Institute of Physics
@PhysicsNews
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The IOP is the professional body and learned society for physics in the UK & Ireland, with an active role in promoting co-operation in physics around the world.
UK
Joined April 2009
Happy birthday to professor Stephen Hawking, who turns 75 today!
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We’re delighted to announce @ClaraMBarker as the new IOP Inclusion and Diversity Representative. Dr Barker says: “I look forward to working with different groups who share a passion for physics but feel they cannot achieve their maximum potential. (1/2).
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Happy birthday to Marie Skłodowska Curie, born #onthisday in 1867. During her career she discovered radium and polonium and was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize. She remains the only person to receive a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. #WomeninSTEM #IYPT2019
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Happy first day of #autumn! Today is the #Septemberequinox, meaning the days are noticeably shorter and the nights longer. Equinoxes occur when the Sun illuminates the Northern and Southern Hemispheres equally, so day and night are of roughly equal length. #autumnequinox
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Happy birthday Marie Curie, who was born #onthisday in 1867. She was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, and the first person (and only woman) to be awarded twice. She still remains the only person to receive a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. #WomeninSTEM
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Happy Birthday to American astronaut, engineer and physician Mae Carol Jemison, born #onthisday in 1956. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as mission specialist aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Images © NASA #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth
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Calling all #WomenInScience! To celebrate International Day of Women & Girls in Science on Monday, we want to showcase women working in physics today. Tweet a selfie and tell us what you do using #iamaphysicist and we’ll retweet! #WomenInSTEM #WomenInScienceDay
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Happy Birthday to Sir Isaac Newton, born #onthisday (according to the Gregorian calendar) in 1643. Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation, the three laws of motion, is credited for co-developing calculus, and invented the first working reflecting telescope.
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As Katharine Birbalsingh steps down as the government social mobility tsar, a thread on girls, physics & the devastating effect of stereotypes. Girls are not put off physics because of "hard maths" (girls got more top grades than boys in A level maths in 2021 & 2022). Instead,.
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Loss of signal confirmed; she is no more. Farewell Cassini-Huygens. #GrandeFinale #cassini
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Happy Birthday to Isaac Newton, born #onthisday (New Style dates) in 1643. During his life, Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation, the three laws of motion, is credited for co-developing calculus, and invented the first working reflecting telescope.
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… If we can work towards a more inclusive and welcoming physics environment, the real winner is physics itself.” (2/2).
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Happy Birthday to Sir Isaac Newton, born #onthisday (according to the Gregorian calendar) in 1643. Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation, the three laws of motion, is credited for co-developing calculus, and invented the first working reflecting telescope.
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Is there life on Mars?🤔🚀 Dr. Catherine Regan from @MSSLSpaceLab discusses her work as a planetary scientist, our search for Martian life, and the upcoming Rosalind Franklin mission. Join our series to explore space's biggest questions with top experts. Learn more at
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Happy #AdaLovelaceDay! Today we’re celebrating women in physics – past and present. Tell us who has inspired you and why! #WomeninSTEM #Womeninphysics
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Physics Gif Friday: a magnetic cube attracts and appears to dive into a ferromagnetic putty containing iron oxide
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Today is Ada Lovelace Day, which celebrates the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The woman today is named after, Ada Lovelace, is considered the world’s first computer programmer. #AdaLovelaceDay
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Happy birthday to Maria Mitchell, who was born #onthisday in 1818 and was the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer. #WomeninSTEM
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Happy Halloween! Here’s a picture of the active regions on the Sun combined to look similar to a jack-o-lantern’s face, which was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on 8 Oct 2014. ©NASA/SDO #Halloween2018 #trickortreat
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This Thursday is International Women’s Day and to mark it we’re celebrating women who've made a significant contribution to physics. Celebrate with us by telling us who your favourite female physicist is – past or present – and why they inspire you using #WomeninPhysics #IWD2018
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Happy birthday to astronaut Neil Armstrong, who was born #onthisday in 1930 and was the first human to set foot on the Moon 50 years ago. Images © NASA
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#Onthisday in 1868 French astronomer, Pierre Janssen discovered helium during a solar eclipse when he spotted a previously undiscovered spectral line in the spectrum of the Sun. #IYPT2019
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Happy birthday Ada Lovelace, born #onthisday in 1815. She was an English mathematician and is considered to be the first computer programmer.
