Category: Writing for Other Sites
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Could quasars be standard candles?
Quasars are some of the brightest objects in the Universe—powerful jets emanating from supermassive black holes as they gorge on gas. However, their light is irregular, both varying in brightness between different quasars and fluctuating in time. A new analysis may have found regularities within those fluctuations, which might allow them to be used as…
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Building quantum computations from a single electron spin
I’m currently in San Francisco for my younger brother’s wedding, but that doesn’t stop me from providing science content to you, dear readers. (Ahem.) Researchers have figured out a way to read and manipulate the quantum spin state of a single electron—a classic example in quantum computing that up until now has existed only in…
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Hasta la Vesta, con agua
(Yes, my Spanish sucks.) The Dawn mission found signs of volatile materials—including water and elemental hydrogen—on the surface of the asteroid Vesta. Since Vesta is likely the source of a particular type of meteorite on Earth, the presence of volatiles was surprising, but intriguing. Vesta is remarkably like the terrestrial worlds (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,…
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The galaxy from the dawn of time
The first galaxies in the Universe probably played a major part in reionization—the event in which primordial gas was turned into a plasma. However, observations of this era are very hard: we’re looking back in time to when the first stars formed, over 95% of the total age of the Universe. As a result, the…
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The Dark Energy Camera takes its first images
I had the privilege of visiting Fermilab in May, as part of my research for my book-in-progress. While I was there, I got to see the test rig for the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which looks like something from Stargate or the wormhole entrance from Contact. Unfortunately for me, the camera itself had already been…
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Ships on a quantum sea
My latest post at Galileo’s Pendulum tests a way to explain quantum field theory to non-scientists, which I hope to put in my book-in-progress. Please go read the post, and let me know what you think! Just as a ship moving through still water produces a wake, electrons create ripples in the ambient electromagnetic field.…
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Two years before the blog
Originally posted on Galileo's Pendulum: Two years ago on this date, I launched a blog called “Science Vs. Pseudoscience“, connected to a class I was teaching of the same name and concept. As you might guess, the focus of the original blog was more on skepticism: identifying and debunking pseudoscientific attitudes. Since my students…
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Today’s DIY project: print your own centrifuge!
If you (like me) have ever been in charge of buying and/or maintaining lab equipment, you might have griped about its cost, or your inability to repair it. A new DIY movement based on open-source hardware and software could allow for the relatively inexpensive fabrication of laboratory equipment. My latest for Ars Technica has the…
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Clearing up uncertainty about Heisenberg
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is one of the most important results in quantum theory, dealing with limitations of accurate measurements on two complementary quantities. However, there is a misconception (dating from Heisenberg himself) that the act of measurement is what causes the uncertainty. A new experiment has demonstrated that view is wrong, as I explain…
Bowler Hat Science 