Helen Czerski: The fascinating physics of everyday life
Helen Czerski: Hverdagens fascinerende fysik
Dr. Helen Czerski investigates the physics of ocean bubbles and spends a lot of time sharing the big scientific ideas hidden in the small objects around us. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
needs a little modification.
har brug for lidt modificering.
I don't live here anymore.
jeg boer her ikke længere.
that I have a northern nana,
at min bedstemor er fra nordlig England,
she hasn't had much formal education,
hun har ikke haft meget undervisning,
studying physics at Cambridge,
i fysik på Cambridge Universitet,
at Nana's house in Urmston
var ved Mormors hus i Urmston
open in front of me
hieroglyphics -- let's be honest.
and she looked at this folder,
og kikket på den her mappe,
about what was on the page.
om det der stød på siden.
and Einstein A and B coefficients.
og Einstein A- og B-koefficienter.
I could think of at the time.
på andet i det øjeblik.
because it's a very good question --
fordi det er et meget godt spørgsmål -
when "that" is physics?
når "det" er fysik?
we talk about physics in society
vi snakker om fysik i samfundet
that we can do when we know that.
som vi kan gøre når vi kan det.
needs a bit of a shift.
skal ændres lidt.
matters for our society,
er vigtig for samfundet,
because I'm a physicist and I'm biased
fordi jeg er fysiker og forudindtaget
important people in the world.
de mest vigtige personer i verdenen.
an image problem, let's be honest --
har vi et problem med det billede -
that's from the Solvay Conference in 1927.
fra Solvay-konferencen i 1927.
of physics were grappling
i fysik tænkte
only to have a probability
very stern-looking men in suits.
meget skrappe-udseende mænd i jakkesæt.
"Marie Antoinette,"
"Marie Antoinette",
on the bottom there,
ved bunden der,
but had to dress like everybody else.
men måtte klæde sig som alle andre.
there's all these kinds of hieroglyphics,
der er alle de her hieroglyffer,
of two black holes colliding,
af to sorte huller som kollidere,
worth watching, to be honest.
noget vær at se, ikke?
the risk assessment
risikovurderingen
the image of physics, right?
billedet af fysik, ikke?
dressed in a slightly strange way.
klædte på en lidt skør måde.
is that I'm a physicist,
between the atmosphere and the ocean.
mellem atmosfæren og havet.
the ocean is massive,
that joins them together
from one huge reservoir to the other.
den ene stor lagre til den anden.
that was me who took this video --
det var mig som optog videoen -
by the way, was 10 meters.
var 10 meter.
happening here --
this is definitely physics.
det er i hvert fald fysik.
in our cultural perception of physics,
i vores kulturel opfattelse af fysik,
in our cultural perception of physics?
i vores kulturel opfattelse af fysik?
there has to be a graph, right?
så der er nødt til at være en graf, ikke?
from very fast things there,
fra meget hurtige ting her
big things up there.
of physics looks like this.
ser sådan her ud.
down in that corner,
in the general ...
for everyday life.
for hverdagen.
which is up there;
in the beginning of the universe,
ved begyndelsen af universet,
in physics, right?
to discover new physics
med at opdage ny fysik
there's a very large gap in the middle.
et meget stort hul i midten.
and volcanoes and clouds
og vulkaner og skyer
that make up our everyday life.
you'd be surprised --
det overasker en -
it's just that nobody talks about it.
ingen snakker om det.
is that they all run
er at de alle kører
of physical laws,
applies over a huge range,
over et stor areal,
to very, very big things.
til meget, meget store ting.
to get outside of this.
at komme udenfor det.
in research physics here,
i fysik forskning her,
they bring about
frembringer de
complex world we live in.
verden vi boer i.
that really matters to me
der virkelig betyder noget for mig
that we don't talk about.
research going on here.
pointing at stars,
at pege på stjerner,
think it's not that.
is that there are so many things
at der er så mange ting
and one of them has been boiled.
og en er hårdkogt.
have tried that, you all knew.
viste i alle.
you set them spinning,
man får æggene til at dreje,
the one that's completely solid,
den som er helt solid,
you only stop the shell;
stopper man kun skallen;
because nothing's made it stop.
fordi ingenting har fået det til at holde.
so the egg starts to rotate again.
så ægget igen roterer.
of something in physics
of angular momentum,
af impulsmoment,
that if you set something spinning
at hvis man får noget til at rotere
unless you do something to stop it.
undtagen hvis noget stopper det.
in how the universe works.
i hvordan universet virker.
if you're the sort of person --
hvis man er den type person -
and then put them back in the fridge.
og så sætter dem tilbage i køleskabet.
it's OK. We won't judge you.
det er ok. Vi dømmer jer ikke.
broader applicabilities.
which is a very tiny part of the sky.
et meget lille område af himlen.
in free space for 25 years,
to a tiny region of sky.
på en forsvindende lille område.
it did it in sections,
den gjorde det i sektioner,
to take amazing images like this.
til at tage fantastiske billeder.
that is not touching anything
of it, it has something
isn't a raw egg,
of conservation of angular momentum,
om bevaring af impulsmoment,
with the same axis, indefinitely.
and so it can orient itself.
og kan så orientere sig selv.
we can play with in the kitchen and use,
vi kan lege med i køkkenet og bruge,
some of the most advanced technology
noget af det mest avanceret teknologi
that you learn these patterns
hvor man lærer de her mønstrer
again and again and again.
igen og igen og igen.
when you spot them in new places.
når man opdager dem i nye steder.
to an audience full of businesspeople once
til et publikum af forretningsfolk
and trying to impress their bosses.
og prøvet at imponere deres chefer.
so I showed the egg video and then said,
så jeg viste æg-videoen og sagde,
and ask me afterwards to check."
