Bending perceptions: how the really tiny affects the everyday

Welcome to the quantum pub! There is a billiards table in the back… though it seems to be acting a little funny tonight. This talk is all about the billiard model: a physical model that we find both in pubs and, on a quantum scale, in many modern technologies. Together, with the help of computer simulations, we will figure out the differences between “normal” billiards and quantum billiards, leading us to a better understanding of our quantum world.

Nature is inherently cool. Birds sporting head-turning plumage, gorgeously iridescent seashells, geckos climbing on anything as if the rules of physics don’t apply to them. They’ve had a several million-year head start on us. Can we learn from them? Which secrets do they hide in their tiny nanoscale structures? In this fun, colourful talk, we will explore what materials scientists have synthesised by looking at nature and stealing all of its secrets. Come along to this lively chat armed with the curiosity of a cat, graciousness of a humpback whale and the thirst of an elephant.