Happy Halloween! We escaped the cold in Canada and are now back in Australia, ready for second summer đ
Eureka!
The big aha! moment was seeing how much stories resonate with parents! Over the past year and a half, I’ve been reading from Rocket Science for Babies and doing some paper activities (paper airplanes, demonstrating lift, etc.). It’s been great and I think the children have lots of fun. But because it’s mostly an interaction between me and the children, perhaps some parents feel left out? Or, maybe they are just happy to sit back let their children take the lead.
This month, though, I started reading 8 Little Planets at events as well, and the response from the parents was amazing! Nothing like a good story to excite the imaginative child in all of us, I guess đ
This month I also got some hilarious feedback on social media. Here are a few highlights:
Reading!
Childrenâs Literature Recommendations
What do you do with a problem by Kobi Yamada, Illustrated by Mae Besom
Inspirational story about a young person tackling a problem head on and finding beauty in it. Itâs a bit abstract, meaning it might take a while for a child to âget itâ, but the illustrations are beautiful and the pace was right for a bedtime read.
The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid by Dylan Thuras and Rosemary Mosco
I think adults will find this more amusing than children. My guess is that these real places are suppose to be surprisingly, well, obscure. But, to a child, these are just slightly less fantastic than what they can dream up in their own imagination. It can still keep a childâs attention and led to some interesting questions.
Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
I was skeptical about reading a graphic novel aloud, especially the pages with no words! But, it actually worked quite well. Even the non-readers could understand the plot. The story itself is amazing. We all canât wait to continue the series.
Adult Literature September Reads
Scale: The Universal Laws of Life, Growth, and Death in Organisms, Cities, and Companies by Geoffrey West
This one is about the science of complexity and some simple rules that govern how things (from animals to suburbia) scale. There are lots of interesting tidbits in here. My favorite is an understanding, using scaling laws, for why every species of mammal has the same number of heartbeats over their lifetime, from the tiny shrew to the enormous blue whale. It can get a bit wordy and repetitive, but still worth a read.
Currently reading: This Idea Is Brilliant: Lost, Overlooked, and Underappreciated Scientific Concepts Everyone Should Know by John Brockman
Writing!
Big news this month was the release of 8 Little Planets! Itâs super-fun and has amazing illustrations by Lizzy Doyle.
Next up is Blockchain for Babies by my UTS colleague, and blockchain expert, Marco Tomamichel. Just in time for the new year and next Bitcoin boom. HODL on for this one! Itâs due 1 Jan 2019.
In terms of writing, I am working on a new ABCâs book. I donât want to give away the details yet, but hereâs a hint: itâs not a STEM topic!
Arithmetic! (academic news)
Last week I attended Quantum Gates, Jumps, and Machines, which was a workshop in honor of Gerard Milburnâs 60th birthday. If you ever get a chance to go to a âbirthday workshopâ, do it. The talks have great science alongside hilarious anecdotes and roasts of the guest of honor. Barry Sanders documented much of it on Twitter.
University of Technology Sydney will soon offer some undergraduate credit subjects in Quantum Computing. Weâve been having some high level discussion about organizing that and getting it approved through all the bureaucratic channels. There may even be some associated online content! Keep your eyes peeled next Spring term!
After submitting their papers, the students in the group are learning hands on the joys of peer review, including what to do about âinterestingâ referee reports! Look out for some publications soon.
An Honors student at the University of New South Wales submitted a thesis that I co-supervised. This was my first time officially supervising an undergraduate. It was a very rewarding process as the student was from outside of the field and wrote a thesis on quantum learning applications in statistics.
Events!
- Though it was in September, my talk at Google just came online. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVomLTqOZYI.
- I gave a couple short TV interviews at the begininning of the month, one on Breakfast Television (https://www.btvancouver.ca/videos/teaching-kids-about-science/) and one on Global TV (https://globalnews.ca/video/4505756/astro-physics-for-babies).
- I read and signed some books at the Vancouver Public Library to some excited preschoolers.
- Byrne and Wade from Sci-gasm Podcast came by the office and we recorded a not-so-family-friendly interview. Stay tuned for thatâyou might even win a signed copy of Quantum Computing for Babies.
- Where the Wild Things Are bookshop in Brisbane hosted an event where I read and did some activities with some West Enders. I always have a good time in Brissie!
- I joined a panel at UTS about Communicating as a researcher: Strategies for building value and reputation. It was quite interesting to contrast my fake-it-before-you-make-it style with one that was more structured, and another that was goal-oriented. Perhaps there is a useful middle ground?
Up next!
In November I’ll be visiting Melbourne and Perth. Come on out and get your science on 6 Nov!
