There are days you never forget. One of them is 12 February 2024. On the boat from Nacka Strand towards central Stockholm, we got a text message from a family member, with a link to an article in the Gothenburg local newspaper, showing Liseberg’s new water park in flames, with explosions sending fire and smoke through the large water slides, and black smoke over the neighbouring areas. Days in shock, grief and disbelief followed: A world class waterpark, nearly ready for opening, instead became a dangerous rescue site.
How could the fire happen? How could it spread so rapidly? Were rules not followed – or were the rules insufficient (or both)? Questions, questions, questions.
I have now learned that, technically, these water slides were not yet “water slides” but part of a construction site, with different rules. We were told that these fires are “extremely rare” – and yet, a google search revealed about one water slide fire per year during the last few years.
I suddenly recalled visits to three Virtual Reality “Caves” during Supercomputing ’96, on the large exhibit floor – and two of them showed tires burning in a chimney (although only with virtual smoke and without temperature effects). One of the talks during the SC’96 conference, discussed analyses of collapsing buildings as an example of an application where high-performance computing would make a difference. I started wondering about simulation possiblitites, with today’s much faster computing. Nearly three decades later, LUMI notes that “fire safety plans, systems and measures must be designed for fast, effective action in real emergencies”.
I have now learned more about fire safety research, from LTH in Lund, to LNE in France and NIST in the US. I have watched movies, from the NIST advanced fire modeling playlist, where they compare real fires with simulations, using their open source Fire safety dynamics software, FSD.
Fire simulations are obviously very challenging, even for simple geometries and ventilated situations. For Oceana, also the relatively simple geometry of the black rectangular prism tower was complicated by slides coming out from the sides, probably underventilated.
That modern computers can manage complex geometries was demonstrated in a recent project on LUMI hosted by the CSC – IT Center for Science in Finland (Csc.fi) where “supercomputer resources were used to simulate fire safety and speed up the design process”. When will we see fire safety simulations for water slides?
Looking back on 2023, there is a lot of looking many years back.
For the first time since the Covid outbreak, we visited Läckö castle for an opera performance, this year of Verdi’s Macbeth. Staying in the Naturum, we appreciated the looking back to many years of Rörstrand patterns. We also participated in Music Weeks in Sweden in Svalöv, reconnecting many friends, singing Durufle’s requiem and much more in the closing concert in Lund cathedral.
Being part of the grading group for the physics competition in January, I noted how most students omitted drawings, in spite of instructions. This reminded me of one of the first PER theses I read, by Charles Henderson, and inspired a paper on student understanding of friction for a car speeding up.
The year has also involved a few occasions of playground physics with preschool teachers – as well as the publication of a paper about how playground swings can be used for physics teaching – way beyond preschool. The paper opened with an authentic student dialogue, dating back to 2005.
When the YouTube channel Theme Park Science visited Liseberg to study the heating of the Helix magnetic brakes, it brought back memories of a 2012 paper — and experiences of today’s much easier access to IR movies. The collaboration also resulted in a very nerdy return to Chain Flyer physics, with one manuscript submitted and an even nerdier paper in the pipe. (There is more to learn than was included in the 2015 paper.)
The Oppenheimer movie brought back memories of a student project (although in the move, I did miss Fermi’s description of the first blast: “Since, at the time, there was no wind I could observe very distinctly and actually measure the displacement of the pieces of paper that were in the process of falling while the blast was passing. The shift was about 2 1/2 meters, which, at the time, I estimated to correspond to the blast that would be produced by ten thousand tons of T.N.T.”).
As preparation for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology 2025, celebrating 100 years of quantum mechanics, I am now also revisiting another student project, with Alice in Quantumland, which was presented at Physics on Stage 2003. I am also remembering the International Year of Physics in 2005, and the opening at UNESCO of the International Year of Light 2015.
My publication year 2023 started with a paper trying out ChatGPT, submitted in December 2022, asking the Chatbot about acceleration in the highest point when a teddy bear (or rabbit) is thrown into the air. We knew we had to be quick, in view of the very fast development – the paper has already been well cited, and more citations expected.
Looking forward to creative collaborations in 2024 – with and without rabbits.
