University of Wisconsin La Crosse

Nobel Prize Winner gives public lecture Oct. 10

A recent Nobel Prize Winner who studies a mysterious world where particles don’t behave according to the classic laws of physics will visit UW-La Crosse in October.

David Wineland, 2012 Nobel Prize Winner in physics, will give a public lecture “Superposition, Entanglement and Raising Schrodinger’s Cat” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, in  Skogen Auditorium A, room 1400 Centennial Hall. He’ll also present a physics seminar, join students in physics classes and meet with faculty and staff.

Wineland will share his career path in physics, which began in graduate school.

“I hope I can convey a bit that this is fun — certainly the physics part has never felt like work for me,” he says. Secondly, he tries to show students that he’s a lot like them.

“There is not any magic to having won the prize,” he says. “I found something I liked and I worked hard at it.”

Wineland studies the branch of physics called quantum mechanics where the uncertainty and randomness of tiny particles of light and matter have perpetually puzzled scientists. An example of the mystery is the phenomena of superposition where a quantum particle — such as an electrically charged atom or ion — can be in two different places at once. Such a state is difficult to imagine in the macroscopic world.

See more at http://news.uwlax.edu/nobel-prize-winner-gives-public-lecture-oct-10/

Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan

Engineering students retrofit well-known musical fountain

A group of Grand Valley engineering students designed and installed an updated program that operates the 50-year-old musical water fountain in Grand Haven.  
The project began when Terry Stevens, adjunct professor of engineering, was contacted by the City of Grand Haven to retrofit the fountain. Stevens performed the first fountain upgrade 30 years ago and thought the project would be a good opportunity for students in his manufacturing controls class.
During the 12-week summer course, students worked in groups to create new control panel designs that would allow old songs and functionality to be used in a new system. A group’s design was chosen, and pieces and concepts from other students’ designs were incorporated in the final plan. -

See more at

http://www.gvsu.edu/gvnow/index.htm?articleId=2E1E4489-F38E-772A-4FC3372A6D3CB64D

University of Alberta Canada

New vision of Venus takes shape at UAlberta

The Re-birth of Venus: Fashion and the Venus Kallipygos, an exhibition in the U of A Department of Human Ecology, explores the influence of art on fashion using the mythical icon, whose curvy likeness is immortalized in everything from paintings to carved statues. The show also brings together the varied research of graduate students who co-curated their shared vision with assistant professor Anne Bissonnette.

See more at

http://news.ualberta.ca/newsarticles/2013/october/new-vision-of-venus-takes-shape-at-ualberta

UNSW Australia -University of New South Wales

Sunswift set to begin World Solar Challenge

The UNSW solar racing car will begin its 3000-kilometre journey from Darwin to Adelaide on Sunday 6 October, marking the start of the 2013 World Solar Challenge.

Thirty-two UNSW engineering and business students comprise the Sunswift team that built the sleek new vehicle.  

The UNSW car will start the race at 5am and will travel roughly 600 kilometres each day, making scheduled overnight stops at Katherine (6 Oct), Tennant Creek (7 Oct), Alice Springs (8 Oct), Coober Pedy (9 Oct) and Port Augusta (10 Oct) and finishing in Adelaide.

See more at

http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/technology/sunswift-set-begin-world-solar-challenge

Université Concordia Montréal Canada

How to stay sharp in retirement

Motivation is a key factor in preserving brainpower later in life, Concordia researchers show

Since October is Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month, it’s timely to ask: How does someone stay mentally fit after the 40-hour workweek is traded in for a gold watch?

The answer: The more you want to use your brain — and the more you enjoy doing it — the more likely you are to stay sharp as you age. This is according to findings recently published in the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences by a team of Concordia researchers.

The new study presents three major findings that can help forecast cognitive ability in one’s golden years.

See more at

http://www.concordia.ca/news/releases/2013/10/01/how-to-stay-sharpinretirement.html