Archive for the 'Just for Fun' Category
Just a random thought for the day:
I spent a couple of years as an undergrad doing research in a cond-mat/materials science building. It was the only place where people would consistently wash their hands before they went to the restroom.
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One of my favorite sources of background noise is Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life. The show recently replayed a nice episode called “A Little Bit of Knowledge,” which included a really nice piece on a physics crackpot (without being condescending). The piece starts at around the 31:10 mark. Here’s the blurb:
Bob Berenz had a [...]
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Only in America: According to the “Dallas City Hall Blog,” a Dallas County administrator was reprimanded after calling a collections office a “black hole” for losing papers. A judge and commissioner on hand deemed the commend racist, apparently. To make the story even better, they instead suggested that the office be called a white hole. [...]
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It seems like the powers-that-be at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center are considering changing the lab’s name. Besides reflecting the broader spectrum of science done at the lab since its 2005 reoganization, apparently there’s some issue with the DOE registering for ownership of the lab’s title. Stanford University, who operates the lab, objects to anyone [...]
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The good folks at the Guardian have put together a nice interactive presentation about the LHC. Unfortunately, they continue to deny that ‘CERN’ is an acronym by spelling it as ‘Cern.’ [edit:see comments.] If you’re willing to forgive their editor, the presentation is a really nice introduction for non-physicists.
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I’ll miss you, Woolies.
I’m going to miss people referring to shops like “Woolies” or “Marks and Sparks.” The only shops here that have such widely-accepted nicknames are fast food joints: “Mickey-D’s” or “Jack-in-the-crack.” … though that last one might only exist for undergrads who have the late-midnight munchies.
Perhaps what I’ll miss most are the pub names. Cheers to [...]
Filed under: Expatriate Life, Just for Fun | 1 Comment
Consider the gauntlet thrown, Cambridge. In his new Cosmology text, Steven Weinberg twice misspelled the name of DAMTP professor Gary Gibbons as “Gary Gibbon,” effectively making a monkey of the accomplished general relativist.
Innocent typo, or the latest manifestation of the deterioration of trans-Atlantic relations?
Ok, ok. I guess I’m just getting reacquainted to the yellow journalism [...]
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Running the LHC to save mankind
Previously I wrote about a great quote by M. Mangano regarding the safety of the LHC. Here’s an even better response to the cult of LHC doomsday-ists, by Prof. S. Aaronson of MIT:
As a concerned citizen of Planet Earth, I demand that the LHC begin operations as soon as possible, at as high energies as possible, [...]
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Goodbye, Durham
I left the UK just a couple of week ago, completing an adventure that began in September of 2006. With the culinary help of my (also physicist) flatmates, we made made sure I had a proper send-off.
Below are some shots of the table spread. (Not pictured are the MSSM amaretti that I couldn’t help making.)
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The MSSM on amaretti
I’m finally back in the United States after being in the UK since 2006. I have plenty to write about returning to the US, but let me catch up with a few posts about my last days in the UK.
Regular readers know my fascination of putting physics on food (gingerbread, pancakes, pies), so below are [...]
Filed under: Expatriate Life, Just for Fun, Physics | 1 Comment
