real science

1 min read 2022-04-01 01:10:59

One equation to rule them all?

In lieu of composing a blog post this month, I’m publishing an article in Quanta Magazine. The article provides an introduction to fluctuation

7 min read 2022-02-21 08:16:06

Caltech condensed-matter theorist Gil Refael explained his scientific raison d’trê early in my grad-school career: “What really gets me going is

7 min read 2022-02-21 08:16:06

Caltech condensed-matter theorist Gil Refael explained his scientific raison dê’tre early in my grad-school career: “What really gets me going

3 min read 2022-01-31 09:00:00

When I was growing up, one of my favourite places was the shabby all-you-can-eat buffet near our house. We’d walk in, my mom would approach the

7 min read 2022-01-11 21:47:11

When the Emperor Julian (A.D. 361-3), a Christian who apostatized and tried to reinstitute pagan worship in the Roman Empire, wished to attack

4 min read 2022-01-03 07:59:00

I felt like a gum ball trying to squeeze my way out of a gum-ball machine. I was one of 50-ish physicists crammed into the lobby—and in the

13 min read 2021-12-20 12:45:23

Technocrats, Frankenshots, and delusions prowl around like roaring lions (PART 2 of 2) Welcome back for PART 2, and thanks for joining me again as we

5 min read 2021-12-03 23:03:33

So much to do, so little time. Tending to one task is inevitably at the cost of another, so how does one decide how to spend their time? In the first

1 min read 2021-11-18 09:58:06

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? And Other Pressing Questions (PART 1 of 2) Well, Dear Reader, in which Dystopian tale do we find ourselves held

1 min read 2021-11-16 23:25:25

“True faith is found in one’s heart, not mind. People who have faith in their mind will follow the Antichrist. But the ones who have faith in

1 min read 2021-11-12 08:31:00

Recall my week-and-a-half old post on "scientists" from the "social sciences" field. It was titled Why They Hate and dealt with

1 min read 2021-11-01 06:57:16

Tourism websites proclaim, “There’s beautiful…and then there’s Santa Barbara.” I can’t accuse them of hyperbole, after living in Santa

1 min read 2021-10-28 23:28:55

It should be a banner time for science and scientists. All we hear from official sources is praise. “Trust TheScience!” vies with “Follow

1 min read 2021-08-23 07:25:59

I attended a liberal-arts college, and I reveled in the curriculum’s breadth. My coursework included art history, psychology, biology, economics,

1 min read 2021-06-28 06:58:29

I had a relative to whom my parents referred, when I was little, as “that great-aunt of yours who walked into a glass door at your cousin’s