The UP College of Science Dean, Dr Caesar Saloma, just had his second lecture this morning about physics and society. So, as he had said, the semester is right about to end (Awwww. Time's so fast. It seems that I had just entered UP yesterday.).
To summarize his lecture, its main points are: 1) physics became king because it has pushed beyond the limits of other sciences, especially about the universe; 2) physics empowers the society because of its versatility on applications; 3) a good university is a research university; and 4) a greater number of doctors of philosophy is needed because of their research experiences. There seems to be more details that I cannot expound anymore because this blog might not be able to contain all of them. Pardon, everyone.
Now, to summarize my insight on his lecture, here is my quote: "Something can just be labeled good once it has pushed beyond the limits of its exploration."
And a word for every physics major: "When those guys underestimate us, tell them, 'Don't ever say that it's just physics.' Say that it's physics.'"
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Partner Blog
Attention, everyone! Starting now, this blog is going to have a tie-up with the blog on physics and robotics (http://andrianmesa-physicswithrobotics.blogspot.com/) created by my high school physics mentor, Mr Andrian Mesa. As a collaboration, he had posted my briefer reflections there. Please do visit that blog also.
Damped Oscillations, Forced Oscillations, and Resonance (Sit In)
This morning, we had no class in Physics 10. It is because Sir Perry was in Tagaytay.
For the past times, I really could not imagine a day without physics or any little bit of science where I could put physics in and relate those concepts in life. It was not because I just wanted to keep on making posts in this blog at least twice a week. It was because I always want to make sense of the little time in my short life, be a drunk intellectual to keep learning all the time, and see what those things really mean in my life. The last thing concentrates on the hard sciences, especially physics.
So, when Ma'am Ekkay posted an announcement in the public forum in the University Virtual Learning Environmet (UVLE), I really thought of something that I could do with my life with the big empty time that I had. It was not until then that I found it in a little corner – that I would sit in a higher physics class that I knew I could understand with the stock knowledge that I have. So, I decided to sit in the Physics 71 (Elementary Physics I that composes of mechanics) under Ms Mikaela Irene Fudolig (Ma'am Mikki for short).
At first, I was feeling a little bit of inferiority to get inside the classroom because I knew that most of the students inside were older than me. They really were because Physics 71 was a course designed further for engineering and non-physics science majors and it was usually included in the first semester of the Second Year in the curriculum. I really felt such inferiority even if my geology major friend, Mako, told me to get in since Ma'am Mikki does not check the attendance. But I really wanted to get inside and attend the class. So, I sat for a moment outside and waited for the instructor to arrive, so that I could be courteous enough to ask her permission to sit in her class. Luckily, she was kind and she accepted my permission.
The discussion was about damped oscillations, forced oscillations, and resonance. And to summarize Ma'am Mikki's discussion for the layman, idealized oscillating systems (take the pendulums and bells for examples) are frictionless. However, there exists a dissipative force called damping. Damping then is further divided into three categories: critical damping, overdamping, and underdamping. But no matter such damping, the system can be maintained in a constant-amplitude oscillation through a factor called driving force. When the driving force is applied, the system is in a forced oscillation. Such thing is different from a system that is displace, left alone, and oscillates with a natural angular frequency. And there exists a fact that there is an amplitude peak at driving frequencies close to the natural frequency of the system called resonance.
Now, what does that relate with life. Damping exists in our life in the face of our own problems, circumstances, dilemmas, or whatsoever we call it. And our life may just be affected by such things by proceeding not with the thing we want to do, giving up what we are doing by then, and slowing us down with what you are doing until you have achieved nothing. But no matter how big such problem is, we can keep on doing the things we want to do by forcing ourselves either through the sense of urgency or encouragement.
P S To Mako, thank you very much for encouraging me to get inside and do the thing that I want to.
To Ma'am Mikki, my profound gratitude is yours for letting me sit in your class for me to make sense of my time, to be drunk for knowledge, and to enlighten life through such lesson.
