything. For example: where does uranium come from? We don't know! I work with uranium (uranium-233 and -234 in particular), and we know it exist here on Earth, but how was it created in the first place? Actually there are MANY elements we don't know how got here - like silver and gold. But we know they exist, and we get better and better models and theories for how it happened <3 (One theor... more »
Aldri mer ByTaxi
I dag må jeg nesten komme med et "antitips": Da vi kom hjem fra Tenerife i går nærmet det seg kvelden. Vi var alle slitne etter flyturen og så frem til vår egen seng. Flyturen gikk overraskende bra og Alexandra satt rolig hele turen (bortsett fra litt virrevandring på slutten, men det er jo lov). For å komme oss hjem fra Gardermoen tenkte vi å ta taxi (vi hadde ikke spart veldig mye på å ta flytoget uansett). Vi gikk bort til taxikøen på Gardermoen og litt smånaive (slitne!) tar den første taxien som kommer. Vi har flere ganger tatt taxi fra Gardermoen tidligere og fått den normale... more »
Ten facts about depleted uranium
As we were approaching the Tenerife airport yesterday, I suddenly remembered something... The thing is, I have this weird fascination for accidents and catastrophes (Titanic, bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Chernobyl accident, and more or less all accidents from "air crash investigation ") - which is probably one of the main reasons I was interested in nuclear physics in the first place. If you're like me, you might know which thing, or accident, I came to think about as we were approaching the airport? It was of course the Tenerife accident of March 1977, involving two Boei... more »
Friday FACTS: cosmic radiation
Friday Facts on a Sunday again - I'm starting to think I should just call it "facts"... Well, I'll try a little bit more, and see if I manage to get back on track with actually having FRIDAY facts on FRIDAYS again :P Anyway: this day started super super early; the alarm rung at 3:15, and at 7 we took off from Gardermoen airport, with Tenerife as our destination. I feel almost silly to have one week of vacation now, just after Easter, but it just had to be this way this time. Since we've been flying today, I thought the perfect theme for facts is *cosmic radiation...:* 1. ... more »
Goals
We just git back to work after the Easter holiday, but next week we're actually going on vacation again... On Sunday morning we're off to Tenerife, to see the sun and feel some warmth, but if I'm going to have a chance to relax (I realised last week that the Easter holiday and this vacation was only one week apart, and I'm not exactly feeling great about it - especially regarding yesterdays post about the panic phase of the PhD work) I need to finish some stuff here at work. My goals before Saturday therefore are: 1. Finish my article draft and send it off to Supervisor Jon; so t... more »
Similarities between pregnancy and working on your phd
This other day, when I was having lunch with some other lovely physics ladies, and we were talking about finishing of the PhD and especially the THESIS DEFENCE (OMG!), I panicked a bit, thought I had to be able to talk about shell model calculations in my PhD defence (which I know nothing about!) and everything... I realised that working an a PhD is kind of similar to being pregnant: For a long time I've just been like *oh it's wonderful to be a scientist, I do science and it's soooo awesome, and I'm on my way to become a PhD in nuclear physics *heart heart heart** I've more or les... more »
God påske, med bokanbefaling
I går kom mamma og jeg hjem fra Cannes, ble møtt av Anders på Gardermoen, dro hjem til Bjølsen og plukket opp alexandra og pakket om (så raskt vi kunne - som allikevel ikke var superraskt :P), og satte nesen mot Sjusjøen og Nordseter, og påskefeiring med Charlotte, Anders (ikke min Anders ;) ) og Kristiane. Påsken er jo liksom tid for krim, men den tradisjonen har jeg selv aldri praktisert. Det jeg derimot praktiserer er rett å slett bare det å lese - nesten samme hva, så lenge det er noe jeg liker, og gjerne noe som både er spennende og som jeg kan lære noe av... Og da er den bok... more »
In Cannes
My grandpa has an apartment in Cannes, at the French Riviera, and when my mother asked me if I wanted to join her there for a couple of days during Easter I wasn't at all in doubt whether to say yes. We arrived on Sunday, and are staying until Thursday. We had an amazing fish at "belle plage" at the beach when we arrived! The weather was kind of cold, but it was beautiful to be inside, eating and drinking, and looking out at the Mediterranean Sea ❤️ Yesterday and today have been sunny, around 18 degrees, and really nice! (Nothing is like a glass of rosé in the sun ;) ) This place th... more »
Frykt og avsky i Fukushima
På tirsdag var jeg og snakket jeg for NFFJ (norske forskningsjournalister), på deres årsmøte. Det var veldig hyggelig å bli invitert, og å snakke om mitt forhold til forskningsformidling; hvorfor jeg velger å bruke så mye tid på det, til tross for at jeg vet at det på mange måter er "å skyte meg selv i foten" dersom jeg ønsker å fortsette med forskning i akademia (mitt døgn har heller ikke mer enn 24 timer, og hvis jeg bruker en stor andel av den tilgjengelige tiden på noe som ikke er forskning blir det naturlig nok mindre tid til forskning, og dermed mindre forskning på CVen min, s... more »
Never give up
So it turned out I was looking at the wrong output from my Talys nuclear reactions simulations , of what happens when a uranium-233 nucleus is being bombarded with neutrons with all kinds of energies. (Talys is a program for simulating lots of types of nuclear reactions; it's free, online, and everyone can check it out here, if they want to :) ). When you run a simulation (or 60, like I have) you get a folder with lots of different files, and silly me was looking at the wrong file... "Of course": the file I needed to plot wasn't the "totalxs.tot", but the "rp092234.tot". If I'd read... more »
SPRING!
I. LOVE. SPRING! I had to take two (long) coffee breaks on the stairs of the physics building today - just to feel the sun <3 Luckily I'm giving a talk in an hour, so I actually HAD to do something today (prepare for the talk, of course). Otherwise, I'm not sure if I'd been able to do anything at all today :P I've been thinking about that, whether spring and sunny weather is best for productivity, or cold, dark weather: If it's sunny and beautiful, like today, I just want to be outside (and I spent more time out in the sun than I probably should have today), but if it's cold and... more »
10 FACTS about Fukushima
Happy Monday peeps, hope you all had a great weekend <3 I have to start this day with a blogpost I started on Friday, but unfortunately didn't have time to finish...:/ Friday was March 11 - marking the five year anniversary of the Fukushima accident. This accident is actually more or less the reason why I started blogging, and to really care about outreach of science. I saw how scared people were, even here in Norway, and my "medicine" to that are facts and knowledge. (This is also the way I tried to "comfort" my mother when she had radiation treatment; telling her everything I knew ... more »
Norges beste formidler - hvem får dagens studenter til å glemme å sjekke mobilen?
