The Top Ten Physics Highlights of 2002 183
Ocelot Wreak writes "Physics Web has a cool summary of The Top Ten Physics Highlights of 2002. These include anti-atoms, neutrino oscillation - a finding that requires new physics beyond the Standard Model, defying the second law of thermodynamics, and using neutrons to measure quantum gravitational effects, amongst others. For some reason, the Slashdot Effect and the latest research on iPod-based Beowulf clusters were not included..."
Ooo. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ooo. (Score:1)
so when do we get the Top Ten Top Ten Stories of 2002?
Well, they don't want to bombard you with them, so they're waiting to give you the top entry on the top ten list of top ten lists of top ten stories of 2002. Those editors, always looking to save us time by giving us only the quality stories!
Re:Ooo. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Ooo. (Score:1, Offtopic)
These are just mistakes on the part of the staff. They happen. We have posted over ten thousand stories in our history. The occasional duplicate is inevitable.
What they neglect to mention is that of the 10,000 stories posted on Slashdot, 4,000 of them were duplicates and another 1,000 of them were rumors, incorrect, or just plain trolls.
But the best news... (Score:5, Funny)
"12. Hope for the future More than 300 physicists from around the world -- most of them women -- met in Paris in March for the first International Conference on Women in Physics."
In a related story: Sex makes your brain grow [xnewswire.com]
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:4, Insightful)
There's nothing wrong with that, but I have q question: why is it particularly important for more women to get into physics? Why can't we just leave women alone and let them do what they want? Why do we need to perform "social architecture"?
My vote would be just to stop worrying about what group does what (and that includes race), and focus on what individuals do or don't do.
But then, maybe I'm just crazy and believe that society really should be color and sex blind. You may now begin flogging the heretic.
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:1, Interesting)
People always talk about striving to eliminate stereotypes & groupings, but always feel the need to keep reminding everyone about it anyway bringing us back to the same problem.
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:1)
Dude, just remember this:
Equality of Opportunity does not equal Equality of Result.
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:1)
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:1, Insightful)
Also, as a reply to the original message - yes, references to gender and racial types may at a point reinforce the barriers which the user may be attempting to break down. But on the other hand, ignoring the fact that there is still a great amount of gender bias in the world is also dangerous. How can one address the issue of bias without referring to the group being biased against?
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:1, Interesting)
We need more physicists. This is an important first step.
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:4, Funny)
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:2)
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:2)
"The odds are good but the goods are odd."
I love that line.
---Nathaniel
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:2)
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a common misconception. Trying to get more groups invloved in science (art, etc) is not just social engineering. It is also an attempt to make science better. The more people lend their talents, the better it will be. This is obviously true in sports, as African-Americans became able to join professional teams. As Jesse Jackson once said, "we never knew how good football could be until everyone could play". The same is true for science: we will never know how good it can be until everyone can participate.
What "women want" is highly influenced by what paths in life seem available or attractive to them. This is hardly something one is born with, but much more likely the product of cultural atmosphere. The fact that there are more American women scientists than Afnagni ones makes this obvious. A restrictive environment of possibilities acts as a real barrier to entry for women, many of whom don't even think of themselves a spossible scientists. And all of that is prior to active prejudice on the part of others.
My mom is a chemist and she had to fight like hell her whole life just to work, much less to do that work and still be considered a woman. Anything that makes science more viable for all individuals sense of identity is positive, and clearly benefits science.
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:1)
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:2)
Pronunciation: 'pre-j&-d&s
Function: noun
2 a
(Merriam-Webster [m-w.com])
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:1, Troll)
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:2)
Likewise I would suggest that the difference between people honesty interested in the truth, and bigots, would be that the first group would find some sort of evidence to back up the women inferior at physics claim before making it.
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:2)
But then, maybe I'm just crazy and believe that society really should be color and sex blind.
The problem with that theory is this. Sure, you and I might agree to make society color and sex blind. But will the neo-nazis? The gay bashers? The white-supremacists? If some parts of society refuse to be color- or gender-blind, then "society" as a whole is not. Even worse, all the people who are going around being color- or gender-blind might not notice the discrimination being inflicted by these extremists.
Thus, even if most people were perfect (definitely a stretch!) and could agree to be color/gender-blind all the time, there would still be reason to focus on race and gender: to present positive examples to all of those who still feel negatively towards people of certain races or genders or whatever. I suspect that people aren't perfect and thus that everyone falls into that category on occasion, but if nothing else, remember that we need to keep trying to educate the extremists by presenting positive examples. (Not to mention preventing people from becoming extremists. The KKK isn't going to stop recruiting just because you decided to be color-blind!)
