Tech Lectures

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Angela Sasse, UCL Computer Science

Passwords have been used for around 40 years to authenticate people to computer systems, and nowadays on phones and touchscreen devices. This lecture will explain why most people today struggle with them, and why, contrary to received security wisdom, strong passwords do not necessarily mean good security for stakeholders and organisations. What might be the likely replacement? 

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xg7mqWF4M8


The end of passwords (25 Mar 2014)

Come join the cosmic café at http://scifri.me/uov5vx

Neutrons, protons, and electrons—these are the basic building blocks of matter. But this kind of matter is only a tiny fraction of the entire universe. The rest, about 95 percent, in fact, is divided between dark matter and dark energy. Understanding what makes up dark matter and dark energy could help answer some of the biggest questions in physics. Physicists Jodi Cooley, Dan Hooper, and Nobel Prize winner Steven Weinberg join Ira Flatow to discuss what we do and don’t know about this “darker” side of physics, and what we hope to learn.

Understanding the Dark Side of Physics

Ryan Rykaczewski describes one of the most massive migrations on the planet, driven by the sun. Image by Tintinnidguy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

#ExplainTheSun  - The Largest Migration on The Planet

Once, there was the ordinary incandescent light bulb. It shone brightly, but wasted much of the energy put into it as heat. Then came the compact fluorescent. And as costs have dropped, consumers have increasingly been switching to light-emitting diode (LED) technology for many lighting applications, in an ongoing search for a more efficient bulb. Now, in work published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers report that nanophotonic devices may be able to breathe new life into old incandescent technology. Marin Soljačić and Ognjen Ilic, two authors of the study, explain how they’ve been able to “recycle” some of the incandescent bulb’s wasted heat and re-emit it as visible light, boosting efficiency.

For the Lowly Incandescent Bulb, a Ray of Hope

Science, technology, and other cool stuff from public radio's Science Friday. It's brain fun, for curious people. From WNYC Studios.

"Silence is dry; sound is wet. Volume is the mass of sound. In silence you can hear people think, but only when their bodies stop making noises.
But who cares what people think?(...) 
Listen to your body, talk to plants. Ignore people." (unknown)

Understanding the Dark Side of Physics

SciFri

Related tracks