Physics, Math and Science Articles

Inside the Scientific Box: History and Challenges Today

In Memoriam In Memory of Dr. Thomas J. LeCompte (1964-2025), Detector Designer and Champion of Education and Science. Prologue Defining “the box” Someone who shows interest in science is initially a welcome development. So are fresh ideas from unexpected quarters. In contrast, there is a scientific community that is meticulously organized down to the last…

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lcdmjorrie

Approximate LCDM Expansion in Simplified Math (Part 2)

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  Part 2: Time and Distance In Part 1 we have seen how one of the simplest ways of expressing the fractional expansion rate of the universe,…
physics jobs

Physics PhD Job Search: Start Well Before Graduation

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... Series Part I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year…
neutrino

Learn About Neutrino Masses and Speed

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It was hard to miss the 2011 OPERA neutrino speed measurement that indicated superluminal neutrino speeds (and turned out to be a measurement error), but…
gravity

Understanding the General Relativity View of Gravity on Earth

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Often students have difficulty reconciling the General Relativity (GR) view of gravity versus their own experience with gravity on the surface of Earth.…
cosmo

Approximate LCDM Expansion in Simplified Math

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 If we restrict ourselves to a spatially flat LCDM universe model (and ignore the early radiation energy density), the first Friedmann equation…
math obvious

Teaching Math as Obvious Thinking | Make Math Click

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My goal when I teach math My #1 goal, when I teach a math class, is to convey a way of thinking about math. It's quite different from what most students…
physics love

Should You Do Science for Love or for Money

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While I served on the math faculty of the US Air Force Academy, we invited numerous cadets to participate in self-funded research…
measuringentanglement

Can You Measure Quantum Entanglement?

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What is Quantum Entanglement? Though any pair of particles, given their history, might happen to be entangled, some pairs are more entangled than others. …
thesis defense

Preparing for Your Physics PhD Thesis Defense Effectively

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Overview: The Thesis Defense At this point you have completed writing your thesis, your adviser has approved it, and you have distributed it to all members…
garrett

Garrett Lisi’s Superparticle Bet With Frank Wilczek

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There is an interesting story unfolding in particle physics. The main motivation for building the Large Hadron Collider was to search for new particles.…
doctoral thesis

Writing Your Doctoral Thesis: Guide for Physics Grad

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... Series Part I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year…
qftintegrals

Some Useful Integrals In Quantum Field Theory

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In my paper on renormalisation I mentioned what most who have studied calculations in Quantum Field Theory find, it's rather complicated and mind-numbing.…
oral presentation2

APS March & April Meetings: Guide for Physics Grad Students

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Overview of the APS March and April Meetings I'll try not to make a habit out of this, but I believe there's something to add to this chapter of the…
physics journals2

How to Publish in a Physics Journal (Addendum)

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... SeriesPart I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year of College …
oral presentation

Presenting Physics Research: Conference Tips for Students

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Part I: Early Physics Education in High Schools Part II: Surviving the First Year of College Part III: Mathematical Preparations Part IV: The…
masterdegree

How to Write a Master Degree Thesis As a Physics Major

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Your First Scientific Paper Ought to be good! Structure and Contents of a Master's Degree Thesis This guide was written some years ago as a guideline for…
arrowoftime

Retrocausality: How Fundamental is the Arrow of Time?

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In this Insight, I'll discuss a recent experiment ([1]  [2] [3]) by some Australian physicists that has brought a thought experiment into the real world…
physics journals

How to Publish Your PhD Research in Physics Journals

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... Series Part I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year…
lab work

Research Ethics for Physicists: Keep a Detailed Lab Notebook

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Starting Your Research and Keeping Good Records Now, where were we? Oh yes — you have started your actual research work. You and your adviser have…
research work

Initiating Physics PhD Research: Getting Started Effectively

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... Series Part I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year…
advisor research

Choosing a Physics Research Advisor in Graduate School

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... Series Part I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year…
gas compression

Reversible vs Irreversible Gas Compression and Expansion Work

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Introduction In learning Thermodynamics, one of the difficult concepts that many students struggle with is the difference between reversible and irreversible…
perbation theory

Introduction to Causal Perturbation Theory

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Relativistic quantum field theory is notorious for the occurrence of divergent expressions that must be renormalized by recipes that on first sight sound…
LHC quiz

LHC Quiz: Think You Know about the LHC?

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News of the LHC progress has dazzled scientists and hobbyists alike. It's now time to show just how much you know about the operation.Please share…
grad exam

Pass Physics Grad Qualifying Exams: Strategies & Plan

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... SeriesPart I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year of College …
other majors

Entering Physics Graduate School Without a Physics Degree

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Can you enter physics graduate school without a physics degree? I decided to write about this because it is a very common question on many physics forums:…
heat errors

Frequently Made Errors in Heat: Elementary Level

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1. Heat, Work, Internal Energy, and Kinetic Energy "If heat is the motion of molecules, why isn't it Kinetic Energy?"In everyday use, we may think…
Distributions

Errors in Probability: Continuous and Discrete Distributions

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1. Classifying as discrete, continuous, or mixed These statements (or equivalents) can be found in authoritative-seeming websites:X "A random variable…
cheshirecat

Weak Values Part 2: The Quantum Cheshire Cat Experiment

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In a previous Insight, Weak Values Part 1: "Asking Photons Where They Have Been," I showed different methods for computing the relative intensities in…
askingphotons

Weak Values Part 1: Asking Photons Where They Have Been

In a previous Insight on retrocausality, I explained an experiment by Danan, Farfurnik, Bar-Ad, and Vaidman (DFBV)[1], “Asking Photons Where They Have…
negative temperature

Negative Absolute Temperatures: Explanation & Examples

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It's a famous result in thermodynamics that you cannot reach absolute zero no matter how hard you try. Given the definition of absolute zero, it is also…
publishing in journals

Guide to Publishing in Peer Reviewed Journals

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From Concept to Manuscript You've done the science.  You had an idea, performed an extensive literature review, designed an experiment, ran the experiment,…
What is Energy

A Definition and Controversy of Energy

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[CONTENT] What is energy? Energy is a fundamental concept that refers to the capacity of a system to do work. It is a scalar quantity, meaning it has magnitude…
alternative careers

Careers with a Physics Degree: Alternatives & Advice

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... Series Part I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year…
Coriolis

Frequently Made Errors: Pseudo and Resultant Forces

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  1. Real versus Fictitious Pseudo, or "fictitious", forces can arise when a non-inertial frame of reference is used. Using a non-inertial frame…
LHC

LHC Part 3: Protons as Large as a Barn

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Introduction See also part 1 and part 2 of the series.The LHC commissioning phase is coming to and end. On Wednesday May 20th 2015, the first collisions…
physics blogs

Physics Blogs You Need to Be Reading

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These are some of the best physics blogs, updated regularly, written by some of the top minds. The feeds are updated on page refresh, so bookmark this…
renormalization2

Why Renormalisation in Quantum Theory Needs a Cutoff

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Introduction This is a follow on from my paper explaining renormalization. A question was raised - why exactly do we need a cut-off. There is a deep reason…
errors springs

Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Springs

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  1. Springs in Series "A spring of constant ##k_1## is connected in series with a spring of constant ##k_2##.  What is the spring constant…
earth year

How to Scientifically Measure How Many Days Are in a Year

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How many days are there in a year? Ask pretty much anyone and they will tell you 365, except for leaps years which have 366. In addition,…
natural language errors

Frequently Made Errors in Probability: Conditionals in Natural Language

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  1. Turning a verbal condition into Algebra An actual thread..."A study of auto accidents has found that 40% of all fatal accidents are…
physics career

Understanding the US Physics Graduate School System

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... Series Part I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year…
impact errors

Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Momentum and Impacts

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  An impact is an impulse (change of momentum) that involves arbitrarily large forces acting very briefly. These result in near-instantaneous…
matlab errors

5 Common MATLAB Error Messages and How to Fix Them

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In this Insight, I'll go over 5 common MATLAB error messages, what they mean, and how to fix them. Hopefully, after reading this post you'll find yourself…
hydrostatics

Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Hydrostatics

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  1. Archimedes' Principle X "When a body is placed in a liquid, the weight of the body equals the weight of the liquid displaced"That will…
Alzheimers

Can Gene Editing Eliminate Alzheimer’s Disease?