Hva er god undervisning? Hvor er de beste foreleserne nå for tiden? Hvordan bedømmer man egentlig kvalitet i undervisningen? Er den klassiske forelesningens tid virkelig over? Hve lærer studentene å tenke? Jeg er utrolig stolt over å ha blitt spurt om å være med når Morgenbladet skal kåre Norges beste foreleser! Sammen med Helene Uri, Erling Sandmo, Therese Eia Lerøen og Victor Norman, skal jeg være med å finne vinneren. Vi har i denne sammenhengen alle forsøkt å svare veldig kort på to spørsmål: 1) Hva er god undervisning?, og 2) Hvorfror er god undervisning viktig? Slik svarer j... more »
Working your ass off dinner - "Mexican" style
Remember my last post about #workingyourassoff-dinner? My super-easy super-fast Thai-reipe? If not, you can check it out HERE. Well, life here is quite busy, as always these days (yesterday started at quarter past four in the morning, since I was going to Stavanger to give two talks, and then back to Oslo to go to a celebration of the international women's day - I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow when i finally got to bed last night), so there is no less need for quick and tasty recipes - but the same Thai all the time is a little bit boring... So a couple of days ago I made... more »
Going to Stavanger, snapping for @fysikkunioslo
Good morning good people ❤️ I'm currently at Gardermoen, waiting at the gate for my flight to Stavanger, which is today's travel goal. I'm going there to give two talks: one for a bunch of talented high school students that are attending the SciTech challenge, and one for students (and others?) at the university of Stavanger. Excited! Also, I'm sharing my day at the snapchat account of the physics department, so make sure to follow fysikkunioslo :) Wish you all a great day!
Three favourite apps - that will help me on my path towards my degree (and all the other stuff too). TIPS!
2016 has so far been quite successful when it comes to working focused on my PhD project: My second article is starting to look like the real thing, and it's not that long until I can send it to my co-authors (I hope - everything takes more time than I think it should), and after that to the journal where we'll try publishing it. I've also finally managed to "go back" to working on some stuff that will hopefully be part of an article with my extremely talented colleague, Cecilie. Together with my office mate, Fabio, I'll also probably have what we need for a third/forth article. The ... more »
Sent - and back to start again
...or something like that. Yesterday I sent what I had on my draft for this article I'm working on to supervisor-Sunniva - you, know, according to what I wrote last week I'm supposed to finish stuff and this draft should have been "finished" by Friday. Then guess what: it isn't! Even though I sent it away yesterday (2 days into this week, which is supposed to be about another article) there are so many questions about my results that I don't even know what to think. Today I asked everyone in our research group what I should do, and I basically got the answer that I have to do stuff a... more »
Hva er galt med en del folk?!? (#marypoppins)
På lørdag var jeg i Folketeateret og så Mary Poppins sammen med mamma og Carina. Det var årets bursdagspresang fra oss til Carina, og forestillingen absolutt meget bra, på alle mulige måter, og spesielt imponert var jeg over Charlotte Brænna som hadde tittelrollen - fantastsik! Detssuten var det veldig morsomt å se flere "kjente" fjes fra min egen dansetid, på scenen :) Det som derimot IKKE var noen god opplevelse, var hvordan enkelte folk tydeligvis syns at regler er for alle andre unntatt dem selv, og dermed oppfører seg...! Ved siden av oss hadde vi feks en gjeng bestående av kans... more »
Ten facts about neutrinos
Friday again - facts again <3 You know the drill, say no more: 1. a neutrino is a en elementary particle 2. a neutrino is not a neutron - neutrons are made up of quarks, and are thus *not *elementary particles 3. there are three types of neutrinos: they're called electron neutrino, muon neutrino, and tau neutrino (they all also have an antiparticle) 4. the name neutrino actually means "little neutron", but I have to tell that story another time...;) (In short: Pauli proposed that there should be a particle called a neutron, before the actual neutron was discove... more »
Finish it!
I need to start finishing stuff, or, really "finishing" - meaning, I need to work hard on one thing at a time, and then send it off, instead of just saying to myself *oh no it's not good enough yet, I need to work just a little bit more, and then a liiiitle bit more, and the even a liiiiitle little bit more*. If I continue like that I will never be able to make this phd. Therefore, my new mantra is* Finish It!* And here's my "finish it-plan" for the next three weeks: Tomorrow I'm "finishing" the draft of the uranium-234 article, next week I WILL make stuff for Cecilie (that I shou... more »
Videoforedragsblogg - kompetent uten realfag?
Før jul holdt jeg foredrag på arbeidsgiverforeningen Spekters Arbeidslivskonferanse "Jobb for livet!". Foredraget kalte jeg "Kan man være en kompetent borger uten realfag?", og før du evt går av skaftet fordi det høres elitistisk og kjipt ut, kan jeg avsløre at det stor grad handler om et slags oppgjør med den holdningen om at "jeg skjønner ikke noe, gidder ikke noe, og dette skryter jeg av"-holdningen som fins blant en god del folk, om realfagene. Jeg mener at det i dag riktignok er ganske mye fokus på at realfag er viktig, men jeg savner aspektet med at realfag faktisk er viktig... more »
70% extra work - 5% extra quality (#phdlife)
I've heard this saying about science: *you work 70% extra to rise the quality of your work by 5%*. Yesterday I went through my analysis again, to be absolutely certain that I know exactly what kind of parameters and numbers and stuff that I put into it, and I've reproduced two figures. So it's not just about producing results and figures, but also about *reproducing*. Not like a big leap forward, but I really feel that yesterday was a good example of those "70% extra work", just to rise the quality of my work with more or less nothing. At least; don't accuse us scientists for being l... more »
Hello
*hello from your empty draft* *at least put in some fancy graphs* *and tell them, "I'm sorry, it's gonna be late"* Just found this text at PHD Comics - sort of like the story of my life these days...:P My empty drafts are my second article, my third article, and my actual thesis. (OMG!) ---------------------------------------------------------- Anders left a couple of hours ago, and I'm still at home, waiting for my mother to come. We're going for a little "winter holidays" lunch. Will be nice <3 I'm postponing most of today's work 'til this afternoon/evening - one of the great th...more »
Stupid
I feel so incredibly stupid. I don’t understand how I’m ever going to be able to finish this, and I’m almost 100% certain I have fooled somebody real good, since they’re actually paying me for doing such a shitty job, where I don’t understand anything of what I’m doing… Finishing a phd is really like being on the worst emotional rollercoaster - where one day you feel like you’re actually accomplishing something just because you finally managed to make a figure, and the next day you realise that even if you have that figure, how will this ever turn into an article that a real scie... more »
Friday FACTS: Black holes
Happy Friday! I'm at Anders (not my Anders, but my good friend) and Charlotte's fantastic cabin at Nordseter (Sjusjøen). We just had a nice dinner, we're drinking wine, talking, and there's a fire in the fireplace <3 I'm about to put away my laptop for the weekend, but before I do that, what could fit better now than ten facts about black holes? Close to nothing :D Here goes: 1. Black holes are called “black” because they swallow all light, and no light (or anything) can ever escape it 2. Black holes are made when stars die and collapse (*sad*) 3. Black holes are super sup... more »
Failure
Today I've tried making a figure. So far I haven't completely succeeded. I managed to make the dotted lines pink, though - I guess that's one small step towards success, but it doesn't help when part two of the figure (which you don't see here) looks like I don't even know...
