LLE Tour

Got plans on February 15?

I hope not, because SPS has an amazing trip planned - a tour of the LLE (Laboratory for Laser Energetics). The LLE is an amazing facility that conducts research on plasma physics, nuclear fusion, high power lasers, and much more. It also houses OMEGA, which is currently the world's most-powerful ultraviolet laser system. (Visit http://www.lle.rochester.edu for more information).

If that sounded good, read this: one of our tour guides is the director of the experimental division at the LLE, Dr. Meyerhofer. Dr. Meyerhofer also is a professor in both the Mechanical Engineering Department and our very own Department of Physics and Astronomy. He should be able to answer any technical questions we have about the the physics and experimental setup details!

Here's the details: WHEN: Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 from 3:15pm (meet at ITS) to 5:30pm (return to ITS) WHERE: Meet at ITS to catch the bus to the LLE RSVP: Send me an email ( kbeck@mail.rochester.edu ) by 2/13 if you're planning on coming. I need to make sure there's enough seats on the bus for all of us! I hope you can come!

Posted 2/4/08 by Kristi Beck

Bill Nye, Party, Tutoring etc...

Hey guys! Welcome back to another great semester here at U of R! We've got a number of fantastic events lined up - we're co-sponsoring Bill Nye's (the science guy) visit to campus, we're co-sponsoring a massive party with SUBS (the Society of Undergraduate Biology Students), and, of course, we've got our fantastic tutoring program. Here are the details!

BILL NYE INFO: Event: Bill Nye the Science Guy Lecture Location: Strong Upper Auditorium Date: Thursday, February 21, 2008 Time: 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm http://www.rochester.edu/calendar/event?id=390681

PARTY: Event: Party at Venue Location: Venue Date: Thursday, February 12th, 2008 Time: starts at 10 pm More information: There will be a $5 cover charge with 100% going to the SCRF (the Stem Cell Research Foundation) in the name of Mr. George Medford, who is the father of Katie Medford (who suffered a spinal cord injury 5 years ago.) There will be two buses running every 1/2 hour (starting at 10 pm) from ITS. We are expecting to raise over $2000 and to have over 400 people at the event. We encourage all of you to buy a ticket even if your not planning to attend because the money will still go to the SCRF.

TUTORING: Please let me know as soon as you possibly can if you're interested in becoming an SPS tutor. We need tutors who will come back every week at the same time (or at least make sure that some one else can fill their shift if they can't.) Tutoring, as always, will be from 7 to 9 in the POA on Monday through Thursday. We need at least 2 tutors per night.

Posted 1/21/08 by Dan Linford

Welcome back, Lunch with Prof. Wolfs, and Interest Meeting

Hey guys! Welcome back to yet another semester in the grind!

This Friday, at 1 pm, at the Meliora Restaurant, we will be having lunch with Professor Frank Wolfs. Professor Wolfs is an experimental nuclear/particle physicist, and he has worked on a number of projects including APEX, PHOBOS, and ZEPLIN. He has a pilot's license, and he teaches introductory mechanics.

The general interest meeting is this Friday, in B&L room number 208. I hope to see all of you there! Due to the success of using liquid nitrogen at the Activities Fair to attract attention to SPS, we will be having a liquid nitrogen party later this year. We had a record number of people sign up, so I think we've caught on to something here!

Posted 9/9/07 by Dan Linford

Sunshine Movie

Hey guys! Well, the fall semester is certainly aproaching fast! I hope that everyone has had a good time, and are satisfied with what they accomplished. There is a sci-fi movie out right now called Sunshine, and I was wondering how much interest there would be in going to see this movie as a group early this Fall semester.

Posted 8/9/07 by Dan Linford

Fall Activities Fair 2007

Hey guys! Well, the spring semester is certainly aproaching fast! I hope that everyone has had a good time, and are satisfied with what they accomplished. There is a sci-fi movie out right now called Sunshine, and I was wondering how much interest there would be in going to see this movie as a group early this Fall semester.

SPS is going to be here. Come and see us!

Friday, September 7th, 2007
3:00-4:30pm (groups may set up no earlier than 2:30pm)
Dandelion Square (rain site: Goergen Field House)

Posted 7/29/07 by Dan Linford

Physics GRE stuff

Advice from a UR Grad student (credit to Elizabeth Groves): "As for studying for the GRE, I think without question the best thing for you to do is every problem that you can get your hands on. It is important that you not only come up with a solution to the problem, but that you also work it out and think of alternative ways to come up with the answer. Since time is a major factor, if you practice taking shortcuts with arithmetic and playing games with units, for example, you will have a great headstart. I think that a really good place to go is http://grephysics.yosunism.com/ans/ They have solutions to just about every GRE exam available the ones available in English, that is). Not every solution posted is perfect, the best way to do the problem, or guaranteed to be correct, but it is great to have alternative solutions available to turn to. With practice, you can decide for yourself whether their solution is the best one. They also often mention shortcuts as they go along." My advice: Check out Schaum's 3000 Solved Problems in Physics. It has lists of problems according to difficulty as well as practice exams. I also think it's a good idea to take the GRE in spring of Jr year so that your score doesn't hinge entirely upon you score in fall of Sr year. Hope this doesn't spoil too much summer fun, but it's good to know.

