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Spin a patterned polariser over a plain polariser and the light dances
around the disc. This demonstration was one part of the annual ‘Physics
at Work’ exhibition in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.
Its aim is to show how industrial companies use physics.

The light demonstration was provided by British Nuclear Fuels. Also
at the event were British Gas, with its intelligent pig – a sausage-shaped
machine studded with sensors that inspects gas pipes from the inside – and
Domino Amjet, which printed ‘best before’ dates on eggs with its inkjet
printer.

About 1500 children aged 15 and 16 from East Anglia turned up for the
day. ‘We are trying to interest them in A-level physics,’ says Brenda Jenison,
who organised the exhibition. ‘National Curriculum physics is pretty dull
– they never get time to play with physics.’ The children gave verdicts
like ‘fab’ and ‘exciting’, she says.