Author: Chad Orzel

The Peripheral by William Gibson [Library of Babel]

Spent the weekend in Florida getting together with some friends from college, which was a much-needed recharge for me at the end of a brutal term. It’s probably fitting to ease back into routine with a return to my blogging roots, and talk a bit about a book. Specifically, the new William Gibson novel, The… Continue reading The Peripheral by William Gibson [Library of Babel]

PNAS: Fran Poodry, Educational Technology Specialist

I’ve decided to do a new round of profiles in the Project for Non-Academic Science (acronym deliberately chosen to coincide with a journal), as a way of getting a little more information out there to students studying in STEM fields who will likely end up with jobs off the “standard” academic science track. Third in… Continue reading PNAS: Fran Poodry, Educational Technology Specialist

PNAS: Bob Cross, Naval Computer Scientist

I’ve decided to do a new round of profiles in the Project for Non-Academic Science (acronym deliberately chosen to coincide with a journal), as a way of getting a little more information out there to students studying in STEM fields who will likely end up with jobs off the “standard” academic science track. Second in… Continue reading PNAS: Bob Cross, Naval Computer Scientist

On Replacing Science Online

That’s “Science Online” as in the conference that folded, not “science, online” as in the practice of trying to understand the universe from in front of a networked computer. Specifically, I’m posting about David Zaslavsky’s call for help in putting together a replacement meeting. There was a lot of talk about this right when Science… Continue reading On Replacing Science Online

High Precision, Not High Energy: Video

Back in August, I gave a talk in Stockholm at the Nordita workshop for science writers, about precision measurement searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. There’s now video of this online: The video quality isn’t great, but if you’d like a clearer look at the slides, I’ve posted them on SlideShare. The talk was… Continue reading High Precision, Not High Energy: Video

Return of the Revenge of the Project for Non-Academic Science

I’ve been doing a lot of darkness-cursing lately (mostly off-line), so we could stand to have a little candle-lighting. It’s been a few years since I last did a round of profiles of scientists outside academia, so let’s see if that will fly again… So, if you 1) Have a degree in a STEM field… Continue reading Return of the Revenge of the Project for Non-Academic Science

Eureka: Bridge to Dark Matter

Screen shot from the video, showing me explaining the spectra of rotating galaxies.

The first time you hear about dark matter, it sounds kind of crazy– asserting that we’re surrounded by tons of invisible stuff is usually a good way to get locked up. But the process of its discovery is surprisingly ordinary: it’s just what you do when you play cards. Here’s the second green-screen video I’ve… Continue reading Eureka: Bridge to Dark Matter

Benefits of an Academic Day Job

The central quad at Union; the big building in the center is the Nott Memorial, the obligatory building-on-the-letterhead that every college must have.

I’ve been quieter than usual here, partly because I’ve been crushingly busy, but primarily because most of the things I want to talk about, I can’t. Not yet, anyway. But I’m still alive, and this murderous term will be over soon, at which point blogging will pick up a bit. I will throw in a… Continue reading Benefits of an Academic Day Job

Eureka: Quantum Crosswords

Me in front of a green-screen crossword puzzle, talking about science.

My new book comes out one month from yesterday, or four weeks from tomorrow. Of course, yesterday was Sunday, and tomorrow’s a federal holiday, both lousy times for promotional posts, so I’ll drop this in today instead. Here’s a promotional video I put together, about how the history of quantum mechanics can be compared to… Continue reading Eureka: Quantum Crosswords