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Massive congratulations to our former President, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who has won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics! Her prize money is to be donated for new studentships. Read more 👇#WomeninSTEM
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Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! We’re celebrating all day by sharing your #iamaphysicist selfies, so continue to tweet us telling us what you do in physics! #WomenInScience #WomeninSTEM #WomeninScienceDay #WomeninPhysics
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Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and to celebrate, we’ll be retweeting your selfies all day. So tweet us a picture telling us what you do in physics and share using #IAmAPhysicist. #WomenInScience #WomeninSTEM #WomeninScienceDay #WomeninPhysics
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Happy @UNESCO #WomenScienceDay! Follow #Iamaphysicist for amazing examples of women working in physics today! #IDWGS2018 #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience #WomeninScience
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The IOP is very concerned at the continued use of outdated stereotypes as we firmly believe #physics is for everyone regardless of their background or gender.
Girls shun physics A-level as they dislike ‘hard maths’ - some pretty astonishing comments here from government’s social mobility chief
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#WomenInScience - next Monday is International Day of Women & Girls in Science, so celebrate with us by tweeting a selfie and telling us what you do in physics using #iamaphysicist! We’ll retweet your selfies between now and Monday, so get snapping and sharing! #WomenInSTEM
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Happy birthday to astronaut and chemist, Helen Sharman, who was born #onthisday in 1963. In May 1991, Sharman became the first British astronaut to travel to space, and was the first woman to visit the Mir space station. Image © Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center
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Happy birthday to Michael Faraday, who was born #onthisday in 1791. He is credited with the discovery of electromagnetic induction, and established the annual @Ri_Science Christmas Lectures.
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🚀 "There's so much that's amazing, interesting, and beautiful!" 🌌. Hear from Helen Sharman, the first British person in space, as she reveals the best thing about being an astronaut. Today, we kick off a new series where industry experts answer our burning space questions, and
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Happy birthday to Michael Faraday, who was born #onthisday in 1791. He is credited with the discovery of electromagnetic induction, and established the annual @Ri_Science Christmas Lectures.
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Happy Birthday to theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, born #onthisday in 1942 and is best known for his work on black holes and for authoring the popular-science book, A Brief History of Time.
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We’re going to continue retweeting your #iamaphysicist selfies to celebrate #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience, so keep them coming. Let’s inspire future physicists and STEM professionals. Spread the word! #WomenInSTEM #WomeninScienceDay #WomeninPhysics #WomeninScience
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Happy #LGBTSTEMDay! We are proud supporters of this international day celebrating the LGBT+ community working in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths 🌈 #PrideinSTEM #LGBTinSTEM #Pride
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The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit #onthisday in 1990. Learn more about the history of Hubble and explore the amazing images that transformed our understanding of the Universe. 📷 © NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) #Hubble30
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“We need to celebrate women physicists because we are out there, and hopefully in time it will move forward at a faster rate. I am honoured to be one of those women.” Donna Strickland, new #NobelPrize laureate in Physics.
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Physics Gif Friday: spinning a ball as its dropped causes its path to curve outwards — known as the Magnus effect
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Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! We’re celebrating all day by sharing your selfies, so snap, tweet us telling us what you do in physics and share using #iamaphysicist! #WomenInScience #WomeninSTEM #WomeninScienceDay #WomeninPhysics
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Happy International Women’s Day! If you’re looking for inspiring people to follow, check out #IAmAPhysicist for amazing examples of women working in physics today. #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2021 #WomeninSTEM #WomeninPhysics
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To celebrate #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience this Sunday, we’re celebrating #WomeninScience. If you’re a female physicist, tweet us a selfie using #Iamaphysicist, tell us what you do and we’ll retweet!
