Over at Evolving Thoughts, John Wilkins pokes string theorists: Ernst Rutherford, the “father” of nuclear physics, once airily declared “In science there is only physics. All the rest is stamp collecting”. By this he meant that the theory of physics is the only significant thing in science. Such mundane activities as taxonomy in biology were… Continue reading Strings and Philately
Category: Physics
Semi-Comfortable Question: Personal Particle Accelerator
Back in the comments of one of the “Uncomfortable Question” threads, Matthew Jarpe asked (as background research for a new novel): If someone were to hand you the keys to your own particle accelerator and you could do any experiment you wanted, what would it be? Well, if somebody just gave me the keys to… Continue reading Semi-Comfortable Question: Personal Particle Accelerator
Chain, Chain, Chain… Chain of Valves
Here’s a picture of the gas-handling line leading to the discharge region seen in the plasma post: How many valves can you count in that picture? If you said “seven,” give yourself a pat on the back. Here’s the same picture with the valves numbered for your convenience:
Lab Porn: Plasma!
A couple more pretty pictures of the apparatus, to pass the time: This is the plasma discharge source that we use to make metastable atoms. We excite the gas using a RF coil (under the tinfoil) with a couple of watts of power at 145 MHz (local ham radio people must love me…), which creates… Continue reading Lab Porn: Plasma!
Lab Porn: Doomsday!
Behold, the end of the world is at hand! They said I was mad– mad!– but now they’ll pay… Well, ok, it’s not actually a doomsday weapon. It’s a shot of the main experiment chamber in my lab, taken in very low light in an attempt to capture the orange glow of the ion gauge… Continue reading Lab Porn: Doomsday!
Uncomfortable Questions: Physics Curriculum
Johan Larson asks: How would you change the requirements and coursework for the undergraduate Physics major? This is a good one, but it’s a little tough to answer. I have ideas about things I’d like to change locally, but I’m not sure I really have the perspective I would need to be able to say… Continue reading Uncomfortable Questions: Physics Curriculum
Uncomfortable Questions: Research University
“A” asks: Given the chance, would you take a job at a major research-university, or do you enjoy teaching a lot and doing some research at your small liberal arts college? My first answer is “no,” though I guess it would depend on the terms of the offer. In general terms, though, I’m very happy… Continue reading Uncomfortable Questions: Research University
Women of AMO Physics
Via Steinn, a “meme” asking people to name women in science: Rules: 1. You can’t choose people from your own institution or company. 2. You can’t google or use the internet to aid in your search. (But if you know someone is a scientist, but not sure what disciple, you can look that up). 3.… Continue reading Women of AMO Physics
Lab Visit Report: Unusual Lattices
In one of his March Meeting posts, Doug Natelson writes about laser cooling experiments that explore condensed matter phenomena: While the ultracold gases provide an exquisitely clean, tunable environment for studying some physics problems, it’s increasingly clear to me that they also have some significant restrictions; for example, while optical lattices enable simulations of some… Continue reading Lab Visit Report: Unusual Lattices
Reforming Intro Labs
Over at Physics and Physicists, ZapperZ is thinking about the intro curriculum, and offers a suggestion: I believe that we should have a more open-ended experiment to be given to the students. So I’ll give an example. Note that while thing is something that I’ve thought about for a while, I’m still writing this off… Continue reading Reforming Intro Labs