Belated March Meeting Wrap-Up

I did one sketchy update from Portland last Tuesday, but never wrote up my impressions of the rest of the March Meeting– when I got back, I was buried in grading, and then trying to put together Monday’s presentation. And, for reasons that will become apparent, I was unable to write anything up before I […]

Cooling a “Macroscopic” Object to Its Quantum Ground State

Several people have sent me links to news stories about last week’s Nature paper, “Quantum ground state and single-phonon control of a mechanical resonator.” (It was also presented at the March Meeting, but I didn’t go to that session). This is billed as the first observation of quantum phenomena with a “macroscopic” or “naked eye […]

Research Blogging Awards

The winners of the first Research Blogging Awards were announced today, and I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this blog was named the “Best Blog — Chemistry, Physics, or Astronomy.” I knew that I was nominated– I was one of the judges, and while I abstained from voting on my own blog, I […]

What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics

I gave a talk today for a group of local home-school students and parents, on the essential elements of quantum physics. The idea was to give them a sense of what sets quantum mechanics apart from other theories of physics, and why it’s a weird and wonderful thing. The title is, of course, a reference […]

Sketchy March Meeting Notes: Monday

I’m terrible about taking notes on conference talks, especially when I’m jet-lagged and was sleep deprived even before I got on the plane. I do jot down the occasional paper reference, though, so here are the things I wrote down, and the talks they were associated with. This should give you some vague idea of […]

Thursday Baby Blogging 031110

SteelyKid says “You know what? Bacon tastes good!” We’ve had a hard time convincing her that anything that isn’t either 1) crunchy, or 2) goopy is food. Cooked vegetables, she’ll pick up, look at, and toss aside laughing. Cooked meat is similarly rejected. This week, though, we discovered that she’ll eat bacon, which evidently is […]

What Should I Go to at the March Meeting?

Lots of good suggestions as to Portland activities for my trip to the March Meeting next week. There’s a second, related problem that I also need help with: What should I do at the meeting itself? My usual conference is DAMOP, which I’ll be going to in May, so while DAMOP is a participating division, […]