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Calling all #WomenInScience – this Thursday is International Day of Women & Girls in Science. Celebrate with us by tweeting a selfie & telling us what you do in physics using #IAmAPhysicist. We’ll retweet your selfies on #WomenScienceDay, so be sure to snap & share! #WomenInSTEM
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Physics Gif Friday: a slight disturbance to these perfectly aligned magnets causes them all to jump into formation
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Be sure to look up tonight as a #supermoon will be gracing our night sky. Officially known as a perigean full moon, this event occurs when the full moon is at its closest point to the Earth, making it appear bigger and brighter. 🌕 #sciencefromhome
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Calling all #WomenInScience - next Tues is International Day of Women & Girls in Science. Celebrate with us by tweeting a selfie and tell us what you do in physics using #iamaphysicist. We’ll retweet your selfies on #WomenScienceDay, so be sure to snap and share! #WomenInSTEM
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Thanks to the generosity of Dame Jocelyn, we are proud to announce the launch a new PhD scholarship fund to encourage greater diversity in Physics – The Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund. #BellBurnellFund
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Happy birthday Ada Lovelace, born #onthisday in 1815. She was an English mathematician and is considered to be the first computer programmer. #WomeninSTEM
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Announcing the winners of the IOP Awards 2020. Visit to meet this year’s winners. #IOPAwards20
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Physics Gif Friday: when the air pressure inside the tank is lower than the atmospheric pressure outside it implodes
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Happy #LGBTSTEMDay! We’re proud to support and celebrate the first international day of LGBTQ+ people in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. #LGBTSTEMDay #PrideinSTEM #Pride
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Remember last year when Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was awarded the Breakthrough Prize for the discovery of radio pulsars? She decided to donate ALL of her £2.3m Breakthrough Prize money to us. 2/5
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Tomorrow is International Day of Women & Girls in Science, and to celebrate, we will be retweeting your #IAmAPhysicist selfies throughout the day. So share your pics and tell us what you do in physics using #IAmAPhysicist. #WomenScienceDay
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Today is International Day of Women & Girls in Science, which celebrates and recognises the important role women play in science and technology. Discover inspiring women working in #physics today at #IAmAPhysicist #WomenInScienceDay
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Calling all #WomeninSTEM! Are you a physicist? What advice would you give to girls and women looking to go into a physics career? Tweet us your words of wisdom using #PassOnMyWisdom and we will retweet for International Womens Day 👩🚀👩🔧👩🏭👩🏫👩⚕️👩🔬 #Womeninphysics #IWD2019
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Physicist Marie Curie, discoverer of radium and polonium and the only woman to win 2 Nobel prizes, was born #onthisday in 1867 #WomeninSTEM
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Today is Ada Lovelace Day, which celebrates the achievements of women in STEM. Check out #IAmAPhysicist for inspiring examples of women working in physics today. #AdaLovelaceDay #WomeninSTEM
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A Higgs boson walks into a church and the priest asks, "Why did you come?". The particle replies, "Because you can't have mass without me!".
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Today is International Women's Day! We’re celebrating women who've made a significant contribution to physics, so tell us who your favourite physicist is – past or present – and why they inspire you! #WomeninPhysics #IWD2018 #PressforProgress
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The IOP is alarmed by comments made by the government’s social mobility commissioner to MPs that more girls decide not to study A-level #physics because they “don’t like” hard maths. Read our full statement:
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No young person should feel locked out of physics yet many are put off from studying it. There are no limits to what can be achieved with physics. Our campaign, Limit Less, will ensure there are no limits on who can take part. Join today: #IOPLimitLess.
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Congratulations to Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who becomes the second woman to be awarded the @royalsociety’s prestigious Copley Medal. Dame Jocelyn will be donating her prize money to our Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund. Read more:
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girls (and young people from ethnic minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds) are put off physics because they’re told from an early age that physics is not for them. Like: "My dad told me not to study physics because it wasn’t for women and the maths was too hard.”.
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Our #iamaphysicist campaign is back! To celebrate International Day of Women & Girls in Science tomorrow, we want to showcase #womeninphysics. Tweet a selfie & tell us what you do using #iamaphysicist & we’ll retweet throughout #WomenInScienceDay! #WomenInSTEM
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Given today's comments about girls and physics we thought it was worth retweeting this report from 2015. The IOP will continue to reject negative stereotypes about physics and who should be studying it.
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On 11 February it’s #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience, so this week we’re celebrating #WomeninScience. Are you a female physicist? Tweet us a selfie and tell us what you do using #Iamaphysicist!
