Talk Like A Physicist

Energy Scale of over 100 orders of magnitude

I know, there are a lots of things that are wrong in this image, but as an illustrative example of energy associated with different phenomena that we observe, it is an interesting read.

For example :

A photon from cosmic background has energy of 10^(-22) Joules,
X ray photon has energy of 10^(-13) Joules
ultra high energy cosmic ray could be about 100 Joules,
first atomic bomb was about 10^(13) Joules,
annual US energy consumption is 10^(20) Joules
yearly output of Sun is 10^(32) Joules,
total yearly output of Milkeyway is 10^(47) Joules and
recent Gamma Ray burst from a Supernova had the energy of about 10^(50) Joules.

Simplicity - May you have a simple 2009!

The simplest solutions are often the cleverest and they are also usually wrong! So the search for simplicity is guided by what Einstein taught us : “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

Simplicity doesn’t mean lack of complexity - simplicity just means you stop appearing complicated to others; like fractals - which are very complex, yet simple in many ways. The fractals became simpler, not because the complexity goes away, but because one understands the underlying simplicity and the simple self repeating patterns.

For a physicist, understanding the complex is the final achievement; the understanding breeds simplicity and hence the euphamistically, simplicity becomes the final goal.

The most noble, powerful and meaningful wish that one can bestow upon a physicist is that they discover simplicity in their endeavours.

So my new year wish for all visitors is that:

“May you have a simple 2009!”

Happy New Year!

Not Christmas Holidays but Newton Festival : Happy Newton, everybody!

On December 25th
a savior was born.
He revealed eternal truth
bringing joy to millions.
He astonished the world
with his command over nature.
He changed history for ever!

Even if you are an atheist or a Bright, you don’t want to destroy the holiday season! So Richard Dawkins suggested that the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton, the founder of modern physics and mathematics, and arguably the greatest scientist of all time, could be used as an alternate excuse for a winter holiday!

Depending on the calendar you follow and how purist you want to be, Newton was born either on 25th December or 4th January.

Perfect! Who needs poinsettia, when you can have red apples? I’d rather teach kids about F=ma than tell them about a fat guy flying from the north pole in a sleigh being pulled by reindeers! I’d rather have a (dwarf) tree, dropping apples on my head, than have a Christmas tree shedding needles and being a fire hazard! Instead of fake snow, every house will have a real rainbow created using a prism! Instead of playing with candy canes, kids will be peering through telescope! I like the sound of that!

So, as suggested Richard Dawkins and by Olivia Judson of NYTimes, I support renaming Christmas holidays as Newton’s birthday festival.

In honor of Newton’s Birthday festival, I therefore propose the following song, to be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” For brevity, I include only the final verse. All together now!

On the tenth day of Newton,
My true love gave to me,
Ten drops of genius,
Nine silver co-oins,
Eight circling planets,
Seven shades of li-ight,
Six counterfeiters,
Cal-Cu-Lus!
Four telescopes,
Three Laws of Motion,
Two awful feuds,
And the discovery of gravity!

Happy Newton, everybody!

Just as an aside note; when I was thinking of a date to select for Talk Like a Physicist Day, I did consider using Newton’s birthdate as a potential TLP date, but rejected it precisely because it fell on the Christmas day. So I am glad to get a second chance.

Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night;
God said “Let Newton be” and all was light.

Newton Christmas Cards are designed by John Powers and can be purchased here. The happy Newton Birthday cards are from Irregular Goods.

Infinity Symbol tattoos - Tuesday Physics Tattoos

Infinity and cosmos

Infinite Music from quigoncody

Tuesday Physics Tattoo - Smith Chart

From Chris S’s website at UCSB

The SMITH chart is a graphical calculator that allows the relatively complicated mathematical calculations, which use complex algebra and numbers, to be replaced with geometrical constructs, and it allows us to see at a glance what the effects of altering the transmission line geometry will be.

Here is what a real Smith Chart looks like.

Source Chris’s UCSB website

Drake Equation (to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations) tattoo

Now that we have found and seen actual planets on other stars, it is an appropriate time to discuss the Drake equation again.

The Drake equation attempts to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy with which we might come in contact.

This has to be one of the most delightful tattoo that I have come across. It is a pictorial representation of the Drake Equation.

where:

N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible;

and

R* is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy
fp is the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne is the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
fl is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point
fi is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life
fc is the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space
L is the length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.