ATHENAS!
I løpet av den tiden som har gått siden Fukushimaulykken, og jeg begynte å blogge i september 2011, har det blitt en god del foredrag. Dette trives jeg bare bedre og bedre med, og det som begynte med noen små foredrag om thorium og kjernekraft (ikke at jeg på noen måte syns det er kjedelig eller dumt å snakke om thorium, kjernekraft og egen forskning - jeg snakker fremdeles veldig gjerne om dette!) har gradvis utviklet seg til mer og mer spennende oppdrag. Blant annet har jeg fått holde tre TEDx-foredrag, jeg har fått snakke for arbeidsgiverforeningen Spekters Arbeidslivskonferanse... more »
Looking at plots, looking at code, again. Phd life as normal.
Good evening hearts <3 Today I've spent most of the day on going through the program code that sorts all of my experimental data for the millionth time. I had to check some numbers and plots in three different versions of the program that should give exactly the same results. This morning they didn't, but after going through them, first alone, then with Supervisor Sunniva, they finally gave what seems to be the same result! That means I can correct some things that I now know were wrong, and then I'm certain that everything that goes into my article is correct ;) And I learned more a... more »
Monday - T-205
So it's Monday, and this week didn't start off all that bad (except Alexandra was screeming for dad and telling me she can't decide anything and besides she hates me...#thejoysofbeingtheparentofasixyearold:/): I went directly to the library after I left (the screeming) Alexandra in kindergarden: There I spent half the day on continuing to try to understand everything the data sorting program (hint: I still don't, but I'm getting baby steps closer) does, and then the other half of the day on my paper - got through the comments from Jon, and continued on writing about the "gamma ray st... more »
On this day
*Today I've:* - worked on a "script" where I gather a lot of the information about what we use to analyse my data - met up with Fabio - tried Fabio's program for sorting data (looks like it working very well *excited*) - made a list of what I need to do with analysis number 1 and analysis number 2 - made a HUGE pot of chili (no, it's not really related to my PhD...) - been excited about the discovery of gravitational waves (all though I haven't really had any time to read anything about it, since I've been busy with preparing for Alexandra's birthday party) *I have not:* - made a lis... more »
A new little something
So today I went to Trondheim; I started the day by getting up at just a little bit past four (Anders <3 gave me coffee, even though he was NT getting up at this time), then flying to Trondheim, talking to about 300 girls science and technology and all that. I have started this “tradition” to always get a little present for myself when I’ve finished a talk - a little sort of pat on the back “you did good” kind of thing - from me to me :) Normally it’s something I get when I’m at the airport, and quite often it’s some kind of jewellery... This time I bought a “silver” ring with “diam... more »
AGR
Happy birthday, Alexandra Grønstad Rose! Today you're turning 6, and I just can't believe how time flies. It really feels strange that you're already the oldest one in kindergarden, and in a couple of months you're starting school... I love you to Proxima Centauri and back <3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- But then there's something funny. So AGR are Alexandra's initials, but it just hit me that AGR is also a type of nuclear reactor: the Adcanced Gas cooled Reactor. So, me, Sunniva Rose, nuclear physicist, gave my daughter a name which is an acrony... more »
Fuel on a Friday - 10 Facts
I can’t believe it’s Friday already. This week has just gone by so fast. It started with Alexandra still being sick on Monday, and then on Tuesday I went to Stavanger, and spent around 50 hours there - giving two talks, and talking to so many interesting people. (I think I’ll have to write about some of my thoughts about the Norwegian oil industry - just not right now.) Yesterday I got home, and the evening was spent with Anders; we shared a bottle of wine, he worked on his code and I scanned all my receipts from the trip, and sorted them into the right folders (not fun doing, but... more »
Looking back - part 2
Finally - here's part 2 of the looking back at 2015 blogpost. This has taken too long, I know, but I guess my excuse is I'm trying to fix my PhD thingy (that's my excuse for everything this year :D). *July* Anders went with the guys to Asia. I missed him sooo much it's close to embarrassing :P These were pictures he sent me as he was looking through his phone - you see, I'm pretty sure he missed me to...<3 I went to Spain and Toledo, to David and Lucia's wedding... ...looking like this :) And I worked on the same f*****g paper I'm trying to finish now... *August* I was honou... more »
Stavanger next
Hi everyone... Alexandra's still sick. Yesterday I was so sure that today would be the last day with no kindergarden, but then she has actually been a little bit worse today, so it looks like tomorrow will also be spent at home. It's never a good time when kids get sick, and especially when it happens when you have deadlines and are going away...which is the case for me now :/ Tomorrow I'm going to Stavanger and I'm staying there until Thursday. I'll be giving two talks; one at THIS conference, on Wednesday, and one at a school - about nuclear physics and research and stuff, on Thurs... more »
10 facts about neutrons
Hi sweeties <3 Alexandra's been sick since Wednesday, poor girl, so I've spent most of the time taking care of her and comfort her. Therefore, again (!), this week's Friday Facts blogpost comes on a Sunday. Hope you understand... This time I feel the need of giving you ten facts about my favourite particle - the neutron: 1. neutrons are radioactive if they are "free" (alone, and not part of the nucleus of an atom) 2. neutrons have no charge - they are *neutral*, and can therefore "sneak" into another nucleus, and for example make it fission :D 3. the recipe for a neut... more »
I fear...
...a world without antibiotics. Just before the weekend, Anders started feeling some pain around one of his wisdom teeth. It wasn't too bad to begin with, but it gradually became more painful, and on Friday he was popping painkillers continuously. On Saturday morning, it was still bearable with the painkillers, but he realised he had gotten an infection around this stupid wisdom tooth that didn't seem to go away by itself, and that he had to make an appointment with the dentist - so he did, but it still didn't feel that urgent, and he got an appointment on Monday morning. By Satur... more »
First talk of 2016
Good morning fantastic people! I just found my seat at the train towards Trondheim. I'm not going all the way, but getting off at Hamar - where I'm going to visit Hamar Katedralskole, which happen to be Anders' old high school :) There I'll be giving my first talk this year, to a bunch of 16/17 year olds, about "nuclear physics and research and stuff - the story about a pink nerd". As you might guess, it will be a personal talk about ups and downs from when I switched from ballet in high school until now, when I'm about to start wrapping up my PhD work... Hopefully some of them will ... more »
Submission successful!
