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My son is a nerd…
Not the older one, either. Today an announcement about the APS April meeting showed up, complete with a poster advertising the event. The poster displayed a beautiful picture of the horsehead nebula. I...
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Things you don’t learn in physics
One of my fondest memories of doing my masters degree was when I decided that I was going to prove out everything I’d been doing in my simulation work. This was in the days before we had our nice...
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Repost: Planet of Youth
If you’ve ever wondered how old you are in Jupiter years, this is your chance to find out. All you need are the following: your age in earth days, the mass of sun and the distance between the planets...
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Undergrad physics inaccessible to women
I was very intrigued when this month’s Physics Today showed up in the mail. While scanning the table of contents, I noticed an article called, “Problems with problem sets.” The summary went on to say...
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Friday Fun: Weird Al edition
So you see Donny Osmond dancing around in front of the equation? Bonus points for those who can correctly identify it. For the record, I adore Weird Al for putting an equation in a music video.
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It went boom
A few years ago, I was working on as part of an NSF educational program. The idea was to pair students (undergrad and grad) with local science and math teachers to help them do whatever they needed....
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Pinewood derby: What a drag!
My husband son competed yesterday in my son’s his scouting group’s pinewood derby race. For those of you who have never had a kid in cub/boy scouts, they hand out these blocks of wood that you get to...
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My theory on the Big Bang Theory
I really don’t watch much TV, but I do own all of the Big Bang Theory that’s available on DVD. Most of my friends really enjoy it, too, and I have a theory why that is: I think that it’s one of the...
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When I was at the conference…
When I was at the conference last week, I had one fellow come up and look at my poster. He is working on a similar problem but in a different application, and he made some comment about how he...
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Students finding their direction
The younger son’s birthday was this week, and we opted to host a pool party at a local hotel. (IMO, pool parties are the best for the elementary school age group: they keep themselves busy and then go...
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Rihanna has it wrong!
I heard Rihanna’s song “Diamonds” for the first time yesterday. (I know…I live under a rock…though, unfortunately, not that kind of rock or I’d be rich.) I rather liked the song except for the line...
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Math is useless
A lot of kids later become adults who think that math is a useless field of study. Why would I need to know that?! I’ve come across a lot of math books that are trying really hard to express how one...
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Friday Fun: What is your favorite wavelength?
I want to know everyone’s favorite color…by their wavelength. If you need help, here you go: My personal favorite is right around 400 nm. And it’s entirely for aesthetic reasons. So what is yours and...
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Making your mom proud (if she’s a physicist)
One of the classes that the older boy is doing this year is physics. Rather than give him something very math intensive, I instead chose to have him study from Paul Hewitt’s Conceptual Physics text....
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Friday fun: The best videos I’ve seen this week
In hearing about all the racism that surfaced regarding Nina Davuluri, I heard someone mention she’d done a Bollywood dance for her performance. I had to check it out, and I have to admit that I’m...
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To get to the other side…
Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook may remember that I compiled a whole series of physics jokes. I was posting them daily for about two months. Some people loved them. I think a bunch...
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There are four lights!
It’s hard being a physicist. Pretty much every place you look, you’re seeing some cool physical phenomenon that just screams, “Newton (or some other dead guy) discovered me!” If you’re lucky, the...
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99 bottles of…oops
Yesterday, I was helping guide some cub scouts (specifically webelos) through their scientist achievement. One of the things we had to discuss was Pascal’s law. Unfortunately, the instruction set on...
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A filtered education
The older son is a lot of fun. Despite his statements that he has no desire to go into science, he seems to get and make a lot of science jokes. I know he’s not a scientist, but I feel comfortable...
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Never ask a woman her weight…but her kinetic energy is fine
Today, I had one of the most awesome runs I’ve ever had. In particular, I sustained a much faster pace than I have over a 3 mile distance. I couldn’t help but wonder, however, about the factor weight...
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