Via email, a plug for the newish site 60 Second Science, which is a project from Scientific American built around a podcast featuring one-minute explanations of, well, science. The email was specifically highlighting their new project, a set of video podcasts going by the name of Instant Egghead. The first video (also the only one… Continue reading Dark Matter in Sixty Seconds
Category: Physics
Simple Answers to Complicated Questions
Dave Bacon watched “Judgement Day” last night, and has a question: It’s not like, you know, there aren’t people who think quantum theory is wrong or that quantum theory is somehow related to the Vedic teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. So why is it that quantum theory (which after all is “just a theory” wink,… Continue reading Simple Answers to Complicated Questions
Single Electron Interference and Decoherence
Jennifer Ouellette meantions it as the jumping-off point for her particle-wave duality post, but I want to spend a little time talking about this paper on single-electron interference (Science 318, 949 (2007)), because it’s a very nice piece of work. There’s also a Physics World news article about the experiment, which is pretty good, but… Continue reading Single Electron Interference and Decoherence
The Open Laboratory Needs More Physics
The indefatigable Bora Zivkovic is soliciting contributions for the science blogging anthology The Open Laboratory. He’s titled the post “Last Call for Submissions,” but the actual deadline is December 20th. On or about December 19th, I expect a post title along the lines of “Wolf! Wooooolllllfffff!!! Oh My God, a Wolf!” but that’s neither here… Continue reading The Open Laboratory Needs More Physics
Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays Explained?
I have a bunch of science news sources in my RSS feeds, and every evening, I scan through the accumulated articles to try to figure out what physics-related stories there are to talk about. Sometimes, it’s hard to find anything, but other days, you get stories that lead to four press releases at EurekAlert (one,… Continue reading Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays Explained?
Low-Tech Lab Essentials
There are a lot of high-tech tools that are absolutely essential to the functioning of my lab. The diode lasers I use are a couple hundred bucks each, and only available from a handful of companies. I’ve got a couple of digital oscilloscopes that are really impressive instruments, packing a huge amount of signal-processing power… Continue reading Low-Tech Lab Essentials
Dorky Poll: Particle or Wave?
You can only pick one. Leave your answer in the comments.
ScienceBlogs: Now With 100% More Quantum
Dave Bacon has been assimilated. He only has one post up at the moment, but I’m sure there’ll be more soon. Update your bookmarks and RSS readers, and go visit his new digs.
Friction, Baby
I’m suffering muscle twinges in my neck and shoulder that are usually linked to excessive typing. As I have a grant proposal to review, a senior thesis to help whip into shape, and a book under contract, this means that blogging will be substantially reduced while I ration my typing to those things that pay… Continue reading Friction, Baby
Dorky Poll: Physics Scavenger Hunt!
In the same basic spirit as the previous post, but with a physical science slant: What items should be on the list for a scavenger hunt through an academic physics department? The idea here is to keep a big group of grad students occupied and entertained for an afternoon by having them find items characteristic… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Physics Scavenger Hunt!