tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76737948834531950162012-02-16T11:26:43.484+01:00doing physics stuff in krakowJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-86455252083486181792011-03-10T11:18:00.003+01:002011-03-10T11:22:47.746+01:00

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5000077I'm glad the article doesn't mention CLIC, the competing design for the next collider, because the ILC is the road to the future! At least I hope so :)

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-8583458325410103202011-03-10T00:43:00.013+01:002011-03-10T01:57:32.609+01:00

Today I'm going to post one of my favorite graphs. It's a simple plot of the binding energy of different elements against the size of those elements' nuclei, but its implications are deep enough to drive furious research and millions of dollars in spending. Wikipedia explains the basic idea of binding energy nicely - it's the energy required to take apart a nucleus into its individual protons and

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-17704633879222700542011-02-01T11:09:00.008+01:002011-02-03T15:25:33.847+01:00

Holy crap, a year and no update. In an attempt to get things going again, here's a simple post of something I keep looking up online.Python has no ternary operator (?: in C++)Instead, use an and-or construction:In [1]: True and 'a' or 'b'Out[1]: 'a'In [2]: False and 'a' or 'b'Out[2]: 'b'Replace True and False with the condition:In [3]: (1==1) and 'a' or 'b'Out[3]: 'a'In [4]: (1==0) and 'a' or '

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-65534735132812817192009-11-24T11:29:00.015+01:002009-11-25T01:48:09.403+01:00

From Symphony of Science - all of a sudden, Auto Tune is incredible (props to my cousin for the original link).I have a few comments on this video. First, I love the chorus: "We are connected to... the rest of the universe, atomically." It makes science personal - this is our connection to stars and galaxies! The carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen that constitute human beings are the same

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-58558275948801360622009-10-15T15:52:00.004+02:002009-10-16T10:13:44.274+02:00

The idea that the Higgs boson is traveling backwards in time to derail its own discovery has been featured lately in the New York Times, among other places, but it sounds like scientists are just making stuff up for why the LHC isn't working yet.Here's an intelligible explanation that completely blew my mind.

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-45914813497710622792009-10-12T13:49:00.008+02:002009-10-13T01:51:49.440+02:00

I have been pretty busy lately and at a loss for what to write, as will be explained below. My girlfriend visited recently, and we had a great time. She wrote a little about what we did here so feel free to go check out our trip to Vienna - my first trip outside Krakow that was not related to work! Science-wise, I am super busy editing a report about the current work of the FCAL collaboration for

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-34369870022049509052009-08-21T13:08:00.006+02:002009-08-22T00:21:30.816+02:00

Here's a scary thought: If the world human population continues to grow at 1.14% per year, then we only have about 3,000 years before the entire mass of the Earth is converted into people. Good news, though; there is hope! We could reduce birth rates or let war, disease, and famine level out the human population, OR we could colonize the solar system. I know which one sounds a lot cooler.

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-80174469522825736732009-08-20T17:24:00.003+02:002009-08-20T17:33:21.820+02:00

1. The Tour de Pologne, a week-long road race through Poland, finished at the park a block away from my dorm. All the big teams were there, and it was really cool to be able to get right up next to the riders. I never realized that despite the fact that they ride for hours every day, the spectators only see them for about 20 seconds! Their open mouths and stooped shoulders really leave you

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-51806550631857652592009-07-22T09:32:00.009+02:002009-07-22T10:17:34.413+02:00

Alright, I originally intended to post something about calorimetry in particle physics (which is what my project is about) but that post was getting way too complicated so I'll put it off until I think of a way to simplify it and actually make it worth reading.In the meantime, the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing was just a couple days ago! Since lately I've focused on writing computer

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-74097095598133983762009-07-03T10:35:00.003+02:002009-07-03T10:38:51.310+02:00

Hey everybody, sorry for the lack of updates but I had my first presentation over the weekend, and now my Mom's visiting! So it'll be at least a few days before I can write again. In the meantime, panic!

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-16018592869489572612009-06-25T01:14:00.002+02:002009-06-25T01:28:04.099+02:00

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-17336495510923659132009-06-23T10:32:00.016+02:002009-06-24T14:48:55.882+02:00

One of the less subtle ways used to discover the composition of extraplanetary bodies is to take a big hunk of metal and slam it into said body's surface. Whatever lies underneath will be thrown high into space, and then we can do spectroscopy on the ejecta and discover what it's composed of. NASA plans to nuke the moon in October, but this gentleman has some concerns that we should probably take

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-24163562574867493212009-06-17T00:11:00.029+02:002009-06-26T00:24:23.749+02:00