May 2022 was filled with lots of social catching up after years of restrictions (some external, some self-imposed). Already May 1st we visited Liseberg with daughter and grandson, enjoying the large Lisebergshjulet, Morotsresan and Kaninlandsbanan – and ice cream in the new LunaPark part. April and early May are certainly a better time (less queues) to visit Liseberg than later in the summer!
A couple of days later, I was invited to join high-school students at Plikta, sharing playground physics investigations in swings, slides, see-saws and carousels – a morning full of joyful discussions.
The day after, I took part in the Soap Box Science event, which was of the Gothenburg International Science festival, with four female scientist in one corner each of a square in the large indoor shopping galleria Nordstan, with many fascinating interactions with visiting families and teenagers, and a couple of free-fall and pendulum demonstrations.
Even with the post-pandemic, I couldn’t quite bring myself to organize a large birthday party – but very much enjoyed a sister surprise visit.
The week after, a thesis defense in Lund – IRL. The days before and after were spent in Löderup, before poppy time, but instead rape fields in their yellow prime and pasqueflower still in bloom.
It has also been a month of reconnecting with the physics department at University of Gothenburg, with bachelor thesis supervision and a department island excursion.
May is, indeed, a wondrous month. The dawn chorus at home has been more intensive than ever – no longer any cat to threaten the birds. And now it is June, with family social events coming up and many more student and teacher interactions (including a teacher day at Gröna Lund).
Another year comes to an end. Another year of making the most of local possibilities, including early morning cycling to a nearby lake for a pre-breakfast swim around the summer solstice and skiing and skating around the winter solstice, and whenever possible scheduling outdoor family meetings. Vaccinations in June-July created a window of more normal life, including visits to Liseberg and the department in Lund, as well as two edutainment days at Gröna Lund in September (including a few rides in Monster), and seeing both the sons who now live in Stockholm. After a booster in December we could also have a family Christmas. One little fir tree from the garden was selected for a Christmas tree this year.
The book manuscript submitted in April was finally published in November. The chapter on circular motion that was originally planned ended up being split into two. Since circular motion in a vertical plane can involve many different types of rotation, a preceding chapter on rotation was needed. However, the circular motion in next year’s new attraction Tempus at Liseberg (a Nebulaz from Zamperla) is essentially rotation-free – and perfect for making student assignments: What forces from the ride act on your body during the different parts of the motion?
The work on amusement park physics also seems to go in circles, coming back to studies of students’ inconsistent strategies in problems involving circular motion, now using some multiple-choice questions based on open-ended questions I used some 15 years ago. It is really fascinating to discover how only very few students manage consistency over uniform and non-uniform circular motion and in vertical and horizontal planes, and how rarely they make use of the experiences of their own bodies.
Edvard Grieg’s Våren (The spring) from singing classes in school keeps coming to mind. (Listen to Kirsten Flagstad!)
Once more, I got to see the poppies at Kåseberga (bild), our garden Robinias in flower and strawberries ripen.
Once more, I prepare a conference presentation – but the conference has turned virtual.
Once more, I have submitted abstracts hoping for an IRL conference next year.
Once more an IRL reunion has been postponed – it should have been a 50-year reunion of the IMO71 participants, 5 years after many us met again in Zilina.
Once more, midsummer celebrations were limited to a morning with the family of my only grandchild – very much enjoyed, but not even pretending to be dancing around a midsummer pole
Once more, heat records are broken. My first post-doc summer in Seattle, the hot summer of 1979, the July temperature reached 98.1 °F.). This year it reached 108 °F already in June.
Once more, a half-year has passed, nearly without roller coaster and with very restricted IRL interactions.
Winter – summer- winter – summer again
Once more, I am reminded of Harry Martinssons imagined spaceship Aniara travelling through empty space
Next week, I will be vaccinated again. I so much look forward to a world where, once more, we will be able to meet again – IRL!
When a member of a large Facebook group suggested that we try to get together during the 22nd Matematikbiennal (Mathematics biennial) 31 March-1 April 2022 it created a lot of happy anticipation. Even if the Facebook discussions are lively and interesting, there is always a special joy when you finally meet your digital friends in real life.
