tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55291348396434400302024-03-19T00:29:55.538-07:00Eskeptrical EngineerEngineering, Science, Feminism, and SkepticismEskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-68554000401153419762012-07-24T18:32:00.000-07:002012-07-24T18:46:43.372-07:00Transparent solar cells: cool, but not world-changingI've been seeing a lot of buzz about the visibly transparent photovoltaic cells developed at UCLA. The press release is <a href="http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-researchers-create-highly-236698.aspx">here</a>, and the ACS Nano paper is <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/nn3029327">here</a> (behind a paywall, sorry). This is very cool technology with some really interesting and useful applications, but some of the superlatives I've seen to describe it, like "this could change the world," make me think that people may not quite understand the capabilities of this technology.<br />
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Quite simply, you will not be able to put this on your windows and power your house. The efficiency, ~4%, is just too low, though it is typical of organic polymer PV. (For photovoltaic technology, the efficiency is the proportion of electric energy delivered by the system to the optical energy that was incident on the system.) For comparison, conventional flat panel silicon is usually around 15-20% efficient. On the low cost side of things, thin film panels are around 8-12% efficient, and on the high-cost side, multijunction cells are >40% You can see the record efficiencies in the chart below. (To be clear, these are the world records for various technologies, and only include the cell itself, not any other losses in a complete system. Commercial units have lower performance.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHEXw3VlvsWeavFSoh0uYEYeDLVM91cqVAOsYKXhzzoU92wb3uWX_zjN4Nedv1YAXVcaqP_mhhLAkg5qITsyANKD8jhk1ldL9NV1fnXqPcl_2L4dY4z3n5r7EzHDRQPyvu3LR-2f4Ir0/s1600/NREL+Chart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHEXw3VlvsWeavFSoh0uYEYeDLVM91cqVAOsYKXhzzoU92wb3uWX_zjN4Nedv1YAXVcaqP_mhhLAkg5qITsyANKD8jhk1ldL9NV1fnXqPcl_2L4dY4z3n5r7EzHDRQPyvu3LR-2f4Ir0/s400/NREL+Chart.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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(Image from National Renewable Energy Laboratory)</div>
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Why is the efficiency of the UCLA technology so low? Most of the reason is obvious: the cells are <i>transparent</i>. The paper cites the transparency in the visible spectrum as 61-66%, depending on wavelength. In other words, almost two-thirds of visible light is passing directly through the photovoltaic. This light cannot possibly be converted into electrical energy.<br />
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Furthermore, not all photons are created equal. The energy of a photon is proportional to its frequency. So, high-frequency ultraviolet light has more energy than visible light, which has more energy than infrared light. The IR light being targeted by this photovoltaic simply has very low energy, though the UV light also being converted is high-energy.<br />
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Of course, the energy from one photon doesn't give you the whole picture. You also care about the total number of photons in order to get the total power. So what is the distribution of power across the solar spectrum?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgychsbdEUSlExyIyeuH3AVrQ1sIApk02SvGzJUKhPVCk8pmJEtLTW78uXmpo2wzSRRl7LYoBzLFTxKB8D8mOet_W3TtHtH2j2870HrHBK0PoMyce3wYRb5rqLYqEBTpOdxoWjsc6C6Zco/s1600/solar+spectrum+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgychsbdEUSlExyIyeuH3AVrQ1sIApk02SvGzJUKhPVCk8pmJEtLTW78uXmpo2wzSRRl7LYoBzLFTxKB8D8mOet_W3TtHtH2j2870HrHBK0PoMyce3wYRb5rqLYqEBTpOdxoWjsc6C6Zco/s320/solar+spectrum+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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(Image from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)</div>
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The highest intensity is in the visible range, which makes sense. Our eyes evolved to be most sensitive to the highest intensity light emitted from the sun. Now, you might point out that there is a lot of energy in the infrared range. While the power for a given wavelength isn't that high, the range of infrared wavelengths adds up to a lot of energy. But according to the paper, this cell can't convert light over 900 nm*. So even if the cell gets more efficient, the total power it could possibly deliver is limited.<br />
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I should add here that the researchers obviously are aware that transparent phovoltaics won't have high efficiency. There are some great applications driving this kind of technology. While windows from these cells won't eliminate your energy bill, they will lower it. Plus, since they're absorbing IR light, your house will heat up less, and you'll need less air-conditioning. Integrating this technology with electronics is even more interesting. Think of the typical solar-powered calculator. Instead of having that little strip of PV cells, the actual display can serve as the power source, freeing up real estate on the front of the device. And just imagine using this on a cell phone! You could use the screen of your phone to help keep it charged during the day.<br />
