Over at Dot Physics, Rhett wonders about the role of homework in a world that includes cramster: Then what is the problem? The problem is with my jobs. Yes, jobs. I have two jobs. My first job is to help students learn. I am a learning-faciliator if you like. I do this in many different… Continue reading Academic Poll: To Grade, or Not to Grade?
Category: Physics
The Anacapa Society
I’ve had a few conversations with other small-college folks about how there ought to be some sort of group within DAMOP for people at small colleges, given how many of us there are who do AMO physics. Nothing has ever come of it, because nobody wants to take on the administrative hassle of organizing such… Continue reading The Anacapa Society
Neil deGrasse Tyson Owes Emmy a Cookie
I’m watching an episode of NOVA scienceNOW (eccentric capitalization makes it hip!), and Neil deGrasse Tyson is doing a segment on extrasolar planets. I’m only half listening, because I’m also trying to keep SteelyKid from trying to eat any of the furniture, but it’s quite good. All of a sudden, Emmy’s head snaps up. “Hey!”… Continue reading Neil deGrasse Tyson Owes Emmy a Cookie
The Loud Bigotry of Blog Conversations
I’ve sometimes seen it said that in order to have a productive discussion, people on both sides need to be willing to change their minds. I think that’s probably slightly overdetermined– you can find examples of cases in which neither side was going to change, but they managed to sustain a mutually beneficial dialogue all… Continue reading The Loud Bigotry of Blog Conversations
Pop Quiz Answer
Yesterday’s Michelson Interferometer quiz was surprisingly popular– as of 8:30 pm Tuesday (when I’m writing this), just under 1500 people have voted in the poll, three and a half times as many as in the next most popular poll I’ve done. Who says there’s no audience for physics? So, what’s the right answer, you ask?
Pop Quiz: Michelson Interferometer
Inspired by one of yesterday’s easy questions, a pop quiz for you. The figure below shows a Michelson Interferometer: A laser falls on a beamsplitter, which allows half of the light to pass straight through, and reflects the other half downward. Each of those beams then hits a mirror that reflects it directly back where… Continue reading Pop Quiz: Michelson Interferometer
Academic Poll: Paper Torture
I’m sitting here finding new and inventive ways to not write the pedagogical paper I’m working on at the moment. This seems like a good excuse for a poll! The hardest part of writing a paper is:(survey) As you can tell from the list of elements, I have scientific papers in mind, here, but other… Continue reading Academic Poll: Paper Torture
Canine Poll: Do You Know Your Enemy?
I’ve got a couple more things to say about Unscientific America, probably, but I opted for some more David Foster Wallace last night, and don’t feel like typing them up now, so I’ll give you all a break. Anyway, what you’re really here for is the baby and dog stuff, so here’s another poll question… Continue reading Canine Poll: Do You Know Your Enemy?
…For Some Definition of Physical Reality
There’s a press release dated a week or two ago from Leiden University headlined “Physical reality of string theory demonstrated,” in an apparent bid to make Peter Woit’s head explode. The release itself is really pretty awful, with poorly explained and irrelevant pictures, and a really confusing description of what this is really about (in… Continue reading …For Some Definition of Physical Reality
Entanglement by Accident
It’s been a while since we’ve had any good, solid physics content here, and I feel a little guilty about that. So here’s some high-quality (I hope) physics blogging, dealing with two recent(ish) papers from Chris Monroe’s group at the University of Maryland. The first is titled “Bell Inequality Violation with Two Remote Atomic Qubits”… Continue reading Entanglement by Accident