44th TUESDAY JULY 9 // ISSUE #2 Copenhagen Denmark 7-15 July 2013 YESTERDAY IN COLOUR Rubber boots, spaghetti and Danish culture. STUDENT MAP Get a closer look at many more contestants. TYCHO BRAHE PHYSICIST OF THE DAY Read about the man with the star and the silver nose. Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) received the highest royal order the Elephant order in 1580.
OPENING CEREMONY AND FUN OUTDOORS Yesterday was the first official day of IPhO 2013. It began with the opening ceremony where all the participants were looking good in their nice clothes. After lunch all the students walked to Dyrehaven where they played different games in the sun. The day ended at the old amusement park Bakken. See all the pictures from the eventful day here. The Tivoli Guard and the New Bigband, led by Andreas Vetö, started the opening ceremony. The president of the Danish IPhO Committee Niels Hartling welcoming the participants. Other speakers were: the National Advisor of Physics at the Ministry of Education Martin Schmidt, Professor and President of Technical University of Denmark Anders O. Bjarklev, Professor and Director of Niels Bohr Institute Robert K. Feidenhans l, Mayor of Lyngby-Taarbæk Søren P. Rasmussen and last but not least President of IPhO Dr. Hans Jordens who ended the ceremony by declaring IPhO 2013 open. Football teams were quickly made across country borders. Some played on their own initiative. Game: Tic Tac Toe. Rubber boot throw Game: All my chickens come home. Here we see the last chicken getting caught. Game: Spagetti-cup Professor Emeritus Mogens Andresen explained the history behind the lur -instrument. Flemming Enevold sang the old danish song Der stod 3 skjalke accompanied by the violinist Monika Malmquist. Sofie Lassen-Kahlke (actress) and Flemming Enevold (singer) were hosts. Game: Stop-motion-game.. Two singers entertained during the opening ceremony: rock singer Cæcilie Norbye and vocalist Eivør Pálsdóttir. Here we see Cæcilie Norbye. 2 Hafnium Issue #2 Hafnium IPhO 2013 3
NORWAY STUDENT MAP RGYZSTAN KY GEORGIA D TES OF A STA M MACAO ICA ER UNI TE Did you spot the error in the latest issue of Hafnium? India certainly did! But here they are: the true team from India along with a bunch of other great looking contestants. TUGAL POR KUWAIT ERTO RICO PU MALAYSIA M COLO BIA UTH AFRICA O S When, according to habit, I was contemplating the stars in a clear sky, I noticed a new and unusual star, surpassing the other stars in brilliancy. There had never before been any star in that place in the sky. 4 Hafnium Issue #2 - Tycho Brahe INDIA THE RED SAUSAGE HAFNIUM Editorial team Red sausages are one of the most popular foods in Denmark. The skin of the sausage is red because it contains a red dye called carmine. Danes eat the red sausages with remoulade (a yellow sour sauce based on a mix of pickles and mayonnaise) or ketchup and sennep as seen on the picture. Eremitagen Turi Schäffer Editor & Journalist tkschaffer@gmail.com Miriam Ortwed Layout, Graphics & Photo miriam.ortwed@gmail.com Hafnium IPhO 2013 5
- and the Stella Nova I n 1572 Tycho Brahe saw what he thought was a new star appearing on the night sky in the constellation Cassiopeia. At that time it was generally accepted that the sky was unchangeable, so scientists claimed that the new light source was part of the Earth s atmosphere and no one believed Brahe s claim that it was in fact a star. In 1573 Brahe published the book called De Nova Stella (The New Star), where he, using his own very precise measurements, showed that the light source was situated amongst the other stars and not in the atmosphere of the Earth. But in March 1574 the star disappeared from view again. Today we know that Brahe did not observe the birth of a star, but the death of a star. In 2008 Stella Nova was classified as a type 1a supernova. Stella Nova was a great breakthrough in astronomy at the time. Comets had also been thought to lie within the atmosphere of Earth because they were moving objects. Brahe, however, found that they were further away than the moon, and once more contested the view of an unchangeable universe. In 1576 Brahe began the construction of the residence and observatory Uranienborg on the island Hven close to Copenhagen, and six years later he expanded the complex with an improved observatory called Stjerneborg (Star Fortress). In these observatories he made extremely precise observations for his time. There are many stories related to Tycho Brahe. Some are true. Others are just good stories. He maintained the Ptolemaic world view where Earth was stationary and the centre of the universe, but believed that the other planets moved around the Sun. With his measurements he established that the sun moves around the Earth, because he would otherwise be able to see that the stars moved a bit every half year in the so-called parallax. He could not measure this movement, so the stars would have to be extremely far away for his measurements to be wrong, and that seemed implausible. Measuring the parallax of stars due to