The Large Hadron Collider has finally begun collecting data for 7 TeV collisions. They’ve set up an interesting live feed, in which you can keep an eye on the collision rate in each detector: The nodes that say “PHYSICS” are detectors that are now actively collecting data. Click each one to see its live collision rate feed. Hi-res 3D images of ATLAS detector events can be found at their project website: Images from the ALICE experiment area avail…
Read more…lds is not a fact that all observers agree about. According to one common definition of objectivity, a claim is objectively true or false if and only if all observers agree about that claim. But in our example, the claim, ‘time unfolds from Harold’s crowning towards Harold’s death’ can only be valuated according to the subjective judgement of one observer. Other observers, such as the accelerating astronaut, are equally correct to valuate the clai…
Read more…f the so-called Kadison-Singer conjecture was announced yesterday. Mathematicians are excited, because this conjecture is equivalent to a remarkable number of open problems in other fields. And mathematicians just love to make connections between wildly disparate fields. Here is another reason to be excited: the Kadison-Singer conjecture has important consequences for the foundations of physics! Settling this conjecture shows an important way in w…
Read moreUsing a Mac to do your academic work? Here’s a brief tutorial on how to optimize your day-to-day dealings with academic citations, by integrating Bibdesk, Textmate, Quicksilver and Scholar. Below, you’ll find instructions on how to set up all these neat little tricks. Quicksilver Web Search. After you download Quicksilver (free) and open the preferences window, go to Plug-ins > All Plug-ins, and check the box next to “Web Search Module.” Restart…
Read moreThe attention that these two nut-jobs are receiving is a bit discouraging. Some people do hope to see mini-black-holes at CERN, it’s true. Some calculate that we will see thousands. But: (1) if you have any empiricist scruples, then you won’t believe in these mini-black-holes at CERN; alternatively, (2) if you have no such empiricist scruples, then you’ll agree that all mini-black-holes at CERN are short-lived and harmless. Here’s why: Let’s begi…
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