Sam is a PhD student at Durham Univeristy working on structures in the solar wind. His pastimes include pestering Clare about Linux and making Adam feel old. Seriously, who remembers the 90s?
More from Chalkdust

Chalkdust dissertation prize 2025
Calling all final-year students! This is your opportunity to get your work published as a Chalkdust article.
A symmetric universe
Sam Kay reflects on building a universe
The big argument: Should we write another issue?
How much barrel is left to scrape?
The big argument: What’s the best way to end a proof?
QED or $\square$?
On the cover: Vhat? Vhere? Venn
Madeleine Hall takes a brief dive into the world’s favourite set-relationship-representation diagram.
Finding the edge of your images
How can we identify objects in photos, to diagnose cancer or predict the weather? Using gradients!
