Graduation

I graduated yesterday! (Yay!) Three pictures are added to my Fourth Year album, go to the third page at the end of the album.

It was a nice day. It drizzled a little bit on our outside Physics Diploma Ceremony, but it wasn't bad. In addition to my BS in Physics with High Distinction, and BA in Chemistry, I received the Physics Department's Most Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award for the work I did in the fall.

A nice day!

Snowy Days

The subtitle on the sign entering Holyoke, MA, reads "Home of Volleyball".

They were calling for snow all up and down the East yesterday, but the storms weren't really supposed to hit NE. Well, they did, and almost every school district is cancelled, along with almost every university. UMASS included.

My morning appointments were cancelled up to 11 AM, so I decided to roam about the campus and play in the snow. I bundled up as much as I could, meaning normal clothes but double-socks. I asked the front desk if there was a place I might be able to buy a hat, but the bookstore is closed whenever the rest of the university is. I think that with one, and perhaps a better pair of gloves than my leather driving gloves, I would have managed to stay out longer than the half-hour I managed.

The crews had already cleared the main sidewalks, though of course I took the opportunity to tramp through unshoveled areas. At some parts the wind cleared the snow down to about half an inch, in others the drifts piled to about a foot (though much deeper in parts I avoided). The "Valley" was not hit as hard as parts more east or south of here, as Boston.

The guy on the news mentioned Worchester (Wooooster!) and Concord (Conk-aaard) often. It was cute.

Ten minutes ago I handed in my take-home exam. That was the last item for the winter exam period. So my penultimate undergraduate semester is now over!

It's funny, though I didn't have any "real" exams--no three-hour closed-book, in-class exam--this was probably one of the tougher exam periods I've had. A lot of writing to do. Yuck. But I got it all done, and now it is Winter Break time!

Between semesters, I'm going to keep doing research for Stefan. I wasn't able to actually collect much data during the semester in my independent study, and there are other things we'd like to know, so I'm getting paid for a few weeks this winter. It should be nice, keep myself busy during the days, and yet also relaxing.

Dedication.

Oh wow, it's December.

Yup.

This week was the last week of classes for the fall semester! That's almost equally crazy. So today I had a presentation for my lab class, which was in lieu of a lab report for one of five physics labs this semester. My partner and I talked about a nuclear lab we did, in which radiation spectra were taken of a few different sources. But since it was the one required lab for everyone, we wanted to focus less on rehashing every single experiment and instead we focused on the practical side of the experiment. Namely, how do you decide what detector is appropriate for an experiment? So for a lot of our presentation we contrasted the main types of detectors.

Okay. So there's this class of detectors called scintillators, which means that the detector absorbs a high energy and emits a lower energy. The first scintillators used were in about 1906, way before technology caught up to the science they were trying to do. So they had materials that emitted visible light when hit by radiation. They would actually take a piece of the material under a microscope and count the flashes of light as it was hit by radiation.

Wow. That's some dedication to science.

put your back into it!

WOW I've been busy.

There are more cool things about the Physics Department here that I would like to share. Both of these happened last Friday.

1. I ordered some parts from a supply company, to the tune of about $15. The parts themselves were pretty small, maybe pen-sized.

On Friday my package arrived, and it was huge, the size of a shoebox. What could possibly be in here?, I wondered. The supply company sent a 'snack pack', which was pretty amazing. I think the food they sent me was almost more expensive than the parts I ordered.

I asked the Stockroom Manager if the food came with the parts? Or was I just confused? "They're not allowed to send those," he said, "but we don't tell them that."

2. ALSO on Friday was the Fourth Annual Physics Department Tug-of-War. I didn't know we did that, but apparently it's something the grad students have organized for the entire duration of my undergraduate career. They had planned competitions between different grad years, between library staff vs. machine shop guys, faculty vs. staff, and different research groups. None were planned for the undergrads, but since the tugging-of-war occurred in front of the main entrance to the building, we knew it was going on.

So a few spontaneous competitions were arranged as well. Somehow I managed to get roped in to competing in the undergrads vs. 2nd & 3rd year grads, AND the undergrad girls vs. grad girls. For the latter, there were two on each side.

I thought the Tug-of-War would be short-lived, and then the grad students would go back to work. Nope. It went on for an hour.

You know they're serious when the experienced competitors wear cleats.


I took pictures, but well... those will be up eventually.

Life Skills

A week or so ago I posted that I like soldering. A lot.

I remembered another possible-life skill today, meaning it is a skill I may possibly need/use for the duration of my career.
Technical drawings.

I love technical drawings. I don't know if I'm any good at them, but it's amazing to me that I can imagine something in my head, sketch it out in 3-D form and as a combination of 2-D components, and then a few days later hold the exact embodiment of what I imagined. It is amazing.

