How do you trap an electron?
I've always found the concept of two forces on an object cancelling themselves out strange. We say they cancel if the changes they exert completely offset each other, leaving the object unaffected…
Scicomm
331 posts
The physics of Spain's controversial air-con decree
The Government of Spain published a decree earlier this week that prevents air-conditioners from being set at a temperature lower than 27º C in the summer in an effort to lower energy consumption and…
65 years of the BCS theory
Thanks to an arithmetic mistake, I thought 2022 was the 75th anniversary of the invention (or discovery?) of the BCS theory of superconductivity. It's really the 65th anniversary, but since I'…
A quantum theory of consciousness
We seldom have occasion to think about science and religion at the same time, but the most interesting experience I have had doing that came in October 2018, when I attended a conference called 'S…
25 years of Maldacena's bridge
Twenty-five years go, in 1997, an Argentine physicist named Juan Martin Maldacena published what would become the most highly cited physics paper in history (more than 20,000 to date). In the paper, M…
A giant leap closer to the continuous atom laser
Physicists have created a steady-state Bose-Einstein condensate – a long-sought feat that opens the door to a variety of applications, including in holography and quantum computing.…
What is a supersolid?
Not more solid than solid.…
A tale of two myopias, climate change and the present participle
The Assam floods are going on. One day, they will stop. The water will subside in many parts of the state but the things that caused the floods will continue to work, ceaselessly, and will cause them…
Press releases and public duty
From 'Science vs Marketing', published on In The Dark, on May 20, 2022: … there is an increasing tendency for university press offices to see themselves entirely as marketing agencies instead…
Some comments on India's heat
Responses to a few questions from BBC World reporters about the temperature crisis in India's centre and north.…
Sci-Hub isn't just for scientists
Quite a few reporters from other countries have reached out to me, directly or indirectly, to ask about scientists to whom they can speak about how important Sci-Hub is to their work. This attention…
Middle fingers to the NYT and NYer
American outlets will steal our journalists' ideas and obfuscate memories of their initiative and the Indian government will treat them like they don't exist.…