The era of the lone genius, as epitomised by Albert Einstein, has long gone
How many scientists does it take to make a discovery?
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Tag Archives: physics
So You Want to Discover the Higgs Boson?
A talk at Chicon 7. Friday, August 31, 2012. This was one of the best science talks I have heard in my life.
So You Want to Discover the Higgs Boson?
The Large Hadron Collider in Geneva recently announced the discovery of the Higgs Boson, the particle long theorized to give mass to matter. But how do physicists detect particles… and how do we know this one is the Higgs? Hear a Ph.D. physicist teach the basics of particle detector technology (no physics background required!) and answer your questions about the massive machines used to study the smallest stuff in nature.
Dyson Sphere Update
Notes from a panel at Chicon 7. 12 noon, Friday, August 31, 2012. Weblinks and various comments and expansions added.
Dyson Sphere Update
What is a Dyson sphere? When can we make one, or at least part of one, and how? As a society, would we want to? What could one do with a Dyson sphere? Can we detect one now, or in the near future? What would be the environmental ethics of a Dyson sphere maker?
Jordin Kare, Allen M. Steele, James L. Cambias, David L Clements, G. David Nordley
Chicon overview
Chicon Overview
mia_mcdavid and I spent the holiday weekend at Chicon 7 with our son James and carpe_noctum_93. We had a great time. I have some pictures up on Google.
The most powerful woman in the world ….
… is a former physicist.
A not-so-puzzling ancient artifact
Some current thought on the “Baghdad Battery”.
From Paleobabble.
The Mythbusters should have done some more background research. It might have spared Adam Savage some pain.
Pushing the Speed of Light
There is a filk song by this title that has been around for at least a couple decades, and several SF stories as well, all about the issues that the time dilation of near lightspeed travel will pose for human interactions. These are a long way in our future, but our money is “pushing the speed of light” today:
How Wall Street Got Addicted to Light-Speed Trading
From Slashdot,
Schrödinger’s equation
Nice set of tutorial articles:
Schrödinger’s equation — what is it?
Schrödinger’s equation — in action
Schrödinger’s equation — what does it mean?
From Steven Strogatz.
Why do physicists subtract infinity from infinity?
From Jennifer Ouellette
Note: Quantum Electrodynamics works. The predictions it makes have been experimentally confirmed to many decimal places.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 