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In the end, this is some very clever technology that will have a number of useful applications, but don't expect to see your windows powering your whole house.<br />
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*Changing the materials in order to accept longer wavelength, lower frequency light will reduce the amount of energy captured from higher frequency light. I'll have a post later just on this concept, but for now, you'll have to trust me.<br />
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(Edited to use a different image of the solar spectrum. The first one I used had some outdated information on it.)Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-54169009060451714012012-07-24T07:33:00.000-07:002012-07-24T07:33:12.346-07:00"Big boobs" hidden in codeLousy Canuck has a <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/2012/07/21/microsoft-adds-big-boobs-to-linux-apologizes/">post</a> up about some rather immature behavior from programmers at Microsoft. A constant in some Linux code was defined as 0xB16B00B5, which means "Big Boobs."<br />
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Is this juvenile and silly? Yes. Is it also harmful? Yes. This is just another <a href="http://eskeptrical.blogspot.com/p/papercuts.html">papercut</a> contributing to a chilly culture for women in STEM. The brogrammer culture actually makes me wonder if women in computer science have one of the toughest environments to deal with.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-70536503188090757532012-07-23T15:19:00.001-07:002012-07-23T15:19:08.205-07:00Goodbye, Sally RideThere are precious few women in STEM fields who have truly achieved icon status, and now we have one fewer. <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/07/23/157250870/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-is-dead">Sally Ride</a> has passed away from cancer at the age of 61. In addition to her own impressive achievements as an astronaut, she did so much to encourage girls to be interested in science. The world is truly worse off to no longer have her in it.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-70943591597941198142012-07-15T15:17:00.002-07:002012-07-15T15:17:48.325-07:00Pamela Gay is amazingI'll write up more about my experience at TAM later, but I have to direct your attention to the outstanding talk given by Pamela Gay. She has posted the text here: <a href="http://www.starstryder.com/2012/07/15/make-the-world-better/">http://www.starstryder.com/2012/07/15/make-the-world-better/</a><br />
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This talk received the loudest and longest standing ovation of any talk that I attended at TAM. I was in tears, as were many others in the crowd. I went to thank her after the speech, and started crying again. She gave me a big hug.<br />
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This was so incredibly brave. While the crowd was overwhelmingly in support of her talk, I know she also pissed off people. I know she pissed off powerful people. I know she risked a lot to do this, and she did it for me.<br />
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Not like, me individually, but all the women like me: young women in science and skepticism who don't have the connections or support to be able to fight back. She is genuinely fighting to make the world a better place for those of us with less power than her. <span style="background-color: white;">She is absolutely amazing.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">I am writing this post while wearing my brand-new "Stopping harassment starts here " shirt. You can get your own by emailing Pamela. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">And however we choose to do it, we can all make the world a better place. Whenever you have the chance to stand up for those less powerful than yourself, do it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">I promise, it will mean the world to them.</span><br />
<br />Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-26330974333864471542012-07-06T07:19:00.001-07:002012-07-06T07:19:46.472-07:00Defense Date!I have officially set my PhD defense date for the first week of September. I have a date for becoming Eskeptrical Engineer, PhD.<br />
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It's weird to have five years of graduate school drawing to a close, but I don't have much time to think about because, oh god, I have so much to do!Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-88325090633502008322012-06-28T07:41:00.004-07:002012-06-28T07:41:51.861-07:00Affordable Care Act is upheld!<br />
Oh, thank goodness. In a vote of 5-4, with Roberts surprisingly going left and Kennedy going right, the US Supreme Court has upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The decision is <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf">here</a>.<div>