Hopefully that will work out for the adapter piece I drew today, because I have a cylinder that needs to fit inside and be held securely. If my measurements were off, or my drawings unclear...

Who says that labwork isn't suspenseful?

The Crimson War

One of our academic and athletic rival schools is fellow ACC member UMD (University of Maryland). Every fall, the week preceeding the football game between our two schools is the Crimson War. Each school has a blood drive, and the school with the most donors wins! I think they do it by sheer numbers, not percentages, which puts our school at a slight disadvantage.

So that's this week. Fortunately, I became eligible to donate on Saturday, just in time to participate. I was 'done' for the day at 2 and decided to go to one of the blood drive centers. There was a long line, as I knew there would be, but I also knew it would be pretty much my only chance all week to donate.

It took about 45 minutes before I was in the bloodmobile in those weirdly-reclined seats, we had to register, then pass the short physical screening, then answer all those questions about our habits and histories. Before each station was another queue. During my wait I worked on a physics take-home midterm.

So there I am, sitting on the floor, scribbling some equations relating to the intensity of light, when suddenly it's my turn for the short 'physical'. I stand up, sit down, and immediately that blood pressure cuff goes around my arm.
They pulse they measured was the lowest I'd ever seen for a blood donation screening. The machine even beeped to alert the screener.

Apparently doing physics makes me very relaxed?


This was the fourth time I donated this year, and all of them were in Virginia. Which means I get a spiffy "Friends 4 Life" shirt from the Virginia Blood Services group! I think I'll try for #5 this December.

don't believe everything you hear?

Today I attended the weekly physics department colloquium, "The Ancient Science of Violin-Making". It was FASCINATING. Not as high-tech as most colloquia we have, but it drew a lot more people from the community/music department as well.

Two things I learned:

-When a faucet is turned on, the human ear can distinguish between hot and cold water.

-Researchers took three plates and adjusted them to play at exactly the same pitch. By computer analysis, the sounds were exactly the same. There was one each of the shapes circle, square, and triangle, and subjects could identify the shape when played.


The human ear is amazing. Amazing.

I got soul, and I like to solder.

My life is saturated with labs. I have lab classes Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday afternoons. Tuesday and Thursday mornings I work on my independent study, which is yet more labwork---although that will switch to paper-writing in a month or so. So as much as my life is dominated by labwork, it's no wonder I'm acquiring a list of new skills I find enjoyable.

The most recent: soldering.
This is not the first time I've soldered in my life, but it might as well be for the little I did before. And yet, the smell of the hot solder reminds me so strongly of middle school tech class where I completed a "circuit" unit. I kind of like that smell.

I don't solder very much, but I could happily do it all day.

I'm not very good at it. All my connections are messy and break and need to be redone after two weeks.


For those keeping up with my project, it no longer lives in a foil-coated box. I'm not sure what happened, because this summer the box definitely appeared to be necessary. Now, it's happy just sitting out where it is, without the low-tech Faraday cage
(Very basic explanation. Better but more confusing explanation?). Not sure why, but if it works it works...

Glass Houses

When light passes from one medium to another, usually not all the light makes it through. Some of the light is reflected backwards, and some is transmitted through. (Think about when it's dark outside and you are inside a lit room and see your reflection in a window.) Usually the light rays are bent by an amount dependent on what is called the index of refraction of the media. That's why your legs look funny when you're swimming in a pool.

That's also why fish look bigger swimming around in their tank.

I found out in class on Friday that the fish see us exactly as we see the fish. That is to say that the same exact thing happens to light moving from the tank to the air as to the light passing into the tank from the outside. That's pretty cool.



I did a pretty thorough cleaning of my aquarium this weekend, and I moved it into my room while I was at it. It was pretty sad, having only Morning Breakfast Time interaction with the little guys. Now they're on my desk, so I can stare at them instead of doing my work. I forgot how entertaining they can be!

I think that soon I'll be able to tell them apart again. Maybe they'll get more permanent names than "Fish #4".

Fall Semester Plan

Though this semester will have my lightest courseload in terms of credits--at the school's minimum of 12.0---I'm going to be incredibly busy this semester.

-Half of those credits are split between two labs, one for Chem, one for Physics. Time in lab: 10 hours/week
time outside of lab: whatever it takes to write 1-2 lab write-ups per week.

-I'm doing an independent study, too, which is a required 10 hours of work/week, which is silly because I definitely don't spend that much time in any normal 3-credit class.

-I'm taking one normal, lecture-style class. Which is still going to be difficult. Really difficult.

