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The Top Ten Physics Highlights of 2002
Ocelot Wreak writes "Physics Web has a cool summary of The Top Ten Physics Highlights of 2002. These include anti-atoms, neutrino oscillation - a finding that requires new physics beyond the Standard Model, defying the second law of thermodynamics, and using neutrons to measure quantum gravitational effects, amongst others. For some reason, the Slashdot Effect and the latest research on iPod-based Beowulf clusters were not included..."
Just marry the poor fool. ;-)
LongTail SSH Brute Force analysis tool is here!
Congrats to you both!
PS: This lameness filtering obviously is optional, as you get away with a 4 chr post, while I had to type this whole postscript to get past some silly minimum # of characters per line.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
so when do we get the Top Ten Top Ten Stories of 2002?
2000: Nuclear Fission
2001: Nuclear Fission
2002: Nuclear Fission
2003: Nuclear Fission
2004: Nuclear Fission
"12. Hope for the future More than 300 physicists from around the world -- most of them women -- met in Paris in March for the first International Conference on Women in Physics."
In a related story: Sex makes your brain grow
Homer: "Lisa, in this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!"
"For some reason, the Slashdot Effect and the latest research on iPod-based Beowulf clusters were not included..."
Amazing, now the editors are trolling US! You know where.
But the last two points are just "Low points of the year" and "Hope for the future".
The lowpoints... you guess it, the great sham by Victor Ninov on Ununoctium.
The hope is... more women in physics! Oh the joy! You guys in Physics should be happier now... :-) If only this happens as well in Computer Science...
--
Error 500: Internal sig error
In April, physicists at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) in Canada presented conclusive new evidence that electron neutrinos oscillate -- or change 'flavour' -- on their way from the Sun to the Earth.
So they don't taste like chicken anymore?
SCO, Microsoft, P2P, what's your hot button?
Top 10 ways to get a slashdot reader to get laid
-by CmdrTaco
There's nothing wrong with that, but I have q question: why is it particularly important for more women to get into physics? Why can't we just leave women alone and let them do what they want? Why do we need to perform "social architecture"?
My vote would be just to stop worrying about what group does what (and that includes race), and focus on what individuals do or don't do.
But then, maybe I'm just crazy and believe that society really should be color and sex blind. You may now begin flogging the heretic.
That is because neither of those have anything to do with physics. Hate to state the obvious.
This list is great if for no other reason than it gives me a chance to say "Superkamiokande!" in a superhero-like voice.
Say it with me. It'll make you feel better. "Superkamiokande!"
Of course, having research I worked on mentioned in passing ("Researchers also reported on the unusual expansion characteristics in an ultra-cold Fermi gas this month") was cool too.
No Segway?
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
Its 2003-01-03 now!
People always talk about striving to eliminate stereotypes & groupings, but always feel the need to keep reminding everyone about it anyway bringing us back to the same problem.
hmmmm, someone didn't learn their numbers
#13
Trolling is a art,
Why do writers insist on making Top Ten list that start at #1. It ruins the suspense in an otherwise great article. And that's what Physics is all about ... suspense.
By analyzing social trends, it may become apparent *why* those trends exist. It has been the case in the past that groups of people were not able to do what they wanted as easily as others, and we could then modify or create laws to make the system in question more equitable.
Top ten this, top ten that. Just let me know when someone finds out what the ??? is in that whole "Step 3:???, Step 4: Profit" thing....
This signature is a waste of 42 characters
The Slashdot effect wasn't eligible because it came in #1 last year. Look it up.
How many times does it have to be said? Evolution does not violate the second law of thermodynamics!
:-P
At this rate pretty soon there will be a top ten "Top 10" list of 2002.
Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
"7. Magnets in nanoscale logic devices
Physicists in the UK built a nano-metre scale logic gate made entirely from metal that works at room temperature. ... If such devices could be built, they would be ideal for mobile applications such as phones and smart cards because the data could be stored without a power source."
