-
PhysCon 2016: A Wooster Student in San Francisco –Guest Blog by Zane Thornburg
When I began studying physics, I had no idea that scientists travel so much. In the fall of 2016, I attended the Quadrennial Physics Congress, PhysCon. Before I get to talking about the conference itself, I think it is worth mentioning that this was the farthest I have ever traveled, so I had a lot…
-
Harvesting Wind Energy for Signal Detection
Wind is free and ubiquitous and can be harnessed in multiple ways. We recently published an article in the Physical Review demonstrating mechanical stochastic resonance in a tabletop experiment that harvests wind energy to amplify weak periodic signals detected via the movement of an inverted pendulum. Unlike earlier mechanical stochastic resonance experiments, where noise was added via electrically driven vibrations, our…
-
Wooster Physics in Vienna, Austria!
After several years of being department chair, I am very much enjoying being on research leave this year. A research leave is an opportunity for Wooster faculty to take a semester or a year just to focus on our research, without any teaching, committee work, or other kinds of administrative work. It’s a time to meet…
-
Raptor Interplanetary Transport Engine
Why has SpaceX chosen methane to fuel its Raptor rocket engine? Robert Goddard’s first rockets used liquid oxygen O2 or LOX and gasoline. The Saturn V moon rocket first stage used LOX and refined kerosene. The Saturn V second stage used LOX and hydrogen that burn to water in my favorite chemical reaction, 2H2 + O2…
-
Maggie Lankford `16: National Finalist for Top Award in Undergraduate Physics Research!
I’m excited to report that Maggie Lankford, who graduated summa cum laude this year as a Wooster physics major, has been selected as a finalist for the American Physical Society’s LeRoy Apker Award– known as the preeminent honor for undergraduate physics research in the United States! Maggie received this recognition for work reported in her Senior Independent Study thesis, entitled “The Production…
-
Found in a Box
I recently ascended to Czar of Physics. (Oops — I mistyped Chair and it autocompleted to Czar!) It’s not my first year as Czar, but this time, during the handover from the previous Czar, I inherited a small cardboard box. Inside I found a stack of old Wooster ΣΠΣ membership cards. (ΣΠΣ is Greek for SPS and signifies…
-
Singing in the Wind
Wires suspended above our streets are a late 19th century technology stubbornly persisting into the 21st century. They can hum in a breeze. A wire disturbs the air flow by shedding eddies alternately up and down, sometimes fast enough to be heard as a musical note. The wire’s vibration can enhance the sound’s volume and persistence. The animation above…
-
April Whirlwind – Part 2!
In addition to the outreach events in April, we also had a lot going on to finish up Senior IS — the senior research project or thesis that all Wooster students complete. You might think that IS Monday is the end of IS, but after handing the thesis in, students also defend their thesis in…
-
April Whirlwind – Part 1!
Whew! So much happened here in April, I’m just barely catching my breath now! We had two great outreach events early in April. The second weekend of April was the Expanding Your Horizons event, with a variety of science workshops for 5th & 6th grade girls. This is a massive event, coordinating presenters from all over the…
-
Into the Wind
Last month, on 2016 April 18, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle delivered a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station and successfully landed its 48-m first-stage booster on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic ocean. SpaceX intends to reuse such stages and perfect rocket landings on both…
Category: Physics
Recent Comments
Nice post, John! Thanks for writing these. I always enjoy them.
David Smith’s ein stein is an awesome shape!
Recent Posts
- My Second Patent
- Extreme SI Prefixes
- Wooster Physicists
- Growing Neural Networks
- Logic with Nonlinear Maps
Categories
- Adventure (23)
- Architecture (6)
- Astronomy (29)
- Exploration (2)
- Fun (9)
- Mathematics (28)
- Miscellaneous (2)
- Outreach (5)
- Physics (126)
- Space Exploration (54)
- Students (45)
- Travel (3)
- Uncategorized (17)
- Wooster (36)
Thanks, Mark! I enjoy reading your posts as well.