Besides, who really wants a completely color/sex/religion/sexual orientation/whatever-blind society? I want people to be proud of their heritage! I want people to be proud of who they are and where they came from and what they believe in! I just wish that people didn't attach all these negative associations to people of other races/genders/etc. That is not the same as wanting society to be whatever-blind. Being whatever-blind really means being blind -- you don't see the bad or the good. I'd rather have a society which was actually good (none of those negative associations) than one which is simply blind.
Re:But the best news... QWZX (Score:2)
And then, "proud of their heritage"... What's that supposed to mean? The color of your skin is something to be proud of? It sounds suspiciously like the basis of a discriminatory policy. Should I be proud of my blue eyes?
I'd prefer that nobody treated skin color as anything more different than hair color, people recognize it, dress to suit it, and change it, but you never hear of someone not getting a job because of an old-boys network that refuses to hire brown-haired people.
I don't support black scholarships either. Sure, as a class, they're poorer, but on an individual basis, any given poor person in the slums needs as much help as anyone else. If you want to help blacks out of the lower classes, help everyone in the lower classes better themselves and their position.
Yes, We do! (Score:2)
(Huh?)
There is a huge barrier to women who are interested in physics; there aren't any other women. This may sound stupid to some of you, but think about it: how many women do you know that feel perfectly at home sitting completely outnumbered in a group of geeky males. Sure, a few do, but they are in the minority. Having a stronger female presence (at every level: prof, TA, postdoc, grad student, undergrad, high school teacher, etc) will help to alliveiate this.
Physics is a rather embarassing case. Other hard sciences have recently allowed their influxes of women: chemistry now has reasonable percentages (if not ideal) and maths are gaining too. Physics remains a holdout.. only a certain type of personality is attracted to physics, and only a fraction of those have the intuition and skills neccessary to make it easy. Take off a fraction for social reasons, and you can get it down to zero.
---N
Re:But the best news... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:But the best news... (Score:1)
Re:But the best news... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:But the best news... (Score:1)
Re:But the best news... (Score:2)
Re:But the best news... (Score:1)
Re:But the best news... (Score:1)
Re:But the best news... (Score:1)
You tell that to all the starving men wondering how to operate a stove or run the washing machine.
Re:But the best news... (Score:2)
Amen... (Score:2)
EUREKA!!!!!!
How dare they defy the 2nd law of thermodynamics (Score:3, Funny)
Re:How dare they defy the 2nd law of thermodynamic (Score:1)
Amazing (Score:4, Funny)
Amazing, now the editors are trolling US! You know where.
welcome to slashdot. (Score:2, Funny)
New here, aren't you?
Re:welcome to slashdot. (Score:1)
Trying to sound not so new here, are you?
Re: "pre-emptive strike" one-liner... (Score:2)
Well, I just included the last sentence as a "pre-emptive" one-liner for all the folks who were about to hit the reply button and type "gee, just think if they had made a Beowulf cluster of...". Please don't blame the Editors. My fault.
And yes, we DID manage to Slashdot their news page already...
Re:Amazing (Score:1, Offtopic)
Yeah, but if you use English; you can just say $SHOE_SIZE instead.
Actually 12 highlights... (Score:5, Funny)
But the last two points are just "Low points of the year" and "Hope for the future".
The lowpoints... you guess it, the great sham by Victor Ninov on Ununoctium.
The hope is... more women in physics! Oh the joy! You guys in Physics should be happier now... :-) If only this happens as well in Computer Science...
Re:Actually 12 highlights... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Actually 12 highlights... (Score:2)
Electron neutrino flavour (Score:4, Funny)
In April, physicists at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) in Canada presented conclusive new evidence that electron neutrinos oscillate -- or change 'flavour' -- on their way from the Sun to the Earth.
So they don't taste like chicken anymore?
Re:Electron neutrino flavour (Score:1)
Re:Electron neutrino flavour (Score:2)
Among other innovations, the Craptastic Model does allow for the existence of Chicken Neutrino. What's more, the CM allows for an indefinite number of types of neutrinos, potentially thousands of them. It is my intent to auction off the name rights to these new fabulous types of particles. For instance, by paying the proper fees, there could be a Tropicana Neutrino*, or the General Motors Neutrino*. What could be more prestigious than having an elementary particle named after your company? The marketing potential is incredible! Get in now before they're all gone!
* Experimental evidence of these neutrinos withheld pending receipt of standard fees.
One reason why this is a big deal (Score:2)
In relativity, "proper time" in a moving or stationary frame of reference refers to the time as measured by a clock that is stationary relative to that frame. Your watch always gives you the proper time for your frame of reference- and one of the implicit rules is that proper time always proceeds normally. You will never look down at your watch and see the hands spinning around or standing completely still because that would be silly.
