About this blog
Me at work in 2002
My name is Michael de Podesta and I am scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL). This blog stems from a course that I run at NPL called Protons for Breakfast which aims to help the general public make sense of some of the science that they encounter. The course generally entertains, amuses and educates but its primary aim is to to empower.
People are generally familiar with many parts of the body of scientific knowledge, but often they do not understand the context of their own knowledge, or how one thing they know relates to another thing they know. Protons for Breakfast is a ‘big picture’ course which aims to make those connections.
This blog is generally about things in the news which impinge on the topics we deal with in the course. These include mobile phone safety, climate change and nuclear power. However, there are also personal comments and general proclamations about anything that captures my attention. On occasion I even discuss my work 
.
However, I would like to emphasise that nothing on this site represents the official views of the National Physical Laboratory.
I started the blog in January 2008 and I moved it to WordPress in September 2009.
November 19, 2009 at 11:51 am |
Following on from last weeks topic; After playing tennis on artificial carpet courts we often get an electric shock when opening the gates of the courts, but if we use the end of the tennis racket to pull back the door we do not get a shock. Is this because the racket has some sort on insulating element.
I’m afraid I do have a VERY poor understanding of atoms etc as there is a total lack of science in my formal education.
Sorry this is so late in the week.