Large Hadron Rap

I'm speechless!

Colbert interviews Reisman-on Earth

This last week Stephen Colbert was completely over-excited, that is to say, insanely funny. Remember that interview of Garrett Reisman aboard the International Space Station? well, this time he's chatting with Garrett back on Earth on the Colbert Report Studio in NYC.

The Word-Join the E.U.

Stephen Colbert's argument for the U.S. to join the E.U.: the U.S. Dollar would be worth a Euro if it were the Euro. And if they don't accept us we'll sue them for geographic discrimination!

First STM spectroscopy of graphene

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and U.C. Berkeley have performed the first scanning tunneling spectroscopy of graphene flakes equipped with a "gate" electrode-see article on physorg.com here. Well I'm always a big fan of the scanning tunneling microscope and I'm a big fan of graphene too, so I was totally excited to read about this. And indeed this is another insanely great experiment involving two of my very favorite objects in physics. (this blog entry is still a work in progress but I wanted to post the link early for everyone to read for themselves =).

The pleasure of finding things out

The first of a series of interviews of Richard Feynman in which he recounts how he met his painter friend Jirayr Zorthian and became interested in drawing. Incidentally, I did get to know Zorthian while I was a graduate student a Caltech, and I even produced a couple of pictures together with him and a group of friends. Sadly enough, Mr Zorthian passed away two years ago at the age of 97. I remember telling him how boring and stiff I thought Caltech people often tended to be and the old man replied with a mischievous smile, "oh yeah, they're pretty dull!" Richard Feynman must have been a spectacular exception =)

Science, evolution, and creation: Ali G vs Kent Hovind

In which Ali G. discovers we're all homo's!

Graphene is strongest

This past week scientists at Columbia University in New York, Jeffrey Kysar and James Hone have tested the mechanical resilience of a flawless sheet of graphene-see article in MIT Technology Review here. They did so by digging a series of microscopic holes into a slab of silicon, placed sheets of graphene above the holes and then measured how much force it takes to puncture the sheet with a diamond nanopoint. As it turns out, graphene is so strong that you could balance a car on top of the probe without puncturing the sheet. Holy atomic pile, Batman!

Ali G interviews Buzz Aldrin

Da classic interview of my main man Buzz Aldrin by Ali G.
Yo listen up! da moon does exist yo!

JibJab

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Dear friends, I know I haven't been blogging much lately and my excuse is I've been busy with other things but here's an awesome way to get back into the fun: the latest JibJab video parodying the US presidential campaign, entitled "Time for Some Campaignin'." Enjoy.