In addition, I have two part-time jobs.
-One is 8-9 hours/week at the library. I love working at the library, actually. I worked there last summer (2007) and have been surprised at how quickly a lot of the proceedures have come back.
-The other is capped at 5 hours/week. I'm not allowed to do more, which is nice because I would but I shouldn't. It's a gradership for one of the entry-level physics classes, though I won't write which in case any of my students find this blog. I'm the only grader for a large class, so I am grading mostly on completion of the problem set, and choosing ~2 problems to grade in more detail.

I bought a 10-pack of red ballpoint pens. The first problem set is due this week. I am so excited!

So between that all, I'm pretty busy this semester, and mostly I see myself living in the physics building. Which will be okay, I guess. At the least I'll be a familiar face in the department.

so speaking of physics

I'm not sure if I've posted this link yet. Pretty sure I haven't.

"So You Want To Be A Physicist"

Scroll down about a fifth of the way, and you'll see Part V: Applying for Graduate School. Just before it is Part IV: The Life of a Physics Major.

I feel the guide is pretty good, and is a good explanation for anyone at home unsure what studying physics really means, especially after the BS is finished and we move on to Grad school. [Edit: I just reread that sentence and realize it can be read two ways. That's pretty clever. I really meant a Bachelor's degree, not the other, but I'll keep it as it is.]

By no means do I think you should read the entire thing; for one, it goes on further than I intend to take my education, and for another, I don't want to think about a PhD thesis right now--as an example--so neither should you. It's a pretty long document, so I suggest only Parts V-VII and IX.

attic antics

The Physics building has a small attic on the top floor, which I suppose is the fourth floor. I call it 'small' because it doesn't take up the entire area of the floors below; if the building is an H shape, the attic represents only the middle, horizontal line and not the caps on either end. A better analogy is an I, but as you can see my font does not have capped, capitalized i's, so think of an H but with a longer middle and shorter ends.
It is also directly underneath the roof, so the width is shorter than the floors below as well, with a higher-than-normal height near the two stairwell entrances, and about a three-ft height on the opposite side. Like being stuck in an elongated tent.

I couldn't find the lightswitches, only delay timers that looked a bit like analog kitchen timers stuck to the wall, the kind where you turn a knob and wait, and it goes to 5 minutes past zero before the bell rings and you find your cookies have been burnt to charcoal. Except that these timers were in hours, not in minutes. But either way, they were dodgy looking, and I did not want to play with them. There were windows flush with the floor, and rose about two feet high. A good effect for the outside, but it was a little dark and light coming from the bottom of a wall is a bit unusual.

I was up there looking for something or another, a bright lamp I think, but I'm not sure.
I did not find a single lamp.
What I did find was fascinating, at least the stuff I could see. There was a cabinet in one dark corner with a sign on the sunlit-side reading "FREE TO A GOOD LAB", and though most of the equipment on the shelves were hidden by shadows it looked like balances (both analog and digital), small power generators, ampmeters, that kind of thing. There were many cardboard boxes, some stacked up and clearly empty, some overflowing with old books; filing cabinets with drawers partially falling out; ancient desks, chairs, coatracks; step-ladders and too many other odd pieces of furniture to mention.

I was surprised when I saw a Christmas tree.

I was even more surprised when I examined the attic further and found four or five of them.

How many artificial trees does one PC physics department need? Apparently the answer is less than five, since those have been gathering dust for who knows how long.

Back to the Land of Science.

If anyone is out there who misses my updates on physics, fear not. The glory of science is back.

On YouTube:
A two-part animation explaining how to imagine the tenth dimension. Pretty good, I thought, perhaps not wholly accurate, since scientists now seem to think we need to use eleven dimensions. Well, we'll see, after String Theory and all.
Part One
Part Two

If you don't like YouTube, you can view these videos at the author's website: TenthDimension.Com


I found two popular physics/science blogs, linked to the right of the screen. ArXiv covers a wide range of science, Physics&Physicists is mostly physics, both discuss current happenings in the World of Science.

By the way, today's P&P links to an article about a new novel. Particle Physics Thriller!. COOL!

Enjoy.

Summer in the City

I guess that travel can include Charlottesville. I am not sure. Either way, it's interesting to note what is different since coming back. Many of these things are particular to Cville, the plethora of summer construction, including the physics side parking lot, tearing up the main road through Grounds, and work as always and yet with little progress behind Cabell. I used to park behind Cabell a lot, it actually had spaces... I wonder where all those people got displaced to. The sculptures in the medians are mostly changed, as are certain restaurants/bakeries/cafes. I can't find anything in the grocery stores, but that is a problem wherever you go.

