The magic of physics - with Felix Flicker

Join Felix Flicker as he introduces the magic of condensed matter physics, from the subtle spells that conjure crystals from chaos, to creating new particles which have never before been seen. Watch the Q&A here: • Q&A: The magic of phys...
Felix's book 'The Magick of Matter: Crystals, Chaos and the Wizardry of Physics' is available now: geni.us/wVto
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Imagine you had a crystal which lit upon your command: magic must be at work, and you must surely be a wizard. Yet these days such an action is mundane: LEDs are crystals, and their practical technology lights our streets and homes.
The modern name for wizardry is condensed matter physics. It is the study of the world around us - the states of matter, how they emerge from the quantum realm, and how they can manifest exotic particles which cannot exist in the vacuum of space. It is one of science's best-kept secrets: a third of all physicists work on it, yet its story has rarely been told.
This talk was recorded at the Ri on 1 November 2022.
Felix Flicker is a lecturer in physics at Cardiff University. A theoretical physicist, Felix works on the quantum underpinnings of matter.
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[@mungbean60]

I would have liked to have him as my high school physics teacher, so much fun listening to him 👏

[@luminousfractal420]

Likewise. I couldnt handle any more worksheets on the forces of a spring. (Four years of high school as they swapped curriculums and i slowly fell down to the lowest set) the physics teacher was lovely, she was nice enough to offer to advance me through extra classes at lunch times...which was denied by the deputy head out of spite. He was more into suits for him and his wife than educating though. And i was not good at doing what i was told by spiteful bullies. End result no qualifications...tow the line a bit kids, plenty of time for rebellion in adulthood, just learn it all and hold it precious to you. Many doors in this life, just make sure you dont lock yourselves out

[@elenawimsey5714]

I can't wait to see my husband's face when I tell him I saw a video which convinced me that crystals are magical. 😂

[@luminousfractal420]

😂🤣nice

[@Twitchi]

Whooo, Felix!! The man is a wizard at both physics and presentation

[@Vile_old_Bastard_3545]

😆 People actually think you are being serious.

[@Twitchi]

@@Vile_old_Bastard_3545 I am 100% serious

[@michaeljoefox]

@twitchi Kelly Smunt’s other educated comments on this video include “Solar panels work very bad in really hot conditions so the Sahara is not a good idea.”

[@Vile_old_Bastard_3545]

@@Twitchi well he is useless at presentation.

[@Vile_old_Bastard_3545]

@@wesley135 you’re easily lit

[@michaeljoefox]

Seeing anyone explain their passion is typically mesmerizing, but this guy is on another level. Absolutely brilliant, thank you! If you need a hand bringing the audio to level, don’t hesitate to reach out.

[@lesterbrandt3203]

If you can reload his lectures with cleaner audio, you'd be a hero. There is a fuzz , a real shame. Noticed this on many RI videos, but like his stuff best. Thank you.

[@ticthak]

Thank you for keeping and projecting the "gosh-wow" mentality of the observational scientist. Back in the 1980s when I got my degree, they hadn't settled on "condensed matter" as the label for materials science.

[@mikeclarke952]

What a dull crowd, hardly any claps or laughs and it was a very informative, funny and hardcore demonstrative lecture. Bravo! Bravo!

[@jimbenge9649]

Felix, I love the calm, cool, magical way you have of explaining the universe. I hope I can learn from it in my efforts to educate my grandchildren. 👍

[@deeremeyer1749]

Crystals are "condensed" instead of "frozen" in your "universe"? No wonder you think he's smart. He's as smart as you are. Which is dumb as a post. Condensed matter is matter in a liquid state. Crystals are solid. Solid-state matter is ALWAYS "frozen". No matter its temperature. Common sense. Where did all you poor ignorant souls that can't recognize a "psuedoscientist" that is flat wrong when you see and hear him go to school?

[@jimbenge9649]

@@deeremeyer1749 I love when people who disagree do it with such grace.

[@anaryl]

Love watching Felix, loved his first presentation, glad to see he's still going with his Faraday fashion sensibility; such a charming, well mannered young man!

[@busybillyb33]

I've just discovered this man only recently on Ri, and what an absolutely wonderful science communicator. Love everything about his style of presenting, even his fashion choices! What I like the most in the way he presents is how he always steps back from the finer details and tells you where you are on the presentation flow, keeping you in the loop with all the things that you need to tie in to get the full picture. Apart from that, love the way he takes the time to compliment anyone who lent their work or services to the presentation. I want to see more from Felix!

[@grabdaCikan]

100%

[@peterspiker9960]

Fantastic presentation, Felix! Absolutely excellent.

