Dydd G?yl Dewi yn y Labordy Ffiseg

Dydd G?yl Dewi yn y Labordy Ffiseg Originally uploaded by huwwaters.

I don’t speak Welsh but assume this says something like ‘daffodil that was frozen in nitrogen and then crushed during first year physics lab’. I know that because I crushed and froze it myself and this photo was taken by one of the lab students, Huw Waters. The daffodil only took a few seconds to freeze after I dipped it into the liquid nitrogen. We then crushed it as it had the texture of tissue paper and I held it for a moment until the cold started to seep through the glove. I placed the yellow shards onto the black plastic mat and then later we put another, unscathed, daff next to it as a nice comparison. This was of course all in aid of St. David’s Day which is on March 1st and in Wales at least, a big deal. I hereby chair Huw as the bard for this lovely photo and curse myself for next bringing my camera along. Next week: we freeze bananas!