Even the Cville Kroger has a British food section, of two small cases at the end of the Frozen Pizza aisle. Most of the shelves are empty, but they have McVittie's Digestives. I'll be honest, I was tempted. I'll bet Harris Teeter has more, and Foods Of All Nations more still. The cider situation is worse than I thought, but it's nice to know exactly what's in the food I'm buying. Amazing how different packaging can be. As yet the only food I would like but can't find is haggis. No one understands haggis.

I'm slowly adapting to American currency, American prices, and American attitudes. Sometimes my friends tease me for using British phrases, but "half-seven" for 7:30, "queue", and "can't be bothered" will stick for a long time I hope. I know how to drive on the right-hand side of the road, and I'm getting used to looking left-right-left when crossing the street. Life skills, life skills.

Physics on TV

A couple of days ago a friend (Physics major) introduced me to the sitcom, "The Big Bang Theory", which is about a few socially inept physicists.

How often can you find physicist main characters?

It's a new show this year, and it's amazing, but at times very true to life.



You know the British cooking show "Two Fat Ladies"?
Well, it's not anymore because one of the Fat Ladies died, I think.
Anyway.
Sometimes I ride a bus route in Edinburgh that takes me by a cafe.
"Two Thin Laddies."

That's brilliant.

Higgs boson

Germany is an hour ahead of GMT. The time zone is CET: Central European Time, and it seems to encompass most of Europe.


I found out yesterday that Peter Higgs, who theorised the Higgs Boson (which is yet to be discovered, but if it ever is, it will validate the Standard Model), is an emeritus professor here at U. of Edinburgh. Apparently he's about 84. Apparently he still comes in from time to time to do his work. How cool is that! There are probably times this year I've been in the same building as Higgs!

That is probably not as exciting to any of you, but wow. I had no idea he was even Scottish.

Edinburgh Capitals

In Condensed Matter yesterday we watched a very informative video, a clip from one of those Pop Science TV programs. Stuff Blowing Up
Sometimes it's nice to know that professors can get just as bored as students, and solve it in the same way--namely, surfing the internet for mindless junk.


Today I watched the end of a British Hockey League game. I think it was Coventry vs. Nottingham.
Who knew they followed hockey here.
To be fair, they don't actually. I guess nothing else was on for the sports channel to play.
Turns out Coventry plays Edinburgh tomorrow. Hrm. Edinburgh has an ice hockey team?
Yes, it does.

Take a look at the other teams in the league, a pretty random assortment, a lot of little cities, then there's Manchester and Belfast.

Also, Edinburgh plays in an ice rink right next to the rugby stadium. I've passed by the skating rink, it's small and looks more like a bowling alley---yet the website claims it's Olympic size and holds 3500 people.

Enough about ice hockey. Point is, it has even smaller following than basketball, which is even worse off than American football.

Take my wife. To the movies.

Today I took the afternoon off and went to the cinema. The closest one is just on the other side of Princes St, about a half-hour walk away, and there are a few others 45 minutes' walk to the west.

British cinemas are about the same as American ones, and I wouldn't expect any different. Expensive popcorn, candies, and sodas. A solid 10 minutes of advertisements before the previews, mostly for cars or beer, and a lot of previews for things only tangentially related to the target audience. Though I didn't see any messages asking me to bin my litter after the show, just to set my mobile to silent.

The rating system is a little different though
Classification Scheme, for the interested
UK: Uc: especially for children under 5
U: 'universal'
PG: same
12A: children 12 and above; children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult; only seen at the cinema
12: same, but only for DVDs and videos; only children 12 or older may rent the film
15: only children 15 or older may watch (or rent). It doesn't say if parents can bring their 14 or younger kids in
18: only adults 18 and older may watch (or rent)

The same classifications are used for buying movies, or on video games.



Also we've seen a few movies in my Particle Physics course, which may or may not be of interest, but most are at least humorous in their own way.
The Quark Dance (no science here!)
Massey University (NZ) explains quarks humorous for the horrible cinematography
Okay there were others but I won't bother listing them. Definitely check out the quark dance.
Did you know that the last quark discovered was only seen in 1995? For real!

All science is either physics or stamp-collecting.

-Ernest Rutherford.

Tuesday night was not only elections for next year's Physsoc committee, it was also the night the hoodies finally arrived! They are attractive in black, with the above quote written on the back, underneath "PHYSICS SOCIETY", and the University crest on the front, again with the society name and the year written underneath.

Physics Society hoodies. Not something you can find just anywhere, and despite the dorkiness, definitely one of my new favorite articles of clothing.



There are exactly three weeks left in the term, which means we're all busy with projects and problem sets, and should theoretically be reviewing for April/May exams. Bah.