dblack12705
Joined 6 years ago
Karma
199
Submissions
29
Member since
Aug 11
Recent submissions
Comment · 7 months ago
Article author here. I wanted to write an accessible overview of basic laser physics, and in the process collected a zoo of weird things that lase (if pumped sufficiently hard) from the historical literature: edible lasers in peach compote, the Martian atmosphere, cancer cells, peacock feathers, etc. Happy to answer questions, especially if you disagree with my pronunciation guide.
The title is a quote from
Arthur Schawlow, Nobel Laureate and inventor of the “nearly nontoxic” Jell-O laser.
Comment · 2 years ago
Yes, all the time. It is a common idiom, especially in history books.
Comment · 2 years ago
The flower patterns remind me of Smith charts. https://www.antenna-theory.com/m/tutorial/smith/chart.php
Since smith charts are made by mapping the complex plane (grid) to another complex plane via a Mobius transformation Z->(Z-1)/(Z+1), maybe that’s what’s going on here too. The inverse certainly produces a grid again.
Comment · 2 years ago
You two fix nitrogen together?
Comment · 2 years ago
I feel like I see antinatalism and childfree movements in the news more frequently now. I suppose if they're any good at their job, the movement won’t exist in seventy years or so.
Comment · 2 years ago
Baseline testosterone levels are actually even lower in most hunter gatherer populations. This suggests that your explanation is not necessarily correct.
Comment · 2 years ago
Latin is actually very well attested, both in the classical and ecclesiastical pronunciation. There’s lots of languages, like Egyptian, where the phonology is pretty speculative, but Latin isn’t one of them.
Comment · 3 years ago
In case anyone hasn’t read it, the Datacolada article demonstrating Ariely committed fraud is a great read and extremely convincing.
Comment · 3 years ago
Damn this is cool
Comment · 3 years ago
Thank you! And sure, you can email me at [email protected]
Comment · 3 years ago
https://maximumeffort.substack.com/
“Some things that aren’t worth doing are worth overdoing.”
I write about physics, language, and history, or whatever interests me at the moment, with an overarching theme of spending way too much effort analyzing useless topics. Here’s some of my favorites:
https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-the-wago... I derive an expression for number of donkeys needed to move an army a distance L, and discuss its relationship to the tyranny of the rocket equation.
https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/guinea-pigs-are-fermion... I postulate that Guinea pigs are fermions, and simulate the quantum dynamics of multi-pig states.
https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/a-statistical-analysis-... I attempt to answer the timeless question of whether the characters in Wheel of Time sniff in disapproval more than average.
https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/i-taught-chatgpt-to-inv... ChatGPT and I invent a slime language.
https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/an-offering-for-the-dea... I teach you just enough Middle Egyptian to read some of the hieroglyphs on most museum artifacts.
https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/the-great-kings-of-assy... I share my technique for annoying text spammers by pretending to be Assyrian Royalty.
Mostly up to date index of posts: https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/coming-soon
Hope you enjoy!