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Shining Light on the Heart: Figuratively and Literally
Every heart runs on electricity, also yours! Tiny electrical waves travel through our heart tissue to keep every heartbeat in perfect rhythm. But what happens when that rhythm is disturbed? That’s what we call a heart rhythm disorder, or arrhythmia. What does that actually look like? How do these disturbances arise? And are shock paddles, like in hospital TV series, really the only solution? To answer these questions, let’s explore the heart from a physicist’s perspective. We’ll see how electrical patterns form, move, and sometimes (literally) spiral out of control. Together we’ll go on a journey from the basics to cutting-edge, almost science-fiction technologies where we might one day painlessly reset heart rhythms simply by literally shining light on the heart (say whaaat?!).
Come see me on Tuesday evening 19/05 in DOTS bar! Have a drink, and listen to me talk for an hour :)
I wrote a follow-up article for the Dutch website natuurkunde.nl detailing the biophysics behind cardiac rhythm. This time around the article highlights the unique ways in which excitation waves regulate our heart rhythm, but also how things could go wrong and initiate rhythm disorders. You can find the article here.
I wrote an article for the Dutch website natuurkunde.nl detailing the biophysics behind cardiac rhythm. It is aimed at high school students with basic mathematical and physical knowledge. This article highlights that there are more uses to high school subjects than people probably have in mind as it is not covered by a regular school curriculum. You can find the article here.
In regular sessions I speak about my passion for science to primary, elementary and high school students. This happens through a video connection which allows me to spread my enthusiasm all over the globe. Presentations handle a variety of topics and aspects taking age and interests of each particular class into account.
Past talks:
5th grade class, Ober Elementary, Las Vegas, USA
4th grade class, Co-op Academy Friarswood, Staffordshire, UK
Science Day LUMC
On October 6th, the LUMC opened its doors for those interested in scientific research, with a special focus on youngsters. The Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology was also present and I showed the kids how to pipette solution A (yellow lemonade) and B (pink lemonade) into test tube X in order to show them how scientists work daily with those same techniques to try and understand how they can cure diseases and get poeple out of the hospital.
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