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As someone with a pre-existing condition, this is such a relief.</div>Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-17104785551962608952012-06-26T18:58:00.000-07:002012-06-26T18:58:01.367-07:00Women in Secularism 2!Melody Hensley <a href="https://twitter.com/MelodyHensley/status/217650489439952899">announced today </a>that the second Women in Secularism conference will be May 17-19th, and held again in the DC area.<br />
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I'm really going to try to make it to this one. I followed all the coverage of last year's conference, and it sounded amazing. Ashley Miller listed the highlights <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/ashleymiller/2012/05/21/women-in-secularism-the-good-the-bad-the-awesome/">here</a>.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-21616923228702639652012-06-25T22:16:00.000-07:002012-06-25T22:16:34.959-07:00Light posting this weekI'm currently in that phase of job-hunting where I'm actually interviewing, which is great! But preparing my talk and so forth is taking up a lot of time, so I don't expect much of substance this week.<br />
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I do plan to start my science posts off with a multi-part series on solar power, which should next week or the week after.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-53409224177696580332012-06-24T22:21:00.000-07:002012-06-24T22:21:25.997-07:00On privilege"Privileged" is not an insult.<br />
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When someone points out that you are privileged in some way, they are not calling you a bad person. They are not calling you unintelligent or uncaring. They are not saying that you have had an easy life, or even that you have had an easier life than every member of the marginalized population being discussed.<br />
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What they are saying is that there are certain things you've simply never had to think about because of you are. These are things that other people have to think about because of who they are.<br />
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Let me give you an example.<br />
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I was a campus tour guide in college. One day, I had a prospective student in my group who used a wheelchair. The tour started off normally. But something went wrong just after we passed the Student Health Center. The end of a long sidewalk didn't have a slope. There was no way for the high schooler in the wheelchair to get down from the sidewalk to cross the street. He had to travel all the way back along the sidewalk to the side that did have a slope, then come back down the street to rejoin the group.<br />
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I was mortified. It was such an obvious sign of the campus not being fully wheelchair-accessible, and right by the Student Health Center of all places. This student could have been embarrassed to have everyone have to wait for him, and he couldn't have had a great impression of the school.<br />
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But you know what? I had probably crossed the street at that location hundreds of times prior to this incident. And I had<i> never noticed</i> the lack of a slope in the sidewalk.<br />
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That is my able-bodied privilege.<br />
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Since I don't have mobility concerns, I simply did not register that the sidewalk at that particular intersection wasn't wheelchair-accessible. I just stepped over it without thinking.<br />
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So when someone calls you out on your privilege, something like this is what they're talking about. The curb that you've metaphorically stepped over without realizing it is a much bigger problem to someone else. The very best thing that you can do is to realize that things exist that you don't notice simply because you don't need to, but that other people do. Just listen to them.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-69688033566727606192012-06-23T21:52:00.001-07:002012-06-23T21:52:42.180-07:00The Phenomenauts are with Neil!I've been really excited to see one of my favorite NorCal bands, the Phenomenauts, <a href="http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/06/phenomenauts-neil-degrasse-tyson/">get attention</a> <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/06/23/im-with-neil/comment-page-1/#comment-372964">all over</a> <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/tokenskeptic/2012/06/21/im-with-neil-degrasse-tyson-by-the-phenomenauts/">the Internet</a> with their music video ode to Neil deGrasse Tyson:<br />
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Neil himself seems <a href="https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/216234852419252224">somewhat bemused</a> by the tribute.<br />
