Wonder's Full

I remember my first appearance on TV. It was almost 5 years ago at a Red Nose Rally event at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. We had to build little rockets filled with some chemical or other, which when lit would create a small explosion and shoot it into the air. I remember being interviewed by BBC South Today and saying lots of twaddle like 'science is really fun and can be quite interesting.' In reality, at the time, I couldn't have disagreed more. I had just begun studying for my A-Levels, and had purposefully avoided anything involving Maths or Science. There wasn't anything about either which struck me as interesting, and I certainly did not find it fun. I just wanted to get on the telly.

Five years later though and I have a completely different outlook on the world of atoms, quarks and gravity. This is thanks mainly to two people. The first is T, who studied physics for his undergraduate. As our relationship has grown, so has my fascination and admiration for his mind. I feel stupid compared to him, but I don't mind. I find, having not been subjected to ruthlessly memorising the boring parts of physics - that I am like a wide-eyed child again, hearing about the fun stuff, the outstanding stuff, the stuff that simply blows my mind. How the sun was formed, that all the billions of stars we see are the same size as our sun, that when we touch things, we don't actually 'touch' them - we are merely feeling the effects of electro-static force. I could even name you some constellations in the sky.

As if the BBC were in tune with my new found fascination with science, Wonders of the Solar System has started on BBC 2. Presented by the captivating Professor Brian Cox, a physicist based at my very own University of Manchester, a researcher on the Large Hadron Collider, and the keyboard player in 90's band D:Ream. Things, it would seem, really did get better for Brian Cox. Now, whether you care about the solar system or not, it would have been very hard to miss this compelling TV series the past few weeks, or Brian Cox for that matter. A quick glance at twitter on a sunday will tell you that, or the fact that in the space of a week Cox has appeared on Radio 2 and the hugely popular Friday Night with Jonathon Ross - despite being relatively unknown. An amazing feat for a nerdy scientist.

So why is wonders so, wonderful? A lot of it is down to Cox - he has an amazing way of making the most complex theories understandable for any mind. But, for me, the most striking thing about him, is the childish fascination he still has for physics, despite having studied the topic for almost 20 years. You can hear in his giggles that the Universe simply amazes him. He explains theories by relating them to everyday objects, that are more manageable for our inferior brains. Explaining the heat loss of planet in episode 4 for example, by relating it to a cup of tea. In the very first episode Cox conducts a simple experiment to measure the energy of the sun. On discovering that the answer is an astonishing 400 million, million, million, million watts, he grins at the camera and states "and that's why I love physics." Well Brian, that is why the nation, loves you.

But it is not just about the charisma of the rock star physicist. Cox explains it well, but it is the topic itself that is, if you excuse the pun, the shining star. Where we came from is a question that has baffled and gripped the minds of civilisation almost from the very moment we came into existence. Religions sought to find the answer soon after that. But it is science, physics, that has in my opinion, come the closest. Physics, governed by the rules of mathematics, and yet it is so - magical. Wonders of the Solar System has brought the importance of this discipline, and how it can help us answer that unanswerable question, into the public and political arena. The programme has sparked articles from the likes of Suzanne Moore, as well as political debate as Cox tries to make science a key election issue.

I admit, I will never grasp the complicated equations, or truly understand quarks, but that does not mean the Universe cannot amaze me. The fact that we know so much about something so unfathomably big, is an achievement we as the human race should be very proud of. Yes there are flaws, or one big flaw if you think that we still don't know what 'dark matter' is yet we know it makes up 90% or so of our Universe, but to send a satellite into space and capture an ice-volcano erupting from Titan, now that, is a wonder.

Too Busy to Blog

I am too busy to blog about being too busy.

Ironic isn't it.

A lot has happened in the weeks since I last wrote. Those weeks have been, I am pleased to say, mouse free, but work and stress still continue to keep me from getting a decent nights sleep.

Yesterday I experienced what my good friend E described to me as 'The Fear'. It is something most students get, apparently, when they realise that actually, they've spent rather a lot of money on this thing called a degree, and that really, they should, after two and a half years, get down to doing some actual, proper, work. I consequently spent most of yesterday in the library fretting over how much I had to do, how little time I had to do it in, and how it was all my fault. If I were part of the annoying 'acronym generation' that social media seems to have given birth to, my facebook statuses would be full of fml's and cba's at the moment. Or should that be atm?

