Now on ScienceBlogs: Charles Darwin February 12, 1809 - April 19, 1882
Thoughts on physics, politics, and pop culture, by a physics professor at a small liberal arts college, plus occasional conversations with his dog.
You've read the blog, now try the books! How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is published by Scribner, and available wherever books are sold. How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog is published by Basic Books and will be available 2/28/2012, as foretold by the Maya.
"Uncertain Principles" features the miscellaneous ramblings of a physicist at a small liberal arts college. Physics, politics, pop culture, and occasional conversations with his dog.
"Prof. Orzel gives the impression of an everyday guy who just happens to have a vast but hidden knowledge of physics." (anonymous student evaluation comment)
Emmy is a German Shepherd mix, and the Queen of Niskayuna. She likes treats, walks, chasing bunnies, and quantum physics.
Category: Laser Smackdown
Voting has closed on the Laser Smackdown poll, with 772 people recording their opinion on the most amazing of the many things that have been done with lasers in the fifty years since the invention of the first working laser...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 10:27 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
With over 700 votes cast in the Laser Smackdown poll in honor of the 50th anniversary of the laser, laser cooling has opened a commanding 20-vote lead in the race to be the Most Amazing Laser Application of All Time....
Posted by Chad Orzel at 6:00 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
We're just over 600 votes in the Laser Smackdown poll in honor of the 50th anniversary of the laser, as of early Friday morning. I notice that it has moved off the front page of the blog, though, so here's...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 9:06 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
As of 1:45 Monday, 217 people have cast votes in the Laser Smackdown poll. That's not bad, but it's currently being handily beaten by the 271 people who have voted for a favorite system of units. The nice thing about...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 1:52 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
In 1960, the first working laser was demonstrated, and promptly dubbed "a solution looking for a problem." In the ensuing fifty years, lasers have found lots of problems to solve, but there has been no consensus about which of the...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 10:42 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
What's the application? Producing artificial "stars" to serve as a reference for telescopes using adaptive optics to correct for atmospheric turbulence. This allows ground-based telescopes to produce images that are as good as those from the Hubble Space Telescope. What...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 10:12 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
What's the application? An optical frequency comb is a short-duration pulsed laser whose output can be viewed as a regularly spaced series of different frequencies. If the pulses are short enough, this can span the entire visible spectrum, giving a...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 11:55 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
What's the application? Using lasers to cut and/or cauterize tissue during surgical procedures, instead of the traditional very small very sharp knives. What problem(s) is it the solution to? 1) "How can we do surgery without touching the tissues being...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 9:51 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
What's the application? The goal of laser ignition fusion experiments is to heat and compress a target to the point where the nuclei of the atoms making up the sample fuse together to form a new, heavier nucleus, releasing energy...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 11:05 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Laser Smackdown
What's the application? Holograms are images of objects that appear three-dimensional-- if you move your head as you look at a hologram, you will see the usual parallax effects, unlike a normal photograph, which is fixed. So, if your hologram...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 11:30 AM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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greg laden's blog 02.09.2012
the pump handle 02.09.2012
dean's corner 02.09.2012
erv 02.09.2012
