Almost looks like work

Magnets - how do they work?

It's been a long time since this site has had a refresh - the last time was 12 years ago when I decided to go for a purple fractal theme...

It was just over 10 years ago when I wrote my original blog post on WiFi.

I'll be the first to admit, this is a post I wrote mainly to scratch an itch of mine and so may have an audience of approximately 1.

Forgive me for writing yet again about the weather, but 1.

Matt Parker, employing the enviably pithy prose typical of a content creator forged on the unforgiving fires of social media, asked the simple question back in 2018: > How thick is a three-sided coin?

Here's a fun question - let's consider, purely in the abstract, the notion of quickly putting on a lot of weight.

It's always exciting when a new 3Blue1Brown video emerges - Grant has an incredible sense for the intuitive visualisation of complex concepts (pun intended).

Matlab is an archaic piece of software, is stupidly expensive, has a ridiculous syntax, horrible UI, and a whole host of bizarre quirks that you just put up with because that one grad student 10 years ago wrote a controller in it for a camera from a compa…

After my last post, where I noted that 45 degrees was the optimum angle to shoot a projectile the farthest, a commenter asked if the same was true for jumping from a swing.

I've got a house now which, amongst other things, means that all of my future posts will be depressingly domestic.

Since the start of lockdown, I've found ever more reasons to be grateful for the surprisingly sunny postage-stamp of a garden I enjoy here in London.

One of the many sad consequences of the current lockdown, possibly the most unfortunate of all, is that the famous Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling competition will almost certainly not be taking place this year.

Once again, the world is facing the emergence of a nasty disease.

It's winter again in the UK which means even more rain than usual, often accompanied by oddly-named storms.

It's been that time of year again, where I am forced to face my one and only weakness: wrapping presents.

This post is a classic example of the malady known as Jason-itis - idly wondering about a thing, and then having to dive deep down a rabbit hole to satisfy a geeky wish.

I recently got a new phone, and have read online that its camera performance leaves much to be desired.

Regular readers of this blog will note that 2019 has not been a particularly fecund time for new posts.

A few years ago, a building in London known as the 'walkie-talkie' (actually 20 Fenchurch Street, but ever since the Gherkin it has been mandatory to give big expensive buildings extremely silly names.

As I was watching an episode of Only Connect the other day, I learned an (almost) interesting fact about London tube stations: > St.

This post is about me finally getting over a slight irritation that happened nearly a decade ago, one which was almost completely inconsequential.

Sitting in traffic in the middle of London gives you a lot of time to think.

Let's get pedagogical.

Now that we've entered the knockout rounds, I thought I'd see how my predictions stacked up against reality, and how this new data changes the prediction of the winner.

The world cup is almost once more amongst us, which means interminable weeks of breathless coverage, punditry, and heartfelt professions that each match will be played at 110%.

I was in Rome airport not long ago, and noticed that the reflection of the striped ceiling looked warped and bent due to the non-flatness of the reflecting surface:

I recently tried my hand at throwing axes at a wall, courtesy of Whistle Punks in London.

Since Christmas, at my house we've been cooking with 5 ingredients or fewer thanks to the acquisition of Jamie Oliver's new book, the contents of which are mostly available online here.

Those who know me know that I am a fierce proponent of the digital-native lifestyle.

Intriguing title, no?

A break from physics to show something which might be actually useful to some people.

I wrote this blog post because I saw a woman throw a banana at Russell Brand.

Recently the extractor fan in my bathroom has started malfunctioning, occasionally grinding and stalling.

As a poor student, I always tried to keep a close eye on what I spent.

Here's a fun problem I came across when trying to analyse some data, which I thought I'd write up to illustrate the kind of interesting puzzles I get paid to solve as a physicist.

In this third of a trinity of posts involving the travelling salesman problem, we finally use the sophisticated algorithms at our disposal as they were intended: drinking with peak efficiency.

This is the second in a series of posts involving the travelling salesman problem, somehow even more frivolous than the first.

In the finest traditions of christmas, how about a timely blog post meant to cynically cash in on a blogosphere craving seasonal articles about nothing much in particular (see previous, sadly failed, attempt).

I saw a 'simple' puzzle on the internet which I thought I'd have a crack at in an evening.

Way back when I was analysing London house price data for the Summer Data Challenge, I made a histogram of the distances from a random point in London to the nearest tube station.

Here's a post which combines my favourite bits of writing a blog - fairly mathematical, not too simple or difficult to implement, mostly based around pictures, not covered in my undergraduate education, and pretty damn useful in my job.

The last time I looked at house prices it went pretty well, and I ended up winning a data science competition.

This blog has been getting a bit too pop-science for my tastes recently.

When taking a picture of my new 55" TV (humblebrag) I noticed a diffraction pattern of the reflection of the camera flash.

It's done!

A quick note this time, compiled entirely over a course of a 45 minute train journey, but nevertheless with some cool pictures.

I've been a little busy recently for blog posts, what with a pesky thesis to finish and all, but such an occasion as this deserves the highest honour possible - making lots of plots.

Holidays are so relaxing.

Given a few of my previous posts it's obvious that I'm a fan of the physics and mathematics that that comes along with the theory of classical optics.