There’s a new paper from the PAMELA dark matter search out that’s written up in Physics, including a link to a free version of the PDF. This paper is considerably less dramatic than one that appeared last year, leading Physics World to suggest that they’re backing off the earlier claim. What’s the deal? Sean Carroll… Continue reading Science and Sociology of Dark Matter
Congratulations to Pat Summitt
Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt got her 1000th win last night, a record that will probably stand for a good long while. Nobody else in college basketball really has much of a shot– the record for men’s basketball coaches is Bob Knight at 902, and the most wins by an active coach is Mike… Continue reading Congratulations to Pat Summitt
links for 2009-02-06
Textbooks have jumped the shark | Dot Physics "I have been afraid to really speak my mind on this issue because I donât want to completely enrage the textbook publishers. They do send me free books sometimes. Oh well, first what is the chance they will read this? Second, I already have tons of books… Continue reading links for 2009-02-06
Thursday Baby Blogging 020509
This week’s Baby Blogging is in honor of SteelyKid’s continued growth: she had her six-month checkup on Wednesday, and has now officially exceeded the weight limit on the bassinet attachment to her porta-crib. We’ve had to lower her all the way down to the bottom of the crib, where she can look out at the… Continue reading Thursday Baby Blogging 020509
The Swashbuckling Physicist’s Guide to Complex Numbers
Having mentioned this a few times in course reports, I thought I’d throw out a link to my lecture notes (PDF) on complex numbers. This is the one-class whirlwind review of complex numbers from defining i to Euler’s theorem about complex exponentials. To answer a slightly incredulous question from a commenter, this is necessary because… Continue reading The Swashbuckling Physicist’s Guide to Complex Numbers
Thank God for Barry Bonds
As you may or may not have heard, the evidence in the upcoming perjury trial of Barry Bonds was unsealed yesterday, and includes a number of positive drug tests. And, really, my main reaction was “Oh, thank God.” It’s not that I’m enthusiastic about hearing steroids-in-baseball talk again, but the alternative was most likely another… Continue reading Thank God for Barry Bonds
links for 2009-02-05
NY Times article on force and physics and football | Dot Physics "People say I am picky. Ok, sometimes I am. But somebody has to stand up for what is right and just. Maybe I am that person. Please stop using the word force if you donât know what it is. There. I said it.… Continue reading links for 2009-02-05
Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Ass
The big news of the day from the world of politics is that President Obama plans to cap executive pay at banks that take bailout money in the next round of emergency cash payments. This is not popular with the executive class: “That is pretty draconian — $500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly… Continue reading Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Ass
Lab Reports: Threat or Menace?
I got the last round of line edits on the book-in-progress Monday night after work, but I haven’t had a chance to do more than leaf through the pages. This is mostly because I had lab reports to grade– the second written report is due Sunday, and I needed to get comments back to the… Continue reading Lab Reports: Threat or Menace?
Course Report: Historical Quantum Mechanics
In the last report from my modern physics course, we wrapped up Relativity, and started into quantum mechanics, talking about black-body radiation and Planck’s quantum hypothesis. The next few classes continue the historical theme