It also reminded us of different times, when you could meet in real life – IRL. Did I really visit Australia a couple of months before? Did I really take part in a conference in Freiburg in October – and run a teacher day in Europa-Park? Did we really meet with 2000 math teachers in January 2020? For many of us, the Mathematics biennial in 2020 was the last major meeting before society closed down – a large celebration of mathematics, for teachers from preschool to university. We hope that a monter for the Facebook group will give us opportunities for many IRL meetings.
Digital meetings
The pandemic year has involved large restrictions on physical meetings. From workplace to annual meetings and large conferences, many meetings have moved on-line. For many, it has resulted in less commuting. The on-line format has opened possibilities to attend seminars, thesis defences, lectures and concerts without leaving home. Conference organizers have found many creative ways to enhance the interactions, not only through break-out rooms. Poster talks could be viewed in advance and questions posted in a chat. A discussion after a longer talk could finish with “let us continue the discussion in the coffee room – which was designed as a “second-life”-like experience. And still, in spite of all digital creativity we miss being together for real.
IRL meetings are different!
Even if digital communications have come a long way from the text-only e-mails of the mid-eighties, virtual coffee breaks are not quite the same as the informal and spontaneous discussions around the coffee machine. Webinars, where you can ask questions in a chat or Q&A window makes you realise how much more information is conveyed already by the vocal intonations. Communication in real meetings involves also eye contact and body language.
Recently Nanna Gillberg, vice director of the Gothenburg Research Insitute at the School of Business, Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg, visited Liseberg for a discussion with Andreas Veilstrup Andersen, CEO of Liseberg, to discuss the future of physical meetings. Their discussion, recorded in an empty Liseberg, can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1_D8QXkPo.
They both enjoyed the beautiful park – and meeting someone “for real”. It starts with Andreas telling about the experience of visiting a new amusement park, being the only visitor. In spite of the easy access to all rides, he found the surrealistic experience terrible, making him intensely aware of the importance of human interactions for the enjoyment of a visit.
In the interview, Nanna talks about zoom fatigue and also reminds us that it is impossible focus on the camera and the screen at the same time – in a zoom-meeting we cannot make eye contact! She hopes that this year will give us all an increased appreciation of the non-digital life, and notes that a real meeting is between people, is hear and now, and you can’t press the repeat button. This intensity requires that participants “are present, not only physically, but also mentally”, which doesn’t always happen, when we are busy with our phones.
Importance of IRL meetings for organizations
Andreas notes in the interview that while working digitally is very effective, you loose the informal interactions which hold an organization together. He continues “I think that it is negative for the culture of an organization … the digitalization creates a distance which I don’t think is good, not for the organization and not for society”.
Nanna mentions research that shows that while productivity may not have been reduced, creativity has been negatively affected: “It doesn’t work at all in the same way in these digital boxes.”. She describes zoom meetings as a formalized contact, limiting sponaneity and the flow of the conversations. She has also found that there have been many more work meetings during the last year, since you have to schedule formal meetings to discuss what would otherwise have been solved quickly as part of informal small talk.
Nanna believes that the past year can lead to increased appreciation of the non-digital interactions. “Maybe we see what happens when we have to be only digital, it is not as fun as you may have expected. I hope that we may be more present and realize the importance of being together with other people, not only physically, but really present, and how much more rewarding it is”.
520 days without roller coasters
In March 2020, the Swedish government decided to use the Public Order Act from 1993 to restrict public gatherings to 50 persons in efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19. In spite of detailed plans for safe opening, no exceptions were made for amusement parks, as discussed in an earlier blog post. Not until June 1 2021. So when Liseberg opened its gates on June 3 – still with a restriction of 5000 visitors per day – it had remained closed for 520 days.
Whereas many activities have been able move on-line, amusement parks visits are not among them. PoV ride movies or NoLimits simulations can provide visual and audio experiences but no matter how good the resolution is, they can never make your body experience the weightlessness or the large G-forces of the ride.
Digitalization and amusement parks
For many years, much of the marketing has involved social media, and the interaction with guests have continued throughout the pandemic year. Increasing fractions of the ticket sales have taken place over the internet.