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They put on a hell of a live show, so I strongly recommend <a href="http://www.silversprocket.net/progress/missions/">seeing them perform</a> if you have the chance. Any skeptic has to be a fan of "<a href="http://www.silversprocket.net/mp3s/phenomenauts/13%20Science%20and%20Honor.mp3">Science and Honor</a>," and who doesn't want to sing along to "<a href="http://www.silversprocket.net/mp3s/phenomenauts/03%20Earth%20Is%20The%20Best.mp3">Earth is the Best</a>."<br />
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<br />Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-35583471754080447492012-06-23T10:44:00.003-07:002012-06-23T10:44:54.455-07:00How humanities and social sciences benefit STEMI'm sure everyone saw the<a href="http://skepchick.org/2012/06/why-pinkifying-science-does-more-harm-than-good/"> terrible video posted yesterday</a> promoting the "Science; it's a girl thing!" campaign. Deborah Blum has a thorough collection of the responses<a href="http://ksjtracker.mit.edu/2012/06/22/girls-be-a-scientist-you-too-can-dance-in-the-lab-in-high-heels/"> here</a>, and I'm not sure I have anything to add on why the video is so problematic. (The video has been taken down, by the way.)<br />
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I thought it was really interesting to see this the same day:<a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/06/real-tales-of-learning-computer-science-as-a-high-school-girl-stuyvesant/"> stories from girls at Stuyvesant High School</a>, where all students are required to take a year of computer science coursework. I noticed a really interesting trend. Many of the girls described themselves as being equally interested in both the humanities and STEM, and don't want to have to choose. However, Victoria Stempel, who had always considered herself more interested in the humanities, describes the problem:<br />
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"Now that I know about the potenial of comp sci, I am considering taking it in college. However, I do not want to abandon the path I have been interested in pursuing for a long time. Ideally, this would mean double majoring in English and computer science. Unfortunately, some universities with muliple colleges house these two subjects in different schools (ex: UPenn, Binghamton), making double majoring in a liberal arts course and an engineering course almost impossible. Due to this issue, I am very conflicted as to which path to take in life—or even which specific colleges to apply to within larger universities!"</blockquote>
I hate that girls (and boys too, for that matter) feel like they have to decide between the humanities/social sciences and STEM. I suspect this partly contributes to why girls don't see themselves going into science and engineering. Not a single girl featured in this piece said anything about high heels or makeup, but they did talk about their interests in English and art. I strongly believe that not only are the humanities and social sciences compatible with STEM, they can make you better at it. And I say that as an electrical engineer who also did a minor in Communications and spent all of college in various music ensembles.<br />
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I don't mean for this to be exhaustive, but here are some of the ways that a background in other areas can help you as an engineer:<br />
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Communications/English/Literature: Okay, every high school student who thinks that you don't have to pay attention in English class because you're going to be an engineer and you won't need it? You are wrong. You are so, unbelievably, wrong. Engineers write constantly. They write for other engineers, and they write for lay audiences. If you want to be an engineering professor, I think you will write more than you will do anything else. You need to be able to write well. And more generally, you need to be able to communicate well. Engineers present their work in conferences and meetings, so you need to be able to describe your work effectively and concisely. Anything you can study that will improve your writing or communication skills will benefit you as an engineer.<br />
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Foreign languages/International Relations/Cultural Studies: It is a global market these days. If you have fluency in another language, you will be very marketable as an engineer. Even without being bilingual, understanding other cultures will help you understand how technology might be used in other countries, or at least how to approach the problems.<br />