Monday again! I've started this week by sending away an abstract for a conference i Belgium in the middle of September (if all goes according to my plan, this conference will be just the week after I have submitted my PhD thesis, and if I actually get to give a talk at there I will probably hate myself for submitting this abstract today :P ). The title of what I want to present ended up as: Prompt fission gamma ray emission from the (d,p)-induced fission of 233U ---------------------------------------------------------------- After I had successfully submitted my abstract, the r... more »
Friday Facts - gamma radiation
Friday again, darlings, and we know by now what day (normally) means: Friday Facts! This week I want to tell you about gamma radiation, since most of my (professional) life orbits around this kind of radiation these days. 1. gamma rays, or gamma radiation, is the same kind of radiation as light (both are "just" electromagnetic radiation) - it's just really really intense, and comes from the atomic nucleus. A gamma ray carries at least 10 000 times more energy than "normal" visible light ray 2. it doesn't have any mass or charge - as opposed to for example alpha ... more »
Late birthday present for my self
On Friday I decided enough is enough: I'm sick and tired of being cold all the time, and that what I needed was a real warm jacket. I've been thinking about getting a real winter jacket for a long time, but I always end up thinking everything is either too expensive, or it's ugly. But the combination of feeling cold all the time, plus my birthday was recently, made me go online to Nelly.no and search for warm winter coats and jackets, and after not very long I found the perfect fit for me - a PINK down parkas <3 It was even 30% off, but that was not the reason why I chose this, it w... more »
This week's work
As I told you on Monday, we have visitors this week. What we're actually doing is that we are studying fission - or to be more precise; gamma radiation from fission. As you might know, or remember from earlier blog posts, fission is when a heavy atomic nucleus splits in two (this can happen to for example uranium-235). When this happen, you will get these *fission fragments *(this is what the two parts of the original nucleus are called) that have A LOT of extra energy, and some of this energy will be sent away as gamma radiation. A little bit like when we're really hot we start to ... more »
Visit
This week we have visitors from France (my great supervisor, Jon), Belgium, and Sweden. We're working on gamma radiation from fission (of uranium-233 and plutonium-239). It's a lot of hard, and EXTREMELY INTERESTING, work, and hopefully we'll get a very nice article out of this. If so, I'll very soon have the articles I need for writing up my thesis...wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!1 Now I need to get some sleep, so that I can get up early tomorrow, and finish preparing a talk I'm giving for a workshop and discussion we'll all have tomorrow. Sleep tight darlings <3
Goal of the day
Today I've been at the library, writing all day. It takes forever, but I'm starting to get used to it - and therefore better at making goals and to do-list. My goals today were: - finish (for now) the part about the so-called "Oslo Method" in my next paper - fix/make a figure (that f****g Fig. 4) - delete all the comments and thoughts (from my self) in the paper, so that it's actually possible to show it someone else without them saying WAT - send a draft of the paper to Jon supervisor in Paris - start making the talk I'm giving for our workshop on fission and gamm... more »
Working your ass off-dinner #phdlife
I love thai food! Often we order take-out (and I always have some kind of curry), but our "new year's resolutions" are about spending more money on actually going out, and then less money on just stupid take-out (not that it's always stupid, but we end up ordering take-out that isn't particularly tasty, and even though it's fast, it isn't *that* fast, and even though it isn't that expensive it adds up to being money that would have been more fun to spend on going to a restaurant, or the movies, or whatever). The "problem" is that both Anders and I work a lot these days, and we are of... more »
Looking back. Part 1
I started 2015 with a hope that that year wouldn't be so much of a roller coater ride as 2014 was - and luckily, it wasn't <3 In 2015 I've spent more time on my research in a long time, and it has felt really good. And on Saturday I was out, celebrating maybe the best and "biggest" thing of 2015 - my one year anniversary with Anders <3 We even made some "new year's resolutions": 1. go more to bars (a nice cocktail is, well, very nice) one of my favourite places in Oslo for cocktails: Étoile 2. go more to the theatre 3. go more (once a month?) to the movies 4. go more out to dinner (5.... more »
Friday Facts is back!
After this week, when North Korea decided to do what they did, what else could be the theme for Friday facts than the hydrogen bomb? 1. the hydrogen bomb is also called the H-bomb, a fusion weapon/bomb, or a thermonuclear weapon 2. the point of a "real" hydrogen bomb is to get hydrogen to fuse, and to get a large portion of energy released from this reaction 3. to get the hydrogen to fuse you have to make it hot enough (you try to recreate what happens in the sun) so that light nuclei will fuse and release even more energy than in a "normal" atomic bomb/nuclear we... more »
2 to the power of 5 (birthday)
I can now brag about being 25 (or 2 to the power of 5, or 2 times 2 times 2 times 2 times 2), or 100000, or 32 years old... Yesterday was my birthday, and I celebrated by trying to work (but I was kind of tired from Wednesday), and having a very nice dinner with Anders at Brasserie France ( which was much easier than the working part - yum!). Also Alexandra called from her new tablet (that she got for Christmas, so that she can Skype me or her father whenever she feels like it) to wish me Happy Birthday <3 I wore the same statement necklace that I wore on TV on Wednesday. This wa... more »
Nuclear physicist or girly girl? (Crazy day)
My original plan today was something like this: - get up - meet Ingrid for an early coffee - meet my little sister, Carina, to get lash extensions (it was her Christmas present for me, and it's a good idea to do it now before the semester turns crazy) - go to the University and write on my paper (write, make figures, and maybe even do some more of the remaining analysis). Then I woke up at 06:30, by the radio as we always do: "North Korea has tested what they claim to be a hydrogen bomb", and then this happened instead: - VG sent me an sms wondering if I cou... more »
One goal...
Happy new year my dearest! I've been quiet since Christmas eve, and there are two main reasons for that: 1) I needed the time to relax and be with my family - preparing my self for what will be an intense year. 2) Someone broke into our car and stole half of the presents we got for Christmas (for example Anders' present for me :( ), and our suitcase with clothes and stuff. This was a mentally exhausting experience, which also stole a lot of time since we've been on the phone with different insurance companies and the police and everything. End of the story is that even though we ... more »
Merry Christmas!
First of all, the most important message to day is: MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my wonderful, fantastic readers - I love you all! ------------------------------------------------------------- To follow up on the last blog post about stars, here are two more facts about stars that I think suits the theme of this day (my favourite day of the year): 1) There is no “Star of Bethlehem”, or "Christmas star". What the wise men probably saw on their way to meet baby Jesus, was Halley's comet (there are other theories as well, but I like the comet theory :) ), which was visible 11 or 12 years ... more »
Friday Facts on a Sunday (at least it's Sunday some places in the world)
It's getting close to Christmas now, and it's darker than ever (oh, how much I hate that - so happy it'll go the other way around in just 2 days), so I though now is a good time for 10 FACTS about stars: 1) Stars are born when huge clouds of gas start to collide because they are attracted to each other, because of gravity (short fact: stars exist because of gravity :P ) <3 - where stars are born - 2) Stars make electromagnetic radiation (like for example visible light) by fusion of hydrogen into helium. 3) Stars are pretty 4) Our nearest star is actually what we normally call th... more »
Energy in an atomic bomb and energy in a nuclear power plant
Hi everyone :) I got a question the other day about nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. There was some confusion about something I said on the radio (Abels Tårn) a couple of weeks ago, about nuclear power and nuclear weapons... Let me divide the question into two parts: *1) How much do you have to enrich natural uranium to make a nuclear weapon, and how much do you have to enrich to make nuclear fuel?* To make a weapon you have to enrich natural uranium, that consists of 99.25% uranium-238 and 0.72% uranium-235 (and the rest is uranium-234), to you get something like 95% uraniu... more »
Pink - part 3: Why can we see pink?
