“One word characterizes the most strenuous of the efforts for the advancement of science that I have made perseveringly during 55 years. That word is failure.”
Quote of the weekend
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Tag Archives: physics
Mercury in free fall
I am not referring to the planet, although that is also (and always) true.
I posted before about the temperatures on December 15 and this past Tuesday.
This morning I saw a thermometer reading -22oF/-30oC.
However my car, a ’95 Ford Escort, was still able to start. There was a bus waiting at the Park-and-ride, and it stopped downtown across the street from a Skyway entrance. So my total exposure to the weather was probably under 5 minutes.
I just checked the forecast. It may be a full 17oF/9oC warmer when I go home!
“Six days shalt thou labor, as much as thou art able, …”
“….the seventh the same, and clean out the stable.”
Continue reading
Windycon
mia_mcdavid and I are at Windycon. We attended this convention for 20 years when we lived in Chicagoland and it, with some help from Capricon, defined our sense of what a science fiction convention should be. We are having a great time. Continue reading
Irish phrase of the day
teasbhás na cruinne: heat death of the universe. Continue reading
The Large Hadron Collider is running!
Turn-On (See this article if necessary).
People for the Ethical Treatment of Hadrons
“You’ve got these subatomic particles accelerated at great speeds for the sole purpose of being destroyed. No one thinks of the ethical implications of this….There’s a limited supply of hadrons in the universe. Do we just want to go around destroying them? What if we run out? What if the hadrons can feel pain? Will we look back at this hundreds of years from now and regret it? Kinda like we do with the killing of bacteria with antibiotics now.”
From BBspot via Bad Astronomy.
The Personalities of Physics
From Physical Theories as Women:
Newtonian gravity is your high-school girlfriend. As your first encounter with physics, she’s amazing. You will never forget Newtonian gravity, even if you’re not in touch very much anymore.
[….]
2. Special relativity is the girl you meet at the dorm party while you’re dating electrodynamics. You make out. It’s not really cheating because it’s not like you call her back. But you have a sneaking suspicion she knows electrodynamics and told her everything.
[…]
8. String theory is off in her own little world. She is either profound or insane. If you start dating, you never see your friends anymore. It’s just string theory, 24/7.
However, Physical Theories as Men is more elaborate, funnier and geekier:
0. Newtonian gravity is that guy you had a crush on in high school…. To paraphrase Whistler, the helpful demon from Buffy (Season 2): “Newtonian gravity is like dating a nun. You’re never gonna get the good stuff.” You suspect he may have been gay.
[….]
2. Special Relativity …. length contraction has clearly taken its toll.
[….]
7. String Theory is the sensitive, complex emo guy with an impossibly brilliant mind and lots of emotional problems. …. He constantly complains that nobody understands him, and he’s right….
[….]
Standard Model of Sociophysics
From orgtheory.net:
The SSS [Stanford Superconducting Supersocializer] will propel local college sophomores at tremendous speeds into unfamiliar groups of people in an effort to plumb the structure of the elementary particles of social interaction. Despite the success of the standard model, there is much to be learned. The organization of the Quirks is of course well known, with some of the early triumphs of post-war research focused on the internal dynamics of the quirk-matrix (Up, Downer, Charm, Strange, Top Bloke, Asshole). The complex of interactions centered on W and Z remains wholly mysterious, however. The Liketons, too, pose difficult questions, though the recent discovery of observer-dependent YouTube effects has gone some way toward clarifying their role. Finally, the famous Biggs Hangeron also remains problematic, as it is not only notoriously easy to observe but in fact also impossible to ditch at parties.
From Cosmic Variance, where Sean Carroll uses a concept from physics to deal with a well known social issue.
Pure sciences
See xkcd. Let your mouse hover over the comic….
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 