• Question: Is there anything that has gone wrong but you've managed to turn into something funny?

    Asked by anon-322243 on 1 Apr 2022.
    • Photo: Alistair McShee

      Alistair McShee answered on 22 Mar 2022:

      Once or twice when setting up an experiment I have forgotten to turn something on, then panicked as to why it isn’t working, and then double checked everything and realised there was one tiny button or switch I haven’t pressed and everything is actually working fine 😅

    • Photo: Daisy Shearer

      Daisy Shearer answered on 22 Mar 2022:

      I don’t know about turning it into something funny, but things often don’t go to plan when I’m doing experiments! That’s kinda the nature of experimental physics though. We do often laugh about things when the problem is solved and it’s something simple like one of our pieces of equipment not being switched on (it happens more often than I’d like to admit!). Our big magnet does have a huge Thomas the Tank Engine face stuck to it which does make everything in the lab a bit more lighthearted, even when it’s super frustrating 😅

    • Photo: Luke Humphrey

      Luke Humphrey answered on 25 Mar 2022:

      Great question. It’s a boring answer but I think this is good practice for when you have technical difficulties in an important presentation. Like if your slides start bugging out it can be really embarrassing, which hurts your confidence. It’s much better to have a laugh about it and remember your audience is all human and it’s happened to pretty much everybody one time or another.

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