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Publisert Legg igjen en kommentar til Finally…

...it's starting to look like something (I hope...).

In the plot are the two beryllium-peaks that I have used for the calibration - the first one is supposed to be at an energy equal to 3.368 mega electronvolts (of energy), and is now placed at 3.399 mega electronvolts, and the other one is supposed to be at 5.96 mega electronvolts, but is at 5.97:

The error is less than 1%, so it's not too bad - but I have to see what Sunniva has to say tomorrow...hope she approves 😉
Anyway; I can "tick off" my main goal for today - to get the gamma detectors calibrated. There are probably adjustments that have to be made - for example, there's something strange with the low energy gammas, since I suddenly don't get anything from oxygen-17 anymore - but this is the best I can do today. 
Now it's time to get home, and prepare for tomorrows talk about nuclear power and radiation and thorium. 9 AM in the biology building - open to everyone (and there's free breakfast 😉 )!

Publisert Legg igjen en kommentar til Foredrag i morgen

God mandag alle 🙂

Ny uke betyr nye muligheter, og denne uken betyr det også mulighet for gratis frokost og foredrag i morgen, klokken 0900 på Kristine Bonnevies hus (biologibygningen på Blindern). Der skal jeg holde et uformelt frokostforedrag om kjernekraft og litt thorium, og muligheter og utfordringer og kanskje noen myter - KJEMPEKOS hvis akkurat DU vil komme!

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Ellers sitter jeg i skrivende stund fremedeles i sengen; har drukket dagens første kopp kaffe og jobbet med gammadetektorene mine. Har beveget meg noen museskritt fremover, men føler meg frustrert og litt dum :/ Mål for dagen er at de j@*$% detektorne skal være helt ferdigkalibrert før jeg forlater kontoret i kveld *fingerscrossed*.
Jeg er mer fraværende på bloggen enn det jeg liker om dagen (pga konferansen vi har på Blindern neste uke, der jeg SKAL presentere resultater av analysen) - men jeg snapper en god del, så følg meg gjerne på snap på sunnivarose!
Ok, da tror jeg jeg skal sprette ut av sengen, bevege meg inn på kjøkkenet og lage meg en kopp til med kaffe, og så gå på badet og sminke meg - er vel på tide å komme seg avgårde til Universitetet nå...? 😉

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Publisert 2 kommentarer til Science continued

Not even a teeny tiny step for mankind.

(Possibly) a small leap for me - today I did this <3

This means that I've (probably) figured out the gamma radiation, well enough so that I can calibrate my gamma detectors - and then figure out the rest (*playing puzzle*). I'll know more tomorrow...
I'm quite satisfied, though, since I'm really moving forward - even though I'm moving forward one very small step at the time 😉

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PS: Check out the new page I made for Sushi and Nuclear 😀

PPS: For my fabulous Norwegian speaking readers; the talks from yesterday's "Women in Tech" conference can now be seen HERE - so proud that I was part of that event!

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Publisert 2 kommentarer til Lazy Sunday, crazy week
This week will be crazy - at least the three first days... Tomorrow and Tuesday will be the last two days with meetings with the Ludvigsen committee - after Tuesday, everything is supposed to be more or less ready for the Minister *feeling pressure*. Then, on Wednesday I will give a talk at the Women in Tech conference in Oslo (program HERE). The talk is not (a 100%) finished yet, and naturally I'm feeling pressure here too. My talk is called "Hva har kjernefysikk og rosablogging til felles?" (what are the similarities of nuclear physics and girly blogging), but I think I will have the subtitle from my talk at Le Rossey in November; "why science should be more pink" - I'm really excited and a little bit scared, but I think (hopefully) it will be ok 😉
Thursday and Friday have to be 100% dedicated to SCIENCE; I'm so close to knowing what the gamma energies of my ALFNA matrix are now. You know that feeling when you've been working on a big puzzle, and suddenly you only have 30 pieces left? That's about how I'm feeling right know, and in a way I wish I could be at the office, working on those last 30 pieces tomorrow... However, that's life, and I think Thursday and Friday will be some very productive days <3
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We have spent a fantastic day at Sognsvann today - with Anders, Joakim, Lise, Alexandra, and me; here are some snaps from a great day! (Yes, you're right; this is how I look without any makeup on...I feel naked 😛 )

Publisert Legg igjen en kommentar til Stressed…
I admit it; I'm feeling stressed.
Our nuclear physics workshop/conference here in Oslo, where I'm supposed to give a talk (and show RESULTS) is only three weeks away, and my gamma detectors are not yet calibrated. Don't get me wrong: it's not like I'm giving up (I don't think I'm a quitter), but I know there is work to be done. I think I have to go through my plan, and check how I'm doing with my milestones/goals - I'll give you an update tomorrow <3
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I think I could have worked faster, but I really really want to understand this - and make sure I make NO MISTAKES! So today I made this table, and the next step is to try to find the different gamma energies from the table and place them in the plot...hope my "prework" will pay off, and that tomorrow will be successful day 😉

Publisert Legg igjen en kommentar til Talk talk and talk (foredrag)

Good morning from the airport everyone!