Good morning, Wednesday! It's cold, not too late, and I'm at the university library with my first latte of the day, and ready for the second day at the last writing seminar before christmas. I'm happy with yesterdays efforts (I finished all my Pomodoros), but I do realise that this takes forever... I'm seriously hoping that during the next months my "output" will grow more or less exponentially, or it'll be very hard to finish my thesis by the beginning of September (OMG!). At least I have to dedicate more days completely to just writing, like I'm doing today and tomorrow (and yester... more »
15th of December - 9 days to go...
Only nine days left to christmas. No christmas shopping for me yet; I'm spending all of today and tomorrow and Thursday writing writing and writing - I. WANT. TO. GET. A. REAL. DRAFT. OF. MY. PAPER. BEFORE. CHRISTMAS. - but maybe there'll be time for some christmas preparations on Friday...:) Some of you probably still have an exam (or two?!?) left, and to all of you: A big good luck! I'm at the University Library right now, and from the number of people here, there are obviously a lot of students that are not finished with their exams just yet. Since it's the 15th today, there are... more »
10 days to go - 14th of December
Monday again, and this week I promise to (try to :P) be better at blogging than last week! My excuse is mostly Anders' exam, which affected me quite a lot too... It's just so much better when you're sort of working on a team with someone - but that's almost impossible when one person has an exam and works constantly except for the 8 hours he needs for sleeping, and the other one has a child ;) Now he's finished with exams for quite a long time, and we're back to being a team again - working together in the evenings in our living room, going to bed early, and getting up early in the ... more »
Facts on a Friday - Beta radiation
Hi everyone, sorry I've been quiet since Sunday! I was planning to share my plan of the week on Monday, but then the day just sort of disappeared, and I really don't know what happened to the rest of the week either (I know that yesterday disappeared since I was in charge of the nuclear physics group's christmas party, and this weekend, including today, I'm at Trysil, but Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I really don't know...:/) Anyway, here are 10 facts about Beta radiation, since today is Friday and it's rime for facts (read about Alpha radiation HERE): 1. beta radiation consist... more »
I didn't make it (#phdlife no. 284610798)
I'm a little bit upset and angry at my self right now, since I didn't even get close to my milestone/goal of these last 14 days :/ I was supposed to finish the analysis part of my paper, but then it turns out I haven't even touched it, since I've been busy giving talks. Going on "tour" around Norway to give talks just takes more time than I like to think that it does - I guess it's time for me to realize this now... I have to become better at planning (not that I'm horrible at it, but I'm definetely not perfect either...). Tomorrow I think I have to start the day by making a DETAILE... more »
Friday Facts - Alpha radiation
We just finished this week's experiment, where we used alphas to learn more about zirkonium, and therefore I thought that today I have to give you 10 Friday Facts about ALPHA RADIATION (a couple of weeks ago I wrote about radiation in general, you can read that blogpost HERE): 2 proton (p) + 2 neutrons (n) = alpha particle = helium nucleus 1. Alpha radiation is one of the types of particle radiation - alpha radiation is like a stream of alpha particles (I change all the time between calling it just alphas, alpha particles, or alpha radiation - they're all the same :) ... more »
Happy Birthday!
I almost forgot, but today, the 2nd December, marks the 73 year anniversary of the world's first man-made nuclear reactor :) (Yes, you read that right; there have been nature-made nuclear reactors here on earth <3). In 1942, man achieved the first self-sustaining chain reaction, and thereby initiated the controlled release of nuclear energy. On the picture below, you even see the ax man - or the *Safety Control Rod Axe Man (SCRAM),* and even today it's called scramming the reactor when you shut it down:
Good luck with all your exams!
I know many of you have already had your first exam, so I guess I should have wished you luck a little bit earlier, but I also know (from all the great #teamsunnivarose snaps you send me - some of you are really working hard; GREAT JOB! ) that many of you have one or more exams left so I just want to say: *Good Luck to all students who are having exams these days! * I also want to give you one tip, in addition to telling you to remember it's all going to be worth it, of course (and also remember that if it goes to h**l, that's actually not the end of the world either; worst case yo... more »
Surprised and inspired
Today's been quite a good start of a new week; I was at the university at half past eight this morning, and left at half past seven. I din't get through my entire to do list, but then again, I never do (maybe I need to rethink my way of making lists? ;) ). I did do quite a lot, though, and I'm (almost) ready for my talk at Arbeidslivskonferansen tomorrow (don't know what to wear yet, and I have to make a couple of notes - but I'm close), and I worked on my article, and started reading a new article from an experiment we did at our cyclotron, on uranium-238. There are two words that ... more »
Pink! Part 2
Dear everyone, and happy Saturday - hope you're all enjoying the weekend! I attended this years first christmas party yesterday, and after a very busy week I was so exhausted I had to leave the party at midnight (and I worked hard to stay that long) - guess that's kind of the price you pay when you try to *work hard, play hard. * The great thing about leaving such a party that early, is that you wake up feeling fantastic the day after ;) So far today I've been hanging out with Anders (finally!); we stayed forever in bed, and then we went to Colonal Mustard at Alexander Kiellands plass... more »
On my team, everyone can join! #teamsunnivarose
The title really says it all...But to make it (super) clear: since I wrote about #teamsunnivarose I've received a lot of really cool snaps (not so many picture on Instagram - maybe we could do better there, and really "show off"? :O ) from some great students (and others). Thank you so much, you make me happy and motivated every time! It would be so cool, though, if even more people would join the the team, since there's room for more - let's motivate each other :) Just believe me: *I.* *LOVE.* *THIS!* ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here... more »
Experimental setup. Check!
My main goal last week was to finish the part about the experimental setup for my next paper (article), and even though there will always be changes, I can still say that I more or less achieved my goal :D I still have to look at the comments and corrections that I got from Sunniva Supervisor, but that's not a very big job. My next goal, or milestone, is to finish the part about the experimental results. I'm supposed to do this by the end of next week, and even though that *should* be enough time, I'm a little bit more uncertain about this one... To finish the results part, I also ha... more »
#whatiwore on Friday
@sunnivarose #foredragsoutfit On Friday I started the day with a lecture for a bunch of physics teachers that were spending half of last week at the institute, to learn even more than they already do. I must admit I always get a little bit nervous before I'm talking to teachers, since I have such a great respect for the job that they do, and the knowledge they possess; when it comes to "old" physics teachers I'm certain that I have almost nothing "to bring to the table" (except my very own research, which I'm probably the best at...). So when I'm giving talks to these people it al... more »
Guest blog: Pink - part 1
Hi there people! Thursday already, and past ten already? Guess I should have gone to bed by now, since I'm getting up at six tomorrow (I have to, to get everything ready - look presentable before the talk I'm giving at nine, get Alexandra ready for kindergarden, and get her to kindergarden...should I do an outfit-post tomorrow, maybe, since I'm giving a lecture I could make a #scienceoutfitoftheday-post?), but I just sat down - literally, so I'm not through my to dos yet...:/ - me and my sister - Anyway, to night I want to present you to my sister - Carina. Carina is 25 years old, ... more »
Question of the month: Is it hard?
