The case of Purdue’s Rusi Taleyarkhan, cleared by the university of charges of misconduct in a murky process, has taken another turn. Congress is getting involved, with the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee requesting more details from the university. On the one hand, I’m not enthusiastic about Congress getting… Continue reading Cold Fusion and Congress
Category: Physics
The Life Cycle of a Microwave Photon
After a short post-March Meeting lag, Physics World is back to announcing really cool physics results, this time highlighting a paper in Nature (subscription required) by a French group who have observed the birth and death of photons in a cavity. I’m not sure how it is that the French came to dominate quantum optics,… Continue reading The Life Cycle of a Microwave Photon
Science Showdown: Orbit Region First Round
Announcing the first round games of the Orbit Region of the 2007 Science Showdown: These games match central physics concepts against one another, in a bid to determine the greatest physics idea, which will eventually face and humiliate ideas from other fields of science. I’ll be announcing the winners on Friday, but ehre’s your chance… Continue reading Science Showdown: Orbit Region First Round
Dark Aliens in the Times
A good weekend for science in the Sunday New York Times, with a nice magazine article about dark matter and dark energy, and also a piece about the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), inexplicably located in the Book Review section (the article, that is, not the aliens). It’s probably possible to draw some sort of… Continue reading Dark Aliens in the Times
What’s In a Name?
On Monday, I lectured about the strong nuclear force. It’s called that because it’s, well, a force, that acts within the nucleus of the atom, and is, um, strong. On Wednesday, I’m lecturing about quarks, which are called that because, um, well, because Murray Gell-Mann is a pretentious git, and wanted to show off the… Continue reading What’s In a Name?
March Meeting Updates
Arcane Gazebo provides a picture of a giant blue bear, a few notes on talks about quantum computing, and thoughts on the Kook Session.(*) Cocktail Party Physics offers thoughts on Irish giants and large-scale pattern formation in geological systems. Physics World offers three posts: on carbon-trapping windmills, the physics of icicles, and the 20th anniversary… Continue reading March Meeting Updates
Still More Bump Hunting
Physics World has a story today about a new addition to the now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t maybe-it’s-a-Higgs-boson signals seen at Fermilab. (See here and here for a flavor of the earlier discussions). This one is a beyond-the-Standard-Model particle that would require a supersymmetric theory to explain. Of course, the evidence at this point consists of a whopping… Continue reading Still More Bump Hunting
Basic Concepts: Measurement
It’s been a while since I did a “Basic Concepts” post. They tend to take a good bit of effort, and things have been hectic enough at work that I haven’t had the energy. To make up for the blizzard of basketball-related stuff over the last week (with more to come), here’s a look at… Continue reading Basic Concepts: Measurement
Low-Budget Rocketry
1) Take a 20 oz Poland Spring bottle, or other lightweight plastic container with a screw-on lid. 2) Using a pocket knife, cut a small (~2 mm diameter) hole in the lid. 3) Put ~5 oz of liquid nitrogen in the bottom of the bottle. 4) Screw on the cap. 5) Shake vigorously once, then… Continue reading Low-Budget Rocketry
Not That Rural
As I’ve noted many times, I grew up out in the sticks, in a small town which nonetheless has a Wikipedia page. I should note, though, that I am not hick enough to have been the ScienceBlogger to discover this article about cutting-edge physics research: Margo Lillie, a doctor of zoology at the University of… Continue reading Not That Rural