Steinn responds to yesterday’s post about his comments about science blogging. I’m going to continue the tradition of responding here, rather than in his comments, because, well, I need something to post today. He concedes that outreach is a worthy purpose of blogging, but continues to be concerned about blogging as a tool for more… Continue reading Why Doesn’t Blogging Generate More Science?
Category: Physics
Quantum Computing Candidates: Optical Lattices
Last week, I wrote about ion traps as a possible quantum computing platform, which are probably the best established of the candidate technologies. This week, I’ll talk about something more speculative, but closer to my own areas of research: neutral atoms in optical lattices. This is a newer area, which pretty much starts with a… Continue reading Quantum Computing Candidates: Optical Lattices
What Is the Use of [Academic Discipline] Blogging?
Steinn asks a provocative question: has science blogging done any good? I can think of science policy issues where blogging has made a contribution, and the general spread of information and communication done by blogs has probably had some impact, but has any actual science been directly impacted by blogs, or discussion on blogs? I… Continue reading What Is the Use of [Academic Discipline] Blogging?
Think Like a Videogame Physicist
Over at Dot Physics (which might be the best physics blog in the world at the moment), Rhett Allain has a pair of posts exploring the physics of Fantastic Contraption. The posts don’t really lend themselves to excerpting, so you need to go over there and read them, but I think they’re brilliant, and deserve… Continue reading Think Like a Videogame Physicist
God’s Atom
Doug Natelson is thinking about fortuitous physics, inspired by some solid state examples: Every now and then you stumble across a piece of physics, some detail about how the universe works, that is extremely lucky in some sense. For example, it’s very convenient that Si is a great semiconductor, and at the same time SiO2… Continue reading God’s Atom
DonorsChoose Payoff: “Favorite” Book
Another question from a generous donor, in this case Natalie, who asks: As for my question, how about “who is your favorite author, and why?” or, if you’d rather, “what’s your favorite book, and why?” This is a difficult question, because it’s subject to a sort of quantum projection noise. That is, my “favorite book”… Continue reading DonorsChoose Payoff: “Favorite” Book
Quantum Computing Candidates: Ion Traps
Some time back, I wrote about what you need to make a quantum computer. Given that it’s election season, I thought I’d revisit the topic by looking in detail at the candidate technologies for quantum computing. The first up is Ion Trap Quantum Computing, probably the most well-established of any of the candidates. The field… Continue reading Quantum Computing Candidates: Ion Traps
The Teleporter’s Dilemma
One of the annoying things about trying to explain quantum mechanics to a general audience is that the weirdness of the theory forces you to use incredibly convoluted examples. Pop-science books about quantum physics are full of schemes that the producers of the Saw movies would reject as implausibly complicated. I wish I was posting… Continue reading The Teleporter’s Dilemma
DonorsChoose Payoff: The Time Machine
Today, we have the first claimant of a donation incentive, from Sarah, who asks: If you could go back in time to any lab and be there as X discovery was being made, which lab/when/where would you go? I figure this could be spun a couple of ways, either to talk about some really cool… Continue reading DonorsChoose Payoff: The Time Machine
The Pope’s Astronomer, and Galileo’s Telescope
Some time back, I saw Brother Guy Consolmagno talk at Boskone, and said “You know, I should invite him to campus.” For those who don’t recognize the name, he’s an SF fan and an astronomer (well, planetary scientist) who also happens to be a Jesuit brother. He works at the Vatican Observatory, where he is… Continue reading The Pope’s Astronomer, and Galileo’s Telescope