links for 2009-01-25

"One common example of a quasiparticle is the polaron. When a charge carrier (an electron or hole) is placed into a solid, the surrounding ions can interact with it (e.g., positive ions will be slightly attracted to a negatively charged carrier). The ions can adjust their positions slightly, balancing their interactions with the charge carrier and the forces that hold the ions in their regular places. This adjustment of positions leads to a polarization locally centered on the charge carrier. The combo of the carrier + the surrounding polarization is a polaron."

"Sitting in the Catholic church, I could see how the idea of shared ritual and belief could be just as binding. Everyone knows what to say, when to say it, and that is what binds them together. I imagine you could go to any Catholic church in the world, and even without understanding the language, the pattern of Mass would be the same."

"If you were to reduce every religion to a song, then Humanist could be "Imagine" by John Lennon. Imagine there's no Heaven, no Hell below us - and you've got the Humanist philosophy in a nutshell."