Well...I'm not exactly comfortable with a possible Cylon in my future...

Stephen Hawking imagines aliens covering stars with mirrors to generate enough power to form worm holes

In a recent article, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) astronomer Seth Shostak makes an intriguing claim: SETI should start pointing its telescopes toward corners of the known universe that would be friendly not just to intelligent aliens but to artificial alien intelligence. The basis of his suggestion is that any form of life intelligent enough to generate the kinds of radio signals that SETI is looking for would be “quickly” superseded by an artificial intelligence of their creation.


This is the premise of Battlestar Galactica: they were "superseded" by the children of humanity.

The "quickly supersede" thing sounds like it would kind of hurt!


Is Artificial Intelligence More Common Than Biological Intelligence Across the Universe?

A Needle From a Future Doctor You Probably Won't Notice...

"We were able to fabricate hollow, plastic microneedles using a laser-based rapid-prototyping approach," says Dr. Roger Narayan, one of the lead researchers, "and found that we could deliver a solution containing quantum dots using these microneedles.

"The motivation for the study was to see whether we could use microneedles to deliver quantum dots into the skin," Narayan says. "Our findings are significant, in part, because this technology will potentially enable researchers to deliver quantum dots, suspended in solution, to deeper layers of skin. That could be useful for the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancers, among other conditions."

Microneedle, Quantum Dot Study Opens Door to New Clinical Cancer Tools, Science Daily Article

Spin glasslike behavior and magnetic enhancement in nanosized Ni–Zn ferrite system

Spin glasslike behavior and magnetic enhancement in nanosized Ni–Zn ferrite system:

B. Ghosh¹, S. Kumar¹, A. Poddar², C. Mazumdar², S. Banerjee², V. R. Reddy³, and A. Gupta³

¹Department of Physics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700 032, India

 I've reproduced the abstract below.  The paper has a keywords section that opens http://scitation.aip.org, which you'd need a login to access.  The hotlinks are some of the keywords that might not be as readily definable if you've not worked in the area.

The effects of particle size, structure, microstrain, and cation distribution on magnetic property of nanosized Ni_0.35Zn_0.65Fe₂O₄ prepared through high-energy ball milling have been explored by a wide variety of experimental technique namely, x-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, dc magnetization measurement, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The sample exhibits mixed magnetic behavior with a collective magnetic state between 300 and 60 K while spin glasslike freezing of magnetic moments has taken place below 60 K. The sample has displayed enhancement in magnetization, magnetic hyperfine field, coercivity, and anisotropy energy. The inherent superparamagnetic relaxation of ferrite nanoparticles has significantly reduced and it shows evidence of magnetic hysterisis at room temperature. These properties could be profitably used to overcome the inherent instability of magnetic nanoparticles. The intersublattice interaction (J_AB) in the sample has strengthened due to migration of Fe³⁺ ions from octahedral (B) site to tetrahedral (A) site and this accounts for the genesis of counterintuitive magnetic enhancement in the sample.

More Posts on Particle Physics and the Impact on Society....

Particle Physics Benefits: adding it up: more reasons for our country to invest more in STEM and less in the empty rhetoric that pollutes Guglielmo Marconi's contribution to our world, the "boob tube", the Internet, and our political process.

The strange case of solar flare and radioactive elements: a cosmic CSI case conducted by researchers from Stanford and Purdue universities. "The radioactive decay of some elements sitting quietly in laboratories on Earth seemed to be influenced by activities inside the sun, 93 million miles away. Is this possible?" Read the link.

LHC Lawsuit dismissed by US court: A Mr. Walter Wagner failed to show a “credible threat of harm”, and the US government does not control the operation of the LHC and therefore is not the correct party to bring action against. His claim was having "potential adverse consequences." He could have just as easily been describing jay walking.

The Particle Physics Song: a little more traditional, but I have to admit disturbing that they have the time to do this and the CERN Rap.

P-O-V

I am teaching at Manor High School.  I teach Physics, Geometry and Credit Recovery.  I actually only do two preps, meaning I prepare to teach Physics and Geometry.  Credit Recovery, after the kids are logged in, kind of takes care of itself.  I answer questions that guide them to finding the answer themselves.

 I'm what's called in the teaching profession, a "floater," meaning I don't really have a classroom.  I get lots of good walking exercise going from class-to-class.  I am a moving representation of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.  My room location is listed as "varies."  I have a laptop.

The first couple of days were hectic: as students come back to school, I have to think of enforcing dress codes and taking my son to the University of Dallas tomorrow morning.  I bought he and I web cams so we can Skype each other from time-to-time.  He requested it.  I'm not sure I bought it for him...or for me.


I got the picture for this blog post from a Physics Today Point of View article.  It is truly a point of view.

I do agree wholeheartedly that you get what you pay for: in other countries that surpass academically, there is a direct correlation to teacher pay.

Yet, I've had herculean assistance from the Math, Physics and Science departments.  I've been asked often "how's it going?" and "what can I do to help you?"  In industry, I was used to veiled threats and consternation about the possibility of layoffs.  Not that it doesn't happen in teaching.

Teaching and Heisenberg go hand-in-hand: everyday is completely different.  The only thing you can control is your prep and face the reality that you're going to have to "parent" other people's children.

However, when you can show off your blog to students; when you can crack jokes and put them at ease about the subject matter; when you can in essence "be a kid" yourself, then the only thing I can state is a saying by a friend from England:

Life is good.

Dude...Perfect

Ok, here's one on You Tube that is supposedly a shot from an airplane:



You've probably seen this one on the news before:



Leave it to a physics guy, Rhett Allain to do the grunt work analysis:

"To be, or not to be?" (Hamlet), or in this case: "shot, or no shot?"

Comprehensive Control of Atomic and Molecular Motion

"The Raizen Group has developed new methods of cooling and trapping that are applicable to any atom in the periodic table as well as many molecules. The starting point for our work is the supersonic molecular beam which is an standard tool in Physical Chemistry. The supersonic beam serves as a universal platform for cold but fast atoms and molecules that are seeded or entrained into the supersonic flow. We proposed that a series of pulsed magnetic field coils could stop and trap any paramagnetic species. This 'atomic coilgun' was inspired by the coilgun which is used to launch large projectiles."

Photo by Adam Libson

Dr. Mark Raizen is particularly proud of the construction, that by shear coincidence "looks" like UT's familiar symbol!

Center for Nonlinear Dynamics: Raizen Group Research areas