I am in Florida for a meeting this week, having flown from Albany to Ft. Lauderdale. Due to the vagaries of the air travel system, though, this required a change of planes in Orlando. The Orlando-Ft. Lauderdale flight is sufficiently short that I like to think of it as a ballistic route– you’re not cruising… Continue reading Ballistic Air Travel
Category: Physics
BEC: What Is It Good For?
Another response copied/adapted from the Physics Stack Exchange. The question was: What are the main practical applications that a Bose-Einstein condensate can have? Bose Einstein Condensation, for those who aren’t familiar with it, is a phenomenon where a gas of particles with the right spin properties cooled to a very low temeprature will suddenly “condense”… Continue reading BEC: What Is It Good For?
An Illustrated Guide to Relativity by Tatsu Takeuchi
I’m always a little hesitant to post reviews of books that I’m using as reference sources when I’m writing something, because it feels a little like recommending that you skip past my book and go to my sources instead. This is, of course, completely irrational, because however much I my use a given book as… Continue reading An Illustrated Guide to Relativity by Tatsu Takeuchi
Winter Poll: “Bitter” Cold
A seasonally appropriate poll, brought to you by this morning’s frigid dog walk (15F/ -9C), and the memory of a newscast back when I was in Maryland that referred to an overnight low temperature of 22F/-6C as “Bitter, bitter cold”: The maximum (daytime high) temperature I would characterize as “bitter cold” would be:survey software For… Continue reading Winter Poll: “Bitter” Cold
This One Goes to 11
A reader from the UK, James Cownie, was kind enough to send this picture of the “New and Bestselling” shelf at a WH Smiths ” at one of the service stations on the M20.” You might not recognize the cover immediately, but in the #11 spot on that list is occupied by How to Teach… Continue reading This One Goes to 11
Possibly Stupid Question: Why All These Extra Particles?
I’ve reached a point in the book-in-progress where I find myself needing to talk a little about particle physics. As this is very much not my field, this quickly led to a situation where the dog asked a question I can’t answer. But, hey, that’s why I have a blog with lots of smart readers…… Continue reading Possibly Stupid Question: Why All These Extra Particles?
Where I’m Going to Be in 2011
Not an exhaustive list, but since I’m noodling around with my calendar, I might as well note some of the stuff I’ll be doing this year: I’ll be on a panel about international science testing at the AAAS Annual Meeting in February. This will be a different experience– not only have I never been to… Continue reading Where I’m Going to Be in 2011
This Day Needs a Reboot
Kate and SteelyKid have colds (well, they’re sharing the same cold), so SteelyKid is waking up a lot during the night. Since Kate needs rest as well, she put earplugs in last night (she’s a much lighter sleeper than I am), and I took baby-soothing duty. So I was up half the night. I come… Continue reading This Day Needs a Reboot
The Four Percent Universe by Richard Panek
Back in the fall, I got an email from my UK publisher asking me if I’d be willing to read and possibly blurb a forthcoming book, The Four Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality by Richard Panek. The book isn’t exactly in my field, but there… Continue reading The Four Percent Universe by Richard Panek
Academic Poll: Synchronization
The clock in my classroom for this term appears to be set five minutes slow. Which is an improvement over the one in the hall that’s ten minutes slow, but kind of plays hell with starting and ending class on time. It is, however, a great excuse for a poll: Clocks in academic buildings should… Continue reading Academic Poll: Synchronization