Now on ScienceBlogs: The Galaxy's Biggest Valentine
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: Academia
As promised, an answer to a question from a donor to this year's DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge. Sarah asks: Chad, can I get a post about how you (or scientists in general) come up with ideas for experiments? You've covered some...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 9:40 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia
Melissa at Confused at a Higher Level has a nice post on the tension between faculty research and teaching: Malachowski writes, "We all know that working with undergraduates is time consuming and in some cases it slows down our research...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 10:29 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Physics
Over at Confused at a Higher Level, Melissa offers an alphabetical list of essential supplies for a condensed matter experimentalist at a small college. This is a fun idea for back-to-school time, so I'll steal it, and offer the following...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 11:18 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Physics
I doubt that this will actually work, but then the Web has brought me some improbable successes before, so it's worth a shot: I have a sealed glass cell (Pyrex, I think, if it matters) that I would like to...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 10:16 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Physics
The third category in our look at lab apparatus, after vacuum hardware and lasers and optics is the huge collection of electronic gear that we use to control the experiments. I'll borrow the sales term "test and measurement" as a...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 10:59 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: My Lab
Following on yesterday's discussion of the vacuum hardware needed for cooling atoms, let's talk about the other main component of the apparatus: the optical system. The primary technique used for making cold atoms is laser cooling, and I'm sure it...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 11:23 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Physics
Over in the reader request thread, Richard asks for experimental details: I'd be interested in (probably a series) of posts on how people practically actually do cold atoms experiments because I don't really know. I needed to take some new...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 10:52 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: My Lab
I spent most of Saturday in the lab, swapping out a turbopump that was starting to die. How could I tell? Well, for one thing, it made an awful noise, even more than usual for a noisy pump. But after...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 12:09 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: My Lab
Let's say you have some liquid that you want to contain without leaks, say, milk for a baby. What do you do? Well, you put it in something like a baby bottle, the components of which are shown here: You...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 10:38 AM • 19 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia
I was sitting in my office on campus, working on some computer stuff, when I noticed a bunch of guys from Facilities out in the hall, bustling around doing something. A few minutes later, one of them stopped right outside...
Posted by Chad Orzel at 1:33 PM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Orac 02.13.2012
ERV 11.26.2011
Orac 01.26.2012
PZ Myers 02.02.2012
Jason Rosenhouse 02.12.2012