Isn't that essentially core memory on a smaller scale? Everything old is new again...
$#!^ happens, but why does it always have to happen to me???
But you see, if more women get into physics, then more men will. I was a physics major and, trust me, the dating scene was grim.
We need more physicists. This is an important first step.
Heh, being a woman, and being a Physics major, I can honestly agree that the dating situation was indeed grim.
New here, aren't you?
sulli
RTFJ.
we could then modify or create laws to make the system in question more equitable.
Dude, just remember this:
Equality of Opportunity does not equal Equality of Result.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
This is a common misconception. Trying to get more groups invloved in science (art, etc) is not just social engineering. It is also an attempt to make science better. The more people lend their talents, the better it will be. This is obviously true in sports, as African-Americans became able to join professional teams. As Jesse Jackson once said, "we never knew how good football could be until everyone could play". The same is true for science: we will never know how good it can be until everyone can participate.
What "women want" is highly influenced by what paths in life seem available or attractive to them. This is hardly something one is born with, but much more likely the product of cultural atmosphere. The fact that there are more American women scientists than Afnagni ones makes this obvious. A restrictive environment of possibilities acts as a real barrier to entry for women, many of whom don't even think of themselves a spossible scientists. And all of that is prior to active prejudice on the part of others.
My mom is a chemist and she had to fight like hell her whole life just to work, much less to do that work and still be considered a woman. Anything that makes science more viable for all individuals sense of identity is positive, and clearly benefits science.
When the electric motor was invented, I doubt everyone in the world had it within a year. I doubt trains were made everywhere within a year of making the steam engine.
Just because the reasearch doesn't provide immediate benefits doesn't mean its useless.
Also, science isn't just about making life better. Part of it is also about satisfying curiosity and knowing more. If someone found the edge of the universe tomorrow, it would not help life in any way, but I would still regard it as the one of the most compelling achievements in science.
And just one more thing; how does anti-matter compare? anti-matter, if successfully harnessed would be a clean pure source of energy. Go talk to the people of Chernobyl and they will tell you how important it is.
Disclaimer: My opinions are my own and do not, in any way, reflect the opinions of my employer or university.
For cases like yours, Linux offers free brain surgery.
Wow, I think this is a contendor for "Top Ten Most Boring Story Submissions of 2002 on Slashdot". I mean even the Picture of Albert Einstein next to the article looks like he is sleeping. Now everyone go wake up your Sys Admin because if the poor sap read this he will be happily dreaming of Beowolf Clusters and napping on his keyboard.
RiGgA
More updates at 3 minutes and 14 seconds past the hour.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
... I always thought the laws of Physics were a little odd!
Sci-Fi Todayran something I wrote on this story a week ago. FYI, you can get daily Sci-Fi Today news headlines on your Slashdot Home Page...
that was funny ha
mstyne: real name, no gimmicks
Physics Web has announced the Top 12 physics stories of 2002, a number stretched beyond the usual Top 10 to include human-interest stories like the shortage of women in physics and fabrication-of-data misconduct. Advances in optics were lumped together as one achievement for work as diverse as sub-diffraction limit microscopy and quantum photon cloning. Neutrons were big news, providing insight on quantum gravity and atomic nuclei with neutrons but no protons. Some research was COOL, like Bose-Einstein condensates made from cesium and superconductors made from plutonium. One discovery was HOT, namely nanoscale magnetic logic gates that operate at room temperature. The top discoveries were totally sublime: solar neutrinos change identities on their trip from Sun to Earth, the Second Law of Thermodynamics may be broken (can perpetual motion be far behind?) and microwave radiation from the Big Bang is polarized just like a pair of Neo's sunglasses. The number one physics story, however, was straight out of Star Trek: creation of "cold" anti-hydrogen gas that could be stored indefinitely as long as it didn't touch anything while being held in a magnetic field. Maybe the top physics story for 2003 will be the development of a dilithium chamber to put the anti-hydrogen gas into...
Of course not. I would never argue that it does. Only that equality of opportunity is the ideal. Whatever people do with their opportunities is their own business.
From the article:
"The researchers state that the discovery could be important in the design of micromachines, and argue that the probability of thermodynamic systems running 'in reverse' will increase as they become smaller."
So does this mean that there is the possibility of creating perpetual motion machines at the microscopic level? What are the possible consequences of this?
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." -- Ambrose Bierce
"PhysicsWeb selects its top ten stories of 2002 -- a year that will also be remembered for two high-profile cases of scientific misconduct.
1. Anti-atoms at CERN
I hate those bigots at CERN! Why are they so anti-atom? I, myself, am very much pro-atom.
It's in there. Just try to load the page. Pseudo-honerable mention I guess.
.cig - what you do after winning a good flame war
Remeber this also, however. Conversely, Inequality of Opportunity does equal Inequality of Result. Or, to put it more plainly and verbosely - if the barriers of societal pressures and mindsets are removed, there is no guarantee that the percentage of women who become physicists will equal the percentage of men who become physicists. However, if those barriers remain in place, it is guaranteed that the percentage of women who become physicists will be less than the percentage of men who become physicists.
Also, as a reply to the original message - yes, references to gender and racial types may at a point reinforce the barriers which the user may be attempting to break down. But on the other hand, ignoring the fact that there is still a great amount of gender bias in the world is also dangerous. How can one address the issue of bias without referring to the group being biased against?
She got into school on a National Merit Scholarship, and is the Chemistry chair at a major university. There were no quotas when she got into Chicago for post-grad. Wrong all over, Coward.
and another thing dipsh!t, sentence doesn't have an a in it
What about you? You spelled SENTENCE wrong.
Main Entry: prejudice
... (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge.
Pronunciation: 'pre-j&-d&s
Function: noun
2 a
(Merriam-Webster)
Milo
Ultimately polarization experiments may be able to investigate the Universe in the very first fractions of a second after the Big Bang -- when it underwent a period of extremely rapid expansion known as 'inflation'.
So, the Universe started a few fractions of a second before Carter was elected? Fascinating.
As a horny unattached male physicist, let me tell you this :
EUREKA!!!!!!
Mode (3) smart-aleck mode. Press * to return to main menu.
Basically, entropy boils down to probabilities - if you flip a fair coin a gazillion times, you'd expect 50% heads and 50% tails. These folks, in effect, were working at a level where they could detect some of the runs of 100 heads in a row. It's an impressive series of measurements, but won't require a rethink of thermodynamics at all.
These are actually real things, not a conglomeration of imaginations by science fiction should-be's.
I just heard somebody on NPR taking a look back, and she sounded more like a science fiction author than a scientist. Extra dimensional this, multiple universe that, wormhole here, yadda yadda yadda. It's nice to see that the theoretical "physicists" of the make-believe imagination type haven't completely taken over 20th/21st century phsyics.
In fact if entropy did always increase you could use that to build a perpetual motion machine. If it did always increase you could make predictions about particles that could be exploited by a Maxwell type demon. But the fact that it usually increases, but might sometimes decrease, means that information isn't available to you. (Similarly if there really were such a things as a "law of averages" people could use it to win at roulette. That hasn't stopped people trying though.)
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
...they go right through me!
If we only see ~5% of the Universe (and probably only understand about 0.00000001% of that), could it be that we really cannot see most of what is right in front of us? Has anyone postulated that the rest of it is all around us, not just "out there somewhere"? Well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.
The article reports CERN has manufactured 220,000 antihydrogen atoms. How much damage could that do if they all annihilated at once?
For great justice.
Well, I just included the last sentence as a "pre-emptive" one-liner for all the folks who were about to hit the reply button and type "gee, just think if they had made a Beowulf cluster of...". Please don't blame the Editors. My fault.
And yes, we DID manage to Slashdot their news page already...
"I figure you're here 'cause you need some whacko who's willing to stick his finger in the fan. So who are we helping?
