This may be too late in the day to generate much action, but I thought of it just a little while ago. Two questions: 1) If you were writing a letter of recommendation for a student, would you refer to them as “Firstname” or “Mr./Ms. Lastname”? 2) Does your answer depend on the level of… Continue reading Academic Poll: Forms of Address
Author: Chad Orzel
Quantum Switching of Light
Physics World posted a somewhat puzzling story a few days back, headlined Ultra cold atoms help share quantum information: Scientists in the US have demonstrated a novel “light-switch” in an optical fibre that could become a new tool in the communications industry. The device created by Michal Bajcsy at Harvard University and colleagues could be… Continue reading Quantum Switching of Light
Congratulations to Serge Haroche
Physics World reports on the awarding of a major French prize in science: A physicist has been awarded France’s top science prize for his work on atomic physics and quantum optics. Serge Haroche — one of the founding fathers of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) — was presented with this year’s “gold medal” by the French… Continue reading Congratulations to Serge Haroche
links for 2009-06-05
Swans on Tea » Going UP (Very Precisely) "Ignoring that weâre working in English units, which scientists donât really do very much, the big thing that pops out to the budding, fully-bloomed, or dying scientist is the misuse of significant digits. Do we really believe the estimate of the houseâs weight is exact? No, itâs… Continue reading links for 2009-06-05
Thursday Baby Blogging 060309: Bonus Grandma Edition
My mom was in Saratoga Springs for a meeting, and stopped by tonight to make a guest appearance in this week’s Baby Blogging. Here, SteelyKid shows off how she can haul herself into a standing position on the big tub of outgrown baby clothes sitting in the living room: “How do we know she did… Continue reading Thursday Baby Blogging 060309: Bonus Grandma Edition
Writing Is Easy, Except When It Isn’t
Tom Levenson has another excellent piece in his series on the writing of his forthcoming book on Newton, this one on hitting a wall: The one bit of history specific to the Newton and the Counterfeiter project came when I hit a wall. I had written about a quarter of the manuscript by the autumn… Continue reading Writing Is Easy, Except When It Isn’t
The Physics of NASCAR by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky
When this first came out, I didn’t pick it up, despite a glowing recommendation from Jennifer Ouellette, because NASCAR is one of the few things on ESPN that interests me less than baseball. I didn’t really think I’d be interested in reading a whole book on the subject. I saw Jennifer and Diandra on Bloggingheads… Continue reading The Physics of NASCAR by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky
links for 2009-06-04
kitchen table math, the sequel: alternate universe "While visiting schools in a variety of districts, I began to notice something that puzzled me. Some of these schools, particularly those with large numbers of poor and minority children, are working against daunting â some would say unreasonable â expectations for improvement in test scores. In more… Continue reading links for 2009-06-04
Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
For reasons that don’t really matter, I learned yesterday that there is a marathon in Antarctica: On December 12th, 2009, the fifth Antarctic Ice Marathon will take place at 80 Degrees South, just a few hundred miles from the South Pole at the foot of the Ellsworth Mountains. This race presents a truly formidable and… Continue reading Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
links for 2009-06-03
slacktivist: Killing in the name of "In 1973, most evangelicals regarded opposition to abortion as a Catholic Thing — and therefore vaguely suspect, as though it might lead to praying to Mary or something. But throughout the 1970s and into the ’80s, that changed. The person most responsible for that change was Francis Schaeffer. He… Continue reading links for 2009-06-03