Posted 7/24/07 by Sam Harrold

Tour of the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant

I hope that everyone is gearing up for another semester back in grind - I'm sure that I'll be seeing plenty of you guys in the POA... I've recently made a contact at the Nuclear Energy Institute, and am trying to schedule a tour for SPS of the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant. Owned by the Constellation Energy Group, Ginna is located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario and is about 20 miles northeast of Rochester. It is a single unit Westinghouse 2-Loop pressurized water reactor, similar to those at Point Beach, Kewaunee, and Prairie Island. Additionally, it is one of the oldest nuclear power plants in the United States, having gone online in 1970. The tour, whose date has yet to be set, would be sometime in mid to late September or early October. For additional information on the plant, see here. Have a nice time during the remainder of your summer!

Posted 7/18/07 by Dan Linford

SPS/FIRST Robotics Outreach Activity

I have plans to have an SPS outreach activity this comming year, where SPS members coach/mentor/volunteer with local high school FIRST robotics teams as part of our efforts to reach out to the local community and inspire kids to go into scientific and/or technical fields. How many of you guys would be interested in helping out? I'll be giving out more information in the Fall, and will (hopefully) be having an information session. Also, I just want to say that this program will be such that you can contribute as much or as little as you like - this is a volunteer effort, after all, so any one who wants to contribute something is more than welcome. For information, please e-mail me at linford86@yahoo.com

Posted 5/30/07 by Dan Linford

GRE exam preparation

If you plan on taking the GREs, a good site to consider is the Harvard SPS GRE resourses site , courtesy of Melanie.

Posted 5/27/07 by Dan Linford

Update on SPS Office Cleaning

Just thought I'd give you guys an update about the SPS office. My girlfriend and I went to the SPS office today, and cleaned it up a little bit. A HEPA air purifier was installed in the room, whose packaging promises that it will remove 99.97% of all airborne pollutants in a space up to 20x20 feet. Hopefully, this will clean out the room's air a little bit. We're still working on getting the dead mouse removed (honestly, I don't understand what the hold up is. We just need to get someone in there from facilities with a shovel who is willing to scrape mouse off the floor.) I also purchased a bottle of Febreze, and febrezed the room (hey, I figure that if it works on your dorm room, it probably works on the office too.) I'm currently working on having the internet installed, and I think we're close to getting there. In the next few days, I hope to get in there with a mop and a bucket of bleach solution. If any of you guys is still in the area, and willing to put in a helping hand, let me know.

Posted 5/24/07 by Dan Linford

07-08 SPS Board Members and Minutes

The new board members for the 07-08 class year have been elected. Also minutes from our board meeting can be found here, courtesy of Kristi.

Posted 5/18/07 by Zhen Qi

New Web Links

Our weekly SPS lunch this week will be with Professor Boyd of the optics department. Professor Boyd's research is focused on optical physics, and, in particular, non-linear optics. Professor Boyd has written several textbooks, and has published about 230 research papers. He has also been awarded 6 US patents and supervised the PhD theses of 26 students.

Posted 4/09/07 by Shan Zhao.

New Web Links

We web links, including NSTA Web Seminar: Absolute Zero: The Cold, Hard Facts About the Coolest Stuff in Physics on the link page. Links

Posted 3/20/07 by Shan Zhao.

Friday Lunchin

There will be an SPS lunch this Friday with Professor Knox, from the LLE. His research is in the areas of Ultrafast Sciences and Technology, Telecommunications, Ultrafast Biomedical Optics and Optics Education. This will be at 1pm in the Meliora Restaurant this Friday.

Posted 3/18/07 by Dan Linford.

Friday Lunchin

We will be having our weekly SPS lunch with a professor this Friday at 1pm at the Meliora Restaurant. The guest of honor will be Astronomy Professor Alice Quillen. According to her website, she is an "observational astronomer whose research includes studies of active galactic nuclei, the dynamics of stars and gas in galaxies and the dynamics of planetesimals and gas in protostellar disks. Extrasolar planets search prediction detection Feedback in Galaxies and clusters The structure of the solar neighborhood". Hope to see you guys there!

Posted 2/28/07 by Dan Linford.

Medical Physics?

For those physics students interested in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the Society of Undergraduate Biology Students will be hosting a post-baccalaureate forum, Wed. February 21st at 7pm in Lattimore 201.

Posted 2/21/07 by Dan Richman.

Evolution?

