In the last report from my modern physics course, we wrapped up Relativity, and started into quantum mechanics, talking about black-body radiation and Planck’s quantum hypothesis. The next few classes continue the historical theme
Category: Physics
Is There Anybody Out There?
The Arxiv blog highlights a post on John Scalzi’s favorite science question: the Fermi Paradox: We have little to guide us on the question of the existence intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. But the physicist Enrico Fermi came up with the most obvious question: if the universe is teeming with advanced civilizations, where are… Continue reading Is There Anybody Out There?
Pedagogical Poll: Good Results or Historical Accuracy?
This week’s lab (well, half of it– the class is so big that I have to run two experiments in parallel) is somewhat controversial, so I thought I would throw this out to my wise and worldly readers to see what you all think. The problem is this: we have two different set-ups for doing… Continue reading Pedagogical Poll: Good Results or Historical Accuracy?
Congratulations to Cirac and Zoller
I’m not sure what the BBVA Foundation is, but they’ve awarded a Basic Science prize to Ignacio Cirac and Peter Zoller: The Basic Sciences award in this inaugural edition of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards has been shared by physicists Peter Zoller (Austria, 1952) and Ignacio Cirac (Manresa, 1965), “for their fundamental work… Continue reading Congratulations to Cirac and Zoller
What I’m Doing at Boskone
Boskone, the Boston-area SF convention that Kate and I go to every year, is the weekend after next. Once again, I’ll be doing a few panels and one talk. For those who might be attending, or who care about this for some reason, here’s my preliminary schedule:
Ultra-Cold Atoms and Neutrino Masses
Physics World‘s news aggregator had a story yesterday with the headline Chilly solution to neutrino mass problem, and the one-sentence teaser Ultracold atoms could be used to measure the mass of the neutrino. This creates a wonderful image of somehow turning a magneto-optical trap or a Bose-Einstein Condensate into a neutrino detector, which is a… Continue reading Ultra-Cold Atoms and Neutrino Masses
Message from APS: Support Science Funding
The American Physical Society has sent out another of its email alerts encouraging people to write to Congress in support of more funding for science. Actually, they’re urging people to send two messages: a thank-you to Speaker Pelosi for the generous science funding in the House stimulus bill, and a letter to your Senators asking… Continue reading Message from APS: Support Science Funding
Gatekeeping vs. Bad Teaching
Much of LiveJournal has been sunk in a sea of suck for the last couple of weeks, but there’s a really interesting discussion of science education over at “Faraday’s Cage is where you put Schroedinger’s Cat.” The first post has to do with the idea of “gatekeeping”: In my class today, a very brief discussion… Continue reading Gatekeeping vs. Bad Teaching
Course Report: General Relativity and Black-Body Radiation
The last course report covered the first six classes of the relativity unit. This week, we had the final two relativity lectures, and today was the start of quantum mechanics.
Falling Into Atomville
The Physics and Astronomy colloquium this week was by Jill Linz from Skidmore, talking about a couple of physics outreach programs she’s worked on. This being right up my alley, I made it a point to get in early enough to see the colloquium (I spent the morning at home with the sick SteelyKid, and… Continue reading Falling Into Atomville