11 posts tagged “physics”

My advisor for the few months I had at Union wrote a short post about the physics graduates this year (the year I would have graduated). I'm sure I hung out with a couple people in that group, not that I can put any faces to names at this point, and while it's curious to think about what would have happened if I had stayed, it's not something I spend any significant amount of time pondering nor do I regret anything that happened on account of leaving college. I do wish I had the knowledge that these graduates now have because I'm so interested in physics but it really all boils down to my appreciation of what I would have learned in the courses I would have taken - something I'm sure I'll have more of now than I did then.

Anyway, I commented on the post congratulating the graduates and mentioning that it was interesting to think that I was in the class at one point in time. I didn't go in to any detail but I often get curious questions about how I ended up in a full-time job that I really enjoy before I could legally consume alcohol so I tell that story a lot and it's right about this point where I get some sneers from people who feel like I'm stomping all over their hard work at universities wherever because I found something I enjoy without spending countless hours and money on a degree. I'm going to take this moment to reiterate that I'm not putting down your degree with my current non-degree nor do I look down on anyone because they have a degree nor do I feel that I am "better" than anyone with a degree. Let's recall that I did spend countless hours learning things for my current job, I even did it while in school (i.e. spending money), just not while in school for that particular subject.

Also, I've noticed that if you refer to a degree as "fancy writing on a piece of paper", certain people get a little hostile. I assure you that I will continue to refer to it as such even when spending two more years getting said piece of paper and numerous years afterwards (likely) reinforcing said piece of paper.

I picked up my physics text for my summer class on half.com for around 1/3 of the original cost. And it really is in like-new condition. Also, the postal service supplied me with 4 pamphlets on why money laundering through the USPS is bad. I handed them out to my cube-mates.

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I have a bunch of posts in perpetual draft form so I digress from them with some lolcat/physics humor. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you lolquarks:

Quarks Has A Flavor

3 comments

Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law

Peter Woit

Peter Woit is the author of Not Even Wrong, the second book I've read on the failures of string theory and he's got my new favorite blog because of this line:

"For up-to-the-minute news about the Higgs, far better informed than any media source could ever be (and thus a great example of why blogs are changing the way the media works), your best bet is Tommaso Dorigo’s blog. His latest posting explains well what the current state is, and predicts that, with the data expected from the Tevatron through 2009, they should be able to have 2.5-3 sigma evidence for a 115 GeV Higgs if it is there, or if it’s not, rule it out at 95% confidence level up to 130 GeV."

Now all I have to do is get him to switch to Vox...

It helps plants transform solar energy to chemical energy with near-100% efficiency.

I finally signed up for this summer course at Berkeley. Summer courses are easy enough to sign up for, I'm a student at CCSF at the moment so I'm eligible as a visiting student to take a class there during the 7-week summer sessions. It's a hard-core schedule, most of my Monday and Wednesday during the day is gone and mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays are gone as well. My work schedule will reflow around those to make full 9.30am-10pm Mondays and Wednesdays and 9.30am-7pm Tuesdays and Thursdays or so. It's some long hours but I do 8.15am-10pm Mondays and Wednesdays already with a short break in the middle and I'm not tired on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The occasion is nothing special, anyone can take a summer course at Berkeley if you're taking classes elsewhere. I'll be doing the Berkeley acceptance thing next winter though.

I have never, ever been excited by school so it baffles me that I'm so excited to finally be taking a serious, interesting course at Berkeley this summer. Okay, I'm not so baffled but at least excited (for being excited). I've been diving into any physics I can find head-first for the better part of the last year and I'm not bored yet. A little astonished at how much stuff I have yet to learn, but not bored.

I was so incredibly anti-school when I left three (!!!) years ago. I still maintain that school is broken for people with similar learning patterns to myself but I've found that it's still completely possible for me to learn in this kind of environment, I just have to make it work for me by doing a little bit of extra research and thinking beyond whatever the class explains. I did a lot of research on things I knew absolutely nothing about when I spent about 6 months playing with electronics and robots a while back and I think that's really been the key for understanding that even though a bad class (or any class with even moderate time restraints) will give you the basics, it takes more effort to really understand the meaning of what's going on beyond memorizing the formulas for a good grade. There's no way I can really do well in a class without understanding every detail surrounding a concept and I staunchly refuse to memorize anything because that's a broken way to learn anything. The information is out there, you just have to poke around for it. Thanks, internets.

What is your current obsession(s)?
Submitted by eijsr.

Quantum Physics (those are some really great lectures but they'll be a repeat to you if you've read QED)

I have a large backlog of podcasts from NPR's Science Friday series but an episode came up this week called High Energy Physics and being interested in learning everything I can about physics I skipped about two weeks of old podcasts just to listen to this one. In all honesty, I was a little disappointed by some of the content. It's only 34 minutes long - listen through it and hear if you can spot what I think was the real unfortunate part of this podcast.

04 High Energy Physics- SciFri Podcast - 2007012624

Science Friday Podcast

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter

QED, done. Really, truly fascinating stuff. I'll probably come up with questions over the next week or two so I'm keeping it in my bag so I can look stuff up. Also joining the bag is the next lesson, The Trouble with Physics.

The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next

Also, I'm thinking of giving this Physics/Cosmology group a go next Wednesday. It's at 7PM at Au Coquelet, 2000 University, in Berkeley. Assuming it's always posted on craigslist, this page should list the upcoming meetings. It's squarely interferes with one of my classes at CCSF (pun intended) but I think I can go without for a class to see if this is worth attending on a regular basis.

Don't be silly, of course I know this is taking it to the next level of geek. But it's fantastic!

Amazon is so great. I ask for books and they send them to me. In the mail today: