These are by no means exhaustive, but are just a few introductory-level discussions of some of the things we talked about today.
A nanotechnology lecture by Feynman from 1959 (!).
Information processing and thermodynamics.
Physical limits of computing.
Monday, September 21, 2009
PH111: information storage physics
Some of the slides I'll use today are here.
After the lecture, I'll try to update them to include the things I'm going to do on the whiteboard ...
After the lecture, I'll try to update them to include the things I'm going to do on the whiteboard ...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
PH111: Drake equation, next seminar
Interesting article about updates to the Drake equation.
Next week, I'll be giving the seminar again, this time on information storage physics. There will be some light reading posted later today, but for now you might peruse this older talk I gave. (Warning, 22Mb PDF.) It is specifically about magnetic information storage, but might get you thinking along the right lines.
Next week, I'll be giving the seminar again, this time on information storage physics. There will be some light reading posted later today, but for now you might peruse this older talk I gave. (Warning, 22Mb PDF.) It is specifically about magnetic information storage, but might get you thinking along the right lines.
Monday, September 14, 2009
SPS study session
"Society of Physics Students is hosting a homework help session Wednesday, September 16 at 6:00pm in 109 Gallalee. Anyone needing help with physics is welcome to attend."
Friday, September 4, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
PH111 Lecture 2: back-of-the-envelope calculations
Today I gave a lecture about estimation and back-of-the-envelope calculations. The slides I used are here, though I did quite a few additional problems not mentioned in the slides.
I made heavy use of this book in preparing my lecture, and it is highly recommended if you have an interest in how to quickly estimate the answer to even the most absurd-sounding problems. More than that, it is one of the few books of this sort that actually teaches you how to do approximate calculations systematically, rather than just trying to dazzle you with arcane knowledge.
A fun read, and it contains most of the problems I worked out in the lecture today. And some much, much more odd ones.
Next time (2 weeks from today, given labor day is next week) we'll have a lecture from Dr. White on "The Big Bang" and "The largest explosions in the universe." We'll keep you posted if there is any reading you need to do ahead of time ...
I made heavy use of this book in preparing my lecture, and it is highly recommended if you have an interest in how to quickly estimate the answer to even the most absurd-sounding problems. More than that, it is one of the few books of this sort that actually teaches you how to do approximate calculations systematically, rather than just trying to dazzle you with arcane knowledge.
A fun read, and it contains most of the problems I worked out in the lecture today. And some much, much more odd ones.
Next time (2 weeks from today, given labor day is next week) we'll have a lecture from Dr. White on "The Big Bang" and "The largest explosions in the universe." We'll keep you posted if there is any reading you need to do ahead of time ...
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