I usually try to stay out of religious wars, but there’s one that is affecting my teaching this term, and it struck me as a good topic for a blog poll: Which do you prefer for low-tech presentations?(surveys) So, what’s your favorite low-tech presentation technology?
Month: September 2009
Links for 2009-09-23
Infinite Summer » Blog Archive » Summer’s End Roundtable, Part I “How about that ending, huh? “ (tags: books literature blogs infinite-summer) US LHC Blog » Relationships in Physics Graduate School “Doing a quick poll of graduate students in our department showed the following: * Atomic Physics: 5/10 grad students are married (2 of those… Continue reading Links for 2009-09-23
Ask a Physicist’s Dog
The scheduled release of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is three months from today. This is, as you most likely know, a book based on the frequent conversations Emmy and I have about physics: To mark the pre-anniversary, Emmy has decided to use social media to showcase her physics knowledge: She’s answering physics… Continue reading Ask a Physicist’s Dog
The Early Days of Quantum Engineering
Buried in the weekend links dump at the arxiv blog was Scalable ion traps for quantum information processing: We report on the design, fabrication, and preliminary testing of a 150 zone array built in a `surface-electrode’ geometry microfabricated on a single substrate. We demonstrate transport of atomic ions between legs of a `Y’-type junction and… Continue reading The Early Days of Quantum Engineering
Quantization of Pants
One of the errands I ran Sunday with SteelyKid was a run to the local Eddie Bauer outlet to pick up a couple more pairs of khakis for work (well, they’re black, actually, but in style the same as the khaki ones). As is often the case, I ended up buying two different sizes– not… Continue reading Quantization of Pants
Links for 2009-09-22
blarg? » Can I Get A Witness “Look, if you want to save journalism, if you want to be a journalist, you need to actually perform the act of journalism. The kind of writing that we desperately need, that we may be well-informed and responsible citizens, not these bullshit celebrity-noise puff pieces. Leave that crap… Continue reading Links for 2009-09-22
The Festival Circuit
I got email a couple of weeks ago asking if I’d be interested in appearing at the Empire State Book Festival in Albany next April. While I recognize intellectually that I will be an Actual Published Author by that time, this still feels sort of weird. Anyway, it’s in Albany, so of course I said… Continue reading The Festival Circuit
Philosophical Poll: Chickens and Eggs, Experiment and Theory
I’m halfway through Graham Farmelo’s Dirac biography at the moment, and enjoying it quite a bit. Farmelo cites Dirac as one of the first physicists to evaluate theories on their mathematical beauty, rather than waiting for experiments. This is in stark contrast to his Cambridge colleague Rutherford, who was highly skeptical of abstract theory, and… Continue reading Philosophical Poll: Chickens and Eggs, Experiment and Theory
Giants 33, Cowboys 31
Well, that kept me up way past bedtime– my 9:15 lecture is going to be fantastic— but at least my Giants pulled out the win at the end. I couldn’t think of a better way to open the Cowboys’ new stadium… And really, there’s no better metaphor for the Cowboys in the Jerry Jones era… Continue reading Giants 33, Cowboys 31
Links for 2009-09-21
Thorium-fuelled exports coming from India “The original design is fuelled by a mix of uranium-233 and plutonium bred from thorium using fast neutron power reactors earlier in a thorium fuel cycle. The LEU variant is suitable for export because it does away with the plutonium, replacing it with uranium enriched to 19.75% uranium-235. Producing 300… Continue reading Links for 2009-09-21