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Art/Design: A lot of engineers physically make things. If you can make your devices, whether prototypes or commercial products, look nice, you will have a huge leg up on people like me who make functional <span style="background-color: white;">but </span><span style="background-color: white;">ugly </span><span style="background-color: white;">devices. People will be more impressed with a technology when it looks polished and finessed. Plus, many skills you'll learn in doing art will simply help you make products. I did some plastic-forming for a prototype, and a lot of the resources I used for learning this process were for artists. Even if you don't do fabrication, a strong sense of design will help you with posters and presentations about your work, which brings us back to the first point: effective communication.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Psychology/Sociology: You can't just make the best technology to be successful. You have to make technology that people want to buy. Understanding how people use technology is crucial. This also gets into business and marketing types of decisions, but I think any areas of social science that help you understand people better will help you understand how to make better technology.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">History: I wrote a whole post on how <a href="http://eskeptrical.blogspot.com/2012/06/science-is-verb-now.html">a history class helped me really understand science</a>. Having a background in history can give you a much broader look at technology: how it's changed society and how it hasn't. A long-term perspective lets you see </span>better where technology is headed. My current institution has an excellent History of Science program, and it's fascinating to hear about these students' work.<br />
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Again, this isn't exhaustive, but I wanted to give a few examples of how compatible humanities, social sciences, and STEM really are.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-33524368399078047882012-06-19T20:09:00.001-07:002012-06-19T20:09:20.746-07:00Learning to be wrongMy department had our recruitment weekend a couple of months ago, where admitted students to the PhD program could visit labs, interview with faculty, chat with current graduate students, and generally get a feel for the campus and the city. One prospective student asked several of us to list our best, worst, and most surprising moments of graduate school. I was interested to find that all of us had basically the same answer for worst moment: the project that went wrong.<br />
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My story fit the theme. I worked on an experiment for the better part of a year that ultimately didn't work. Couldn't work actually. I eventually was able to prove that the approach would never work.<br />
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This seriously threw me for a loop. I had a really hard time recovering and moving on to the next project. Maybe that seems silly to you, but almost all of my colleagues had a similar story. We can all speak about the project that simply failed.<br />
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Students in a PhD program typically excelled in both high school and college coursework. But a PhD is something completely different. You are doing original research. There are no longer answers in the back of the book. Your advisor can't tell you what's going to happen. Nor can other experts.<br />
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You just have to try it, and sometimes, you're going to be wrong.<br />
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It's in many ways the hardest thing to learn as a PhD student, but I think it's also one of the most important. It seems that <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/06/19/155005546/failure-the-f-word-silicon-valley-loves-and-hates">Silicon Valley feels the same way</a>, to the point that there even exists a <a href="http://thefailcon.com/">conference</a> specifically on failed ventures.<br />
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Ultimately, there's not much reward without risk. Sometimes, that means you fail. But sometimes, it works as well or even better than you predicted.<br />
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And that is the best part of a PhD.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-8467574982191681822012-06-18T20:26:00.001-07:002012-06-18T20:26:20.270-07:00Duck!Has everyone seen this adorable video of a duckling running?<br />
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Holy crap, it is adorable.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-8826385628537403952012-06-15T15:20:00.001-07:002012-06-15T15:20:27.409-07:00Explaining Man-splaining<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With a Venn diagram!</div>
<br />Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-56967736238410419392012-06-14T20:05:00.001-07:002012-06-14T20:05:14.992-07:00Science is a verb nowWhen I think back to my favorite classes I took in college, I could mention those that I got the most useful information from or that I had the most fun in. But I always think of one class in particular that changed the way I see science: Science in the Renaissance.<br />
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Part of my freshman honors program, this class covered the scientific breakthroughs of the Renaissance, but also covered scientific beliefs of the classical era in order to show the progression to Renaissance discoveries.<br />
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This was the first time I had a class that presented science as a process: not just a list of laws and equations, but the stories behind them. Who figured these concepts out? What experiments proved them? What did everyone believe before then? What other theories existed?<br />