[@andycordy5190]

A wonderful use of that theatre. Thank you

[@richardhellyer]

A wonderful talk in the best spirit of the RI. Thank you

[@battlefieldcustoms873]

been on a RI binge for a few months now and this one was absolutely top 3 favorite if not 2. so much learning so many experiments. I would love to go here one day.

[@edgeeffect]

I spent a while working at Diamond Light Source as a humble software developer... and one of my outstanding questions is "what is soft condensed matter?"... so thanks for answering half the question.

[@mrervinnemeth]

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

@mrervinnemeth I was trying to recall the wording of that quote just as I came to your comment. I imagine that will hold true for humans for eternity. Which I think is good, because it comes from our ability to (still) be amazed (wowed) by the “magic” around us. I am still amazed by many things that I do understand. Even that we can “understand” things should evoke a “Wow!” from all but the most jaded of people.

[@theeconomicmachine2369]

Always great to watch a Felix Flicker presentation!

[@davidmiller9485]

For anyone who wants to understand quasiparticles better go watch PBS Space Time here on KZbin. Dr. O'Dowd uses animations to show how quasiparticles work in silicon. It's quite fascinating.

[@raymitchell9736]

An interesting talk... What I think the key point is the familiar is magical, just like other states of matter like Superconductors, plasmas, etc. In a way it crosses into almost a metaphysical domain that I've considered the phenomena of my ability to observe this stuff is also magical, and then the next step of understanding it and its practical applications even more so. Also the presentation style is fun and engaging, I really like the way Felix gets into character, transports us into a sci-fi fantasy world, but then grounds it in reality with real physics and science... I just Love that!

[@douglasstrother6584]

Condensed Matter is my favorite field in Physics: Tabletop Quantum Mechanics.

[@tortysoft]

You won me over with the finger running up and down the tube !

[@shantanulokhande1792]

I just want to visit RI once before I die.

[@martinpollard8846]

The RI in London or The RI in London inThe Peripheral

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

@@martinpollard8846 Uh…

[@mattwalter5184]

Perhaps he is deserving of a round of applause.

[@riverbender9898]

Fascinating presentation! Thank You.

[@DeLiverpool]

Magical 💐

[@winstongludovatz111]

Excellent presentation, the most engaging I have seen in this series.

[@ManiM-kw6jz]

Thank you, I understand super conducting and quantum properties a little more now

[@andrewbrodis1239]

Excellently theoretical description. Thank!

[@dingleferry736]

Easily my new favorite science presenter! This and the talk on magnetic monopoles are both asbolutely wonderful!

[@outsidethepyramid]

Too cool, love this

[@rhosllwyd2863]

Excellent and entertaining!!!!

[@lorellafabro5484]

Wonderful presentation wizard Felix! Bravo! 👏😍

[@lionsden.1]

Brilliant visualization with the Infinity Cube...

[@muhammadmushtaq6928]

This is very interesting and captivating,but beyond my comprehension.But still I love to understand this.

[@hiredranger7410]

Brilliantly explained sir.

[@ianmackenzie8831]

Excellent!

[@sohamsuke]

Brilliant sir, thank you.

[@Sound-Dimensions]

came here from the interview on radio 4 today - fascinating - thank you!

[@marthareal8398]

You are most interesting and fearless. Thank you.

[@JRH2109]

Are we witnessing some kind of fashion renaissance amongst this new canon of young scientists? I swear that this guy, James Beacham and Cédric Villani (amongst many others) either share a stylist or are part of some clandestine network of time travelling eccentrics. (I'm just jealous, of course).

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

@johnholland3003 I like the clandestine or perhaps a conspiracy theory regarding their attire. I hoped it catches on then I won’t be quite so out of place! Lol!

[@jameshughes7670]

great lecture! easily understandable analogies :)

[@eskileriksson4457]

Wonderful lecture! Bravo!

[@leighshaw2551]

I love that Felix wouldn't look out of place as a Hogwarts professor.

[@sunwonders]

I always feel that the word magic is used to hide ignorance. If you are using magic as a metaphor for physics and in this discussion a way of describing the interaction effects of different states of matter, then I can see the relevance but I still feel the word and it's connotation hurt more with many people than help in the understanding of why things work the way that they do.

[@dmonvisigoth1651]

This guy is so utterly cool. He's what Americans picture when they imagine a British Professor (sans being old). Or an incarnation of the Doctor. Which I think he may, in fact, be.

[@christahurst7233]

Thank you enjoy great teacher

[@ronaldjorgensen6839]

thanks for your alchemical persistance in the face of the void is gold of defined system over chaos order from aether

[@whatitmeans]

there is a much intuitive example of quasiparticles: think of the manipulation of an air bubble on water as it travels to the surface, you could see the air bubble as a "lack of water" particle and find an equivalent description of its physics behavior

[@djvycious]

The guy used his physics expertise to get perfect hair. Just look at that flow!