Finally time for another QOTM, and this time I want to (try to) answer something I'm asked quite often, in different wrapping each time. What this question really boils down to is: *Is it hard to study physics?* I get this question, as I said, in different wrappings and contexts from different people, and I've decided to answer the different aspects about this question, that I can think of. I have divided my answer into three categories below - grades, family, and age. But before I start to go more into the details regarding grades, family, or age (maybe you don't want to read all ... more »
Experimental setup
Today I sent away the "Experimental setup" part of the paper I'm working on to Sunniva (supervisor) - we're supposed to discuss the paper tomorrow, and my goal ("milestone") this week is that that part of the paper is done. I feel like I'm moving forward, but it's with baby steps, and it stresses me a bit. However, I am moving forward...<3 ------------------------------------------------------------ I feel like I'm on a good track now, after I started #teamsunnivarose: I've been early at the office every day (before 9, or, like yesterday, 9:00 - but then I had already been for a walk... more »
Beautiful!
What happened in Paris on Friday is horrible. I lived in Paris for seven months during my master studies, and today I have colleagues and friends there, and I go there quite often - either for "business", or just for vacation. The terror in Paris almost feels like terror "at home", and in many ways I still can't believe it happened. I'm lucky all of my friends were safe. In all the sadness, I saw this beautiful film, with a little boy and his father having a conversation about the horrible events - see HERE (the picture is just a screenshot) *"Les méchants, c'est pas très gentil."*
Facts on a Friday - Radiation
Hi Friday, and welcome weekend! I've finally come back home to the Rose-castle, and I'm here with Anders, a glass of red wine, and candles, and it's time for Friday Facts again! Today I've figured I have to tell you a little bit about radiation: 1. radiation is really "just" energy that travels :) 2. this energy can either be waves, or it can be particles 3. in my field, radiation is normally alpha, beta, or gamma (but it can be other things too) 4. alpha radiation and beta radiation are both examples of particle radiation 5. alpha particles (or alpha radiation) a... more »
I have a title!
One of the results from three very good days here at Soria Moria (except my article number 2 is actually really starting to look like something, and I've had some great discussions with Sunniva Supervisor; not only about this article, but also the next one - that I'm so eager to start at :D ) is that I actually got my self a working title of my thesis...! (OMG) I don't dare share it with you guys just yet - I need to sort of "feel" it for a while... But it has words like *uncertainties, modelling, thorium, nuclear, and reactor* in it <3 It actually feels really good just have an actu... more »
References, figures, and references
...and figures. And tables! FML. No, I'm joking, obviously, but my arms and my back hurt, and my head feels like it weighs a ton. And my eyes are dry and sore. And I'm going back and forth with respect to how to best represent my data and my results - and what to put in this article, and what to put in the next article (and I do remember, very well, that I was accused of self plagiarism one and a half year ago, and I'm of course very scared that someone will accuse me of something like this again, unless I'm extremely careful...:/) I guess this is #phdlife <3
Starting the day with some fusion
This day started with fusion: at 07:55 I was at NRK, to be a guest at P13, Tidenes Morgen, to talk about fusion. Right after this I spent an hour on the phone, talking to a journalist in Vårt Land, about fusion (and what is sacred to me, and what I ask for forgiveness for, and such). The reason for this was, not surprisingly, the new fusion reactor in Germany - the Stellarator called Wendelstein 7-X, where they want to recreate what happens at the sun; you know, let tiny nuclei melt together to form heavier nuclei and energy at the same time (sort of the holy grail of nuclear physic... more »
I need your help - Join my team!
As I mentioned yesterday I would like to do a sort of *let's motivate each other *thing, where we could share pictures on Instagram (I'm @sunnivarose) or Snap (I'm sunnivarose) or Twitter (@sunnivarose here too) - anything to cheer each other up, and to be proud of our selves. Can we use social media to cheer each other up? I think we can, and it would be so much fun: - If you're early at the office (or wherever you're working or studying), well the tell us :) - If you've made your self a fresh cup of coffee before you're starting repeating for your exam, then tell us ... more »
Research plan of the week
Hello everyone, and hello Monday! It's been a while since I shared my study/research plan of the week with you guys, but I was thinking maybe it's a good time to start again. As I was sort of saying yesterday, I'm starting to get nervous about finishing the PhD, feeling a little like I'm drowning in a hole, and I almost get dizzy from trying to just start somewhere... To solve this, I have to do (at least) two things, I believe: 1) Plan my week (this will help me set goals, and check if I actually achieve them) 2) Get up early, and start working at the office early - every day(!) ... more »
OMG - it's real!?!
Last friday (a little bit more than one week ago) Theres successfully defended her PhD thesis :) Two weeks before that she got the theme and title of her trial lecture - which is standard procedure; 14 days before the PhD defence you get a title for a trial lecture, that you are supposed to give on the morning of the day of your thesis defence. If you don't get this trial lecture approved, then you don't get to actually defend your thesis either - so it's kind of a big deal... Therese's title was "Nuclear uncertainties in the direct detection of dark matter" (or something like tha... more »
What I wore #1 Debattskolen
Since I wrote about what to wear as a female scientist I got all kinds of reactions: From those who thought this was way over the top, and that I have now "stretched my pink bubblegum too far", to those who didn't see any issues with this what so ever, to those who want to wear something (like dresses or high heels) but has actually been ridiculed for being too feminine, thus not serious enough. Therefore I thought: why not write more about #whatiwore for different occasions where I have given a talk, or had some kind of "performance". Then those who were provoked about me writing se... more »
10 reasons why I love nuclear physics
Today I've been preparing for a talk that i'll be giving tomorrow: it's for high school students that are visiting the University, and my title is *10 reasons why I love nuclear physics.* Well, the title I was given was *10 reasons why I like nuclear physics,* but of course I had to change the *like *into a *love; *I guess with me there's no in between - I either love something, or I hate it, and I love nuclear physics <3 1. the idea of the atom is really a philosophical and "simple" idea 2. the atom is more or less all empty space 3. the nuclear force is the strongest one ... more »
Nerdy Baby!
I've translated a book! And written a preface! (Yes, I am yelling - in case you were wondering. I'm proud, that's why :D ) *Prosjekt Baby*, or the *Human Infant Project*! a very very fresh Alexandra - ready to go home from the hospital (she's born in February, in Norway - therefore the woolen socks ;) ) It's a baby book, written and illustrated by a fantastic artist - Tiffany Ard. This scrapbook is an alternative to all the pink and blue baby scrapbooks that are out there. The book is neutral when it comes to the sex of the baby, since the thoughts and feelings you have when you ... more »
Friday Facts (or something): Top 10 places to visit...
