The latest jobs in science post has prompted a lot of responses, several of them arguing that we need to expand the definition of acceptable careers for Ph.D. scientists. For example, there’s Nicholas Condon in comments: When I hear this incessant handwringing about jobs in “science,” it seems like it frequently comes from people with… Continue reading More Jobs in Science
Category: Physics
Physics News
I had a bunch of students over for dinner last night, and while I was busy with that, stuff happened in the world. I hate that. Of course, there’s been a lot of energy expended on trivia like primary elections, but that’s not what I’m talking about. The important news all has to do with… Continue reading Physics News
Science Is A Scary Place to Work
Jonathan Katz’s “Don’t Become a Scientist” has bubbled to the surface again, turning up at P.P. Cook’s Tangent Space a few days ago. I can’t recall what, if anything, I said about this that last time it came around, but I’ll make a few comments here, in light of the recent discussions about jobs in… Continue reading Science Is A Scary Place to Work
Poetic Physics
Via Making Light, Chris Clarke at Creek Running North has some sharp words in response to the alleged Deep Thoughts on his Starbucks cup: When Einstein explained his theory of relativity, he couldn’t express it in the precise, scientific writing of physics. He had to use poetry. Poetry: the connection of words, images, and the… Continue reading Poetic Physics
Educational Cartoons!
Friday’s a good day for lightweight blogging, so here’s something fun, via Roberto Alamino: A big collection of physics flash animations from the University of Toronto. It includes everything from three-body graviational motion to the Stern-Gerlach experiment, to how to use an oscilloscope. Our DSL has been a little slow this morning, so I haven’t… Continue reading Educational Cartoons!
Hot Topics and Controversies
The Dave Bacon post linked earlier today is actually the beginning of a plug for Doug Natelson’s list of hot topics and controversies in condensed matter and nanoscale science. As was suggested in a recent comment, now that a nonzero number of condensed matter and nano people are (apparently) reading this blog (at least occasionally),… Continue reading Hot Topics and Controversies
Fun With Thermodynamics
Temperatures in Schenectady hit the mid-90’s yesterday (do your own metric conversions), so I took the opportunity to do a little experimental thermodynamics: I played pick-up soccer after work with some of the students who are here for the summer. On the field-turf football field, which was a good ten degrees hotter than the ambient… Continue reading Fun With Thermodynamics
Looking Where the Light Is (for Dark Matter)
Via Victor Revelles (among other sources), news of a proposed experiment to follow up an earlier experiment that reportedpolarization shifts of photons in vacuum in a strong magnetic field. There’s a similar news story about the new experiment. The idea here is to try to nail down the cause of that earlier rotation, which isn’t… Continue reading Looking Where the Light Is (for Dark Matter)
FYI
The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position starting in September 2007. The position is open with respect to research specialization and candidates with an active research program in any area of physics or astronomy are invited to apply. A Ph.D. in physics or a closely… Continue reading FYI
Hard-Rockin’ Physicists
The prolific Bora at A Blog Around the Clock is looking for the rock stars of science, as part of a long chain of people picking up this quote from Morgan Spurlock: We’ve started to make science and empirical evidence not nearly as important as punditry–people wusing p.r.-speak to push a corporate or political agenda.… Continue reading Hard-Rockin’ Physicists