Massless particles like the photon travel at the speed of light- and in fact a massless particle can ONLY travel at the speed of light. (With exceptions for travel through water, glass, etc.) It makes no sense to talk about the proper time experienced by a photon, because when v=c the denominator in the time dilation equation vanishes. A photon can spend a billion years traveling from a remote galaxy to a telescope here, but from the photon's own "point of view" the travel time was zero. A photon does not experience proper time.
Now that we've caught neutrinos changing their flavor during their travel, we know that they do experience the passage of proper time, which means they have mass, albeit a very small one. This has some implications for the Standard Model (although I don't know what they are).
Neutrinos have also been shown to be impervious to humor of all kinds, as has been proven here time and again.
Obviously (Score:1, Redundant)
That is because neither of those have anything to do with physics. Hate to state the obvious.
The Best Part (Score:4, Funny)
This list is great if for no other reason than it gives me a chance to say "Superkamiokande!" in a superhero-like voice.
Say it with me. It'll make you feel better. "Superkamiokande!"
Of course, having research I worked on [duke.edu] mentioned in passing ("Researchers also reported on the unusual expansion characteristics in an ultra-cold Fermi gas this month") was cool too.
what? (Score:1)
Re:what? (Score:1)
top twelve? (Score:1)
hmmmm, someone didn't learn their numbers
Re:top twelve? (Score:1, Funny)
They missed one.. (Score:1)
#13
Take a Lesson from David Letterman (Score:1)
Re:Take a Lesson from David Letterman (Score:1)
Ba-dum-ching!
Re:Take a Lesson from David Letterman (Score:2)
Do what I do- as I read down the list, I dynamically reassign the numbers to suspenseful ones by use of a special algorithm:
suspenseful(X) = 11 - X
Hellooo, suspense! It's back!
Bah! (Score:1)
Slashdot effect (Score:2)
2nd Law (Score:1)
How many times does it have to be said? Evolution does not violate the second law of thermodynamics!
:-P
Re:2nd Law (Score:2)
Actually, this has been known for a very long time. Entropy constancy or increase is only probabilistic, in that it happens for large systems with overwhelming likelihood, and thus is never observed to decrease for large systems since observing such is so overwhelmingly unlikely. But for sufficiently small systems, there is reasonable chance of observing fluctuations away from equilibrium.
This does not permit any violations of the second law, however, because as soon as you string several small systems together, you have a large system.
For more information, look up entropy and microstates.
Re:2nd Law (Score:2)
Core memory is back! (Score:1, Offtopic)
"7. Magnets in nanoscale logic devices
Physicists in the UK built a nano-metre scale logic gate made entirely from metal that works at room temperature. ... If such devices could be built, they would be ideal for mobile applications such as phones and smart cards because the data could be stored without a power source."
Isn't that essentially core memory on a smaller scale? Everything old is new again...
Re:Core memory is back! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Core memory is back! (Score:2)
In essence, this would allow a computer to resume its work after powered on in an instant from where it left before.
So, yes it essentially the same thing in a smaller scale. Like transitors are tubes in a smaller scale and the HDs are just smaller versions of floppy discs.
*Yawn* (Score:1)
Physics Financial (Score:2)
More updates at 3 minutes and 14 seconds past the hour.
Re:Physics Financial (Score:1)
Earlier Posting Of This Story (Score:2)
Re:Earlier Sci-Fi Today Posting Of This Story (Score:2)
Micro perpetual motion machines? (Score:1)
"The researchers state that the discovery could be important in the design of micromachines, and argue that the probability of thermodynamic systems running 'in reverse' will increase as they become smaller."
So does this mean that there is the possibility of creating perpetual motion machines at the microscopic level? What are the possible consequences of this?
Re:Micro perpetual motion machines? (Score:2)
So, for a limited time, yes. Not forever. And the news is, in isolated systems. In unisolated systems, this already known.
I think there are no consequences, since nano-machines are seldom isolated systems.
Re:Micro perpetual motion machines? (Score:2)
Slashdot Effect (Score:2)
The Big Bang (Score:1)
So, the Universe started a few fractions of a second before Carter was elected? Fascinating.
Sorry, 2nd law wasn't really violated. (Score:3, Informative)
Basically, entropy boils down to probabilities - if you flip a fair coin a gazillion times, you'd expect 50% heads and 50% tails. These folks, in effect, were working at a level where they could detect some of the runs of 100 heads in a row. It's an impressive series of measurements, but won't require a rethink of thermodynamics at all.