[@Reth_Hard]

He's probably just using a neutron based shampoo, nothing too complicated...

[@alexandrugheorghe5610]

Suggestion: record the screen with presentation/camera and display that footage when presenting the relevant portion instead of the wide camera angle

[@kevinlasher2812]

My absolute favorite Berries and Cream mad scientist.

[@joseeduardorussoperis4668]

Felix is giving me the over qualified Bill Nye vibes. Great presentation!

[@krishchandran6819]

Superb

[@paulvr3158]

Nice!

[@michaelpenklis7580]

I remember watching a magic show and saying that is done by magnets. Its also knowing how strong the magnet pull is.

[@John-bv2ft]

Well made

[@soarinfan]

hi could anyone advise please ......was that a small fluorescent strip light or an led strip light he used over the plasma ball ? many thanks

[@AkiraVendaku]

Well Done===>

[@mymysticalside2842]

38:59 It's used in my record player and has been since the 70's...

[@alicetries5954]

I had not know about it before now

[@ZeHoSmusician]

17:42 I want that "infinity cube"! 😍

[@justincosby2258]

Im a rockhound, I love and study geology, and physics ( on my own not in college ). I seriously want one of those half mirrored ping pong ball boxes. Lol I absolutely love that!

[@thea.igamer3958]

Here comes the showman !

[@Randomlyme]

Felix is a magician

[@konradcomrade4845]

a second thought about long range superconducting power lines: 1.) would this be more susceptible to to detrimental induction by a Carrington_event_size solar flare? 2.) could it have a disrupting back EMF on Earth's magnetic dynamo ( if it is a DC line )? The Earth_dynamo may already be in a spinning down mode and going to reverse polarity?

[@davidwilkie9551]

This Mathemagical Holographic Principle Imagery, e-Pi-i sync-duration i-reflection Spinfoam bubble-mode orbital-orbits in crystalline Function->Form.

[@atomicdmt8763]

wiz-bang ~ central casting!

[@NikkiTrudelle]

Thanks for sharing this one! Does anyone know the original air date of this lecture? Just wondering

[@benjerman4438]

I just found it - it was a little buried in the description so I can see it being overlooked: 1 November 2022.

[@joshsav-.9080]

would have liked him as my cat drinking condensed felix physics milk

[@ShauriePvs]

Am i the only one who didn't see any spark when he tried showing closer to the camera

[@kylestanley4734]

Check out the concept of vacuum birefringence. If there happens to be a magnetic field on the order of 10 ^ 24 Tesla say from a magnetar birefringence occurs as a result in regards to polarized light.

[@MichaelSmith420fu]

A magnetic field of 10 to the 24th what?

[@kylestanley4734]

@@MichaelSmith420fu Tesla is the unit of measurement to define the magnetic flux density. This is a unit of measurement on the International System of Units, which is the metric system. One tesla is the same as one weber (the representation of magnetic flux) per square meter. One tesla is equal to 10,000 gauss.Jan 31, 2019

[@MichaelSmith420fu]

@@kylestanley4734 thx 👍

[@kylestanley4734]

@@MichaelSmith420fu when a neutron star is formed the magnetic field is the former star is preserved and compressed into that 24 km radius mass of neutrons us making a magnetar. Flux density can reach as high as 10 ^ 56 Tesla.

[@JohnDlugosz]

38:40 Re: levitating the Bullet Train removes the resistance from the tracks and that lets it go very fast. The resistance of rolling steel on steel rails is very small. You still have the bulk of the resistance which is from moving through the air. Maglev trains can have up to 4x the resistance of conventional rail, because of the higher speed. So saying it can move fast because of lower resistance is completely wrong. The Japanese Bullet Train runs up to 200 mph using wheels on track! The record speed, with conventional rail, is 275 miles per hour. The fastest operational maglev train (which I've ridden, BTW) is in China, not Japan. Japan does hold the speed record (375 mph) for a prototype vehicle on a test track, in 2015.