For the new dark ride Underlandet, ready to open in 2020, a virtual queue was planned to enable children to play on the playground while waiting their turn. “This is the future of our industry”, Andreas notes and also explains how the pandemic made Liseberg implement virtual queues for the 13 main attractions in the park, sooner than would have happened otherwise. He notes that “The digital must be integrated with the experience, but in a wise way”. He is less enthusiastic about innovations that require you to be on-line, like selfie-stations everywhere and on-line gaming with others.
Nanna expresses her delight about how Liseberg uses digitalization: “What you are doing here and now is to facilitate the physical meeting. Everything that facilitates the physical meeting without competing sounds great and will also enhance the guest experience.”
Concerts – in real life or hybrids?
Andreas brings up the question about the future of concerts – will they be in real life or in some hybrid format? He wants to hold on to the social experience – in real life! Nanna agrees and points out that we are co-creators of the experiences when we meet.
She has written about how the digital technology tends to transform the experience of live conserts from the intensity of “here and now” and “never comes back”, when everyone was fully present, to a very different experience. Those who used to give everyhing of their own engagement and presence in the moment are instad there to document: “You may be completely concentrated, but more on the question of whether you phone will die or if the battery will last until the final chorus.” In this way, the experience is changed for everyone.
Near life visitor experiences!
The IRL qualities are at the heart of amusement park visits. They include meetings with friends, as well as random encounters with acquaintances and other visitors. The beauty of the environment, discovering new details of technology or the immersive themeing of stations and rides – all contribute to the experience of the visit. Andreas hopes that “A lot of what makes us human will be amplified after this year” and emphasizes that “What you experience at Liseberg is the live music, the feeling of weightlessness in rides, the smell of freshly-baked waffles”.
During the Mathematics biennial, I also hope to discuss some of the mathematics relating to amusement rides.
For roller coaster enthusiasts, large amusement rides are not “near-death” experiences, as media often like to describe them, but rather near-life experiences – for all senses.
Reading through the AIP author instructions for submitting a book manuscript, somehow brings back memories of manuscript submission in the late seventies and early eighties: separate figures, mark the approximate position of the figures in text. Clearly not adapted to LaTeX submissions.
Trento. Sometime in the late 90’s. ECT, European Center for Theoretical studies in nuclear theory and related areas. Inside the entrance door, a notice about how to get to the restaurant. During the meeting, the hostess for the building came in and described the way. I said “but there is a notice at the door with instructions” – and got a quick response “People don’t read instructions”.
Where is the entrance to Balder?
A Liseberg employee confirmed the general observation that people don’t read notices. Many years ago he told that he often got the question “Where is the entrance to Balder?”, even when standing just under the large sign marking the entrance.
In today’s general information overload, it is easy to skip reading information, that may sometimes be important. One Liseberg activity I have found nearly impossible to instruct non-physicists about using only text is the use of a small pendulum in a slowly rotating tower. One of my students told that she had discovered one high-school teacher, whose pendulum was not swinging, but he was convinced he didn’t need help from anyone. Possibly a little movie may help.
I was reminded of the statement about not reading instructions during Saturday’s Swedish final for the EUSO – European Union Science Olympiad. Two days before, the students had a review meeting to practice zoom and have a brief presentation by those responsible for the physics, chemistry and biology part of the competition. They were also told that instructions for making diagrams in Google spreadsheet could be found in their folders, which they accessed during the meetings. Surprisingly few of the 27 participants had taken the hint that what is presented during a preparatory meeting might come in handy for the competition itself.
Read the whole document!
We were also surprised to note how most of the students missed the first instruction of the sheet with questions for one of the subcompetitions, which stated “read through the whole document”. If they had followed this instruction, they would not have been surprised to discover halv-way through the test that they were supposed to draw a diagram and find a relation to describe their results.
Reading through tests is, of course, always a good strategy for tests, to help you plan your work. Possibly, these talented youths have not yet experienced a need for this strategy, if they have never been challenged for time in school.
A long time ago, I was told that a teacher had given a test with the first instruction was “Write your name in the upper right corner of the page” followed by “Read through all the question before doing anything else. As the students came to the end of the page, the final line noted “the only thing written on your paper now should be your name”? Today’s student may need this reminder about reading instructions.