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Happy #AdaLovelaceDay! Tweet at us and tell us all about the female physicists that inspire you #WomeninSTEM
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Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of theoretical physicist, Maria Göppert-Mayer, who was the second woman to win a #NobelPrize in #physics for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus. #WomeninSTEM
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UK followers: look out for a #totallunareclipse during the early hours of Monday morning (21 Jan). Totality (when the Moon appears red) will be from 4:41am–5:43am GMT. The next total lunar eclipse from the UK will be 20 Dec 2029, so fingers crossed for clear skies! #Bloodmoon
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Happy birthday to Lise Meitner, born #onthisday in 1878, and who was part of the team that discovered nuclear fission of heavy elements. #WomeninSTEM
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Today is Halloween and tonight it will be an extra spooky one as our night sky will be graced by a blue moon – the second full moon in a month. Full moons appearing at Halloween are rare – occurring every 19 years, so the next time it will happen is 2039. #Halloween #BlueMoon
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Physics Gif Friday: refraction of light by the water makes the arrow "reverse" if arrow is far enough behind the cup
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The IOP was delighted this afternoon to welcome HRH The Duke of Edinburgh to its Physics Green Economy event to hear how physics innovation can deliver the green solutions society needs #IOPGreenEconomy #Netzero
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How do we understand time, one of the most elusive properties of the universe? 1/7
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#Onthisday in 1959, theoretical physicist Richard Feynman gave his famous lecture at the American Physical Society, which is considered to be where the concept of nanotechnology was first discussed. Watch his 1984 retelling of the lecture here
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Happy birthday to astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who was born #onthisday in 1868, and who discovered the relationship between the luminosity of Cepheid variable stars and the period of the oscillations in that luminosity. #WomeninSTEM
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We’re here! All moved in and ready to get to work in our brand new building. You can now find us at 37 Caledonian Road in King’s Cross. #IOPKingsCross
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#Onthisday in 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie announced their discovery of radium, a highly radioactive element that can be very dangerous, but was once used in everyday products such as toothpaste. #IYPT2019
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Many girls are told that some subjects are more suited to boys. One of these subjects is physics. Did you know that in 2020, only 2.6% of girls chose A-level physics in England compared to 8.6% of boys?. This needs to change. 1/2
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Happy International Women's Day! Read about the overlooked British women whose science research changed the world. #InternationalWomensDay
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Happy #SummerSolstice everyone! Today marks the first official day of #summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and will be the longest day of the year. 😎☀️ #SummerSolstice2019
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"Whenever a topic was mentioned that linked to A-level physics, our teacher would look towards a certain group of boys and say, “you’ll need to remember this for A-level”, even when I’d told him at various revision sessions that I was considering physics as a degree.".
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Today is the #SummerSolstice marking the first official day of #summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and will be the longest day of the year.☀️ #SummerSolstice2020
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Physics Gif Friday: a 500mW Blu-ray laser destroys 100 black balloons in just under seven seconds flat
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Happy Birthday to Nobel laureate and IOP Honorary Fellow, Donna Strickland, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for her work on chirped pulse amplification in 2018. #WomeninSTEM #NobelPrize
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“My A-level teacher told me that girls didn’t tend to be very good at physics, so I might struggle at uni. He said there was only one girl on his undergraduate course and that she wasn’t very good.”.
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We are please to see that Physics A-level numbers and proportion of female entries in physics have gone up this year. Read more - #alevelresults2018 #resultsday
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Happy Birthday to theoretical physicist, Maria Göppert-Mayer, who was born #onthisday on 1906 and was the second woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus. #WomeninSTEM
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“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.” – Carl Sagan. Image © NASA. #EarthDay #EarthDay21
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Happy birthday to American astronomer, Vera Rubin who was born #onthisday in 1928, and is known for her pioneering work on galaxy rotation rates.
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Happy birthday to theoretical physicist, Max Planck, born #onthisday in 1858 and known for his eponymous blackbody radiation law and for founding quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1918.
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Happy birthday to astrophysicist and former IOP president, Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who donated her £2.3m Breakthrough Prize to support PhD #physics students from under-represented groups. This year, over £1m has been granted to awardees of the Fund. Read more here:
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