For the past times, I really could not imagine a day without physics or any little bit of science where I could put physics in and relate those concepts in life. It was not because I just wanted to keep on making posts in this blog at least twice a week. It was because I always want to make sense of the little time in my short life, be a drunk intellectual to keep learning all the time, and see what those things really mean in my life. The last thing concentrates on the hard sciences, especially physics.
So, when Ma'am Ekkay posted an announcement in the public forum in the University Virtual Learning Environmet (UVLE), I really thought of something that I could do with my life with the big empty time that I had. It was not until then that I found it in a little corner – that I would sit in a higher physics class that I knew I could understand with the stock knowledge that I have. So, I decided to sit in the Physics 71 (Elementary Physics I that composes of mechanics) under Ms Mikaela Irene Fudolig (Ma'am Mikki for short).
At first, I was feeling a little bit of inferiority to get inside the classroom because I knew that most of the students inside were older than me. They really were because Physics 71 was a course designed further for engineering and non-physics science majors and it was usually included in the first semester of the Second Year in the curriculum. I really felt such inferiority even if my geology major friend, Mako, told me to get in since Ma'am Mikki does not check the attendance. But I really wanted to get inside and attend the class. So, I sat for a moment outside and waited for the instructor to arrive, so that I could be courteous enough to ask her permission to sit in her class. Luckily, she was kind and she accepted my permission.
The discussion was about damped oscillations, forced oscillations, and resonance. And to summarize Ma'am Mikki's discussion for the layman, idealized oscillating systems (take the pendulums and bells for examples) are frictionless. However, there exists a dissipative force called damping. Damping then is further divided into three categories: critical damping, overdamping, and underdamping. But no matter such damping, the system can be maintained in a constant-amplitude oscillation through a factor called driving force. When the driving force is applied, the system is in a forced oscillation. Such thing is different from a system that is displace, left alone, and oscillates with a natural angular frequency. And there exists a fact that there is an amplitude peak at driving frequencies close to the natural frequency of the system called resonance.
Now, what does that relate with life. Damping exists in our life in the face of our own problems, circumstances, dilemmas, or whatsoever we call it. And our life may just be affected by such things by proceeding not with the thing we want to do, giving up what we are doing by then, and slowing us down with what you are doing until you have achieved nothing. But no matter how big such problem is, we can keep on doing the things we want to do by forcing ourselves either through the sense of urgency or encouragement.
P S To Mako, thank you very much for encouraging me to get inside and do the thing that I want to.
To Ma'am Mikki, my profound gratitude is yours for letting me sit in your class for me to make sense of my time, to be drunk for knowledge, and to enlighten life through such lesson.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Chauvinisms
This morning, Sir Perry just delivered his second lecture in our Physics 10 class. It is a continuation of his lecture about ETI.
Now, from the Fermi question and Drake equation concept, there is another thought that arise: Chauvinism. To define, these are the biases of the answers we give about ETI. One good example of chauvinism arises from Terry Bisson's They're Made Out Of Meat, which you can check on http://baetzler.de/humor/meat_beings.html.
To go short, there is only one lesson we can learn out of these Chauvinisms. From time to time, anyone is bias. Nothing is so objective as you look at it. Everyone just judges in his own way, and that is why these Chauvinisms arise. For example, we may see that Mars, Titan, and Europa are truly candidates of life out there. However, there really may be others out there and see that those are not.
So, from now on, be careful on saying to anyone that he is bias. Because you, on your own way, are bias too.
Now, from the Fermi question and Drake equation concept, there is another thought that arise: Chauvinism. To define, these are the biases of the answers we give about ETI. One good example of chauvinism arises from Terry Bisson's They're Made Out Of Meat, which you can check on http://baetzler.de/humor/meat_beings.html.
To go short, there is only one lesson we can learn out of these Chauvinisms. From time to time, anyone is bias. Nothing is so objective as you look at it. Everyone just judges in his own way, and that is why these Chauvinisms arise. For example, we may see that Mars, Titan, and Europa are truly candidates of life out there. However, there really may be others out there and see that those are not.
So, from now on, be careful on saying to anyone that he is bias. Because you, on your own way, are bias too.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Fermi Question and Drake/Sagan/Greenbank Equation
The physics concepts that we learn everyday, no matter what their complexities are, appear in our everyday life. Each concept goes to the next level from every now and then, thus making our knowledge finite. That is why we keep on exploring and discovering from now and then. We do that in order to find the answers to our endless questions. Another is that in fact, every aspect of our life is governed by the different equations that we need to manipulate in order to work out perfectly. Some people just ignore it and take the different things in their life for granted. But some really mind it seriously in order to see what will happen in the following blinks of the eye.
Today, Dr Perry Esguerra had a lecture in our Physics 10 class regarding the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Well, I can really confess now that thank God, I have taken Physics 10 because there yet are too many things for me to know regarding physics. I would also like to take my hat off for Sir Perry for delivering a lecture that really caught the attention not just of physics majors but also of our classmates from other courses.
As Sir Perry told earlier, Fermi question, which aroused from the physicist Enrico Fermi's notion in a lunch in Los Alamos, evolves in every moment that you mention a fact. Surely, it will arouse every now and then since the talk is about the existence of life in places in the universe other than our planet Earth.
As a insight of mine about this thing, Fermi's question is like a question arousing from the mouth of an inquisitive person. It expresses the tendency of mortals, especially the intellectuals, to ask more and more questions because of the eternally-persistent hunger for knowledge. It can be compared to the endless questions that panelists ask when you have a research seminar. Never be surprised the next time you encounter a Fermi question, my friend, especially when it is about the ET. First of all, the human knowledge is ever finite and that is why we crave for anything. Another is that, it is just like you who asks all around to look for something, especially a companion.
The second thing that Sir Perry told our class is the Drake equation. Sometimes, it is called as Sagan equation. Sometimes, Green Bank. But no matter what you call it, it is an equation which shows that the number of possible civilizations in the Milky Way depends on many variables. Such equation of physics and astronomy, as told by Sir Perry, can be comparable with the "date equation" in which a geek, dweeb, dork, nerd, or whatsoever calculates his chances of getting even one date in a party.
Well, in fact, the Drake equation, to add something to what he told in our class, appears in every aspect in our life. It is what we use to see what we are looking for. However, some people, especially those who have little interest for fields like physics and astronomy, do not see that they are using it from time to time to analyze the different things in their life. In fact, each of us may develop our own Drake equation not just in simple dating but even in our own studies and all the things in our life.
So now, there are just two points that develop through Sir Perry's lecture. And those are: 1) be afraid not to keep on asking and 2) be wise enough to know the chances.
Today, Dr Perry Esguerra had a lecture in our Physics 10 class regarding the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Well, I can really confess now that thank God, I have taken Physics 10 because there yet are too many things for me to know regarding physics. I would also like to take my hat off for Sir Perry for delivering a lecture that really caught the attention not just of physics majors but also of our classmates from other courses.
As Sir Perry told earlier, Fermi question, which aroused from the physicist Enrico Fermi's notion in a lunch in Los Alamos, evolves in every moment that you mention a fact. Surely, it will arouse every now and then since the talk is about the existence of life in places in the universe other than our planet Earth.
As a insight of mine about this thing, Fermi's question is like a question arousing from the mouth of an inquisitive person. It expresses the tendency of mortals, especially the intellectuals, to ask more and more questions because of the eternally-persistent hunger for knowledge. It can be compared to the endless questions that panelists ask when you have a research seminar. Never be surprised the next time you encounter a Fermi question, my friend, especially when it is about the ET. First of all, the human knowledge is ever finite and that is why we crave for anything. Another is that, it is just like you who asks all around to look for something, especially a companion.
The second thing that Sir Perry told our class is the Drake equation. Sometimes, it is called as Sagan equation. Sometimes, Green Bank. But no matter what you call it, it is an equation which shows that the number of possible civilizations in the Milky Way depends on many variables. Such equation of physics and astronomy, as told by Sir Perry, can be comparable with the "date equation" in which a geek, dweeb, dork, nerd, or whatsoever calculates his chances of getting even one date in a party.
