Links for 2010-04-16

  • Amazingly, this isn’t the silliest problem I’ve seen in an intro physics book…
  • Newton, Leibniz, meet Twitter. Twitter, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz.
  • “We experimentally investigate the mix-dimensional scattering occurring when the collisional partners live in different dimensions. We employ a binary mixture of ultracold atoms and exploit a species-selective 1D optical lattice to confine only one atomic species in 2D. By applying an external magnetic field in proximity of a Feshbach resonance, we adjust the free-space scattering length to observe a series of resonances in mixed dimensions. By monitoring 3-body inelastic losses, we measure the magnetic field values corresponding to the mix-dimensional scattering resonances and find a good agreement with the theoretical predictions based on simple energy considerations.”
  • “We may have a more scientific Washington than when I worked in DC, but science and its allies must fight harder than ever before. Some groups are already effective. Some of us are trying new initiatives. I’m optimistic and realize that change happens slowly, but I hope those working in policy-related areas will take note and become more involved making sure that sound science moves beyond the lab. Because when we’re not explaining what we do and why it matters, someone else is telling the story for us. And we often won’t like the result.”
  • “Much television science fiction can be traced back to two toweringly influential shows: Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. But where Star Trek has been in syndication forever and has a manageable number of episodes to watch, The Twilight Zone has been more subject to the whims of local stations that tend to yank it off the air at a moment’s notice. It also enjoyed a five-season run of more than 150 episodes–all of somewhat variable quality–including a season that doubled the episode running time to an hour.”
  • “At the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a team of pioneering researchers has buried thousands of these sensors miles deep into the ice at the bottom of the Earth, all in an attempt to catch the rare neutrino that crashes into an atom of ice. By analyzing the specific path of this subatomic train wreck, the researchers can trace the neutrino’s path to its distant cosmic source. In this way, IceCube looks through the Earth and to the northern skies, using the planet as a filter to select neutrinos. “I like to say we’re building butterfly nets for ghosts,” says Francis Halzen, principle investigator of the project. “The ultra-transparent Antarctic ice itself is the detector. And a real bargain at just 25 cents per ton!””