![Nuns from Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in Mundgod, South India, begin the creation of the Medicine Buddha Sand Mandala at the Peter J. Gomes Chapel in Lewiston, Maine, as part of the Jangchub Jamtse Tour, on June 24, 2024. The mandala is part of the Jangchub Jamtse Tour and aims to generate positive energy and mend physical, emotional, spiritual, and environmental ailments.The event is open to the public until June 28, 2024. (Theophil Syslo | Bates College)](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2024/06/4x6_-200x133.webp)
NOVA intern Sarah Charley ’11 starts with a joke
In her debut blog post as a intern for NOVA, Sarah Charley ’11 explains the Heisenberg uncertainty principle using an old joke and a few apt similes that explain how an electron can sometimes be like a “sheet crumpled into a ball” and other times like a “quilt spread across a bed.”
Here’s the joke. Professor Werner Heisenberg is speeding down the highway when a cop pulls him over. The cop walks up to his car and asks, “Excuse me sir, do you know how fast you were going?” And Heisenberg responds, “No, but I know exactly where I am!” (Read Charley’s post to see the humor.)
Entering the field of science journalism has been Charley’s career goal for some time. For her chemistry senior thesis last year, Charley produced a full-length magazine about the faculty and student research happenings in the chemistry department. And last winter, she gamely used a snow sculpture to explain the concepts of potential barriers and quantum tunneling.