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Science isn't a bunch of static equations. It's a way of trying to understand the world around us. It can be messy or frustrating or sometimes lead us in wrong directions, but it's still the best way we have of finding the truth.<br />
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The process is what really makes up science, not the results.<br />
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(Title is referencing <a href="http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=QC-SCIENCEVERB&Category_Code=QC">this</a>.)Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-22078759009246039992012-06-13T07:01:00.000-07:002012-06-13T07:01:11.488-07:00What do you want to know about optics?Hello readers!<br />
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I'd like to start writing some more background science and technology posts. Specifically, I'll be writing about topics in optics and photonics. (Generally, light and light--based technology.)<br />
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This is where you come in! What topics are you interested in hearing about? Do you have any specific topics you'd like to read about or questions you want answered?<br />
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Some possibilities are solar power, lasers, fiber optics, lenses and prisms, or basic properties of light. I can also take on other topics from physics and electrical engineering if you have questions about those.<br />
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So please let me know what you want to know! Leave a comment, shoot me an email, or send me a tweet (@EskeptricalEng).Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-26061119312894809282012-06-09T13:14:00.003-07:002012-06-09T13:23:26.761-07:00My first electionI turned eighteen in the winter of my senior year of high school. My civics teacher kept a stack of voter registration forms in his classroom, and I proudly filled one out the week of my birthday, even though it would be several months until the next election, a gubernatorial primary.<br />
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I remember getting that first election booklet in the mail. I remember scrutinizing all the candidates' statements and carefully marking up my sample ballot.<br />
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I went with my dad to the polls the evening of the election. He proudly told the poll worker that this was my first time voting. She gave me her congratulations.<br />
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I copied my choices from my sample ballot onto the real one and turned it in. I wore my cheerful "I voted!" sticker the rest of the night.<br />
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Ten years later, I have never missed an election.<br />
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My parents still check in with me to see if I voted. My politics are quite different from theirs and, quite honestly, my dad and I could both stay home on election day for the same net effect. But we all believe that it's so important to go out and vote.<br />
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And it is important.<br />
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Gary Kreep, an extreme right-wing attorney and birther extraordinaire, ran this year for a position as a superior court judge in California. At the end of election day, <a href="http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/blog-935-peed-gains-ground-on.html">he was winning</a> over his opponent Garland Peed by <i>56</i> votes. With fewer than half of the absentee votes counted,<a href="http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/voters/results/transform.htm?paramVal1=superior_court.xsl"> Peed now leads Kreep</a> by just over a thousand votes, 50.18% to 49.83%.<br />
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It is still too close to call the race.<br />
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A few tenths of a percent will decide this race. On election day, it was less than a hundred votes difference.<br />
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Your vote matters. Use it.<br />
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(<a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/06/08/birther-wins-judgeship-in-california/#comments">Ed blogged about the Kreep/Peed race</a>, though he mistook election day results as final.)Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-44272605378548300882012-06-06T08:25:00.002-07:002012-06-06T08:25:23.956-07:00Goodbye, Ray Bradburyio9 is reporting that <a href="http://io9.com/5916175/rip-ray-bradbury-author-of-fahrenheit-451-and-the-martian-chronicles">Ray Bradbury has passed away</a> at the age of 91.<br />
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Inspired by my favorite Bradbury book, Dandelion Wine, I think I'll take a moment to remember that I'm alive.<br />