[@themightyripples6582]

About the solar panels in the Sahara... Couldn't we do that and store the energy in huge batteries then move it elsewhere? We'd only need to make sure that the amount of energy used to transport it is enough less than the amount of energy being stored, Idk if that's possible tho. If it is the people transporting it could also bring empty batteries to replace the full ones with. The whole process could have an automation to it where the transport truck would have to line itself up with each of its tires between 2 bumps, and the truck would have a computer on it that could see the battery, use fork lift like arms, which are on a track so it can move itself along the length of the bed of the truck, to lift and disconnect it (the battery would have to be approximately parallel to the spot the truck has to line up with) and the bed of the truck could have a conveyor to load the forklift like arms with the empty to replace the full battery with an empty one for charging, then it could pick the disconnected battery back up and the conveyor would roll the full one onto the truck where the empty just was. Again, I have no idea if this would be possible (mainly the whole "having enough more energy than it takes to transport it" bit. In fact, this might be less efficient then just having reeeeaally long wires), but it was an interesting thought process so I share :).

[@dnstone1127]

With that name I was expecting a mad German scientist.

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

@dnastone1137 - Has anyone run across a happy German scientist? Lol. I do believe though that “mad” in this context refers to “crazy”, “whacko”, “nutcase”, “head case”, “whack job”, und so weiter.* * Und so weiter is German for Et cetera. Not to be confused with Peter Cetera of the band “Chicago” whose albums all had the same name save the first album when the band was still called ‘Chicago Transit Authority’ or CTA, only with a number to denote the difference, e.g., Chicago IiI, Chicago IV, and so on.** ** And so on is the English equivalent of the German, und so weiter (usw), and thus the Latin, et cetera (etc). But the English has no abbreviation unless one considers “…” which has the same implication as “usw.”, “etc.”, and, “and so on”.

[@johnnyq4260]

38:42 Incorrect. The current speed record holder is the maglev line in Shanghai.

[@3zan6bel9]

Aether & EM waves solves all these questions

[@simontyrrell8866]

Surely the De Broglie wavelength of the electron also plays a part in preventing the electron from existing in the nucleus? Or am i being too simple?

[@m4inline]

Is a salt the smallest thing in the universe or is it a flour?

[@user-qi4zb7hl4g]

The amount of light coming out from the crystal should be half that of the light coming in? or the crystal can double the energy? 🙃

[@Reth_Hard]

yes

[@luminousfractal420]

The fuzzy balls was way more distracting than the magic 🤣

[@NathanOkun]

The electro-magnetic force is the force of magic since everything a wizard can do in fantasy and mythology can be done, in some manner, using it in some way.

[@roberttrimble6361]

How much you want for the infinity cube?

[@direwolfen]

I thought of rinsewind of the Discworld...

[@mrgadget1485]

Electrons, being Fermions, how can they be in the same state in a super conductor?

[@PBeringer]

He's wearing the same suit as his lecture on monopole magnets! Perhaps academics in the UK are paid as badly as in Australia ... 😜

[@mallninja9805]

Of course the pay is low, it's not like they're providing a useful service like playing football or lip syncing an autotuned melody!

[@PBeringer]

@@mallninja9805 Haha! Touché 😜 (It's not a very funny state of affairs, really ...)

[@lohphat]

It’s 2022 why was this recorded in interlaced mode? The edge flickering is distracting.

[@johnstfleur3987]

ABSOLUTE.

[@stunimbus1543]

If this really was magic, the proffessor's assistant would have been way more glamourous.😅

[@sirgoatofcheese]

You mentioned M Faraday's labs and work but failed to mention E Laithweight's work and presentations he did in that very room concerning Mag Lev. Why?

[@byrnemeister2008]

Because Faraday was one of the giants of physics. Uniting electricity and magnetism. Coming up with the first proper field theory. The foundation need for Einstein and relativity. Eric Laithwaite was a charismatic presenter and communicator. Very different achievements.

[@vitsirosh3722]

What a weird strange nervous little man

[@cdavis759]

That 3 piece suit and tie are straight out of 1842 London.

[@larrybud]

:40 seconds in and I'm pretty sure he's talking about "Zork".

[@plunder1956]

I don't think a 100w Incandescent bulb = a 2w LED. Possibly a 6-8w LED.

[@hartunstart]

So, quasi-particles can not enter vacuum. Can you turn a volume of space into "super-vacuum" so that even real particles can not enter?

[@m4inline]

If superconductors make electricity cheap why are the prices still rubbish in the winter??????

[@vinylzappa]

Might dark matter and dark energy be the medium for photons?

[@kevinstreet5709]

Newton said light was in small parcels

[@DiowE]

Right side of audiences must be feeling very ignored during this whole lecture. 😂😂 [DiowE]

[@whirledpeas3477]

Count Olaf ?

[@ANT-jm4qx]

The presenter kinda looks like Alexander from The Time Machine movie

[@davidohara7669]

Snape?

[@tobystewart4403]

It is a real shame that Einstein's photon is presented as a remarkable insight into the nature of light, rather than Maxwell's proof that light is an electromagnetic wave.