Daily Archives: October 16, 2008

The B-Movie View of Quantum Analogies

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Chad reminds us that pop-sci explanations of quantum mechanics are like the convoluted, contrived plots of B-movies. And he offers his own in The Teleporter’s Dilemma

Imagine that you and a friend are out hiking, and find yourselves kidnapped by a sinister conspiracy of some sort. You’re taken to a remote island, and shown an apparatus consisting of a dial on the floor and a remote control with a single button. You press the button, and the needle on the dial turns in a clockwise direction. There’s a mark on the rim of the dial at one position, but no other distinguishing features.

Your captors explain that there is another dial/ remote system elsewhere on the island, identical in every respect except it doesn’t have a mark on it. You are told that your friend will be taken to that apparatus, and given the remote. Your task is to get the needles on both dials pointing in exactly the direction indicated by the mark on the first dial. If you succeed, you’ll be set free and given a billion dollars. If you fail, a nuclear weapon will be detonated in Los Angeles. (If we’re going to do convoluted thriller plots, here, why not play for high stakes?).

The catch:

– – – fade to black – – –

Can’t give away the catch in a trailer!

Stephanie Asks: Why Do You Do It?

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[I]f any physics teachers could tell me why *they* read blogs, that will help me write something to convince other physics teachers why this could be a good use of their precious time!

So if you teach physics, read physics blogs, but somehow don’t already read sciencegeekgirl, please go over and answer the question.

The two blogs I can think of that are the closest to actual physics instruction would be Built of Facts and Dot Physics. They both do a great job of covering the kinds of things that a beginning physics student might find useful.

A little while back there was a flurry of discussion about what science blogs can and can’t do, and while the above-mentioned blogs aren’t a replacement for teaching, they are filling a niche and can act as an adjunct to instruction. I think, looking at the wider picture of physics blogs we’ve been seeing glimpses of the spectrum of blogging, in form and function. The subject matter, the level of audience that can appreciate various posts, the peripheral topics when science isn’t foremost on he blogger’s mind, and the level of rigor one wants to use, anywhere from “here’s a detailed breakdown of this” to a quick “look at and perhaps try this” youtube link (and it’s nice to get validation for doing that)