Sketchy March Meeting Notes: Monday

I'm terrible about taking notes on conference talks, especially when I'm jet-lagged and was sleep deprived even before I got on the plane. I do jot down the occasional paper reference, though, so here are the things I wrote down, and the talks they were associated with. This should give you some vague idea of what the meeting was like on Monday.

• From Joel Moore's talk on topological insulators, one of the Hot New Topics in condensed matter, a review in Nature.
• From Phillip Treutlein's talk on optomechanics, a recent preprint on coupling atoms to mechanical oscillators.
• From Nathaniel Brahms's talk on cold atoms in cavities as an analogue of optomechanical systems, a review of optomechanical results in Science.
• From James Faller's talk on the history of lunar laser ranging, two quotes. One, attributed to Edwin Land: "Don't undertake a new project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible." The other, which I think is his own motto as an experimentalist, was "A month or two in the lab can save you an hour in the library."

I also listened to part of a historical talk about Henry Cavendish, and a couple of talks about possible materials for solar panels before caving in to jet lag and going back to the hotel to nap.

And that's your snapshot of the first day of March Meeting 2010.