Element 118 has not been proven (as mentioned in the list), but has Element 116? It was apparantly seen by the same group that saw 118, but from what I could find, it was also seen by some Russians..
Does anyone have any more information on Element 116?
Good thing for you there's no law forcing female physics majors to date male physics majors.
But then, maybe I'm just crazy and believe that society really should be color and sex blind.
But it's not, yet, and the way to get there is not by ignoring the situation. All that does is allow people to continue to be as biased as they are now.
That was the most intelligent thing I have heard in a while.
Then you obviously don't get out much.
This whole "How can we be color-blind if we're always talking about color" thing gets discussed all the time. There was an episode of South Park about it (involving homosexuality), an episode of Andy Richter... so you don't even need to get out to run into this argument. You could just watch TV!
My challenge to those who believe that we should be "color/gender/whatever blind" and shouldn't talk about those issues is this: Will the KKK disappear because we stopped talking about race? If not (which is clearly the correct answer) then how are we supposed to make the situation better without talking about it? How about more subtle problems like homophobia (which I call "subtle" despite recent killings of several gays in the Hillcrest area here in San Diego) and sexism? Talking about how women are getting into physics is a great example. How much harder is it to be sexist when you are reminded yet again that some women are out there discovering the secrets of the universe?
It's not particularly important per se, but the increasing numbers are an indicator that the sciences may be becoming more gender-blind. Unless you believe that there's a gender-inherent reason women don't become physicists, in a truly just world we should see an equal number of male and female physicists; maybe we're (slowly) getting there.
You need to be punched in the face many times.
The original poster is correct. The prepositional phrase "in this house" is adverbial, and directly modifies "obey". Separating the adverbial phrase from its verb with a comma would indicate that the phrase is a separate idea -- perhaps an appositive (Homer is speaking to the Lisa that's in the house).
If you could remove the phrase without changing the meaning of the sentence, then the phrase should be set off by commas. That's not the case here. "Lisa, we obey the laws of thermodynamics." is not the same as "Lisa, in this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics."
You, sir, have violated Rule #11. Please take appropriate steps with your own head!
I find it interesting that all but one of these highlights occured outside of the USA -- and that one being a joint effort with Japan. Where the USA does feature however, is the deplorable episodes at Berkely and Bell Labs. To my mind, this is evidence that the self-destruction of the USA empire has begun -- don't worry it happens to all empires -- and that the world at large would be well advised to start ignoring the American scientific community now lest they pollute the world of science further; until they come to their senses that is, no need for irrational xenophobia.
Or maybe, just a thought, the female brain is sufficiently different such that, on average, they are less likely to excel at or take an interest in Physics. I know, I know, god forbid one should suggest that there might be fundamental (if subtle) differences between the genders, even though they would have evolved slightly differently to cope with their different (pre)historic roles.
One big problem is that a random coincidence between four neutrons from unrelated events could masquerade as a tetraneutron. The paper says they have the random-coincidence rate all figured out, but it's the kind of thing that is notoriously hard to be sure about.
With any other exotic nuclear species, you can catch it in a metal foil, and then find out stuff about it, e.g., what particles it emits when it decays. The tetraneutron, if it exists, can only be detected by destroying it, which makes it hard to measure any of its properties. If you can't measure any of its properties, it's pretty hard to be sure it's real.
Find free books.
Because there are still enormous barriers to entry into physics for women, as compared with men. Endless studies indicate that math and science courses and teachers focus on boys from elementary school onward. Societal expectations push girls/women toward deference, valuing social interactions and their own physicality. Boys/men, conversely are pushed toward aggression, self-reliance and career success.
Think about it for gods sake.
Scott
My vote would be just to stop worrying about what group does what (and that includes race), and focus on what individuals do or don't do.
But then, maybe I'm just crazy and believe that society really should be color and sex blind.