Today's Friday Facts are not really facts (they are just highly my opinion...;) ), but my list of the top ten places to visit around the world, as a nuclear/reactor physicist. I'm not sure about the order, so that's quite random (except I think to me Chernobyl really is number one - I can't believe we didn't manage to go there when we were in Kiev two years ago). 1. Chernobyl - Ukraine 2. La Hague - France 3. Sellafield - UK 4. Olympic Dam - Australia 5. Olkiluoto - Finland 6. Fukushima - Japan 7. Three Mile Island - USA 8. Los Alamos - USA 9. Hirsohima - Japan 10. CERN - Switzerland ... more »
Reading about plutonium
That's basically what I've done today: I've read... ...and commented... ...and Googled. The *occasion* is me being a co-author on an article about (some of) the nuclear properties of plutonium-243. Now I "just" have to write down what I think about the article; what I like, what I don't like (if there's anything), and (maybe most importantly) what I don't understand :P Typical #phdlife. today's outfit - will make a post about it tomorrow <3
TEDxBergen: Nuclear weapons and thorium and stuff
Finally, the video from the TEDxBergen conference is now on-line! The subject of my talk was *Could nuclear weapons save the planet? *, and you can watch the entire thing here: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Since I talked about how to dress as a female scientist in my last blogpost, I just have to show you a close-up of the shoes I wore. These shoes from Nelly ended up as my "statement" for this talk - which I felt that I needed, since the rest of the outfit was quite simple; just tight jeans, a loose shirt, and my hair in a bun (not the t... more »
Question of the month: How to dress as a female scientist?
I had actually another (more nuclear physics type of) question in mind for this first Question of the month, but then, as I was preparing to leave my apartment one morning this week, I remembered another question I got several months ago. *How do you dress for scientific conferences (or similar) - if you want to be feminine and maybe wear dresses, but still want to be taken seriously?* I got to think of this question that I got from another female scientist (she’s also a PhD candidate, I think), the day I was giving my talk at *Radiologisk Høstmøte* (quoting: "the biggest confere... more »
Facts on a Friday: 10 reasons why neutrons are really cool
Today I just wanted to tell you a little bit about neutrons, and why I think they're the coolest. You know, in a way they're like a Chanel purse - classical, and never out of style ;) speaking of Chanel: I've been thinking that I should buy a black Chanel purse as a gift for my self when I have finished my PhD, but maybe I should consider the pink one instead...? So here are my ten reasons why I think neutrons are really cool: 1. Neutrons have no charge 2. They decide if an atom is stable or radioactive 3. A single neutron can sneak its way into a nucleus and make fission ... more »
Upset and annoyed
Today I was part of the "panel of scientists" on Abels Tårn - the radio show that airs on Friday mornings at NRK P2 (this particular show will not air until December; probably December 4th). This time was sort of a "special edition", where the audience were all high school students (and their teachers), and all the questions were from these students. So far, so good: GREAT FUN! (For the first time, I was on the show together with Anders - that didn't make it any less fun <3 ) After the show, one teacher came up to me (at least I think tha's what she was), and told me she had two... more »
Nuclear force, nuclear power...
One thing that is kind of funny is that in Norwegian the word for "nuclear force" and "nuclear power" is the same - "kjernekraft". It's the same word that describes the force that holds the atomic nucleus together and the way of producing power by splitting atoms. So in Norwegian you just can't be against *kjernekraft*, because it makes no sense: If you're against *kjernekraft* you're against atomic nuclei, and basically more or less everything, since there is nothing bigger than elementary particles - there wouldn't even be bigger particles like protons or neutrons, since they are ... more »
Abels tårn on Wednesday
New week. New possibilities! I must admit I've suddenly gone into a "OMG, it's less than 11 months left until I'm finishing my thesis - OMG. OMG! OMG!!!" sort of state, and I guess every Monday blogpost could just be *so this week I'm going to try to work on my article/thesis/analysis*, but I'm still not there where I'm not doing anything else than my article/thesis/analysis, so there is a little bit more to say: In addition to working (my goal: A LOT) on my article and the rest of my analysis there are some other cool things going on the next days: First and foremost I'm going to b... more »
Force on a Friday
Hi there, Friday! Last week there were no FACTS on FRIDAY, but this week we're back on track again :D Today I think it's time to talk about the force - the nuclear force: *10 facts about the nuclear force*, here you go! 1. the nuclear force is the force that holds, or binds, a nucleus (of an atom) together, even though all the protons in it are being pushed apart by another force - the protons are like extremely strong magnets with the same pole; they repel each other 2. without the nuclear force, there wouldn't be any nuclei; without nuclei there wouldn't be atom... more »
Back in business
Happy Thursday, and may I ask: how did it become Thursday already, and where did the first part of this day go? Whatever the answer is, I'm back from a FANTASTIC week at Fuerteventura (a blogpost about the vacation will come), and now I'm "back in business", at my office. Actually, we got home to Norway on Monday, then I had a mission in Trondheim on Tuesday - I was part of a fake PhD dissertation, as one of the opponents, yesterday was a day filled with starting to get back on track workwise, family obligations, and do you see anything new on me? Yes, it was also time to get glas... more »
Today's picture
From today's office... Las Playitas, I think I love you ❤️
No facts today
I know it's Friday, but I'm on vacation and there will therefore not be any "10 facts" today :/ Next week though...;) Instead I'm giving you a couple of pictures from yesterday - we went to a zoo (Oasis Park), and it was awesome!
Ten facts about nuclear weapons and the "Megatons to Megawatts" program
Friday again! This week that means Bergen, and as (almost) always that means FACTS. This week I want to give you ten facts about nuclear weapons and the "Megatons to Megawatts" project - a little "taster" of what my talk tomorrow will be about (I don't know if there will be a live stream yet, but at least the entire confernce will be filmed, and go on-line later - I will of course share the link when it's ready ;) ) 1. nuclear weapons have been used against humans two times; Hiroshima August 6th and Nagasaki August 9th, 1945 - hopefully NEVER again 2. both "Little Boy" and ... more »
TBT - Japan
Tonight I just have to do a little "throwback Thursday": I've been going through a lot of my pictures as I've been preparing for Saturday's TEDx (sorry for talking so much about it, but it's pretty much all I've been doing today, and all I can think of ;) ), and suddenly the folder was there - "Sushi&Nuclear" - and I had to take a peek. In one way it feels like I was never there, and it was all just a dream... Of course it wasn't: It was such a great trip, and it would have been fantastic to go back again! <3 ----------------------------------------------------------... more »
To know what you don't know...