I think that 1986 may have been the last year before 2020 that I didn’t go on a single roller coaster or other amusement ride. Our older children had yet to discover the joys of carousels, veteran cars and children’s boats.
For 25 years, since 1995, I have used amusement parks as part of physics teaching, for my own students in physics and engineering programmes, as a guest teacher in math and technology teacher education, for teacher professional development events and also for many years as coorganizer of Edutainment days at Gröna Lund and physics days at Liseberg. Not this year.
Still, we are, of course, privileged to have a large house, with a large garden and plenty of nice walks and bike excursions at the doorstep. Working from home is mostly OK.
Waterbombing the sea and flowerspraying the forest fire
The Swedish response to Covid-19 has been very erratic. Amusement parks had to stay closed, with reference to a law of public order (from 1993!), while crowds of people have been allowed in shopping centres and in public transport, as described in the blog post from July.
All over Europe – except Sweden – the amusement parks opened, using the joint detailed plans for safe opening. Sweden, in general, has taken very different approaches to the rest of Europe. The Swedish policy feels like waterbombing the sea while using a flower spray on a forest fire.
The blog post from July, outlining my view of the situation is a translation of one of many versions of an opinion piece that faced rejection from several newspapers (following three accepted pieces, though). So, this year, I have faced more rejections than all previous rejections from earlier years. On the other hand, I have got several physics education papers published.
Theoretical roller coaster rides and other 2020 texts
Without the distraction of real amusement park visits, it has been quite a productive writing year, starting with a paper I never thought I would write – on Newton’s first law and smartphones in amusement parks, which spawned out of a book manuscript (that was also rejected by two publishers, but finally landed successfully with the AAPT/AIP, due in June 2021 – thanks Rebecca Vieyra for suggesting them).
Virtual amusement rides don’t give you the experience of weightlessness or many g’s, but they can remind you of the experience and also provide overlays of theoretical forces. This work, in collaboration with Malcolm Burt, is part of a second paper spawned from the book writing, about different ways of representing acceleration in one-dimensional motion.
During a year with fewer distractions, I have also dug into old notes, and finally written up papers about balls rolling down a playground slide (spawned from the playground chapter of the book) which has been in the pipeline since 2015. A paper about Archimedes principle together with two high-school teachers, following a facebook teacher discussion, only had to wait three year to be written. The really old notes were from constructing the competition problems for the EUSO 2010 in Gothenburg, expected in the March 2021 issue of Physics Education.
The “best-seller” about jerk, which has now been downloaded nearly 1/8 million times, was followed by two papers this year, one about jerk and snap in roller coasters, together with David Eager, and one literature review about Jerk within the context of science and engineering, including also Hasti Hayati (who did most of the hard work) and Hans Alberg (who always manages to find relevant historical references, even if they are not always easily available).
I was also invited to coauthor a paper about Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite Play (do try it, if you haven’t already – it is great for demonstrations, and to introduce teachers and friends to the sensors in the phone).
Zoom, zoom, zoom
Four licentiate students had their final seminars during the year. Simon Holmström defended his work during what would be my last meeting with colleagues in Lund. All the others have been via zoom – and of course, it is wonderful that telepresence can work as well as it does.
A couple of teacher professional development activities also happened over zoom – with the the advantage of enabling teachers from different parts of the country to meet.
Looking forward to 2021
Like all teachers, I am really looking forward to some IRL interactions during 2021. Of course I also look forward to experiencing the new dark ride Wonderland at Liseberg – and to riding roller coasters again.
Please, politicians – sort out a sensible pandemic law, where closures depend on reality and not on what is covered by a law from 1993! Stop waterbombing the sea!
Helix, Valkyria, Balder, Lisebergbanan – and the Monster at Gröna Lund. I don’t want to wait any longer!
To sit att the top of a roller coaster and look down into the hole in the ground, in terror or anticipation, and then go faster and faster before turning up again is a powerful experience. To stand on the side, and watch Swedish amusement parks nearly going under is just excruciating. And it is all because of a clause in the Public Order Act (from 1993). Also performing artists are dealt a severe blow through this regulation.
