Production here at the Ph-factory has been notably down in the hot months. The only recent post is September’s news, but boy is it interesting.
Meanwhile I also wrote a new post for ParticleBites, “A Shortcut to Truth“. It has neural networks, particle colliders, truth jets and other deluxe terminology (but don’t blame me because that site is meant to be read by physics students).
The Nobel prizes in physics were announced yesterday. You can find plenty of info on them elsewhere so instead I’ll go and write about what I was about to anyway: the IgNobel prizes were also awarded a few days ago. IgNobels celebrate science “that makes you laugh and then think”. This year’s winners include scientists brave enough to ask to get paid for studying the relation of income inequality and kissing habits, and for looking at the long-neglected entomologists who are afraid of spiders. But specifically in physics, we had the study of what happens to a living worm when it is vibrated at high frequency.
You can see the whole list of winners here (who is your favourite?). In case you haven’t, I highly recommend reading all the past years’ as well. But. If you are after something more dramatic then I recommend reading about this year’s Nobel prize in chemistry, e.g. here. It is not just recognition of a major achievement, it also takes sides on a fierce legal battle that has been raving for years now.