I have received this request from a friend roughly 5,000 miles away:

My maternal cousin has to prepare a write up for her school.  She needs to write something on 'fun physics'.

Alas, I am stumped.  I could write something on "fun chemistry", perhaps, but I would be better placed to write an article on non-fun physics.  This may seem bizarre, since I work in a physics department, but like an immigrant who finds it hard to learn the language, I'm still basically a chemist with an interest in mathematics.  My own experience (from schooldays) and that of my son (who did physics at a different university) have been somewhat of the "Murphy's Law" variety.  (I feel a "woolly-monkey" moment coming on: "Oh, I could a tail unfold".)  Nevertheless, I can still see that it is a wonderful subject, as our own third-year students' year book would gladly tell you, but alas that is not for general release.

So, any help or inspiration on this topic would be greatly welcomed.

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