As you probably already know, last year we ran a workshop at the Joint Quantum Institute for science-fiction writers who would like to learn more about quantum physics. The workshop was a lot of fun from the speaker/oragnizer side, and very well received by last year’s writers, so we’re doing it again: The Schrödinger Sessions… Continue reading The Schrödinger Sessions II: More Science for More Science Fiction
Category: Science
What To Tell Your Dog About Quantum Physics: The Movie
A few weeks ago, I traveled down to Jefferson Lab in southern Virginia to give a talk for their Science Series of public lectures. They recorded the talk, and have done a very nice job of editing together the video, which you can see at that link, or right here: It’s a bit under an… Continue reading What To Tell Your Dog About Quantum Physics: The Movie
Physics Blogging Round-Up: Jocks, Lasers, LIGO, Admissions, Nano-Movies, and Philosophy
It’s been a few weeks since my last summary of physics posts I’ve been doing at Forbes, so here’s the latest eclectic collection: — Football Physics And the Myth Of The Dumb Jock: In honor of the Super Bowl, repeating the argument from Eureka that athletes are not, in fact, dumb jocks, but excellent scientific… Continue reading Physics Blogging Round-Up: Jocks, Lasers, LIGO, Admissions, Nano-Movies, and Philosophy
March Appearances
I’ve been really, really bad about using this blog to promote stuff I have coming up, but I’ll be doing two public-ish appearances in the month of March, and I probably ought to announce those here: 1) Next week, on Wednesday, March 2, I’ll be giving the Physics Colloquium at the University of Illinois, on… Continue reading March Appearances
Attempted Mpemba Effect
One of my favorite modern tales of scientific discovery is the Mpemba Effect, named after Erasto Mpemba, a schoolboy in Tanzania who noticed while making ice cream that hot mix put in the freezer solidified faster than cold. This counter-intuitive result has been replicated a bunch of times, and physicists and chemists continue to debate… Continue reading Attempted Mpemba Effect
160/366: Nice Crowd
I did bring my good camera with me to Newport News, and took it on the tour of Jefferson Lab yesterday, but despite the existence of DSLR pics, you’re getting a cell-phone snap for the photo of the day: That’s the audience about 10-15 minutes before my talk last night, so it was a good… Continue reading 160/366: Nice Crowd
Quantum Physics for Dogs at Jefferson Lab: TOMORROW
I’ve been remiss in my self-promotional duties, but I’m giving a public lecture tomorrow night in Newport News, VA, as part of the Jefferson Lab Science Series. This will be my traditional “What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics” talk, with the sad addition of a slide honoring the late, great Queen of Niskayuna… Continue reading Quantum Physics for Dogs at Jefferson Lab: TOMORROW
Back-of-the-Envelope Calculation: Reaching Gender Equality in Physics Faculty
In yesterday’s post about the lack of money in academia, I mentioned in passing that lack of funding is part of the reason for the slow pace of progress on improving faculty diversity. That is, we could make more rapid progress if we suddenly found shitloads of money and could go on a massive hiring… Continue reading Back-of-the-Envelope Calculation: Reaching Gender Equality in Physics Faculty
Physics Blogging Round-Up: Gravity, Pigeonholes, Groundhogs, and Weirdness
A long-ish stretch of time, but I was basically offline for a bunch of that because I needed to finish a chapter I was asked to contribute to an academic book. So there are only four physics posts from Forbes to promote this time: — ‘The Expanse’ Is A Rare Sci-Fi Show That Gets Simulated… Continue reading Physics Blogging Round-Up: Gravity, Pigeonholes, Groundhogs, and Weirdness
152/366: Fun With Motion Blur
This one was a whole bunch of work for one smallish shot… So, in past rounds of “science-y things with my fancy camera,” I looked at the effect of ISO settings and apertures. This time out, I wanted to look at something moving, and the way that it blurs with increasing exposure time. My initial… Continue reading 152/366: Fun With Motion Blur