Earth s rotation around the sun was not possible with Brahe s instruments. It was not until 1838 that it became possible to measure this shift. Frederik II, the king at the time, supported Brahe s research even though it was expensive. When King Christian IV took over the throne in 1588 he and Brahe had a falling out and Brahe therefore left Denmark in 1597 together with more than 20 years of accumulation of knowledge in the form of instruments and observations. He was engaged by Emperor Rudolph II in Prague and he was given the genius Johannes Kepler as assistant. It was with Brahe s observations that Kepler came up with his famous laws of planetary motion. Even though Brahe believed in the incorrect world view, his measurements were important and the very best for many years after his death in 1601. When he was young, Brahe lost part of his nose in a duel with a high school enemy. He is therefore known for having a silver nose. The silver was glued to what was left of his real nose. This story is true. Brahe was a great astronomer, but he was also an astrologer and had a list of days where one should not work since it would bring bad luck. Therefore, if you have a day where everything goes wrong it is called a Tycho Brahe day. This story is true. Brahe died in 1601 right after a dinner at a friend s house. He became ill during the meal, and there are many theories about why he died. One explanation is that Brahe did not go to the bathroom, even though he really needed to, because it was rude, and that his bladder therefore burst. This story is not true. For many years it was generally thought that Brahe had been poisoned with mercury, but an examination of the grave in 2010 showed that this was not true. Why Brahe died is still uncertain, but it was probably because of a urinary tract infection. I conclude, therefore, that this star is not some kind of comet or a fiery meteor... but that it is a star shining in the firmament itself one that has never previously been seen before our time, in any age since the beginning of the world. - Tycho Brahe TYCHO BRAHE TYCHO BRAHE AND THE STORIES Time: 14.00-18.00 Place: Tivoli (see more in IPhO Info) TOMORROW... Science Talents experience Tivoli in a different way The present picture of Stella Nova. The picture is taken with the X-ray telescope Chandra. 6 Hafnium Issue #2 The constellation Cassiopeia. The position of Stella Nova is marked with a circle. Tycho Brahe was known for his silver nose. Science Talents has created a series of physics questions relating to the rides in the old amusement park. You will battle against each other and have lots of fun at the same time. Some of the questions you will be asked tomorrow are: How large is the acceleration in the craziest ride The Demon? Is it possible to find the best (aka wildest) seat in the cart in the old roller-coaster from 1914 with a pendulum? Why does your weight change during the ride in the Ferris wheel? Does your scream depend on your vision? Try the rollercoaster The Odin Express with and without closed eyes. How many solar cells are needed to run one of the rides with only solar energy? Hafnium IPhO 2013 7
How was the opening ceremony? What is your first impression of Denmark? FINLAND EINARI It was really great. The hosts, the singer and the actress; I liked them. The best was when we had to stand up. That is going to be memorable. The old instrument, the lur, was interesting because the sound was weird. Copenhagen is really nice in the downtown with Tivoli and the old buildings and the shopping street. In Finland we have hills, and in Denmark it is just flat with windmills. SOUTH KOREA The music was beautiful and the hostess was very beautiful. The best was of course the introduction of the other contries. The buildings are classical and the people are kind. I like the sun in the evening. It is still there at 9 o clock in the evening. DONGHOU PORTUGAL I liked it. It was big. I liked the music and the speeches. The best thing was the final concert with the lady in the green dress and when everybody had to stand up to be presented. It is completely flat and green. Your summer days are like our spring days. FILIPE SPAIN It was interesting, but a little too long. The music was interesting and it was fun to see all the different countries. I enjoyed when the participants from Switzerland threw chocolates at everyone when they stood up. It was fun. I also liked the part about the old instrument. It is a lot better than I had expected. It is green and beautiful actually. We are next to Copenhagen, the capital of the country, and it looks as if you were in a jungle. It looks like the pictures on the internet. Everything is clean and everyone is very polite. MARC XKCD SNACKTIME RULES HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Nipuna from Sri Lanka, who is turning 20 years today. This makes him the oldest contestant in the competition. Happy big birthday! Congratulations also to Annah from Kuwait & Tomáš from Slovakia. We hope you enjoy your birthday in Denmark. 8 Hafnium Issue #2