It’s November now, which means we’re edging into winter, and my morning ritual has been expanded to include scraping the frost off the cars when I get back from walking the dog. I’ve had to do this half a dozen times already, and I’ve noticed a puzzling pattern. Our driveway is aligned almost exactly east-west,… Continue reading A Question About Frost
Generalists, Specialists, and the Slappable
There are at least as many ways to write really interesting essays as there are people writing really interesting essays, but for the most part, they break down into two broad types. There are the ones that completely change the way you look at some subject you thought you knew about, forcing you to change… Continue reading Generalists, Specialists, and the Slappable
Links for 2009-11-04
Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: Protecting aircraft from high-powered lasers Sadly, this does not involve giant laser cannons trying to shoot down planes. (tags: science physics lasers optics) Essay – What to Write Next – Picking a Genre for Your Next Novel – NYTimes.com “Thriller Nothing wrong with putting a little food on the table,… Continue reading Links for 2009-11-04
Wanted: Nuclear Energy Speakers
We’re going to host the New York Section meeting of the American Physical Society next spring (joint with the New England Section, which will tax our resources), with the theme of the meeting being applications of nuclear physics. We’ve divided up the job of finding speakers for the meeting, and I’m supposed to be inviting… Continue reading Wanted: Nuclear Energy Speakers
Sportz Is Hurting America
Over at the Mid-Majority, Kyle Whelliston (formerly of espn.com) has a great essay on the “Sportz” phenomenon: Sports are great. Actual participation is awesome, but watching other people do sports can still be pretty good too. These days, people can watch sports anytime, anywhere and in whatever state of undress they choose. These are truly… Continue reading Sportz Is Hurting America
Only Seven Weeks Left…
… until the release of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. The official release is set for December 22nd, though the books are set to start printing in about three weeks. Exciting, isn’t it? Are you excited about the upcoming release of _How to Teach Physics to Your Dog_?(survey) If you’re still wondering what… Continue reading Only Seven Weeks Left…
Links for 2009-11-03
Fafblog! the whole world’s only source for Fafblog. “I’m not real sure how I got here in the first place, and when you think about it you really have to go all the way back to school, and mom thought I should be a doctor and dad thought I should be an industrial wood lathe… Continue reading Links for 2009-11-03
DonorsChoose Wrap-Up
This year’s DonorsChoose Challenge entry came up just short of $8,000, at $7,976. Many thanks to everyone who donated. As promised during the challenge, I will be giving away one advance copy of the book (either a real copy when they start printing in a few weeks, or a galley proof if you want one… Continue reading DonorsChoose Wrap-Up
What Keeps Me Up at Night
One of my pet peeves about physics as perceived by the public and presented in the media is the way that everyone assumes that all physicists are theoretical particle physicists. Matt Springer points out another example of this, in this New Scientist article about the opening panel at the Quantum to Cosmos Festival. The panel… Continue reading What Keeps Me Up at Night
Links for 2009-11-02
Boo! The optics behind “ghost” imaging « Skulls in the Stars “Ghost imaging is in fact a fascinating and relatively new technique in which a detector can produce an image of an object that it cannot see! The physics behind this effect is somewhat subtle, and resulted in at least one minor controversy since its… Continue reading Links for 2009-11-02