There’s Methane in Them Thar Planets

The coolest-sounding science news of the moment is undoubtedly “Hubble Finds First Organic Molecule on an Exoplanet”“ NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has made the first detection ever of an organic molecule in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting another star. This breakthrough is an important step in eventually identifying signs of life on… Continue reading There’s Methane in Them Thar Planets

Physics Comes Marching In

The annual March Meeting of the American Physical Society is happening this week in New Orleans. This is the biggest physics conference of the year, by far, with close to 7,000 attendees– despite what you might think from the Internet, the Condensed Matter crowd who attend the March Meeting significantly outnumber particle physicists and high-energy… Continue reading Physics Comes Marching In

Simple Answers to Complicated Questions

Dave Bacon watched “Judgement Day” last night, and has a question: It’s not like, you know, there aren’t people who think quantum theory is wrong or that quantum theory is somehow related to the Vedic teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. So why is it that quantum theory (which after all is “just a theory” wink,… Continue reading Simple Answers to Complicated Questions

Single Electron Interference and Decoherence

Jennifer Ouellette meantions it as the jumping-off point for her particle-wave duality post, but I want to spend a little time talking about this paper on single-electron interference (Science 318, 949 (2007)), because it’s a very nice piece of work. There’s also a Physics World news article about the experiment, which is pretty good, but… Continue reading Single Electron Interference and Decoherence

Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays Explained?

I have a bunch of science news sources in my RSS feeds, and every evening, I scan through the accumulated articles to try to figure out what physics-related stories there are to talk about. Sometimes, it’s hard to find anything, but other days, you get stories that lead to four press releases at EurekAlert (one,… Continue reading Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays Explained?

Friction, Baby

I’m suffering muscle twinges in my neck and shoulder that are usually linked to excessive typing. As I have a grant proposal to review, a senior thesis to help whip into shape, and a book under contract, this means that blogging will be substantially reduced while I ration my typing to those things that pay… Continue reading Friction, Baby

Announcing the Uncertain Principles Physics Scholarship Program

In the spirit of the newly clarified regulations governing the Academic Competitiveness Grant and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant Programs administered by the Department of Education, I am pleased to announce the Uncertain Principles Physics Scholarship Program. Under this program, I pledge to personally pay the full tuition for any… Continue reading Announcing the Uncertain Principles Physics Scholarship Program