It’s Friday afternoon, time for you to goof off with this list of links that I’ve saved up over the past few weeks:
- Advanced physcis labs — What we expect from them, what we should expect from them, how to change them. My experience with advanced lab didn’t teach me all that much, and wasn’t all that rigorous. I didn’t mind, since I had my mind made up to be a theorist anyway. Plus, we were all required to do a senior research project, which filled in many holes, along with our fairly demanding modern physics lab. But a more challenging advaced lab might have been like foul-tasting medicine that would make me better off today.
- Physics Toolbox: Symmetry: The return of Morning Coffee Physics! Explains the role of symmetry in physics.
- Cities and Ambition — What does your city say to its ambitious people? I’ve been trying to figure out the underlying message in Minneapolis, but haven’t quite gotten there yet. Plus, it’s interesting to think about ranking cities by the quality of the eavesdropping that you can do.
- Grad School and Vacations, PhD Comics — Q: So what do we get? A: Exploited, mostly.
- Impossible Tasks, PhD Comics — I think we all go through this at some point. Not quite as disheartening as saying it’s impossible and then having your adviser do it in five minutes, though
- Thoughts on Grad School: Trying to employ as many of these tips as possible this semester. Especially intriguing: #10 Take Days Off.
- Most Depressing Ideas in Physics: The eventual heat death of the universe is harshin’ my mellow.
The First Excited State 