There is a panel debate on evolution and an I.D. theory on Thursday evening, Oct. 12, 7pm to 9pm, in Strong Auditorium. Admission is free for students. This is not an SPS event but its theme corresponds to our interest in science and society.

Posted 10/11/06 by Dan Richman.

Club Rochester

Friday afternoon's Club Rochester, from 4pm to 6pm in Meliora Salon D. The physics department and SPS are co-sponsoring this with Chemistry, Biology, and Optics departments and societies. There are free hors d'oeuvres and alcohol to purchase if you're of age. It is a chance to mix with both students and faculty.

Posted 10/11/06 by Dan Richman.

SPS invited to apply to Ohio State University

Ohio State University has invited SPS members to apply to OSU.

Posted 9/05/06 by Shan Zhao.

Newly Elected SPS Board Members

Please check out the Board Members.

Posted 9/05/06 by Shan Zhao.

Ahoy! Welcome back; I hope all is well with everyone.

I'd like to have a meeting of officers this week, before Friday, in order to have two things ready to present for the Activities Fair at 3pm on Friday:
1) an almost-specific outline of what we'll be doing this semester/year (just to let people know and catch peoples' interests)
2) a time and place for our first general meeting.

If a meeting isn't possible, we'll figure out the general meeting time using email. Would a Wednesday or Thursday late-afternoon or evening meeting be acceptable? Let me know what is best.

Posted 9/05/06 by Dan Richman.

Congratulations and all our love to our graduating seniors!

Leland Aldridge, Brian Anderson, Gordon Arsenoff, Abigail Barten, James Bridgeman, Daniel Capellupo, Carl Chancy, Christopher Coon, Josh DeBellis, Ryan DeRosa, James Dolen, Blake Graham, Rebecca Habas, Edward Hall, Dragana Jusic, Chris Justus, Colin Kingsley, Ian Kleckner, Russell Knox, Amanda La Page, Andrew Lynch, Awak Malith, David Martell, Melissa McClure, David Morse, Sid Parameswaran, Marc Perez, Amos Rosenstein, Joshua Symonds, Brian Thomas, Grant Tremblay, James Ververs, Sam Wadsworth, & Jeremy Wolcott

More about the graduates here

SPS Olympics Night!

Physics and the Olympics are like bread and butter.

What: SPS Olympics Night! Watch the skiing and skating finals on the big screen.

When & Where: THURSDAY, Feb. 23 (TOMORROW!) from 8pm - 11pm in B&L 106. FREE PIZZA

Posted 2/22/06 by Grant.

New study confirms: Physics goes well with Beer

For those SPS members who are 21 or over:

We will be having an SPS night at the OLD TOAD Pub on Alexander Street.

Thursday, February 16. Meet at ITS at 10:45 pm.

We will be boarding the RTS redline bus 72 - leaves ITS: 10:52pm, 11:57pm, 1:04am, 2:19am - leaves Alexander: 11:09pm, 12:14am, 1:21am, 2:36am

Contact: Grant T. (grant {at} pas.rochester.edu) or Melissa M. (melisma {at} astro.pas.rochester.edu)

Posted 2/15/06 by Grant.

SPS Social Events!

Physicists, contrary to popular lore, lead amazing social lives (photo evidence below). If you're ever interested in pseudo-organizing an SPS off campus dinner night or any other sort of social event, let Grant Tremblay know, and he can help.

Contact: grant {at} pas.rochester.edu

Ideas: all you can eat (Chinese? Indian?) buffets, poker nights, movie nights, bars, etc.

More geeky events include: astrophotography trips C. E. K. Mees Observatory, etc. Transportation can generally be arranged.

Posted 2/15/06 by Grant.

FIRST MEETING!!

Time to plan the new year and have some fun (free food included, per usual).

Place: B+L 271 (Common Room near the elevator).
Time: Sunday (9/11/05), 7pm.

Posted 9/7/05 by Bob.

Science outreach for the working student!

Science outreach is great. It's fun, very important for the community, and certainly doesn't hurt to have on a resume.

To make it easier, the National SPS has put together outreach 'packages,' attractively called SOCKs. From their email:

"As the name implies, a SOCK [Science Outreach Catalyst Kit] is meant to be an outreach catalyst in order to help you get started with your very own outreach program. There are two aspects to this year's SOCK: investigation of light and a national science experiment. Using Rainbow Glasses, fiber optic cables and flashlights you can teach local students about the wonders of light. On the other hand, the science experiment will give students hands on experience determining the factors that affect the landing orientation of different geometric solids. This plays an important role in present day events in space exploration such as the spacecraft landings on Mars... This is an undergraduate oriented program, encouraging college students to actively participate in outreach, and it is necessary that a student be responsible for leading this project..."

We can discuss this at the fall meeting. If it is something you're interested in, shoot me an email (rpenna {at} pas {dot} rochester {dot} edu), I'd be happy to try and help you get started.

You can read more about SOCKs here.

Posted 8/5/05 by Bob.