Re:Sorry, 2nd law wasn't really violated. (Score:2, Insightful)
This simply points out the statistical nature of Thermodynamics. Small systems can be expected to violate the laws of Thermo sometimes because they are small, and the laws of Thermo assume that you are dealing with a system with a large number of components. Rigorous derivations of the laws use the Law of Large Numbers, which of course only applies to large numbers for some strange reason.
It's still pretty cool, because dispite the theoretical possiblility of observing violations on the small scale, it's never actually been seen before.
You can't use this to build a perpetual motion machine, because the effects are only of limited duration. It's kind of like in particle physics, where you can violate conservation of energy if you do it fast enough that the rest of the Universe doesn't catch you at it.
Re: (Score:2, Redundant)
Wow, these are real science.. (Score:1)
I just heard somebody on NPR taking a look back, and she sounded more like a science fiction author than a scientist. Extra dimensional this, multiple universe that, wormhole here, yadda yadda yadda. It's nice to see that the theoretical "physicists" of the make-believe imagination type haven't completely taken over 20th/21st century phsyics.
Small systems defy second law (Score:2)
In fact if entropy did always increase you could use that to build a perpetual motion machine. If it did always increase you could make predictions about particles that could be exploited by a Maxwell type demon. But the fact that it usually increases, but might sometimes decrease, means that information isn't available to you. (Similarly if there really were such a things as a "law of averages" people could use it to win at roulette. That hasn't stopped people trying though.)
Re:Small systems defy second law (Score:2)
There are people who win at roulette by "law of averages". They're called casino owners. Having deep pockets helps too, of course.
Re:Small systems defy second law (Score:2)
There is a massive body of work behind Fluctuation Theorem. Try reading the scientific lit. before dismissing it.
Re:Small systems defy second law (Score:2)
Re:The refference you asked for (Score:2)
Looks like a good paper though, thanks.
We Only See 5% of the Universe? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:We Only See 5% of the Universe? (Score:2)
Once we achieve the technology, that's my plan -- to "save" as much of the energy that's pouring out into space, so we can make the universe last longer. I'm sure advanced civilizations have similar thoughts.
The cool part is, if it's true, then it's a lot like realizing that you're already within the event horizon of a black hole. They've "eaten" 95% of the stars; they'll get to ours sooner or later. Will we be able to keep it?
Re:We Only See 5% of the Universe? (Score:2)
We'll have usable nanotech within 10-30 years, and the pace of technological evolution after that will quicken rapidly as we create computers more powerful than the human brain, which can solve problems quicker and more efficiently. It may be that after achieving nanotech we'll be able to create a Matrioshka Brain in just a couple years.
We truly live in interesting times! ;-)
How far to photon torpedoes? (Score:1)
Re:How far to photon torpedoes? (Score:2)
Re:How far to photon torpedoes? (Score:2)
1.00794 is atomic mass of hydrogen in AMU, 6.022e23 is Avogadro's number, 9e18 is the speed of light squared. The constants are off the top of my head so I may be slightly off on the hydrogen atomic mass.
6.6 joules is a quite noticeable amount of energy, equivalent to a 5 gram bullet travelling around 50 meters per second.
Re:How far to photon torpedoes? (Score:2)
elements 116 and 118.. (Score:1)
Does anyone have any more information on Element 116?
USA not a player any more? (Score:1, Interesting)
Tetraneutrons may be bogus. (Score:4, Interesting)
One big problem is that a random coincidence between four neutrons from unrelated events could masquerade as a tetraneutron. The paper [arxiv.org] says they have the random-coincidence rate all figured out, but it's the kind of thing that is notoriously hard to be sure about.
With any other exotic nuclear species, you can catch it in a metal foil, and then find out stuff about it, e.g., what particles it emits when it decays. The tetraneutron, if it exists, can only be detected by destroying it, which makes it hard to measure any of its properties. If you can't measure any of its properties, it's pretty hard to be sure it's real.
TertaNeutron? BAH - I've got that beat (Score:2)
Behold the wonder that is Administratium [liv.ac.uk]
And the wonderful (uhhh, awful???) thing is that most of you can see this element in operation yourselves.
Re:Must top 10 list (Score:2)
Re:THESE are the top stories of 2002 (Score:2, Insightful)
Just because the reasearch doesn't provide immediate benefits doesn't mean its useless.
Also, science isn't just about making life better. Part of it is also about satisfying curiosity and knowing more. If someone found the edge of the universe tomorrow, it would not help life in any way, but I would still regard it as the one of the most compelling achievements in science.
And just one more thing; how does anti-matter compare? anti-matter, if successfully harnessed would be a clean pure source of energy. Go talk to the people of Chernobyl and they will tell you how important it is.
Re:A Top 10 list with 12 items? (Score:4, Funny)
12 Items- Check.
20% margin of error- Check.
The editor must be a experimental physicist.