Occasional commenter Evan Murphy emailed to bring my attention to Siege Toys, a new venture that aims to make desktop snap-together wooden trebuchets. Why? Because medieval siege warfare engines are awesome. They’re looking for funding via Kickstarter, so if you’ve ever wanted your very own trebuchet, go place a pre-order. And lest you think this… Continue reading Trebuchets for Everybody!
Category: Physics
“Quantum Kitchen” Ought to Mean Something Else
I am less enthralled by the “molecular gastronomy” thing than someone with my geek credentials ought to be. As a result, I was a little disappointed when I clicked the link (from Jennifer Ouellette on Twitter) to this Wired story about a new tv show called Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen. Because, you know, there are much… Continue reading “Quantum Kitchen” Ought to Mean Something Else
Hey, Ho, Northern Ohio
Just a quick reminder that I’ll be giving my “What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics” talk (same basic one from Tuesday night) as part of the Saturday Morning Science program (pdf) at the University of Toledo tomorrow, Saturday the 19th. The talk will be at 9:30, with breakfast beforehand. If you’re in the… Continue reading Hey, Ho, Northern Ohio
Your Can’t-Miss NCAA Bracket for 2011
Even though the really important Final Four has already been decided, the Division 1 NCAA basketball championship starts this week, which means it’s time to fill out your championship brackets. And so, as usual, I present the guaranteed-can’t-miss-sure-thing method of picking the winner based on the rankings of Ph.D. programs in physics (excerpt displayed; click… Continue reading Your Can’t-Miss NCAA Bracket for 2011
“What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics” at New Paltz Tuesday Night
I’ve still got work to do today, but I did want to pop in quickly to note that I’ll be giving my “What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics” talk tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in the Coykendall Science Building Auditorium, at SUNY New Paltz. It’s part of the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Association meeting, and… Continue reading “What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics” at New Paltz Tuesday Night
What’s So Interesting About AMO Physics?
I’ve got three months to decide. I’ll be giving an invited talk at the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (DAMOP) with this title, with a goal of introducing the field to students and physicists from other fields: In recent years, DAMOP has expanded to the point where the meeting can be quite daunting… Continue reading What’s So Interesting About AMO Physics?
Teaching Ambiguity and the Scientific Method
As a sort of follow-on from yesterday’s post, thinking about the issues involved reminded me of a couple of browser tabs that I’ve had open for a while, namely this story about an education session at the AAAS meeting, and this Inside Higher Ed article on “Teaching Ambiguity”. From the IHE piece: Tidy may be… Continue reading Teaching Ambiguity and the Scientific Method
Upcoming Appearances: New Paltz, NY and Toledo, OH
Another shameless self-promotion post, but since I was confirming some arrangements this morning, I thought I’d throw up a post, so: – On March 15, two weeks from yesterday, I will be giving a talk for the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Association at 8pm on the campus of SUNY-New Paltz. If you’re in the downstate NY sort… Continue reading Upcoming Appearances: New Paltz, NY and Toledo, OH
Progress Report: No Proposal Outline Survives Contact with the Writing Process
Blogging will continue to be minimal, as I’m buried in grading, and feeling significant time pressure regarding the book-in-progress. I thought I’d pop up briefly, though, to provide a look at the current status of the book-in-progress. The way this process works (or at least has worked for me) is that I write up a… Continue reading Progress Report: No Proposal Outline Survives Contact with the Writing Process
An Analogy Too Far?
A few lines of dialogue that I wrote today: “So, the treats I eat represent the matter falling into the black hole, while my poop–“ “You are not coming to my class and pooping to demonstrate Hawking radiation. Don’t even think about it.” “I guess that means you don’t want to hear my take on… Continue reading An Analogy Too Far?