We’re going to host the New York Section meeting of the American Physical Society next spring (joint with the New England Section, which will tax our resources), with the theme of the meeting being applications of nuclear physics. We’ve divided up the job of finding speakers for the meeting, and I’m supposed to be inviting… Continue reading Wanted: Nuclear Energy Speakers
Category: Physics
Only Seven Weeks Left…
… until the release of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. The official release is set for December 22nd, though the books are set to start printing in about three weeks. Exciting, isn’t it? Are you excited about the upcoming release of _How to Teach Physics to Your Dog_?(survey) If you’re still wondering what… Continue reading Only Seven Weeks Left…
What Keeps Me Up at Night
One of my pet peeves about physics as perceived by the public and presented in the media is the way that everyone assumes that all physicists are theoretical particle physicists. Matt Springer points out another example of this, in this New Scientist article about the opening panel at the Quantum to Cosmos Festival. The panel… Continue reading What Keeps Me Up at Night
Dorky Poll: Particle Type
Here’s an extremely dorky Dorky Poll topic. I can’t believe I haven’t used this one before: What sort of particles do you prefer?(poll) Choose only one.
Thursday Baby Blogging 102209
“Hey, SteelyKid, whatcha doin’?” “Nothin’. You know, hangin’ out.” “‘S’cool.” Just 63 weeks old, and already she’s got the exaggerated casual thing down… Happily, she’s not too cool to occasionally pose with her father:
Academic Poll: How Much Should Students Write?
I’ve been buried in lab grading for a lot of this week, but I’m finally down to the last few stragglers. The experience has me thinking a bit about what we’re doing here, and talking to people in other departments, and it seems like a good question for my wise and worldly readers. At the… Continue reading Academic Poll: How Much Should Students Write?
A Brief History of Timekeeping
I gave a guest lecture this morning in a colleague’s sophomore seminar class about time. She’s having them look at time from a variety of perspectives, and they just finished reading Longitude, so she asked me to talk about the physics of clocks and the measurement of time. I’ve long considered using “A Brief History… Continue reading A Brief History of Timekeeping
Room Temperature Kook Signifiers
I was surprised to see Tom linking to a site claiming a superconductor at 254K. Not because the figure isn’t newsworthy, but because somebody sent me this about a week ago, and I decided not to link to it. It’s absolutely dripping with kook signifiers. The two biggest things tripping my kook alarm are: 1)… Continue reading Room Temperature Kook Signifiers
My Doomsday Weapon
In the time that I’ve been at Union, I have suffered a number of lab disasters. I’ve had lasers killed in freak power outages. I’ve had lasers die because of odd electrical issues. My lab has flooded not once, not twice, but three different times. I’ve had equipment damaged by idiot contractors, and I’ve had… Continue reading My Doomsday Weapon
Imagine Science Film Festival
Both Physics Buzz and the X-Change Files are noting the Imagine Science Film Festival starting tomorrow in New York City. As the Buzz notes: This is only the film festival’s second year, but it’s already attracted the attention of major sponsors. Last year the journal Nature co-sponsored the festival, and this year the American Association… Continue reading Imagine Science Film Festival