And I think we’re off to a nice start.

A/P Sherwood is the FIRST Engineering lecturer I’ve seen who comes into the LT wearing a t-shirt one size too small, jeans and a container of liquid nitrogen.

He then pulls out a polymer strip, almost a meter long, and starts to play with it. He straightens it, and watches it flop down. Does it a couple more times, and THEN, in the most underhanded voice he can muster he comments (to himself), “This is fun.”

I won’t even begin to describe him put the polymer strip into the liquid nitrogen and stroking it to prove how “rigid” it gets when cold.

All this in the middle of a half an hour lecture. Whoa. And I’m going to see this guy three times a week for the next semester!

And in other news…

The Avengers Disassembled event has more or less kicked off. This book, which affects several Marvel Comics titles including Thor, Captain America and Iron Man, is one of those “we’re not a crossover, but there sure are repurcussions to everything” stories.

The Avengers are in an internal crisis. They have been declared the property of the United Nations, and are the world’s superheroes (even though based in New York City). This puts members like Iron Man (who, in a twist of fate, was elected Secretary of Defense) and Black Panther (who is somehow still King of his African nation of Wakanda) at odds with the other members over several issues.

To make matters worse, a supervillian (currently believed to be Captain America’s archnemesis, the Red Skull) is causing all some of the Avengers to behave irrationally. Tony Stark wears his Iron Man armour to a UN conference, and then threatens the Latverian representative. Furthermore, long-time supporting characters like the Warriors Three and Baldur fall, casualties as Thor’s world caves in on itself.

All in all, it seems like an interesting read. I wonder how it ends.

And just for your entertainment - HULK BLOG! and here’s a cute Taiwanese road safety commercial.