As scientists I think we always really, really, *REALLY* want to understand whatever we're working on exactly *how* and *why* - but often on our way to the how and the why we step into different problems than the ones we were aiming at solving in the first place... I think we all can relate to saying "I don't know" can be difficult; making you feel like you've in some way failed, right? But maybe just as much as it being no fun feeling like a "failure", it can be very hard to see that knowing what you don't know can also be a result :) Today we had a moment like this; realizing tha... more »
Einstein's letter
So, I'm spending a lot of time working on my talk for Saturday these days, and a lot of my preparation is about searching for different kinds of images that I can use in the talk. As I told you on Monday, the title of my talk is "Could nuclear weapons save the planet", and there will of course be some talking about the history of nuclear weapons. While searching for one thing, clicking on one link, and then clicking on another link in the first link, I came across this letter that Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt in 1939, when they had just discovered that uranium could fission... more »
"Could nuclear weapons save the planet?"
I haven't got through all that I had hoped to today, but at least I have decided on the title for my TEDx talk in just 5 days: Could nuclear weapons save the planet? The talk isn't finished yet, but at least I think I'm on the right track... Do you like the title? (No, I won't say anything more about the talk than what's already in the title, but if you're in Bergen on Saturday, you can come to NHH and see the entire conference live). This is my third TEDx talk in two years, and I really really want it to be the best that I can do! BTW: I think I have decided on which shoes to wear -... more »
Facts on Friday (we pretend Monday = Friday) - EXPERIMENTS!
Since I wrote about my feelings about programming on Thursday, I got some comments and questions about how and why; which can be totally ok, but also a little annoying if it's more like *"why on earth are you so stupid you're trying to do anything in C++"* (no one said exactly that, it's just an example of a not very constructive comment). Like my friend, Anders (not my boyfriend, but my friend who is a boy - haha), said: *"With programming you can do everything! (Except for saying out load which language you are using without someone telling you it's wrong.)"* Telling me stuff like... more »
To program or not to program?
I did not at all get through my TO DO list today, and I hate it...:/ (I didn't even get to start at what I had planned on doing.) I was supposed to read the two papers I'm co authoring, work on my TEDx talk (for Bergen in just a little more than a week - HELP!), get through some of the emails on my endless unanswered emails list, and try to log into the computer that I used for reactor simulations a couple of years ago, to try to get one of the input files that *should *be there (I'm pretty sure I don't remember the password anymore :( ). Instead I ended up spending more or less all o... more »
My PhD ("dumbed down")
A couple of days ago I came across what I thought was a hilarious post on a web site: PhD theses dumbed down... My favourites are these: - *Nanoparticles are weird and I accidentally made a bomb and electrocuted myself.* - *Inpatients with schizophrenia are happier and socialize more in the context of a music listening group. It was obvious before we began the project and we learned nothing.* - *Little things stick together. Here's a slightly easier way to calculate their stickiness. * - *This protein looks like it might contribute to asthma. Oh, turns out ... more »
Fuerteventura
Happy Tuesday everyone! Guess where I'll be in exactly two weeks. I'll be on a plane, on my way to one week of vacation with Alexandra and Anders <3 I din't have a real vacation this summer, since Anders was one month in Asia, and I had to spend a lot of time preparing for the Berkeley trip in August, so I promised Alexandra that we should go on a trip when it had become fall; and that is NOW! We will finally have a week of sun, salt, and sea. We're going on a real *just relax and do nothing else than sleep, swim, eat ice cream and maybe have a glass of wine or a beer-*trip; to Las ... more »
Fusion on a Friday
TGIF, since that means 10 more facts. This week I just have to tell you little bit about fusion - Fusion on a Friday ;) Hope you enjoy it! 1. Fusion is when two (light) nuclei merge (fuse) together to form a heavier nucleus - it's the opposite of fission. (Read more about fission HERE and HERE) 2. When very light (atomic) nuclei, like for example hydrogen and hydrogen, or helium and helium, or hydrogen and helium, fuse, they produce energy :D :D 3. The sun (and all other stars in the universe) get their energy from nuclei that are fusing (like hydrogen and h... more »
Love song for nerds (*heart*)
So, Anders and I are watching The Big Bang Theory these days - we've just started season 7, and are kind of speeding through (we've both watches a lot of it before, but never from the beginning to the end, and not together). I know some physicists think the show is making fun (like, in a mean way) of us physicists, but I don't think it does - i just *LOVE* it <3 Anyway - this weekend we saw the episode where Howard has made a song for Bernadette: If I didn't have you (Bernadette's song), and it really is the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time! See/hear the song HERE (seriously... more »
Risks in perspective (#Selfie)
Today I've been busy all day - doing close to no actual research (#phdlife :P ). A substantial part of this Monday was spent on radiation protection training (which, of course, is very important for us to be able to do the research we're doing - so it's not like the day was wasted...it just feels a little bit like I didn't do "anything"), and I just have to share this list where the risk of radiation exposure is sort of put in perspective. This list gives an estimate of basically how many days of your life you have to say bye to, when you do different things: - smoking 20 cigar... more »
10 about thorium
Friday again. Suddenly! I got a question this week, very general, sort of, *so, what's up with thorium, do you have any tips? *And also if there is anything going on with thorium in Norway. So I decided this Friday's ten Facts had to be about thorium, so here goes: 1. Thorium is element number 90 - which means it has 90 protons in its nucleus :) 2. The kind of thorium you find in nature has 142 neutrons; so that "natural" thorium is called thorium-232 (90+142=232) 3. In a nuclear reactor, thorium is changed (or transformed) into uranium-233 (a different kind, or ve... more »
Rosa
Hei alle fine ❤️ Denne uken er busy på så mange måter... I tillegg til at det er ca fullt fokus på fisjon av uran-233/234 med Jon (min fantastiske britisk/franske veileder), så er dette er den store boklanseringsuken: i dag bærer det rett fra kontoret til lansering av flinke Vibekes Fængsruds *superkjappe mattebøker, *og i morgen er det Kathrine Aspaas' *Rosa er den nye pønken* som skal feires - da skal jeg til og med holde et miniforedrag, om rosa forskning, selvsagt ;) Blir såååå gøy, både i dag og i morgen! ❤️ ------------------------------------------------ Fikk forresten litt "... more »
4 years!!! (oh. my. god.)
I can't believe it's been four years already! Four. Years. Since I started blogging, about nuclear physics and research and stuff. Four years since September 8th, 2011, when I wrote my first blog post ever; about how I was a little bit hung over, and couldn't really concentrate about making the conference talk I was supposed to be making - so I made a blog instead. I do not regret that today <3 (I don't really say that I was hung over in that first blog post, but that was the real reason why I had trouble concentrating...;)) When I realized that it was my fourth anniversary today... more »
Obsessing...
Monday! Meaning another week with my plot... Obsessing about my plot. Trying to make it just perfect. Try different colours. Different styles. Obsess - science style. On Friday I was actually thinking that *this is it, *that I was finished with this part of the data analysis; but then, today, I realised that other people have done similar things (analysed other uranium nuclei, for example), and that they have put five of those black pumps in the plot, instead of just four - so now I'm thinking about doing the same thing. As you can see I've added more colours to it now; there's anot... more »
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