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“I’m ALIVE. Thinking about it, noticing it, is new. You do things and don’t watch. Then all of a sudden you look and see what you’re doing and it’s the first time, really.”Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-67586933412819018632012-05-27T15:33:00.000-07:002012-05-27T15:33:03.209-07:00Bro-ographiesI scoured the biography sections of my local used bookstores today in search of a copy of David Leavitt's <u>The Man who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer</u>, this month's <a href="http://skepchick.org/2012/05/skepchick-book-club-the-good-news-club/">Skepchick Book Club</a> selection. (I ended up special-ordering it.)<br />
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One local store has an entire section of science biographies, which is awesome! I did notice something disappointing though. Out of all the science biographies, only two were about women, and both (<u>Galileo's Daughter</u> and <u>Einstein's Daughter</u>) were certainly framed to be about their famous fathers rather than their own contributions to science. I'll acknowledge that I haven't read either book, but the titles alone reveal something about how the reader is supposed to view the subject.<br />
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There's certainly nothing wrong with writing about Sagan or Feynman or Einstein. They're all interesting and complex men who made major contributions to science. But there's also no shortage of interesting women scientists. Off the top of my head: Grace Hopper, Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie, Irene Joliot-Curie, Maria Goeppert-Mayer, Lise Meitner, Hypatia, and I could keep going for a while*.<br />
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The point is, there's not a lack of biographies about women in science due to a lack of interesting subjects. But when we don't tell the stories of women in science, we undervalue women in science generally. It's part of why people don't think of <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/05/who-are-your-champions-of-reason/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freethoughtblogs%2Fblaghag+%28FTB%3A+Blag+Hag%29">women "Champions of Reason."</a> It's part of why girls have trouble thinking of themselves as scientists. It's part of a culture that generally just doesn't value the stories of women.<br />
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Women do much more in science than simply have famous fathers, and we need to start telling their stories more.<br />
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*I do seem to have a physical science bias here, just due to my own interests!Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-35838609215045109552012-05-23T07:06:00.000-07:002012-05-23T07:06:45.943-07:00Not just skepticism/atheismSo at the completely awesome-sounding Women in Skepticism conference (I was unable to attend, but I'll echo the call that I hope there's another one), <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/05/dealing-with-badly-behaving-speakers/">Jen McCreight mentioned</a> in a panel that women attendees at other conferences had taken her aside and mentioned prominent speakers who she, as a young woman, should steer clear of.<br />
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This is now being discussed all over the place. Stephanie Zvan has <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/almostdiamonds/2012/05/20/zero-intolerance/">a couple of</a> <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/almostdiamonds/2012/05/22/making-it-safer-in-the-meantime/">great posts</a>, and I've been following the discussions at <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/05/21/women-in-secularism-conference-a-summary-part-1/">Pharyngula</a> and<a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/05/22/men-behaving-badly-at-atheist-conferences/"> Greta Christina's blog</a> as well. It seems like many commenters, and well, they mostly seem to be men, are absolutely shocked to hear that such conversations happen. It seems to be a combination of not expecting atheist speakers to be sleazy and not understanding why women don't publicly name offenders.<br />
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While I haven't had this particular conversation (TAM this year will be my first skeptic con), I am not surprised to hear that it happens.<br />
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Because I've heard it elsewhere.<br />
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When I was looking at graduate programs*, I definitely remember female grad students getting a moment alone with me to quietly say "Hey, as a woman, you really don't want to be in Dr. XYZ's lab."<br />
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This problem is not limited to atheism/skepticism.<br />
