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The end of gravity as we know it? February 4, 2010

Posted by sarah in: science . 6comments

Black hole/massive star pair (artist's conception)

This post was chosen as an Editor's Selection for ResearchBlogging.orgWhen a physicist is on the front page of a newspaper, you know the story is either really bad, or really good. Just before Christmas, the Dutch paper De Volkskrant ran a big story on theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde, who has been making waves with his new theory for the origin of gravity. Since the story ran, Verlinde published a paper explaining his new theory to the Arxiv. In it, he postulates that gravity is an emergent phenomenon resulting from changes in entropy rather than the fundamental force of nature we currently think it is, and demonstrates this using simple thought experiments. Gravity, he says, is an entropic force – a bit like, say, osmosis.

So when Verlinde, who works at the University of Amsterdam, turned up on the colloquium  schedule of Leiden’s Lorentz Institute, I thought it was worth checking out.

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Don’t be such a scientist February 3, 2010

Posted by sarah in: science . Add a comment

I just finished reading a book called Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style, by a marine biologist-turned-filmmaker, Randy Olson. Olson quit his research career to go to film school, and is now an established science film director in Hollywood. One of his earliest efforts was this music video about the sex lives of barnacles. In this book, he talks about his experience of being a man of substance in a world of style, and gives advice to scientists on how to communicate research to a wide audience without boring, annoying or patronising them.

For all his good advice, I have to say Olson picked a rather unfortunate title. It’s impossible to buy this book as a gift for someone without seeming, well, rude. Being a scientist, obviously, I did just that for the scientist I share my life with. He wasn’t too impressed (but did finish the book, then placed it on my side of the bed).

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