Turn or go straight? Quick! : Dot Physics This is a classic problem. You are in a car heading straight towards a wall. Should you try to stop or should you try to turn to avoid the wall? Bonus question: what if the wall is not really wide so you don’t have to turn 90… Continue reading Links for 2010-08-06
Month: August 2010
Thursday Thbbppt Blogging
I meant to take a picture of SteelyKid yesterday, before she left for Grammy’s, so we would have a Toddler Blogging shot for the week. Alas, I am a dope, so you will have to make do with this out-take from last week’s shots, in which SteelyKid shares her opinion of her father’s dodgy memory:… Continue reading Thursday Thbbppt Blogging
Many-Worlds in Fiction: “Divided by Infinity”
Today, Tor.com has posted the complete story “Divided by Infinity” by Robert Charles Wilson. This remains probably the best science fiction story ever using the Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum physics (though it doesn’t call it that explicitly), and also the creepiest: In the year after Lorraine’s death I contemplated suicide six times. Contemplated it seriously,… Continue reading Many-Worlds in Fiction: “Divided by Infinity”
What’s a Photon, and How Do We Know they Exist?
A reader emailed me with a few questions regarding How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, one of which is too good not to turn into a blog post: What is a photon from an experimental perspective?… Could you perhaps provide me with a reference that discusses some experiments and these definitional issues? The short… Continue reading What’s a Photon, and How Do We Know they Exist?
Academic Poll: Mens Sana in Corpore Sano?
This Slate story on the number of Americans who can’t swim was kind of surprising to me: In a 1994 CDC study, 37 percent of American adults said they couldn’t swim 24 yards, the length of a typical gymnasium lap pool. A 2008 study conducted by researchers at the University of Memphis found that almost… Continue reading Academic Poll: Mens Sana in Corpore Sano?
Links for 2010-08-05
Judge Walker’s decision to overturn Prop 8 is factual, well-reasoned, and powerful. – By Dahlia Lithwick – Slate Magazine “It’s hard to read Judge Walker’s opinion without sensing that what really won out today was science, methodology, and hard work. Had the proponents of Prop 8 made even a minimal effort to put on a… Continue reading Links for 2010-08-05
Reader Request: What’s the Matter with Stat Mech?
On the reader request thread, commenter Brad had several questions; one led to yesterday’s post about superconductors, another is a critical issue in pedagogy: Finally, why did all of my stat[istical] mech[anics] courses suck? Statistical Mechanics is the branch of physics that deals with building up macroscopic thermal properties of materials from a microscopic model… Continue reading Reader Request: What’s the Matter with Stat Mech?
Baez on Leggett on High-Temperature Superconductors
I had the tab open and everything, and still somehow forgot to include a link to John Baez’s blog post reporting on a talk by Tony Leggett which directly addresses some of the questions asked about yesterday’s superconductivity post. It’s about a talk called “Cuprate superconductivity: the current state of play” (“state of play” apparently… Continue reading Baez on Leggett on High-Temperature Superconductors
Links for 2010-08-04
The Virtuosi: Steak Dinner “I recently got a new digital meat thermometer. My plan was to slowly cook the steak until the internal temperature got to be about 140 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven at 200 degrees, take it out, wrap in tin foil, crank the oven to 500 degrees, stick it back in, and… Continue reading Links for 2010-08-04
Tuesday Toddler Blogging
SteelyKid’s second birthday is Saturday, so we’re getting her a few things. Given the recent video I posted, one of her presents was really obvious: As you can tell, she’s inherited her father’s skillset. If the dunk picture doesn’t convince you, this picture of her ace ball-handling ought to: