Comments on: Any Given Sunday

By: Sean M From Boston

Sean M From Boston — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:20:00 +0000

I was about to buy your book then I saw this post.
I think the worst fan issue is certainly a case of VSR (very special relativity)
btw: spelling mistake…
“Teaching Comany”

I may still buy the book but not today, oh and gfy.
Like the posts on physics though

By: Neil B.

Neil B. — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:55:10 +0000

No, Lab Lemming, we can beat those traditional limits of resolution. Google for near-field microscopy and look at the pictures of fine detail (way less than 1/2 lambda.) The whole idea is, you get a scanning probe so close to the sample that the intensity received is from the proximity. Imagine patches around 50 nm that emit cyan light around 500 nm. The tiny probe (about that diameter) with a sensor at the tip (roughly speaking) gets close to the patch and more photons are absorbed there. It is not imaging in the conventional sense, that is why we can “see” finer detail than per traditional formulas based on numerical aperture, lambda, optical medium. So my challenge remains.

See http://www2.chem.ku.edu/rdunngroup/new_page_6.htm.

These spatial resolution limitations have been well known for some time and, not surprisingly, led many to begin exploring alternative ways of achieving higher resolution optical measurements. Early in the 20th century, Synge published a series of visionary papers in which he proposed a new type of optical microscope designed to circumvent the limitations imposed by the diffraction limit. This remarkable collection of papers details the foundations upon which the modern day NSOM is based.

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:58:15 +0000

Neil,
Assuming Physics Central is using the approximation of human hair=100um, then the nanotrophy features are on the scale of 100nm. If you are trying to see these with optical light, wavelength=400-750nm, you aren’t going to have much luck.

On the other hand, the entire trophy will be several um long, so you may be able to see some sort of smudge with a good reflecting scope.

As for the Superbowl, there are some contrarians who maintain that the Patriots actually won.

By: Neil B.

Neil B. — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:40:48 +0000

Hey, it was cool as the dickens (what does that come from?) to see New York win. That finish was way exciting, really fabulous football even for someone who usually doesn’t care. I like seeing underdogs beat the favorite, and it inspires me to keep formulating paradoxes (carefully vetted I hope.) Speaking of paradoxes and football, I will repeat here the one I asked re in the thread “Win the Smallest Trophy Ever!” (I think there likely is a solution, I just want to hear it.)

Hmmm. If I don’t have an electron microscope, can I use one of those wacky near-field optical microscopes to see enough detail? What if I tried to cheat the uncertainly principle with a NFM for the “Heisenberg microscope” example, what would stop me?

By: Kordan the Merciless

Kordan the Merciless — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:45:53 +0000

This is just pathetic – from today’s Bahston Glob:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/05/day_of_mourning_for_stunned_pats_fans/

Nothing like being part of a rich and priviledged
culture to be able to act like this over a sports
team, as opposed to any real problems.

Go cry in the Charles River, Bahston, then jump in
and do the rest of the world a favor.

By: Mark S.

Mark S. — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:52:53 +0000

Yet another regular reader who grew up in the Philly area. But I’m the first to admit that while I love their teams, I’m generally embarrassed by their fans. Boston fans are insufferable in their own way, though. And I have no beef with Giants fans. At least the Giants knocked off the Cowboys on the way there.

Can we at least all agree that Dallas sucks?

By: jonm

jonm — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:38:11 +0000

As a neutral, the Philadelphia fans I’ve seen have been *way* more obnoxious than the Boston ones. White trash at its worst.

By: Slush Pile « blueollie

Slush Pile « blueollie — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:36:04 +0000

[...] Cosmic Variance has a funny-as-all-get-out take on the Super Bowl. It is only one paragraph, but had me cackling out [...]

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:03:50 +0000

“Philly fans are unbearable in the face of defeat”

How do you know that Philly phans aren’t insufferable when victorious? That hypothesis has never been tested on more than an occasional, highly sporadic basis.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:21:05 +0000

I grew up in Philadelphia, and spent many years in Chicago as well as Boston, and am friends with far too many New Yorkers. I love Boston, but their sports fans are by far the worst, in the sense that they are insufferable in the face of victory. Philly fans are unbearable in the face of defeat, but that’s a separate pathology.