From the “You Read Too Much SF” file: I was really disappointed by the press release that went with the headline: Mysterious energy burst stuns astronomers A headline like that really ought to involve bodies strewn about a remote observatory, and enigmatic alien forces roaming free, perhaps being hunted by menacing government agents. Sadly, it… Continue reading Reality Lets Me Down, Again
Category: Science
Requiem for the Space Age
The New York Times is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Sputnik with a huge clump of articles about, well, space. I’m a little surprised that I haven’t seen more said about these– they turned up in my RSS feeds on Tuesday, but I’ve been both busy and slightly ill, and haven’t gotten around to blogging… Continue reading Requiem for the Space Age
Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions
Physics World has a somewhat puzzling news article about the solar system: Physicists have known for some time that the motions of Pluto and the inner planets are chaotic. This means that a small external force on a planet could, over time, cause a major change in the position of the planet within its orbit.… Continue reading Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions
Barney and Betty Hill: The Final Word
On September 19, 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were driving through rural New Hampshire, and had an odd experience that has become probably the most famous alien abduction story in the history of UFO folklore. As it happens, they drove right past the town where SF author and Making Light blogger Jim Macdonald lives. Now,… Continue reading Barney and Betty Hill: The Final Word
Dark Skies and Security
I’m in a Department of Physics and Astronomy, so several of my colleagues are astronomers. We also have a rather nice on-campus observatory, used for student research projects. Unfortunately, the combination means that we have a running argument with the rest of the campus regarding lights. The rather nice observatory is basically useless if there… Continue reading Dark Skies and Security
Dismal Physics
Sean Carroll takes a look at economics from the point of view of a physicist: Economists have a certain way of looking at the world, in which (to simplify quite a bit) people act rationally to maximize their utility. That sort of talk pushes physicists’ buttons, because maximizing functions is something we do all the… Continue reading Dismal Physics
The Story of Dark Matter
Speaking of science explanations in SF, or at least science explained by SF authors, there’s a very nice history of dark matter at SFNovelists.com by Mark Brotherton (via Tobias Buckell): The story of dark matter starts back in the 1930s with Fritz Zwicky, a brilliant but difficult Caltech astronomer, who was studying galaxy clustering. Galaxies… Continue reading The Story of Dark Matter
Teaching Science in SF
In a comment to my Worldcon wrap-up, “fvngvs” asks a question following up on the science in SF panel: So Chad, now that you’ve had some time to think about it, can you think of a list of books/stories with a really good treatment of science concepts? It’s a good question, and deserves a full… Continue reading Teaching Science in SF
True Lab Stories: Why I Am Not a Biologist
Every now and then, usually in the summer or early fall, when the sun is shining and it’s just pleasant to be outdoors, I find myself almost regretting my career choices. After all, had I chosen a career in the biological sciences, rather than laser physics, I could do my research outside in the nice… Continue reading True Lab Stories: Why I Am Not a Biologist
Student Sustainability Video
One of our senior physics majors has made a video promoting sustainability to students, and posted it on YouTube. I need to figure out the best way to link it from the department web page, but it occurs to me that I have this big Internet platform I can use to plug it: It’s a… Continue reading Student Sustainability Video