My problem is not really that I don't want to do my Uni work - it just that other things keep postponing it. Fuse has been a big commitment all year - but now that that has finished, it has only been replaced by yet another dreaded BBC application form. Yes that right, I am applying to the BBC again. Yes - I am aware of what I wrote in my last post, but this, this is the job of all jobs. Every media-wannabe's wet dream of a job. The Production Trainee Scheme. Or PTS for you acronymites. Only along with it comes the application forms of all application forms. It even involves a 'creativity test'. Jeez - do these people not know I am behind on my dissertation?

Speaking of the big d, progress has been rather slow. (What a surprise I hear you cry). I did however, finally conduct my interviews which were - interesting. You know you've not put the effort in when a first year management student quotes a text at you that's relevant to your dissertation, but that you've not read. Lets just say the moment was awkward.

I've done a lot of thinking about it - just not any substantial writing. But its OK, I've got 28 days, plenty of time to spend in the library. One plus is that I've realised if you bring your own teabags to the library with you, they'll only charge you 50p for hot water and a cup. A saving of 45p. You know what they say, 'look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.' Well - I just take pleasure in knowing that in small ways I am gaining back a little of my fees. Just another 18,000 cups of tea to go then. Excellent.

I haven't really said much about the ending of Fuse FM have I? To be honest - I haven't had time to really register it. Three years I've been with station. With it I've discovered skills I didn't know I had, found a passion for the radio I didn't know I had, made friends that I will keep for life and even found love. Ahhh. We had our awards ceremony earlier this week. I won the 'I've slept with the most Fuse members' award. Hilarious. The boys on the committee even planned for about 20 people to stand up and admit sleeping with me. They of course, haven't. My boyfriend T is the ex station manager. Some fuse presenters though, didn't get the joke.

So, I leave my legacy at Fuse FM - as a slut.

"End of Broadcast 20" - Student Direct Article featuring me. Please do read it. Its rather lovely.

Now - while I crack on with my PTS form and worrying about how I am 0 words down on my 13,000 word dissertation - I'll leave you with a nice quote that a dear friend of mine sent me;

"The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize" - Robert Hughes.

Well, that's reassuring.

Occasional Unsuccessful Applications

"Thank you for applying for the position of Runner Pool - Manchester. We have carefully considered your application and regret to advise that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion."

Thanks very much BBC, for advising me that my application was unsuccessful. Oh hang on, it was only on this occasion. In that case, BBC, on what occasion will my application be successful?

If I'm honest I am a little gutted about this. I know that I will get many rejections while applying for jobs, but knowing that I tried my absolute hardest in answering the cryptic questions the beeb seem intent on setting, has knocked me somewhat. It was a runner pool for crying out loud, who exactly are these people looking for?!

Perhaps I should stop obsessing over getting my first job at the BBC. There are other broadcasting corporations out there, believe it or not. Saying that though, they are launching their production trainee scheme 2010 next week. If my predecessor at Fuse FM can get on it, surely I am in with a shot too?

Despite this set back, I am feeling slightly more sane than at the time of my last post. I think its something to do with the sun shining today. It might also have something to do with the fact that I caught the mouse last night. On a glue trap. Not the most humane method I know - but the damn thing was too clever for conventional traps. Not too clever for some brazil nuts sprinkled on a slab of glue though eh, mr mouse.

I got my exam results back too, a few hours after receiving 'the email' from the BBC. They were good, thank god. A 68 and a 63, two sturdy 2:1's. I think I had been hoping for a cheeky first in there somewhere, but that's me in a nutshell: optimistic. Realistically a 2:1 is great, especially considering how much time I spend on my course, or rather, how little time.

As far as the dissertation is going, well, it isn't. I had my presentation last week though. I wish I could say how it went, but the fifteen minutes is a blur to me. I remember saying the words 'interaction' and 'facebook' a lot. And gesticulating too much. But that's about it. I'm giving a talk this week to second year sociology students, to prepare them and encourage them with their own dissertations. I will tell them that's its fun and exciting, to study something you love, and that its not as scary as they think. This is of course, a lie.