The second half of the NOVA special on “Absolute Zero” aired last night. Like the first installment, it was very well done, avoiding most of the traps of modern pop-science television. There were some mysterious shots of amusement park rides when they started talking about quantum mechanics, and I’m not sure why, but they kept… Continue reading The Race for Absolute Zero
Category: Physics
Important TV Reminder
The second part of the NOVA program Absolute Zero airs tonight on PBS stations. The first part, “The Conquest of Cold” covered the theory and technology of refrigeration, while this segment, “The Quest for Absolute Zero” will include all the fun atomic physics stuff leading up to the achievement of Bose-Einstein Condensation in 1995. Check… Continue reading Important TV Reminder
True Lab Stories: The Oaf Effect
It’s been a while since I did one of these (see “How to Tell a True Lab Story” for an explanation), but yesterday’s laser tech story reminded me of one. The lab next to mine in grad school also used an argon ion laser to pump another laser, but they were much more cramped for… Continue reading True Lab Stories: The Oaf Effect
Variational Principles and the Story of Your Life
As I mentioned a few days ago, a colleague asked me if I’d be interested in doing a guest lecture for a class on science fiction. She suggested that a good way to go might be to pick one story to have the class read, and talk about that. Kicking ideas around with Kate, I… Continue reading Variational Principles and the Story of Your Life
Dorky Poll: Low-Tech Solutions to High-Tech Problems
Back when I was a grad student at NIST, we had a large frame argon ion laser that put out 10-15 watts of green light that we then used to pump a Ti:Sapph laser to produce the infrared light we used for laser cooling. This particular type of laser had a small design flaw– the… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Low-Tech Solutions to High-Tech Problems
The Conquest of Cold
The first half of NOVA’s Absolute Zero program aired last night, and I was able to watch the whole thing. Well, more or less– it was a long day, so I was drifting off a little bit about fifteen minutes in, and didn’t get all of the Michael Faraday story, but a phone call woke… Continue reading The Conquest of Cold
Tachyon Movies
Via a back channel, the Gardner Project of EniTech Research. They have an argon laser, so you know it’s science!
What I Love About Engineers
Having made a snide comment or two about engineers earlier, I feel like I should relate a positive experience today: Over the Christmas break, there was a power outage in my lab. Not an accidental outage, but a planned outage that nobody told me about– a contractor cut the breakers in order to do some… Continue reading What I Love About Engineers
Important TV Programming Note
Tonight at 8pm (Eastern) is the premier of the NOVA program “Absolute Zero”. This is the first of two one-hour specials talking about the physics and technology of ultra-low temperatures. I haven’t seen nearly enough hype for this on the Internet– actual results aren’t as sexy as wild speculation– but the science here is fascinating,… Continue reading Important TV Programming Note
Nerd Joke of the Week
Tommaso Dorigo, in reviewing an assessment scheme for science projects: Ironically, in the same table Knuteson includes the SBFB [“Scientific Bang for the Buck” factor] of the experiment of flipping a coin: the SBFB of the experiment is zero, not that different from the global search for new physics at the LHC!, although, to be… Continue reading Nerd Joke of the Week