Daily Archives: February 19, 2008

Seriously Stupid

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The red flag proclaiming “I don’t understand science” goes up when the story sounds something like this:

The panel includes the word “evolution” in state science standards for the first time, but it is relegated to a place among a host of ideas, including Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Relegated? To the “lowly” place that includes relativity?

I think writing of the phrase “just a theory” or “merely a theory” in a science article should make one’s word processor/computer explode. If you don’t understand why, and you’ve graduated from college, you need to go and ask for your money back.

What's Bugging Me Now, episode 2-19-08

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I fucking opt out already.

I buy stuff for my lab. I get email. I don’t care if your widgets are on sale — if we don’t need one, I won’t be buying any. I don’t make any “OMG, those 100 microfarad capacitors are to die for” impulse purchases for the lab. (well, not many) I don’t like the companies that spam me like this. You don’t get partial credit for letting me opt out after I’ve been slimed.

This goes for cold-calling, too. I’m an adult, who managed not to kill, maim or noticeably disfigure himself getting a degree in experimental atomic physics. I’m capable of ordering a new set of of whatchamacallits when I need them. Sometimes even before, so we have them on the shelf! So no, I don’t have any product needs you can fill today. Buh-bye.

The Comfy Chair, er, MOT

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Over at Uncertain principles, Chad talks about how Nobody Expects Bose-Einstein Condensation, i.e. while the phenomenon had been predicted, the enabling technology was serendipitous.

What really made [magneto-optic trapping] take off, though, was that people figured out you could get the laser cooling wavelength for rubidium from diode lasers. And diode lasers are manufactured in mass quantities because they’re used in CD players, laser printers, and other commercial electronic devices. So, rather than needing to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars to get a dye laser system up and running, you could get a working laser system for a couple of grand.

And it’s true. The main enabler was the availability of diode lasers. And their ability to be tuned electronically and thermally. Ah, two! The the two main enablers were their availability and their ability to be tuned, and their susceptibility to optical feedback. Oh, three! The three main enablers were their availability and their ability to be tuned and their susceptibility to optical feedback. Hmmm. Among their advantages are such diverse elements as their availability and their ability to be tuned and their susceptibility to optical feedback, and a nice red color. Damn.

The main enabler was their availability. Blah, blah,blah.

OK, I’m kidding a little, because without the technical advantages, who cares if it’s available? But it’s an excuse to do a Python bit, and talk about the other things.

Laser diodes are pretty neat, though somewhat fragile. In the days of building my own systems, I never knew one that died a natural death-from-old-age. They all got blown up somehow, and I wish that had been in the days of digital cameras, because I recall one that looked cool under the microscope, with one facet blown off but still the piece still hanging there, attached to a tiny wire that was part of the circuit. You had to remove the can that surrounded the diode before you could mount them in our homemade system, and that took some practice. But there were usually some dead or otherwise useless diodes around for practice for newcomers to the lab.
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