Author Archives: Jon Butterworth

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About Jon Butterworth

UCL Physics prof, works on LHC, writes (books, Cosmic Shambles and elsewhere). Citizen of England, UK, Europe & Nowhere, apparently.

String theory and colour-field splash

Using images and art to try and understand science can be helpful, misleading, flaky or fun. But it seems to be inescapable. So on a relaxing Saturday morning, where the fact that my daughter and I are recuperating from colds … Continue reading

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Science is Vital

It’s not a threat, it’s not whining. We’re scientists and we are reporting the facts The last time I went on a demo was more than twenty years ago. It was either poll tax or student grants (remember those?). Probably … Continue reading

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Swinging cats and levitating frogs

Congratulations to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov on winning the Nobel prize in physics – not for their frog-levitating work, but for groundbreaking studies of graphene On The Guardian.

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Keep calm, carry on, but don’t keep quiet

See also Chapter 4.1 of Smashing Physics. I have been dealing with cuts in science since 2007. It can be draining and depressing, but I have learned at least two important lessons. The HERA collider started up for the first … Continue reading

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