Science For

Happy Hamilton Day (16 October)!!

On 16 October 1843, Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton MRIA and his wife Helen were walking along the banks of the Royal Canal from Dunsink Observatory on their way to the Royal Irish Academy.

At Broome Bridge, William had a eureka moment and came up with a new algebra he called quaternions. So excited was he by his discovery, he scratched the fundamental formula i² = j² = k² = ijk = −1 onto the bridge with his penknife. His quaternions revolutionised algebra and would later help to put a man on the moon and be used for CGI in movies.

Hamilton Day on 16 October is commemorated annually by the Royal Irish Academy through an award ceremony that recognises the most gifted third level mathematics students in Ireland. An internationally renowned speaker is invited each year and gives the Hamilton Lecture and also a masterclass for the prize winners.

NEW DATE - Science For Seniors FREE Nature Assessments workshop.

Wednesday, October 29, 2025 from 10 AM to 11:30 AM at Douglas Park Community Centre. Please register through the community centre.

THANK YOU to DPCC and the Neighbourhood Small Grants (Central Vancouver) for making these workshops possible!

NEW DATE - Science For Seniors FREE Meet the Trees workshop.

Wednesday, November 05, 2025 from 10 AM to 11:30 AM at Douglas Park Community Centre. Please register through the community centre.

THANK YOU to DPCC and the Neighbourhood Small Grants (Central Vancouver) for making these workshops possible!

NEW DATE - Science For Seniors FREE Oil Spill Clean-Up workshop.

Wednesday, November 12, 2025 from 10 AM to 11:30 AM at Douglas Park Community Centre. Please register through the community centre.

THANK YOU to DPCC and the Neighbourhood Small Grants (Central Vancouver) for making these workshops possible!

Happy Physics Nobel Day!

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 in Physics to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.”

This year’s physics laureates’ experiments on a chip revealed quantum physics in action.

A major question in physics is the maximum size of a system that can demonstrate quantum mechanical effects. The 2025 physics laureates conducted experiments with an electrical circuit in which they demonstrated both quantum mechanical tunnelling and quantised energy levels in a system big enough to be held in the hand.

Quantum mechanics allows a particle to move straight through a barrier, using a process called tunnelling. As soon as large numbers of particles are involved, quantum mechanical effects usually become insignificant. The laureates’ experiments demonstrated that quantum mechanical properties can be made concrete on a macroscopic scale.

In 1984 and 1985, John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis conducted a series of experiments with an electronic circuit built of superconductors, components that can conduct a current with no electrical resistance. In the circuit, the superconducting components were separated by a thin layer of non-conductive material, a setup known as a Josephson junction. By refining and measuring all the various properties of their circuit, they were able to control and explore the phenomena that arose when they passed a current through it. Together, the charged particles moving through the superconductor comprised a system that behaved as if they were a single particle that filled the entire circuit.

This macroscopic particle-like system is initially in a state in which current flows without any voltage. The system is trapped in this state, as if behind a barrier that it cannot cross. In the experiment the system shows its quantum character by managing to escape the zero-voltage state through tunnelling. The system’s changed state is detected through the appearance of a voltage.

The laureates could also demonstrate that the system behaves in the manner predicted by quantum mechanics – it is quantised, meaning that it only absorbs or emits specific amounts of energy.

The transistors in computer microchips are one example of the established quantum technology that surrounds us. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors.

Learn more
Press release: https://bit.ly/42jAlZg
Popular information: https://bit.ly/4gKFvTX
Advanced information: https://bit.ly/48CSBjZ

Good news! We still have spaces left in our Science For Seniors Oil Spill Clean-Up workshop on Wed., Sept 10 at Douglas Park Community Centre. Please register through the community centre.

Huge appreciation to the Neighbourhood Small Grants Program (https://www.facebook.com/NSGNetwork) and Douglas Park Community Centre for their support making these workshops happen.

Good news! We still have spaces left in our Science For Seniors Meet the Trees workshop on Fri., Sept 12 at Douglas Park Community Centre. Please register through the community centre.

Huge appreciation to the Neighbourhood Small Grants Program (https://www.facebook.com/NSGNetwork) and Douglas Park Community Centre for their support making these workshops happen.