Wave interference: where does the energy go? « Skulls in the Stars The two waves cancel each other out, leaving a completely unmoving string due to destructive interference. My student asked me: what happens to the energy? As posed, it seems that we started with two waves carrying energy, but they canceled each other out,… Continue reading Links for 2010-04-08
Dorky Poll: Numbers
I’m still getting things squared away after my blogging break, but as a step on the way back toward normal programming, here’s a Dorky Poll: What kind of numbers do you most like to work with? What kind of numbers do you like best?online surveys You can only choose a single answer, which I’m sure… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Numbers
144 Miles/ Day
So, this was my weekend: Saturday: Drive to my parents’ with Kate and SteelyKid for Easter. Sunday: Drive back to Niskayuna with Kate, leaving SteelyKid with Grandma and Grandpa Monday: Teach my 9:15 class, then drive to Ithaca to give a physics colloquium at Cornell, then drive back to my parents’, arriving just in time… Continue reading 144 Miles/ Day
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Centrally Isolated Edition
Not a full Obsessive Update (because not much happened over the weekend, when we took SteelyKid to my parents’ place for Easter), but a quick reminder to folks in the Ithaca, NY area: I’ll be giving the physics colloquium at Cornell this afternoon at 4pm. If you’re in the area, and want to hear me… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Centrally Isolated Edition
Radio DogPhysics: Northeast Public Radio Edition
I forgot to schedule a blog post to remind people to tune in to my appearance on WAMC’s “The Roundtable” yesterday morning, talking about How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. If you missed it, and have fourteen minutes to kill, they have the segment on their audio archive now. It went well, and I… Continue reading Radio DogPhysics: Northeast Public Radio Edition
Belated Baby Blogging 040210
As I was headed upstairs to bed last night, I stopped in the library, and said “There’s something I ought to be doing…” but couldn’t remember what. This morning, while walking Emmy, it hit me: Baby Blogging! It’s weird that I forgot, because I went to the trouble of taking pictures and everything: This is… Continue reading Belated Baby Blogging 040210
Congratulations to Peter Bonventre
If you scroll way down the list of this year’s Goldwater Scholarship winners, you’ll find: Peter John Bonventre Institution: Union College Major(s): Physics/Mathematics Career Goal: Ph.D. in Mathematics or Physics. Conduct research and teach at the university level. Pete’s one of our junior physics majors. He’s done summer work on both nuclear physics and condensed… Continue reading Congratulations to Peter Bonventre
Wanted: Short Films About Lasers
Physics Central is having a contest: Do you love lasers? Ever wanted to unravel the mystery of the stimulated emission? Then the LaserFest video contest is for you. Take any laser you want and use it to somehow express a physics concept. Shine, lase, bounce and wave your way into physics history. The winner will… Continue reading Wanted: Short Films About Lasers
I Have Competitive OCD
SteelyKid is a fan of a web game called BumperStars, which my parents introduced her to. If I’m at the computer doing something, she’ll march over, demand to be picked up, then point at the screen and say “Buh-Pah” until I open it up. Of course, she’s a toddler, and thus has an extremely short… Continue reading I Have Competitive OCD
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Obsessive Update and Upcoming Events
A flurry of things to kick off the new academic term. Reviews and news: A nice write-up on Wired’s GeekDad blog by Kathy Ceceri, about last week’s homeschool event. Includes a picture of me giving a tour of my lab. ZapperZ says that I’m not teaching physics, I’m teaching about physics. Which is probably fair,… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Obsessive Update and Upcoming Events