The Quantum Workshop

We had a great time at Cardiff Science Festival 14-15th July, mixing with artists, people with an IR camera that could see through certain clothing, and minor science engagement celebrities. Got pretty deep with people this time guys, free will and quantum physics. Lia got broody. We stayed in a Premier Inn on the side of a motorway. Quantum glamour! Best feedback: “astonishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and “… my kids are now OBSESSED with physics & want to buy a laser”. As always, more pictures on our media page.

We had a super-fun day in the Adults ONLY Area 42 tent at the Times Cheltenham Science Festival on Friday 15th June. We really managed to get into the nitty-gritty of Quantum theory with a very receptive audience. We also danced with robots, drove a tank, saved a life, threw hearts at each other, sniffed a rotten fish, drank a coke float, ate a Scotch Egg and a head-sized meringue, glared at people from Imperial, ate too many mints, baffled a Nobel Laureate and fashioned our business cards into a focussed Gaussian laser beam. Good times.

Many thanks to Dr. Matty Hoban and Dr. Janet Anders for helping James and Lia on this looooong day.

Look how much fun we had in Bristol! Thank you to the people at Pervasive Media (http://www.pmstudio.co.uk/) for hosting us, we met loads of interesting people.

We had an amazing day at Oxfordshire Science Festival on March 3rd, Lia got so excited she slapped herself in the face! The public were fascinated by the power of light to levitate things, and we had great fun trying to take the bafflement out of Quantum Mechanics! More images on the pictures page.

The Quantum Workshop is now fully wired. Check out the image below. On the left we see a microscope image of a string of particles levitated in the laser trap, and on the right a zoomed out image, showing them on a real scale (the size of the whole image is about 2cm).

The apparatus is now armed with computers and cameras galore! You can find a (slightly gloomy…) photo of the lab below. Next job: tidying!

The Quantum Workshop is alive and kicking, look at this cool photo of a single levitated sphere!

And for an idea of the bigger picture here are all of the optics, with the trap being the particularly bright region on the left. The laser is in the top right, cutting through the air!

It is with great excitement that we here in The Quantum Workshop have been unpacking the best Christmas present EVER: a vibration isolating plate and plexiglass enclosure! This will house the levitated microsphere experiment, and keep it safe from the world. Much more to follow.