Douglas Natelson
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Condensed matter/nanoscale physicist at Rice University
Condensed matter/nanoscale physicist at Rice University
408 followers
Douglas Natelson's posts
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That's the way the ball bounces.
How does a ball bounce? Why does a ball, dropped from some height onto a flat surface, not bounce all the way back up to its starting height? The answers to these questions may seem obvious, but earlier this week, this paper appeared on the arxiv, and it...
How does a ball bounce? Why does a ball, dropped from some height onto a flat surface, not bounce all the way back up to its starting height? The answers to these questions may seem obvious, but earlier this week, this paper appeared on the arxiv, and it...
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Workshop on quantum transport
Blogging has been slow b/c of travel. I'm attending a workshop on "Quantum transport in nanoscale molecular systems". This is rather like a Gordon Conference, with a fair bit of unpublished work being presented, but when it's over I'll hit a few highlight...
Blogging has been slow b/c of travel. I'm attending a workshop on "Quantum transport in nanoscale molecular systems". This is rather like a Gordon Conference, with a fair bit of unpublished work being presented, but when it's over I'll hit a few highlight...
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A thermoelectric surprise in metals
Earlier this year I'd described what thermoelectricity is , and I'd also discussed recent work of ours where we used a laser as a scan-able heat source, and were then able to see nicely the fact that changing the size of a nanoscale metal structure can vary...
Earlier this year I'd described what thermoelectricity is , and I'd also discussed recent work of ours where we used a laser as a scan-able heat source, and were then able to see nicely the fact that changing the size of a nanoscale metal structure can vary...
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Science and policy-making in the US
Over twenty years ago, Congress de-funded its Office of Technology Assessment , which was meant to be a non-partisan group (somewhat analogous to the Congressional Budget Office) that was to help inform congressional decision-making on matters related to te...
Over twenty years ago, Congress de-funded its Office of Technology Assessment , which was meant to be a non-partisan group (somewhat analogous to the Congressional Budget Office) that was to help inform congressional decision-making on matters related to te...
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About grants: What are "indirect costs"?
Before blogging further about science, I wanted to explain something about the way research grants work in the US. Consider this part of my series of posts intended to educate students (and perhaps the public) about careers in academic research. When you w...
Before blogging further about science, I wanted to explain something about the way research grants work in the US. Consider this part of my series of posts intended to educate students (and perhaps the public) about careers in academic research. When you w...
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Highlights from Telluride
Here are a few highlights from the workshop I mentioned . I'll amend this over the next couple of days as I have time. There is no question that smaller meetings (this one was about 28 people) can be very good for discussions. I learned that there is a ne...
Here are a few highlights from the workshop I mentioned . I'll amend this over the next couple of days as I have time. There is no question that smaller meetings (this one was about 28 people) can be very good for discussions. I learned that there is a ne...
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Several items
Things have been a bit busy, but here are a few items that have popped up recently: Symmetry magazine is generally insightful and well-written. Recently they posted this amusing article looking at various fun papers on the arxiv . Their first example rem...
Things have been a bit busy, but here are a few items that have popped up recently: Symmetry magazine is generally insightful and well-written. Recently they posted this amusing article looking at various fun papers on the arxiv . Their first example rem...
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Two books that look fun
Two books that look right up my alley: Storm in a Teacup by Helen Czerski . Dr. Czerski is a researcher at University College London, putting her physics credentials to work studying bubbles in physical oceanography. She also writes the occasional "everyd...
Two books that look right up my alley: Storm in a Teacup by Helen Czerski . Dr. Czerski is a researcher at University College London, putting her physics credentials to work studying bubbles in physical oceanography. She also writes the occasional "everyd...
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Condensed matter/nano resources for science writers and journalists
I've been thinking about and planning to put together some resources about condensed matter physics and nanoscience that would be helpful for science writers and journalists. Part of the motivation here is rather similar to that of doing outreach work with...
I've been thinking about and planning to put together some resources about condensed matter physics and nanoscience that would be helpful for science writers and journalists. Part of the motivation here is rather similar to that of doing outreach work with...
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Interesting reading material
Summer travel and other activities have slowed blogging, but I'll pick back up again soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of interesting things to read: Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants ( pdf ) is fascinating, if rather chemi...
Summer travel and other activities have slowed blogging, but I'll pick back up again soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of interesting things to read: Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants ( pdf ) is fascinating, if rather chemi...
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