Archive for June, 2008
OS X Leopard for Physicists
I’ve recently purchased a new MacBook and thought I’d share some set-up information. I borrow heavily from Professor Murayama’s OS X for Physicists, but have tried to focus on tidbits that have either been updated or aren’t covered there. Why Apple? Most physicists will have already noticed the rapid adoption of Apple technology in academia. […]
Filed under: Opinion, Physics, Science 2.0, Student Life | 15 Comments
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 […]
Filed under: Just for Fun, Physics | 6 Comments
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 […]
Filed under: Just for Fun, Opinion | Closed
Speaking of Part III, the CASM webpage recently let slip a preliminary copy of the 08/09 lecture list. They’ve since taken it down (boo), but it appears that next year will shake up the physics curriculum a bit. This is exciting since Cambridge is a place where the characteristic time scale for “change” is measured […]
Filed under: Student Life | 3 Comments
Cambridge Part III Mega-Reunion!
I’d like to make a small commercial for an exciting event next year, the “Beyond Part III” conference in Cambridge. This will be an über-version of the topical Part III return conferences, inviting back CASM students from the past five years from all specialties. The current splash image on the Beyond Part III website… a […]
Filed under: Physics, Student Life | 3 Comments
Gripe: Linux discrimination
I’ve been working on various drafts of ‘last impressions’ of the UK and ‘first impressions’ of returning to the US… but I’m compelled to interrupt this activity to gripe a little bit. Here’s something I wanted to get off my chest: Physics resources need to be linux-friendly. Besides this being a “good thing” from some […]
Filed under: Opinion, Student Life | 7 Comments
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 […]
Filed under: Just for Fun | Closed
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 […]
Filed under: Expatriate Life, Just for Fun, Physics | 1 Comment
Congrats to ’08 graduates!
Exams in both Durham and Cambridge have just about wrapped up, so congratulations to the students all over the world who are graduating (or have already graduated) this summer. Since I’ve been feeling rather sentimental about England, I feel obligated to share one of our anthems during the Part III exams in 2007: (I decided […]
Filed under: Just for Fun | 2 Comments
Just a public service announcement for class of 2009 undergrads interested in the Marshall or Rhodes: if you haven’t started preparing your application, start soon. Marshall and Rhodes applicants are nominated by their university, so you need to understand your particular university’s nomination process. These nominations have to be submitted early in the autumn, which […]
Filed under: Opinion, Student Life | Closed
An American Physics Student in England 