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The development of the CRISPR/Cas9 system has made gene editing a relatively simple task.  While CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies stand to revolutionize…
before grad school

Physics Graduate Assistantships: TA vs RA Explained

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... SeriesPart I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year of College …
variables

Some Conceptual Difficulties in the Roles of Variables and Constants

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1. Variables and Constants When is a constant not a constant? When it varies.In the standard equation ##y = a x + b##, we are used to thinking of…
gausslaw

Derivation of Gauss’s Law: Coulomb to Flux Explained

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Gauss's law was formulated by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1835. It is one of the four Maxwell's equations that form the basis of classical electrodynamics.…
physics grad school

Physics Grad School: Senior-Year Application Guide

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... SeriesPart I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year of College …
subway

Brachistochrone Subway Tunnel: Fastest Tunnel Shape Explained

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Introduction A subway tunnel could, in principle, operate without external energy (like electricity) if we assume zero friction everywhere. The train…
error handling

Frequently Made Errors in Equation Handling

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1. Algebra versus Arithmetic When numerical values are provided as inputs in a question, it is tempting to plug these into the equations straight away. …
physics major

Physics Major Guide: Succeed in Years 3–4 and Research

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... SeriesPart I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year of College …
kinematic errors

Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Kinematics

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Kinematics is the subset of dynamics that only concerns itself with time, displacement, velocity, and acceleration. A problem is a kinematics problem…
medical physics

How to Become a Medical Physicist in 3653 Easy Steps

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For many physics students, Medical Physics is that branch of the discipline that seems to hover in the no-man's land between academia and "industry." It's…
math preparations

Mathematical Prep for Physics Majors — Essential Guide

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Full Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... Series Part I: Early Physics Education in High schools Part II: Surviving the First Year…
periodic table

It’s Elemental! The Periodic Table Quiz

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The periodic table is something we all are made aware of early in schooling, but have you really looked at it closely and learned about its lesser-known…
mistakes moments

Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Moments

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Entire List for Frequently Made Errors Series MechanicsForces Friction Moments Kinematics Hydrostatics Momentum and Impacts Springs …
renormalization

Quantum Renormalisation Made Easy

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What Is The Issue With Renormalisation If you have an interest in physics you have likely come across renormalisation before, although what it really…
electrical wire

Mutual Inductance: When k≠1 and Two Coupling Coefficients

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Mutual inductance and the coupling coefficient A commonly used formula for mutual inductance M between two nearby coils L1 and L2 is M = k√(L1*L2).…
redlights

Learn About the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger Experiment

In two previous Insights, I shared Mermin's explanation of the Hardy experiment[1] and the Mermin device[2]. Both of his corresponding AJP papers presented…
mermin

The Quantum Liar Experiment: An Instantiation of the Mermin Device

In 1981, Mermin published a paper[1], "Bringing home the atomic world: Quantum mysteries for anybody" in which he explained the mystery of quantum nonlocality[2]…
surviving college

Essential Guide: Surviving Your First Year in Physics

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Part II: Surviving the First Year of College This part covers survival tips for the first two undergraduate years. You’re now in college and intend…
friction

Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Friction

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1. Direction of the normalDefinition: The normal force that body A exerts on body B is that force of minimum magnitude which suffices to prevent penetration…
Early Physics Education in High schools

Early Physics Education in High Schools For Physics Majors

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So You Want to Be a Physicist: A 22-Part GuideFull Chapter List - So You Want To Be A Physicist... SeriesPart I: Early Physics Education in High…
classroom

Explore Some Sins in Physics Didactics

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Introduction There are many sins in physics didactics. Usually, they occur, because teachers, professors, textbook or popular-science-book writers, etc.…
differentiable function 2

A Continuous, Nowhere Differentiable Function: Part 2

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This is Part 2 of a series of articles in which the goal is to exhibit a continuous function that is nowhere differentiable and to explore some interesting…
forces mistakes

Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Forces

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Entire List for Frequently Made Errors Series Mechanics Forces Friction Moments Kinematics Hydrostatics Momentum and Impacts …
Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman Quiz: Think You Know Richard Feynman?

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Richard Feynman is one of the most popular and highly regarded physicists of all time. You think you may know him, but do you? Let's find out by taking…
ADHD studying

Overcoming Challenges of Self-Studying Number Theory

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Introduction During my summer break I spent several hours each day self-studying mathematics—primarily number theory—even though I had no prior experience…
2D Animation

Particle in a Box: 1D & 2D Quantum Visualizations

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Introduction The particle in a box is a staple of entry-level quantum mechanics courses because it provides a clear contrast between classical and quantum…

LHC Part 2: Commissioning

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View All PartsPart 1: LHC about to restart - some FAQs Part 2: Commissioning Part 3: Protons as Large as a Barn Part 4: Searching for New Particles…
differentiable function

A Continuous, Nowhere Differentiable Function: Part 1

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When studying calculus, we learn that every differentiable function is continuous, but a continuous function need not be differentiable at every point.…
Thermodynamics

Understanding Entropy and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics

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Introduction The second law of thermodynamics and the associated concept of entropy have been sources of confusion for thermodynamics students for centuries.…
Einstein Quiz

Albert Einstein Quiz: How Well Do You Know Albert Einstein?