og så tjekke det med mig efter."
tugging on my sleeve afterwards,
plagende mig efter,
sagde de "Ja!"
from spotting these patterns
give you access
in our everyday world.
is it involves playing with toys.
at lege med legetøj.
as the mundane little things
som ubetydelige små ting
on a Saturday afternoon
på en lørdagseftermiddag
that actually really matters,
som egentlige betyder noget
and it applies to eggs
og det gælder for æg
and all sorts of other things,
og mange andre ting
to modern technology
that's going on in the world.
with these patterns.
med de her mønstrer.
number of concepts
er der få koncepter
using things in your kitchen,
ved brug af køkkenting
for life in the outside world.
i resten af verdenen.
a duck is a good place to start,
er en and et godt startsted,
don't get cold.
of thermodynamics with the duck,
in your kitchen
and modern energy generation.
og moderne strømforsyning.
a good thing to play with.
som altid er godt til at lege med.
fish some raisins out of the bar snacks,
fiske nogle rosiner op fra snackene,
to watch; try it.
prøve det.
the interesting people to you.
de interessante folk til dig.
and gas laws and viscosity.
og gaslove og viskositet.
and they're right around us everywhere.
og de er omkring os over det hele.
you don't need a big, posh lab.
det kræver ikke et fancy laboratorium.
I had the chapter on spin.
havde jeg kapitlet om spin.
about toast falling butter-side down.
om toast der faldt med smørsiden nede.
who's not a scientist,
som ikke er forsker,
what he thought,
a couple of weeks later,
in a posh hotel in Switzerland,
på et dyrt hotel i Schweiz,
to push toast off the table,
til at skubbe toast på gulvet,
på det du har skrevet."
he doesn't have to.
de behøver han ikke.
and try it for himself.
at skubbe toast af bordet.
to know about science:
at vide om videnskab:
through experience and experimentation,
igennem oplevelse og eksperimentering,
we basically know how gravity works,
ved vi hvordan tyngdekraften virker,
of experimentation:
trying things out,
science forward --
hvordan vi fremfører videnskab -
in the everyday world.
about technology,
that are about this size,
i kroppe der er cirka så store,
sit on chairs that are about this size,
sider på stole der er cirka så store,
means we're not helpless.
betyder at vi ikke er hjælpeløse.
that we're not helpless,
at vi ikke er hjælpeløse,
about knowing all the answers.
at kende alle svarene.
so you can ask the right questions.
så man kan spørge om det rigtig.
little things in everyday life,
grundlæggende små ting i hverdagslivet,
to ask the right questions.
til at spørge om det rigtig.
when you know that --
in the everyday world
eggs in the fridge --
and the curiosity
ved at lege med legetøj.
all the fun, right?
have alt det sjov, ikke?
for studying physics, for example,
for at studere fysik, for eksempel,
three life-support systems.
som holder os i live.
life-support system,
on the fundamental physical laws
på grundlæggene fysiske love
with eggs and teacups and lemonade,
med æg og tekopper og sodavand
is such a serious problem,
er sådan et seriøst problem,
life-support systems,
and we need to negotiate that boundary.
og vi har brug for at naviger den grænse.
that we can learn
som vi kan lære
the world around us works,
vores verden virker på,
to know about in life,
is going to get you a long way.
fører en langt fremad.
in having fun with physics
i at have det sjovt med fysik
but apparently, these people exist --
men sådan nogle folk eksisterer vidst -
in keeping yourself alive
i at holde sig selv i live
is remarkably constant;
er mærkeværdigt konstant:
of things that we measure.
i mange, mange ting som vi måler.
some new quantum mechanics,
are still going to fall down.
bliver ved med at falde ned.
world, in not being helpless,
i at ikke være hjælpeløs,
and adults do this --
- og voksne gør det her -
and your brain goes, "Oh, that's weird."
og hjernen siger: "Nå, det var underligt."
"You're an adult. Keep going."
"Du er voksen. Gå bare videre."
hold that thought --
"Oh, that's a bit odd,"
"Hov, det er lidt underligt,"
there to play with,
any of those little moments
har nogle af de små tidspunkter
highly entertaining.
meget underholdene.
like watching paint dry,
som at se på maling tørre,
it's worth watching.
det er vær at kigge på.
if there are teacups around.
når der er tekopper rundt omkring.
to play with teacups, it's brilliant.
med tekopper på, det er fantastisk.
is to get a teacup, get a spoon,
er at tag en tekop, tag en ske,
push your toast off the table
skubbe din toast ned fra bordet
and you'll learn stuff from it.
that it doesn't fall butter-side down,
at den ikke lander med smørsidden nedad,
play with toys.
the physical world for ourselves
den fysiske verden for os selv
to understand society,
vi vil forstå samfundet,
on which everything else must be based.
som alt andet skal være baseret på.
our life-support systems going is great.
de livgivende systemer kørerne er godt.
that we need to change
with weird people
med underlige folk
and we can all play with it.
og alle kan lege med det.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Helen Czerski - PhysicistDr. Helen Czerski investigates the physics of ocean bubbles and spends a lot of time sharing the big scientific ideas hidden in the small objects around us.
Why you should listen
Dr. Helen Czerski has studied bubbles at sea and in the lab, has presented many highly-regarded BBC science documentaries and has told the stories of science (and especially of physics) on stage and in print.
Czerski's academic home is the department of mechanical engineering at University College London in the UK. Her first book, Storm in a Teacup, was published in 2016 (2017 in the US) and shows how the biggest ideas in physics come to life in the world around us -- and how the most mundane quirks of the everyday world open the door to the physics that every citizen needs to know.
Photo: Alex Brenner
Helen Czerski | Speaker | TED.com