The tattoo above is a pictorial representation of the above seven factors. It starts out with a picture of galaxy and then each of the element of the equation is shown in a pictorial form.

Of course, our friends at XKCD have an extra factor:

Source of tattoo

Wolfram Research Releases Mathmatica 7

Mathmetica 7 was released today Wolfram Research.

If you plan to do any computation, Mathematica is invaluable. It lets you focus on the concepts and takes care of all the nitty -gritty.

New features range from things as simple as cut-and-paste integration with Microsoft Word’s Equation Editor to instant 3D models of mathematical objects. Full suites of genome, chemical, weather, astronomical, financial, and geodesic data is designed to make Mathematica as invaluable for scientific research as it is for mathematics.”

There are several other software packages, MatLab, SciLab, Maxim but this is by far the most feature rich.

I have used it in a non-physics context to visualize data and it works very well. As they say, never underestimate the power of a pretty picture! And it is even more convincing if it is a pretty graph!

An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar…

An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar. The first one orders a beer. The second orders half a beer. The third, a quarter of a beer. The bartender says “You’re all idiots”, and pours two beers.

Source

Funny addition by CadMonkey at StumbleUpon

…then they asked for separate tabs…”An infinite number of mathematicians get thrown out of a bar”

Taking a physics textbook to the tattoo parlor - awesome Maxwell Equation tattoo

Continuing our series of “Tuesday Tattoos”, here is Tor Holste’s awesome Maxwell Equation tattoo on his ankle:

I had mine done nearly two years ago. Attached is photographic proof of how awesome it is to bring a Griffiths text into a tattoo parlor.

Notice that the equations oscillate about my ankle, as if they were mediated by a virtual photon.

The Griffith book that he is referring to is “Introduction to Electrodynamics”.

I asked him if he really took the Griffiths book to the tattoo parlor and he quipped:

Indeed, Griffiths was brought to the parlor. I’m pretty sure that Griffiths texts should be brought everywhere.

TEH

And I couldn’t agree with him more. If you are stranded on a deserted island, and could carry only one book, I highly recommend that you consider carrying the Griffiths Electromagnetism book.

Of course, if I knew that I was going to be on a deserted island and could only take one book, I’d probably refuse to go, but if that choice wasn’t available, I’d take:

“How to build a boat for Dummies”

but Griffiths would be my second choice, honest!

Here are the couple of other Maxwell equation tattoos that we have posted earlier.

Tuesday Physics Tattoos: Maxwell equation and speed of light in dielectric medium

Rev. Brendan F. sent me his intricate Maxwell Equation tattoo. This is very artistic, each letter is exquisitely drawn and the total concept is beautifully done. From the picture it is hard to see the scale, but it seems like a very large tattoo.

And this one is my favorite; it is simple, pure physics tattoo. The beauty is not in the lettering but in the equation itself.

Speed of light in a dielectric media.

Thank you Antonia H. for sharing it with us. She is an Australian writer living in Paris and her Flikr stream is here.

By the way, you can derive the Antonia’s tat equation from Brendan’s tat. And of course, in grand physics tradition, the actual derivation is left as an exercise for the reader.

Win for Obama is a win for science: Obama win announcements from 700+ newspaper headlines.

“Ensuring that the US continues to lead the world in science and technology will be a central priority for my administration.”

700+ Newspaper Headlines

Any candidate who arranges to have $2M spent for an “overhead projector” for a planetarium is A-OK in my book. Would be great to have a president who understand the importance of Science in public policy!

Some of my favorite quotes about science from Obama:

“I’ll change the posture of our federal government from being one of the most anti-science administrations in American history to one that embraces science and technology.”

And the best one:

“I will set big goals for this country as president - some so large that the technology to reach them does not yet exist.”

For a images linked to individual newspaper articles, please click here.

Thursday threads : Math Geek Pickup shirt

Source : Peagus Publishing

Tennis ball : sprayed and splashed - high speed photography

When you hit a wet tennis ball:

Tennis ball and spray. High-speed photograph of spray produced as a wet tennis ball with backspin travels through the air. The rapidly rotating ball produces a centrifugal force that pushes water to the equator of the ball and then flings it outwards as a radial spray.

Tennis ball Splashed:

Tennis ball and splash. High-speed photograph of the splash produced as a tennis ball bounces off a wet surface. As the ball impacts the ground, it deforms and displaces a ring of water, which rises up in the shape of a crown, or corona.

Image Credits:
DR. JOHN BRACKENBURY / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY