Over at metadatta, Sujit is doing spectroscopy experiments with interferometers, and has posted a very nice introduction to the technique. Basically, if you have a light source emitting two different wavelengths that are very close together, you can determine the wavelength difference by shinging the light into an interferometer, and seeing how far you need to change things to make the interference patterns of the two wavelengths overlap.
That's a really sketchy description, so you should follow the link, and read Sujit's description which is, as I said, very nice. And if I find myself reading it in a student paper someday, I'm going to hunt him down and kill him.
Elsewhere, Mary at View From the Corner has gotten over the Bears' Super Bowl loss, and throws her atoms in the air like she just don't care. Well, actually, she cares very much about throwing atoms in the air, and has spent a good deal of time getting this to work. Congratulations to her.
In my own lab, I spent most of the morning yesterday looking for a working ion gauge controller, and most of the afternoon rediscovering basic elements of electronics. I eventually succeeded in both, so progress was made, but I'd like to make progress without feeling like a dolt. I'd explain, but I need to shovel the driveway and head out into the snow of DOOM to teach my 9:15 class-- such are the perils of working at a residential college.
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