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Now, were these unproven accusations? From my perspective, sure. I wasn't given a sworn statement on what had happened for that kind of message to get out. But I can't imagine that people would be demanding incontrovertible proof for graduates students quietly letting prospects know that "Dr. Jones is a total workhouse; prepare to be in lab every weekend" or "Dr. Smith has had problems with consistent funding" or even "Dr. Brown has a reputation for being less than honest with data collection." Maybe those things aren't true either, but it's generally unlikely that grad students would have an incentive to lie here. This kind of honest feedback is half the point of visiting campuses. And a graduate student has an incredibly hard time making any kind of complaint against their advisor. I can easily see why women would simply grit their teeth, get through the degree, and quietly warn any other women away from the lab.<br />
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So for everyone who has been astonished to find about these quiet warnings, please realize that this isn't the only context where this happens. I'd imagine that it's actually sadly common given the prevalent sexism in our society that some men with power will take advantage of their status and women without power will perceive little recourse other than this: make sure other women know to stay away from this person.<br />
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This is not a problem unique to the secular community. It's problem with sexism that the skeptic/atheist community simply isn't immune from.<br />
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But I'd love to see real solutions for this come from the secular community. Make sure to read all the links up top to see great suggestions for future cons.<br />
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*Just to be clear, no one had this conversation with me in my current program, I haven't experienced any harassment from faculty in my current program, and I haven't heard of any other woman who has. I have never needed to be the instigator of this conversation.Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-38190727131390806152012-05-15T02:46:00.001-07:002012-05-15T02:49:16.710-07:00TeslaThe new <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla">Oatmeal comic</a> reminded me of this conversation from an outreach event to get girls interested in science:<br />
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Girl 1: "Who's your favorite scientist?"<br />
Me: "I would say Nikola Tesla"<br />
Girl 2: "Didn't he marry a pigeon?"<br />
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Also, no one can beat Hark, A Vagrant for <a href="http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=61">Tesla</a> <a href="http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=256">comics</a>.</div>Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-3867011495040922232012-05-15T02:20:00.001-07:002012-05-15T02:20:52.288-07:00#MadPicLab Day 14: SurlyHere is a surly hound dog, howling because he wants a walk. ROOO!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOt1Q-XvrRsCMmlUDh_B7LnPc2bxaIXXy_Nwbm5nXn6QIyrePVfS1CVSA3U2OFlAqYFMqr9r1eAhj8us9QLXMVedOQqp7da5v8g6wETHJ8qihycd_rKne8w1cUhZVsPJ07Bt7_Z5tJIfU/s1600/roo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOt1Q-XvrRsCMmlUDh_B7LnPc2bxaIXXy_Nwbm5nXn6QIyrePVfS1CVSA3U2OFlAqYFMqr9r1eAhj8us9QLXMVedOQqp7da5v8g6wETHJ8qihycd_rKne8w1cUhZVsPJ07Bt7_Z5tJIfU/s320/roo.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
<br />Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-20580769453454475352012-05-13T20:51:00.001-07:002012-05-13T20:51:12.959-07:00#MadPicLab Day 13: TestMultimeter! (If anyone's curious, I'm measuring the resistance of a strip of gold.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJLVcJNJUgzTDHYEtH4h4uHS09jx8d0UQyQNEbtZfv6oFOXqH13ZW1sUishTU_MfOGNvPuUqzqNv2a-uD7IiBr1cZFqbvR9Ho3K9DgX6NNHpunxWfN8KGCRMZPWfG670QFJTYw0zASs8/s1600/multimeter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJLVcJNJUgzTDHYEtH4h4uHS09jx8d0UQyQNEbtZfv6oFOXqH13ZW1sUishTU_MfOGNvPuUqzqNv2a-uD7IiBr1cZFqbvR9Ho3K9DgX6NNHpunxWfN8KGCRMZPWfG670QFJTYw0zASs8/s320/multimeter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-25530655345702446582012-05-13T20:49:00.003-07:002012-05-13T20:49:57.400-07:00#MadPicLab Day 12: MacroI chose something macroscopic: the ocean.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwza-trJUsmXzpo9jR6eLX89u4iPtlQYRtIKHGzG0Dm3yBH-LCfZtjjPy3vTodcMOO1cWJJK0DkEQDXxhFJEjfBZ48voZqMBARc94Fof3ok8m7kxd21NWT_lmM_q8rNB8GhiA1PqP6wo/s1600/ocean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwza-trJUsmXzpo9jR6eLX89u4iPtlQYRtIKHGzG0Dm3yBH-LCfZtjjPy3vTodcMOO1cWJJK0DkEQDXxhFJEjfBZ48voZqMBARc94Fof3ok8m7kxd21NWT_lmM_q8rNB8GhiA1PqP6wo/s320/ocean.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529134839643440030.post-61426828339584228862012-05-11T21:51:00.001-07:002012-05-11T21:51:17.204-07:00#MadPicLab Day 11: MicroA circuit board under a microscope:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVFsowaTZrdn051XKNoTEmxl5E0vn5AyrNYhPo2taPfLCi3c099Q8Jgzxuz9OgRHY_YKeR_9Jj6SYpP-oFMew2zVGRGGOstT-fHh3Z6QY3JlbU2ZShU2fOgp4py5a3CqKhlHqv71DAfo/s1600/circuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVFsowaTZrdn051XKNoTEmxl5E0vn5AyrNYhPo2taPfLCi3c099Q8Jgzxuz9OgRHY_YKeR_9Jj6SYpP-oFMew2zVGRGGOstT-fHh3Z6QY3JlbU2ZShU2fOgp4py5a3CqKhlHqv71DAfo/s320/circuit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Eskeptrical Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510308943978310774noreply@blogger.com0