To the general public, it is incomprehensible that amusement parks remain closed, while people continue to crowd in shopping malls, beaches and public transport. The government has chosen to strain at a gnat but swallow camels. What happened to the principle of proportionality?
Background
As of 29 March the Public Health Agency in Sweden (FHM) has restricted public gatherings and events to 50. The list of situations affected by the legislation can be found in the Public Order Act, chapter 2, and the Swedish original lists “Tivolinöjen” (Tivoli amusements) among the situations affected. The Public Order Act dates back to 1993, and is obviously not written speficically for the COVID situation. The Kolmården and Furuvik parks are classified as zoos. Their main roller coasters are permitted to run, but no other rides, to comply with the 50 person limit.
The police, who grants permissions to open, chooses to apply the 50 person limit whether the event is indoors or outdoors, and independent of the area availabe for the event. This blunt application of a law from 1993 is clearly not based on risks for contagion. Where is the proportionality?
Regulations: text and intentions
We should be able to expect that our politicians take care to understand the implications of their decisions. Their negligence concerning amusement parks make thousands of young people without their summer job and several hundred employees may have to be fired. Parks risk to lose their experiences and competences in the form of human capital. This happens in a situation where the unemployment in Sweden is reaching levels that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. What could have given well-needed tax revenues instead becomes a need for support. The government chooses a decision that threaten a whole branch of society. Where is the proportionality?
Consequences of a decision may not be immediately obvious, in particular in view of the many unusual decisions made in a short period. However, it is less easy to excuse the authorities’ refusal to renter a dialog about reality.
Johan Dibb has analysed the decisions made by FHM during 2020, and found that they have failed not only to use even a reduced 24 hours referral time, but also send their decisions for later referral. He also hints that FHM has given itself authority that is beyond what is supported by law.
If FHM had used referral, they might have noticed that their recommendation for summer travel is insufficiently precise to achieve the intended effect. The recommendation states that “Those who need public transport should chose alternatives where seat reservation is possible”. However, they seem to have assumed that trains either have mandatory seat reservation or no seat reservations. They seem oblivious to the fact that many trains offer, but do not require, reservation.
On June 8 (DI), the Swedish amusement parks appealed to the government for a permission to open, and described how politicians have refused discussion and how risk analyses and a playbook for safe opening including prebooking, virtual queues, and modified loading and unloading procedures have been sent to politicians in charge, but been met with only silence or nonsensical standard responses.
While the parks in Europe are opening, Swedish parks have to remain closed – just because they have an organization that enables them to limit visitor numbers and to create virtual queues to trains in roller coasters. Where is the proportionality?
The principle of proportionality
The Swedish legal text from 29 March does includes a reminder of the principle of proportionality, which requires authorities to strike a balance between the means used and the intended aim. However this part of the text is not included in the English translation.
The principle of proportionality involves “suitability, necessity and proportionality in the narrow sense”. In a Swedish text from 2018, Oscar Söderlund discusses the proportionality requirement and writes about the necessity criterion, that it should be considered “whether a less restrictive law would be just as well suited to fulfil the aim” and notes that “less restrictive” also cover other situations.
The decision not to allow amusement parks to open can only be viewed as a symbolic action to signal to the ouside world that the government takes Covid 19 seriously, in a situation where Sweden is under external attack for its high death toll. The failure to regulate e.g. public transport shows that the decision to keep parks closed cannot be seen as part of a conscious national strategy. Given all other non-restricted opportunities to catch the disease, this is a meaningless action, with a very high price tag: Swedish amusement parks have sued the Ministry of enterprise and innovation for 1.5GSEK and Liseberg just announced a one year delay for opening its next large ride.
However, with covid numbers going down, and European parks opening, this symbolic action is more likely to send a signal abroad that Swedens is still a country to be shunned.
Summer is not yet over. I wish the politicians would wake up from their summer hibernation and ask the question: Where is the proportionality? and conclude that the amusement parks should be given a permission to open. NOW!!!
Looking back on 2023, there is a lot of looking many years back. 
Research, Rabbits and Roller Coasters 