The problem with that theory is this. Sure, you and I might agree to make society color and sex blind. But will the neo-nazis? The gay bashers? The white-supremacists? If some parts of society refuse to be color- or gender-blind, then "society" as a whole is not. Even worse, all the people who are going around being color- or gender-blind might not notice the discrimination being inflicted by these extremists.
Thus, even if most people were perfect (definitely a stretch!) and could agree to be color/gender-blind all the time, there would still be reason to focus on race and gender: to present positive examples to all of those who still feel negatively towards people of certain races or genders or whatever. I suspect that people aren't perfect and thus that everyone falls into that category on occasion, but if nothing else, remember that we need to keep trying to educate the extremists by presenting positive examples. (Not to mention preventing people from becoming extremists. The KKK isn't going to stop recruiting just because you decided to be color-blind!)
Besides, who really wants a completely color/sex/religion/sexual orientation/whatever-blind society? I want people to be proud of their heritage! I want people to be proud of who they are and where they came from and what they believe in! I just wish that people didn't attach all these negative associations to people of other races/genders/etc. That is not the same as wanting society to be whatever-blind. Being whatever-blind really means being blind -- you don't see the bad or the good. I'd rather have a society which was actually good (none of those negative associations) than one which is simply blind.
Societal expectations push girls/women toward deference, valuing social interactions and their own physicality.
That's absolute bullshit. Did it ever occur to you that men and women's brain are DIFFERENT? That doesn't mean you can't have men with traditionally women's attributes and vice-versa, but on the average, it's genetics that push women toward "deference, valuing social interactions and their own physicality".
Next you're going to be telling me that women's bodies and masculature is smaller than men's because they are fed less than men growing up.
If it takes 9 yards of moonlight to make a cross-eyed gander shit a beanstalk, how far must a sheep turd fall to knock a loose shingle off the shithouse roof?
Translation: Somebody found out exactly how the universe works - again - and we all know what happens then, don't we?
Damn scientists.
I'll agree that the more people that lend their talents, the better science will be. Unfortunately, people aren't looking for just "more". In the academic realm there's a racial and gender bias involved in everything, to the point that it's blatant discrimination against whites and males.
I can understand wanting a diverse political science class, or a diverse art class. But this is physics. There's a right answer and a wrong answer. I'm not sure how growing up as a black or as a woman will change anyone's ability to formulate laws regarding quantum mechanics or better understand black holes. When people who don't belong in the career get in and realize they a.) aren't naturally gifted in the area and b.) picked it because the path was "easy", then I think we have a major problem. It hurts both the field and the individual.
We already have a very level playing field in the sciences. Let ambition and ability sort them out.
"Software is like sex. It's better when it's free." -Linus Torvalds
Temporary violation of the 2nd law of thermodynamics in small systems is clearly allowed by statistical mechanics (which is the underlying theory of thermodynamics). It would be a even bigger news if NO such violation was discovered when we go to sufficiently small scale and observe systems for sufficiently long time.
Clean pure energy harnesses YOU!
There is nothing wrong with suggesting that there is differences between genders.
Likewise I would suggest that the difference between people honesty interested in the truth, and bigots, would be that the first group would find some sort of evidence to back up the women inferior at physics claim before making it.
Warning: Some ideologies on the Net are smaller than they appear.
Geez, I can't tell you how tired I got of hearing guys ask if I wanted to check out their thermodynamics...
33 nm was the resolution. Not the size of the object being looked at! Sigh.
How many people have read that paragraph without noticing the absurdity?
You too can spot such humorous silliness. Just [plug] look at How Big Are Things?. Bacteria are the size of tables , not ping-pong balls! :)
I caught an 2bit AC!
Another 2bit AC!
I didn't need to troll this one... Anyone can just dip their hand into the pond, known as "mother nature's asshole," and pull out a fish this big without even trolling.
You sir are the productivity of stink-baiting. Sing it with me: CONJUNCTION JUNCTION, WHAT'S YOUR FUNCTION?