Well, in fact, the Drake equation, to add something to what he told in our class, appears in every aspect in our life. It is what we use to see what we are looking for. However, some people, especially those who have little interest for fields like physics and astronomy, do not see that they are using it from time to time to analyze the different things in their life. In fact, each of us may develop our own Drake equation not just in simple dating but even in our own studies and all the things in our life.
So now, there are just two points that develop through Sir Perry's lecture. And those are: 1) be afraid not to keep on asking and 2) be wise enough to know the chances.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Act Gently In A Complex Network
To everyone, I apologize that I have been late in posting this topic. Anyways, last Tuesday, Mr Rene Batac was our guest lecturer in Physics 10. He talked about Complex Systems.
Now, as he had told, complex systems seem to be complex matters with regards to ones studies. However, it really is the one that we understand easily. It comprises of emergence and self-mechanism.
There are many examples of complex systems, but in this post, I would like to emphasize more in the complex networks. First, it is a small world network because every person in this world is just separated by six levels. So try seeing this society a big web and everyone is in that web. Connect each one of us and you will just see at most six degress. Last is that it is scale-free, wherein not only one individual can be related to another. However, we have to accept in this scenario that the more popular ones are the more fortunate ones. In other words, the rich gets richer.
The only insight in this lesson is that we should act gently inside the big complex network where we are in. We should be careful with all our actions towards another individuals because we never know what domino effect it might cause. For example, you would want to get rid of a person whom you never know is a friend to one of your best friends. Another is that, we have to accept that life is unfair. The ones on the top go further beyond. And the main goal is not to beat the ones in the top but to beat ourselves by taking ourselves to the greatest levels that we could reach. And so, you may also think of how you should act gently in a complex network.
Now, as he had told, complex systems seem to be complex matters with regards to ones studies. However, it really is the one that we understand easily. It comprises of emergence and self-mechanism.
There are many examples of complex systems, but in this post, I would like to emphasize more in the complex networks. First, it is a small world network because every person in this world is just separated by six levels. So try seeing this society a big web and everyone is in that web. Connect each one of us and you will just see at most six degress. Last is that it is scale-free, wherein not only one individual can be related to another. However, we have to accept in this scenario that the more popular ones are the more fortunate ones. In other words, the rich gets richer.
The only insight in this lesson is that we should act gently inside the big complex network where we are in. We should be careful with all our actions towards another individuals because we never know what domino effect it might cause. For example, you would want to get rid of a person whom you never know is a friend to one of your best friends. Another is that, we have to accept that life is unfair. The ones on the top go further beyond. And the main goal is not to beat the ones in the top but to beat ourselves by taking ourselves to the greatest levels that we could reach. And so, you may also think of how you should act gently in a complex network.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Our Life Is An Astronomy
This morning, we have just finished the lecture about special topics in astronomy under Ms Erika Fille Legara. To recap, there were two questions which remain unanswered regarding the universe: 1) What is it made of; and 2) Are we the only one living in it? And just like before, there were many answers that were also uncertain.
As usual, I went to my contemplative mode after the class again. I see that our life is an astronomy and the same questions remain unanswered. So, the thing is that we try to look at the bigger picture and dig up to find the essence of life to find the answers to those questions. So we go into different things.
Our life, after all, is an astronomy. The answers to the two questions, even if we look unto the angle of lifem, are also uncertain. If we look in the angle of science again, the answer to those questions are yet to be found soon. And for me, if we look in the angle of life, the same thing goes. But that soon is never known for us, and it is our death.
So, before the two questions are answered, gather ye rosebuds in your universe while you may. Carpe diem.
As usual, I went to my contemplative mode after the class again. I see that our life is an astronomy and the same questions remain unanswered. So, the thing is that we try to look at the bigger picture and dig up to find the essence of life to find the answers to those questions. So we go into different things.
Our life, after all, is an astronomy. The answers to the two questions, even if we look unto the angle of lifem, are also uncertain. If we look in the angle of science again, the answer to those questions are yet to be found soon. And for me, if we look in the angle of life, the same thing goes. But that soon is never known for us, and it is our death.
So, before the two questions are answered, gather ye rosebuds in your universe while you may. Carpe diem.
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