Check 1: No new RTQs

Given the recent history of RTQ updates coming later and later each year, I didn't necessarily expect to see them updated just yet. But since the RTQ selection process was unencumbered by the recently-dissolved ARP, I nourished a hope that the lack of oversight might result in a streamlined process.

For purposes of speculation, recall the RTQ update post dates over the past four years:
January 9, 2006
February 1, 2007
February 8, 2008
February 25, 2009

Should the trend continue, there's really no hope of seeing updated RTQs until March. I'll maintain my optimism for a winter release. By 2011, even that might constitute starry-eyedness.

Coke-powered cell phone

Not another spin on the old lemon battery. But I'm unfamiliar with what's actually going on here. According to the article, "the Eco-Friendly cellphone runs on an innovative battery which makes use of enzymes to generate electricity from carbohydrates."

I'm sure I should know how that works. But I don't. Or maybe I do and I just don't know that I do. Feel free to enlighten me in the comments.

It does remind me of the clever T-shirt I saw at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium recently: "Burn Carbohydrates, Not Hydrocarbons".

PTSOS Sacramento: Give Physics a Whirl 1/30/10

The next Physics Teacher SOS (PTSOS) Sacramento workshop will be held at Rio Americano High School on Saturday, January 30.

The focus will be heat, waves, and sound. Topics will include temperature, kinetic theory, heat transfer, phases, the Leidenfrost Effect, mechanical wave characteristics and properties, Doppler Effect, shock waves and sonic booms, interference and beats.

We will address these topics via demonstrations, computer sensors, simulations, and a make-n-take. And we'll discuss how these topics are assessed on the state's Physics CST. In any case, there will be flames!

The goodies are robust and worthwhile. Attendees will leave with treasures of knowledge and the high-quality materials needed to "work the magic" in their own classrooms on Monday (or any time thereafter).

Steve Keith will be leading the workshop with me. And our attendees bring the wisdom, insights, and curiosity that make PTSOS workshops work as well as they do.

We'd love to have all area physics teachers, new and old, along with us for a day of physics fun. If you attended the October workshop, you know the joy of PTSOS. If you missed our October session, you don't want to miss this one!

Register with Stephanie Finander: sfinander@sbcglobal.net. If you're in the San Juan Unified School District, the ERO SRN for this workshop is 1040215072.

Richard Wiseman's holiday party tricks

They're not necessarily holiday-themed, but let's face it: the December holidays are a mishmash of many things to many people.



Happy Newtonmas!

xkcd Experiment

I assign my AP Physics students a pack of six free-response questions over Thanksgiving break. They get some "sugar" for completing the assignment. But they were terribly eager for me to see today's xkcd. I think they might not have appreciated the opportunity to keep their physics motors oiled over the break.

Dance of the water droplets

My buddy, Fred Bremmer, sent me a link to this groovy video. Who knew a drop of water could be this much fun?

Nice high-speed video of lightning

The monochrome segment is especially instructive. The stepped leaders meander and split until--BLAMMO--contact is achieved.



Hat tip to Huffington Post.

Psychic Reading's

You might think that someone capable 0f seeing int0 the present would be capable of looking int0 a dictionary or ustage guide. But You Would Be Wrong 0n Both Count's.

AP Physics B Redesign, part 2

The College Board has added information about impending changes to AP science exams to its general redesign website.

The website is called "AP in 2011-12 and Beyond: Developments in AP French, AP German, and AP World History." No doubt they'll eventually revise the title of the site to better reflect the content. The title is built into the title graphic, so it may be a while.

The page now includes a promising link to AP science course information. Unfortunately, the page at the other end of that link has no information about the AP Physics B redesign. Instead it's devoted exclusively to AP Biology.

But the rest of us do get something. The science course info page ends as follows:

"Additional information about the revisions to AP science courses and exams and the range of resources, including sample questions, that will be available to teachers to facilitate the integration of these changes into their courses will be announced in early 2010."

The Big Blog Theory

The fact that this post is nearly two months late indicates that I haven't figured out how to travel back in time and post it earlier.

I am an enthusiastic fan of The Big Bang Theory. Both of them, actually. For this post, I'm referring to the CBS sitcom. It is a sitcom for "my people." I'm a physics-type who's been known to enjoy a bit of the science fiction. And somehow I manage to go about my day without being mobbed by ladies pining for my attentions. Go figure.

So yes, I harbor special affection for TBBT.

Among its charms is the correctness of the science references that range in importance from tangential to pivotal in plot development. TBBT gets the science right. How refreshing is that?

The key person responsible for this accuracy is TBBT Science Consultant, David Saltzberg. Saltzberg is a real-life professor of physics at UCLA.

The Big Bang Theory is a commercial network situation comedy that must operate and succeed in that environment. It is not educational programming. I laugh out loud when I watch TBBT. When I watch NOVA? Not so much. TBBT and NOVA are different series with different purposes and goals. And NOVA is excellent in its own right.

But Saltzberg now takes the science on each episode of TBBT and expands on it in his weblog, The Big Blog Theory. Talk about value-added! Saltzberg's essays are accessible and easy to read. Much more conversational than you have any right to expect from a co-author of "Inclusive Search for Anomalous Production of High-pT Like Sign Lepton Pairs in Proton-Antiproton collisions at 1.8 TeV."

If you're a fan of the show, don't miss the blog. You'll be learning physics (and/or physics lore) without even knowing it. He's sneaky, that Saltzberg!

Oh, The Big Blog Theory is being translated into Spanish. If you habla the Español, check out the Spanish-language version!