The vanity search this morning turned up something I hadn’t seen before: That’s the Japanese edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. I knew one was in the works, but hadn’t heard when it would be out. Of course, I can’t read any of it other than my own name (rightmost column of… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Japanese Dog
Category: Physics
Not Everything Is About CO_2
Climate change is a major crisis, don’t get me wrong, and it’s something that needs to be discussed extensively in both scientific and policy circles. We’re pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at rather too high a rate, and getting something done about that is a key priority. It’s possible, though, to take the obsession… Continue reading Not Everything Is About CO_2
Dinosaurs Are Too Easy
Earlier this week, there was some interesting discussion of science communication in the UK branch of the science blogosphere. I found it via Alun Salt’s “Moving beyond the ‘One-dinosaur-fits-all’ model of science communication” which is too good a phrase not to quote, and he spun off two posts from Alice Bell, at the Guardian blog… Continue reading Dinosaurs Are Too Easy
Quantum Mechanics Is Square: “Ruling Out Multi-Order Interference in Quantum Mechanics”
This week’s big story in physics is this Science paper by a group out of Austria Canada (edited to fix my misreading of the author affiliations), on a triple-slit interference effect. This has drawn both the usual news stories and also some complaining about badly-worded news stories. So, what’s the deal? What did they do… Continue reading Quantum Mechanics Is Square: “Ruling Out Multi-Order Interference in Quantum Mechanics”
Real Math Doesn’t Use Calculators
The Dean Dad is worried about remedial math: In a discussion this week with someone who spends most of her time working with students who are struggling mightily in developmental math, I heard an argument I hadn’t given much thought previously: students who have passed algebra and even pre-calc in high school frequently crash and… Continue reading Real Math Doesn’t Use Calculators
Sex, Intuition, and Evidence in Science
Over at A Most Curious Planet, Alexandra Jellicoe offers a story with the provocative headline Is Science Sexist?, which spins off an anecdote from astronomy: I was listening to Radio 4 a few months ago and the discussion about gender intelligence lodged in the deeper recesses of my brain unthought-of until recently when I went… Continue reading Sex, Intuition, and Evidence in Science
Backyard Fluid Dynamics
Here’s a picture of the ornamental pond we have in our back yard, showing the fountain that we run to keep the water circulating so it’s not just a mosquito ranch: You can see the brick that we have sitting on top of the pump housing to keep it submerged (it tends to tip over… Continue reading Backyard Fluid Dynamics
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Now With More Quantum
If you’re in the UK, you may very well be thinking “You know, I love the idea of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, but I find American idiom very intimidating. If only there were an edition just for people like me…” Well, hypothetical UK person, your prayers have been answered: This is the… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Now With More Quantum
What’s a Topological Insulator?
Yesterday’s post about how nobody cares about condensed matter physics produced a surprising number of comments of the form “I was really hoping you would post about topological insulators,” which surprised me a bit. Anyway, since people asked for it, I’ll give it a shot. The important caveats here are that 1) this isn’t my… Continue reading What’s a Topological Insulator?
How Do You Make People Care About Topological Insulators?
I had planned to spend some time this weekend trying to make sense of this new result on topological insulators, and maybe even write up the relevant paper for ResearchBlogging. Family life intervened, though, and I didn’t have the time. I get enough of it to understand the basics of what’s going on, but there’s… Continue reading How Do You Make People Care About Topological Insulators?