What To Tell Your Dog About Quantum Physics: The Movie

A few weeks ago, I traveled down to Jefferson Lab in southern Virginia to give a talk for their Science Series of public lectures. They recorded the talk, and have done a very nice job of editing together the video, which you can see at that link, or right here: It’s a bit under an… Continue reading What To Tell Your Dog About Quantum Physics: The Movie

Quantum Physics for Dogs at Jefferson Lab: TOMORROW

Tribute to Emmy, added to my quantum-for-dogs talk.

I’ve been remiss in my self-promotional duties, but I’m giving a public lecture tomorrow night in Newport News, VA, as part of the Jefferson Lab Science Series. This will be my traditional “What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics” talk, with the sad addition of a slide honoring the late, great Queen of Niskayuna… Continue reading Quantum Physics for Dogs at Jefferson Lab: TOMORROW

Hyperactive Dogs and Fancy Motorcycles

I’m still in the late stages of an awful cold, but shook it off a bit to write a new conversation with Emmy, the Queen of Niskayuna over at Forbes: “HEY! YOU POODLES! STAY OFFA MY LAWN!” “Emmy! Stop barking!” I sit up. She’s at the gap between the fences, where she can see into… Continue reading Hyperactive Dogs and Fancy Motorcycles

How Not to Control the Weather for Your Dog

Emmy, the Queen of Niskayuna, sitting in the snow hoping the camera will spit out some treats.

I’m rooting around in my bag for a pen, and pull out a laser pointer by mistake. Since I’d really prefer not to be grading, I flip it on and shine it on the floor next to the spot where Emmy is half-dozing. She immediately leaps up (she’s pretty spry for a dog of 12…),… Continue reading How Not to Control the Weather for Your Dog

Particle-Wave Duality for Eight-Year-Olds

Experimental set-up for the double-slit experiment with classical particles (salt crystals).

Over at Scientific American’s Frontiers for Young Minds blog, they have a great post on what happens when you ask scientists to explain key elements of a different research field. It’s pretty funny, and rings very true, as SteelyKid asks me tons of science questions, very few of which have anything to do with atomic,… Continue reading Particle-Wave Duality for Eight-Year-Olds

What Does a Faster-Than-Light Object Look Like?

A dog and cat interacting with an FTL alien, as seen by the dog, with extra events added.

I exchanged a bunch of emails a week or two ago with a journalist who was working on a story involving the possibility of faster-than-light travel. He wanted me to check some statements about the relationship between FTL and causality. FTL creates problems for causality, because if you have an object moving faster than light,… Continue reading What Does a Faster-Than-Light Object Look Like?

TED-Ed Lesson: What Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?

Screenshot from the TED-Ed lesson I wrote about uncertainty.

The second one of the TED-Ed lessons I wrote about quantum physics has now been published: What Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. This is, again, very similar to stuff I’ve written before, specifically this old blog post and the relevant chapter of How to Teach [Quantum] Physics to Your Dog. As usual, I tried but… Continue reading TED-Ed Lesson: What Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, Now With More “Quantum”

New cover for How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog, coming soon to a retailer near you.

If you’re making your weekly check of the ebook editions (Kindle, Nook) of my quantum book (I’m not the only one who regularly looks at these, right?), you may have noticed a change: they’re no longer sporting the original black cover you’ll see in the right sidebar, but a new cover based on the smash… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, Now With More “Quantum”

Read Science! on Dog Physics

As noted earlier, I was a guest on the Read Science! hangout on G+ earlier today. If you weren’t able to watch it live, the video is available at that link, and I’ll embed it here: There were some feedback problems with the audio for a little while– annoyingly, it only got bad once the… Continue reading Read Science! on Dog Physics

Dog Physics on the Read Science! Hangout Today

Rhett and I haven’t done Uncertain Dots for a couple of weeks due to scheduling issues, but that doesn’t mean I’m neglecting the multimedia side of things. In fact, I’ll be doing a hangout today, as a guest on the Read Science! hangout hosted by Joanne Manaster and Jeff Shaumeyer. The event page is here.… Continue reading Dog Physics on the Read Science! Hangout Today