I'm blogging from the gate at Gardermoen airport - on my way to Trondheim to give a talk about nuclear power (it will actually be more like two talks: one about "myths" about nuclear power and radiation, and one more technical about thorium as a nuclear fuel) for a bunch of science teachers *excited!* 😀
Just "stopping by" to say Hi, and wish you all a great, sunny (at least the weather is beautiful here at Gardermoen) day, and to tell you about the talks I'll be giving before summer - in case anyone's interested in coming 😉
  • May 6th: The "Women in Tech"-conference 
  • May 12th: Popular talk about nuclear power and maybe some thorium
  • Week 21: About the progress of my uranium-233 experiment - at the Oslo (nuclear physics) Workshop
  • May 26th: The future of nuclear power and thorium and what's really "the thing" about Norwegian thorium - INSEAD Alumni 
  • June 1st: Popular talk about nuclear power and thorium
So if you're interested, the two talks in pink are open to everyone...;)

Publisert Legg igjen en kommentar til Q-value
Today I've made this table (with my new favourite: this calculator 😀 ):
So this beautiful table shows the different Q-values for the different reactions that go on in my experiments (oh, yes, there's beryllium and there's carbon and there's oxygen there - even though it would've been nice if it was only uranium...).
The Q-value tells how much energy that is released in a certain reaction: for the first reaction, for example, the Q-value is 4620 keV, which means that when a deutron hits a uranium-233 nucleus, and a proton goes out of that reaction, around 4600 keV (energy) is released ;). If that same deutron hits an oxygen-16 nucleus instead of the uranium-233, and a triton (instead of a proton) is released, the reaction absorbs energy instead of releasing energy: 9406 keV to be (almost) exact...
I also, finally, submitted my application about changing my theoretical curriculum for my PhD degree 😀
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It's beautiful at the University these days, btw - don't you agree? Love blossoming cherrytrees:)

Publisert Legg igjen en kommentar til Hofstadter's Law

This is so the story of my life these days...and on top of everything, the apartment is a mess - since we're trying to make it fit two adults instead of one. Not that I'm complaining about that - I love it - but it takes time 😛

Anyway; guess that Hofstadter's Law applies to a lot of areas in life? For me right now it's mostly science and living situation stuff 😉

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Publisert 1 kommentar til Favourite Reactor
Ok, so my absolute favourite nuclear reactor is....
...the SUN! Of course.
And I simply LOVE that because of the fantastic nuclear fusion reactor, just about 8 light minutes (149 600 000 km) away, I can wear open toe stilettoes as my lecture shoes - as I did today <3 <3 <3 (Love these shoes too, btw; aren't they pretty?)
Anyway: I think it's so funny that solar power really is nuclear power, since the sun is a gigantic nuclear power plant (or continuously exploding atomic bomb...:P), that gets its energy by fusion of really light nuclei, like hydrogen and helium.
It's soooo cool that you get an energy release when light nuclei fuse to form a heavier one; as always it's because mass and energy are really the same (Einstein again), and the two light nuclei weigh more (when you add them up) than the heavier nucleus you get after they fuse. The "lost" mass has been converted to energy 😀
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Ok, now I have to run, to get to an interview - I just had to say hi and tell you about my favourite reactor.
Do you have a favourite (nuclear) reactor?
-S

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Publisert 1 kommentar til Snapchat
Dear dear readers!
I´m so sorry about my "not being as active as I really want to"-behaviour here at det blog these days, but I´m trying to be a good PhD student and a good mother and prepare talks and fix the apartment and everything...and of course there's something about my internet connection at home these days - meaning, there is no internet for me there (Anders' Mac is fine, but suddenly it's not possible for me to connect) :/

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Anyway; hope you understand, and please follow me on Instagram and Snapchat - I've just started to "figure out" Snapchat (haha), and I'm sharing pictures from everyday life at the University (and then some - Alexandra, for example 🙂 ).

I'm @sunnivarose on Insta and Snap, of course 😉