The Irish Mbassy football team had its final match of the season Friday, and though we lost by the minimum, good times were had by all. Now, you all know that my team is run by an Irish pub and is populated mostly by Norwegian medical students. Turns out our opponents were in the same exact situation. Our managers are good friends, and the players on both teams all have classes together. Despite

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-62398345595310931402009-06-14T02:33:00.010+02:002009-06-26T00:26:25.483+02:00

Concerned reader Azzle writes: "If matter can neither be created nor destroyed then how can the universe expand? That is to say, from my understanding of the words I just used and no knowledge of the math behind them, if the universe is expanding then I assume somehow it's getting bigger or less dense and therefore wouldn't it be filled with more matter that didn't previously exist? Is my tiny

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-52597387591116516692009-06-08T09:06:00.002+02:002009-06-08T09:10:02.854+02:00

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-27407512195992789202009-06-02T21:09:00.003+02:002009-06-02T21:13:14.207+02:00

I had another game this weekend way outside the city in a town called Michałowice. I wish I had a camera with me because it was really pretty, but the best I can do for now is give you a map. Also, I promise a substantial post is coming soon.

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-60352981329332991772009-05-27T00:39:00.017+02:002009-05-28T23:50:40.275+02:00

Tonight is the Champions' League final between Barcelona and Manchester United, so I'm heading over the the Mbassy to watch. I've been reading both Soccernet in English and Marca in Spanish, and they have correspondingly different takes on the outcome of the clash.Anyway, I'll be rooting for Barca since 1) I'm sick of English teams winning everything, and 2) Thierry Henry gave Arsenal many good

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-4205390399590229092009-05-26T12:18:00.015+02:002009-05-27T13:31:17.801+02:00

Just a quick thought while I try to get myself to focus again after lunch - this will mostly be links to other, better writers:Many of you, I'm sure, have heard about the new fossil "Ida." This fossil was supposed to be so hugely important that it was kept under tight wraps until the simulateneous publication of the paper and press fiasco. Not only did the media reports grossly misstate Ida's

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-49706138324605535932009-05-24T14:34:00.009+02:002009-05-26T13:25:12.214+02:00

The Irish embassy in Krakow is not actually an embassy at all, but instead is perhaps more appropriately a pub called the Irish Mbassy. A watering hole for English-speaking expats and visitors, the Mbassy has three floors full of wide-screen televisions and draws crowds by showing sports games, mostly soccer.They also sponsor their own team in the Cracow Sunday Football League! I was fortunate

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-78167981091665842212009-05-20T14:39:00.008+02:002009-05-21T13:34:23.364+02:00

To my readers (all 3 of you): this blog is for you, and I want to write stuff that you want to read about! I've added a feature beneath each post where with just one click you can tell me how you liked it. This'll help me keep my blog interesting for you guys. Of course, comments are always welcome, too!

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-72929003976850766012009-05-20T11:46:00.004+02:002009-05-20T14:34:11.080+02:00

As I was clearing space on my camera for new pictures to put on this blog, I carelessly kicked the cable connecting the camera to the computer, causing it to crash and crush the lens cover. Consequently, my camera cannot currently capture pictures. Catastrophe!

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-65591924017196516822009-05-19T15:32:00.039+02:002009-05-20T23:46:14.036+02:00

For my friends and family who wonder what the heck I'm doing, hopefully this post will clarify my research project and its place in the larger goals of particle physics.First, I should probably say that no, I'm not working on the LHC. While the LHC is totally sweet and not going to destroy the world, I'm working on the next particle accelerator, the one that will come after the LHC. It's called

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-86810831306317455372009-05-14T19:20:00.003+02:002009-05-14T19:32:24.478+02:00

One of the astronauts on the current Hubble repair mission has a twitter account, and he's been posting from orbit. Pretty cool.

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-5918451161917389192009-05-14T00:02:00.005+02:002009-05-21T12:39:50.405+02:00

I really need to be better about this blog thing, so here's a quick post to help me out.There is a whole lot of space in space, that's no joke, but it's hard to really wrap your brain around just how much space. Our lovely Milky Way, for example, is 100,000 light-years wide, which is about 58,784,998,100,000,000 miles. By that point, it's really just a number. Here's a quick story that really

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673794883453195016.post-56713107224796508092009-03-31T23:32:00.000+02:002009-04-02T08:03:06.017+02:00

Hello, world! Chances are about 90% that if you're reading this you already know who I am and why I'm in Krakow, but I figure I should start from the beginning for completeness. After graduating in June 2008 with my BA in physics, I didn't feel like going to graduate school right away. Instead, I won a fellowship to do research on the International Linear Collider! This is a huge international

Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166508815057634543noreply@blogger.com3