Ah, the models we learn in school, just to get our head in the game. Here is a quick one minute physics video illustrating that most things are lot more complex than what we initially thought. Filed under: Science Tagged: Fun Facts, Model Builiding, Physics, Science
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Exponential Book: What do you look for (part two)?
Having expounded in my previous post what kind of person I look for, when serving on the search committee for a tenure-track hire, now it is time to list the criteria that I adopt to try and spot my ideal candidate, as I go through application packages (APs). I am
Continue readingExponential Book: What do you look for (part one) ?
I am a faculty member in a university physics department, who finds himself periodically involved in faculty searches and hires. How do I evaluate the curriculum vitae of an applicant for a tenure-track position? What do I look for, and what are the red flags? Does it really boil down
Continue readingThe Quantum Buddha's Blog: Dan’s Estimation of the Age of the Universe
As a follow up to my post on the theory of relativity’s implications on the age of the universe and the nature of reality, I am pointing out something that has been bugging me for see time. How did quasars get 33 billions years away from us in just 13.75
Continue readingThe Quantum Buddha's Blog: Dan’s Estimation of the Age of the Universe
As a follow up to my post on the theory of relativity’s implications on the age of the universe and the nature of reality, I am pointing out something that has been bugging me for see time. How did quasars get 33 billions years away from us in just 13.75
Continue readingExponential Book: Binomial distributions and multiple choice tests
Readers of my blog know that I generally regard multiple choice tests (MCTs) as an adequate tool to assess student knowledge of, and proficiency with, a given set of topics. I have written about this subject here and here. No, I do not think that MCTs are perfect, nor do
Continue readingThings Are Good: Physicists Open Up
Results from publically-funded research often ends up in places that the average person can’t access the findings because scientific (and other) journals where results are printed cost an arm and a leg. Physicists, who are already renowned for being open, have taken the next logical step and said that any
Continue readingTerahertz: Why read when you can watch and listen?
A bunch of shameless self promotion. Back in August I was invited to join Don McLenaghen on Radio Freethinker, the skeptical podcast of CiTR radio (the UBC radio station). Ethan was away that week, so we spent the entire hour talking about Humanism. You can listen to that interview here
Continue readingExponential Book: In praise of failure
“In 2004, Kim and Chan (KC) carried out torsional oscillator (TO) measurements of solid helium confined in porous Vycor glass and found an abrupt drop in the resonant period below 200 mK. The period drop was interpreted as probable experimental evidence of nonclassical rotational inertia (NCRI). This experiment sparked considerable
Continue readingExponential Book: On confirmation bias
Doug Natelson has done an outstanding job at debunking a ridiculous charge of confirmation bias allegedly affecting a recent study of climate change. Such a charge is put forth in an article published in the popular press (on a very prominent venue). While ostensibly aimed at educating the general public
Continue readingExponential Book: Online notes
Why do students who take courses with me (but colleagues tell me of similar experiences) routinely insist that I scan and post online my very own notes, the hard-to-read, disorganized and sketchy gibberish that I use for lecturing, whereas if I post a neatly put together summary of the basic
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The God particle, and what it has to do with God
Oh how I wish the recently demonstrated Higgs Boson, which bestows mass on particles, had never acquired the moniker the ‘God Particle’. I suppose there is one benefit: it increases the attention and coverage about a very cool and significant question, just solved, in particle physics. But it does so
Continue readingExponential Book: Letter from the trenches
I have received a letter from a student who obtained his doctoral degree with me a few years ago, and after one postdoctoral appointment decided that their heart was really into teaching. They wrote me to let me know how things are going, and gave me permission of posting their
Continue readingExponential Book: Whither scientific publishing ?
I come back to one of my favorite subjects, prompted by a recent comment asking for my opinion on the proposed boycott of Elsevier, a company publishing a number of scientific journals. In the eyes of many, some of Elsevier’s practices are incompatible with the ultimate goal of achieving the
Continue reading350 or bust: Saturday At The Movies
Climate deniers, take note: if you work at it, you might be as smart as this toddler. For more info on this toddler and the unique approach to learning his parents have employed, go to Robeson Group.com
Continue readingExponential Book: Independent and original
I doubt if I can offer any deeper insight or more pointed advice to a tenure track assistant professor in the sciences, than what anyone can find on a number of reputable science blogs. Often times, however, as I go through posts describing the “dos and donts” of young scholars
Continue readingExponential Book: On the road again
A long and tiring term is coming to a close. Time to celebrate the holidays, then head out to Vancouver for a few days, to end 2011, and then it will be a new year and a new term. The Winter term of 2012 is also going to be very
Continue readingTerahertz: The light at the end of the tunnel…
This afternoon I defend my masters thesis, after which I will hopefully have only a few minor corrections and then I will have earned my masters in physics. I also hope to be done school for a while, so if you know of any good job openings… But the busy
Continue readingExponential Book: A simple criterion
Agreement seems lacking, among researchers, on the question of which citations to a scientific article are “legitimate”, i.e., worthy of being included among the total number of hits received by that particular article (typically for the purpose of evaluating one’s h-index). Should one include a cite to an article, if
Continue readingExponential Book: Google Scholar Citations
Thanks to Bee of BackReaction, I have become aware of a new feature of Google Scholar, called Google Scholar Citations. It is essentially a free alternative to Web of Science (WoS), allowing researchers to create a public profile, with a list all of their publications, including their citations. (This is
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