Updated October 28, 2024: I added information about the new companion website for the book! We’ve launched! While the official release date of the book is October 31 (aka Dark Matter Day … aka Halloween!), it is now available to order. Copies should start arriving on or about October 31 […]
Science
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I have decided to make a commitment to cover all three of the basic science Nobel Prizes this year. Next up is the Chemistry Prize! The prize announcement will begin not earlier than 05:45am Eastern Time (11:45am CEST) on Wednesday, October 9. I’ll be up with coffee in-hand to watch […]
I have decided to make a commitment to cover all three of the basic science Nobel Prizes this year. Next up is the Physics Prize! The prize announcement will begin not earlier than 05:45am Eastern Time (11:45am CEST) on Tuesday, October 8. I’ll be up with coffee in-hand to watch […]
Live updates are at the bottom of this post. (Scroll down to see them) I have decided to make a commitment to cover all three of the basic science Nobel Prizes this year. I will confess: I know the limits of my knowledge and the prize for “Physiology or Medicine” […]
Today was a wonderful day. The host site for SNOLAB, the Creighton Mine, ran its Family Day events this afternoon. Food, a tour of mine equipment, games, music … and science! SNOLAB was part of the festivities, and the lab came together to share wonder and discovery with the mothers, […]
Three years in the making, “The Dark Matter Discoverer’s Guidebook” – a labour of love and intellectual pursuit – is almost ready for publication. The goal is to have this published and available on or around Dark Matter Day (October 31). This book was born from a pandemic delay, a […]
The Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane, or LSM, is located directly adjacent to the Italy-France border. Nestled below the Frejus Peak and connected to the Frejus Road Tunnel (a 13km underground highway currently under expansion), the laboratory can be driven into and shields its projects with a maximum of 1700m of […]
It was October in the void. The white dwarf, Nain Blanc, had been, for some time, slurping up the hydrogen and helium from the vast gas envelope of its partner, a red giant, Géant Rouge. When they were younger, the two stars burned bright in the dark of empty space, […]
When I delivered Parts 1 and 2 of the last lecture of Physics 1303 (Introduction to Mechanics) on May 2 and 3, 2022, I had an inkling that these might be my last ever lectures to SMU undergraduates. I prepared them with joy and love and care. It was emotionally […]
We are well over the one-year mark on the global COVID-19 pandemic. Progress is uneven. The U.S., for example, spent much of the last year at war with itself over basic scientific common sense. Instead of embracing cost-effective protocols like masking and social distancing, right-wing elements of the U.S. chose […]
Since Wednesday, I, like most Americans, have been trying to make sense of the events of that day. I find it’s usually best to begin with the facts, so that’s where I will start this reflection. Wednesday was to be devoted to proposal writing. After reading the newspaper, then eating […]
Over the winter break, I have picked up my little muon detector data side project that started in the spring term of 2020. A few days ago, I remarked on how I wanted to take account of “weather” in the data – variations around a daily expectation given seasonal conditions […]