A neutrino changing its flavor means that the neutrino experiences time. Of course I don't mean "experiences" subjectively, with a consciousness- I mean in the sense that a neutrino can in theory be used as a sort of clock. This effectively rules out the possibility that neutrinos are massless particles.
In relativity, "proper time" in a moving or stationary frame of reference refers to the time as measured by a clock that is stationary relative to that frame. Your watch always gives you the proper time for your frame of reference- and one of the implicit rules is that proper time always proceeds normally. You will never look down at your watch and see the hands spinning around or standing completely still because that would be silly.
Massless particles like the photon travel at the speed of light- and in fact a massless particle can ONLY travel at the speed of light. (With exceptions for travel through water, glass, etc.) It makes no sense to talk about the proper time experienced by a photon, because when v=c the denominator in the time dilation equation vanishes. A photon can spend a billion years traveling from a remote galaxy to a telescope here, but from the photon's own "point of view" the travel time was zero. A photon does not experience proper time.
Now that we've caught neutrinos changing their flavor during their travel, we know that they do experience the passage of proper time, which means they have mass, albeit a very small one. This has some implications for the Standard Model (although I don't know what they are).
Neutrinos have also been shown to be impervious to humor of all kinds, as has been proven here time and again.
My co-workers enjoy talking about fucking other companies in the ass.
I just want to screw them outa business.
...in theory, theory is the same as practice, but in practice, it isn't.
- a.c.
Please, please tell me you're joking. I can't bring myself to believe that anyone, not even the most socially inept physics/CS/math student of all time, would think to use that as a line.
Dyolf Knip
One female physics student somewhere once commented to a new potential student:
"The odds are good but the goods are odd."
I love that line.
---Nathaniel
We need women involved in physics because we want to be able to let women into physics.
(Huh?)
There is a huge barrier to women who are interested in physics; there aren't any other women. This may sound stupid to some of you, but think about it: how many women do you know that feel perfectly at home sitting completely outnumbered in a group of geeky males. Sure, a few do, but they are in the minority. Having a stronger female presence (at every level: prof, TA, postdoc, grad student, undergrad, high school teacher, etc) will help to alliveiate this.
Physics is a rather embarassing case. Other hard sciences have recently allowed their influxes of women: chemistry now has reasonable percentages (if not ideal) and maths are gaining too. Physics remains a holdout.. only a certain type of personality is attracted to physics, and only a fraction of those have the intuition and skills neccessary to make it easy. Take off a fraction for social reasons, and you can get it down to zero.
---N
First, if nobody cared about race, the neo-nazis would stand out like a sore thumb. With all the the racial policies, some "good", that we have today it's hard to notice subtely exploitive ones. If nobody noticed race except the racists, there'd be a public outcry against any race-based policies, ensuring we caught the bad ones.
And then, "proud of their heritage"... What's that supposed to mean? The color of your skin is something to be proud of? It sounds suspiciously like the basis of a discriminatory policy. Should I be proud of my blue eyes?
I'd prefer that nobody treated skin color as anything more different than hair color, people recognize it, dress to suit it, and change it, but you never hear of someone not getting a job because of an old-boys network that refuses to hire brown-haired people.
I don't support black scholarships either. Sure, as a class, they're poorer, but on an individual basis, any given poor person in the slums needs as much help as anyone else. If you want to help blacks out of the lower classes, help everyone in the lower classes better themselves and their position.
Freaking eggheads. Who else cares about this poncy shit?
News for insomniacs. Stuff that sedates.
that's all very good (provide chances for everybody), unfortunately in current shallow PC climate in US this translates into 'we need 5 male physicists and 5 female physicists'
see sport at universities for an example
erik
...all excited, don't know why...
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F19.html
4 neutrons in a clump - HAH! I've had that beat for ages:
Behold the wonder that is Administratium
And the wonderful (uhhh, awful???) thing is that most of you can see this element in operation yourselves.
www.eFax.com are spammers
http://rsc.anu.edu.au/~evans/papers/Review_37_with _figs.pdf