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Albert Einstein is arguably the most famous scientist of all time, but how much do you actually know about him? Let's find out by taking this quiz! No…
CrispR DNA

Why CRISPR Technologies Won’t Lead to Designer Babies

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The prospect of designer babies has been a staple of the dystopian futures imagined by science-fiction writers, evoking fears of eugenics (e.g. Brave…
abstract_algebra

Is Zero a Natural Number?

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Using: Anderson-Feil Chapter 1.1 Is zero a natural number? This is a pretty controversial question. Many mathematicians - especially those working in foundational…
micro1

Formal Syntax and WFFs in Set Theory (Hrbacek-Jech)

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Hrbacek–Jech Chapter 1.2: Formal Language and WFFs Introduction Hrbacek and Jech do not go into full detail about what a property is formally. This…
space law

Space Law Explained — Outer Space Treaty & Satellite Rules

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*This Insight is intended to have a logical basis but not to be taken as purely factual or legal advice. Key PointsOuter Space Treaty does not provide…
bioethics

Bioethics & Genetic Engineering: Ethics and Policy

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Bioethics Key PointsWorrying about the future now means recognizing advances in technology, such as genetic engineering, that have already arisen. …
crackpot

How to Spot Pseudoscience: A Practical Science Guide

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It often feels like we're being swamped with "science" these days — but much of it is not real science. Genuine science follows the scientific method,…
solar_eclipse

Solar Eclipse Viewing & Safety Guide — What to Expect

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Eclipse Viewing Key PointsNever view the Sun with the naked eye for any length of time; doing so can cause irreversible eye damage or blindness. …
supernova

Star Fate: From Nebulae to White Dwarfs and Black Holes

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Star Fate: From Birth to Black Holes Stars form in vast clouds of gas and dust called nebulae. Over time gravity pulls material together until the core…
crackpot_index

The Science Crackpot Index and Bingo Game

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Discussing science online can be a frustrating experience when no quality controls are in place—which is often the case. As part useful reference and…
hand_to_hand_combat

Hand-to-Hand Combat Physics — Force, Momentum, Speed

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Physics of Hand-to-Hand Combat Hand-to-hand combat (often abbreviated H2H or HTH) refers to fighting at very close range, usually without weapons. It includes…
integral - Electronics

Interview with Mentor Integral

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Meet a Mentor is a biweekly (twice a week) series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Today…
DH - astrophysics

Interview with Astrophysicist D H

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Meet a Mentor is a series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Today we meet: D HGive…
georgejones - physics

Meet Mentor George Jones — UNBC Physicist & Educator

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Meet a Mentor is a weekly series to help you get to know your wonderful mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet:…
evo - physics

Interview with Mentor Evo

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Meet a Mentor is a biweekly (twice a week) series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Today…

Interview with Mentor LisaB

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Meet a Mentor is a fun series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet: LisabGive…
ryan_m_b - biology

Interview with Biologist Ryan_m_b

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Meet a Mentor is a fun series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet:…
mark - math

Interview with Mathematician Mark44

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Meet a Mentor is a series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Today we meet: Mark44…
jtbell - physics

Interview with Physicist jtbell

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Meet a Mentor is a weekly series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Meet the Mentor:…
dale physics

Meet Mentor DaleSpam — Biomedical Engineer & Mentor

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Meet a Mentor: DaleSpam Meet a Mentor is a fun series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome!About…
engineering - chestermiller

Meet Mentor Chestermiller — Chemical Engineering Profile

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Meet a Mentor is a fun series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet:…
evolution_faq

Evolution Explained: FAQs, Evidence & Common Misconceptions

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[CONTENT] Key PointsEvolution is a scientific theory supported by multiple independent lines of evidence. In science, the term "theory" denotes a…
evolution_evidence

5 Pieces of Evidence that Support Theory of Evolution

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Evidence for Evolution If you’re new to the topic, these primers provide helpful background:What is Evolution: A Beginner’s Guide What Is Evolution…
amplifier

Studio in a Box: Learn About Digital Modeling Amplifiers

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Digital Modeling Key PointsDigital Signal Processing (DSP) emerged in the mid-1970s, enabling musicians to simulate acoustic spaces and reproduce many…