By Christopher Moore
A proposal that a few colleagues and I submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been recommended for funding by the Division of Materials Research. One of the PIs on the grant is my former dissertation adviser and some of the proposed work involves using a novel combination of techniques that I developed in my dissertation.
I would be doing the work during the summer months anyway, but it sure is nice to be getting paid for it. Plus, I’ll have money to pay undergrads to work in my lab and travel to conferences.
My former adviser is getting concerned about my recent charmed professional life: I apply for tenure-track jobs straight out of grad school (no post-doc experience, which is unusual) and I get three offers the first year. Now, the first NSF proposal I submit gets funded. Maybe I should go ahead and submit a CAREER proposal. CAREER grants are highly competitive NSF grants for young scientists. After the almost certain failure to get past the referees for that program, then I can come back down to Earth. 
By Christopher Moore
I have been missing for a long time.
Last year I was busy writing and defending a dissertation. Then I got a new job. I’ve moved, had a baby and started a new career in the span of six months. Hopefully you understand my absence.
However, the long neglect of ilovephysics.com is officially over. I am starting a new column called “Ask a Physicsist.” Click on the graphic at the top of the page to learn more. Essentially, I’m going to start answering your emails! I get several a week from Physics Phans and crackpots and others, and I thought I would make my responses a little more … ummm … well … I’m actually going to start responding. However, I’m going to respond via this public forum so that everyone can benefit from my wisdom .
Also, two students will be coming on board as contributors to this site. I’m kind of forcing them to contribute, since I control their grade!
Donny will be blogging about the STM project that he is working on. And Andy will begin blogging about a vacuum sputtering system that he will be building this semester. Look for their contributions in the next week or so.
So I’m back. Let’s hope I’m better at finding time to write this semester.
By Christopher Moore
I was almost fooled by a Nigerian scam. The method used is actually interesting and shows how sophisticated scammers have become. I post this here to alert others in a position similar to mine. The summary: if you receive an unsolicited email asking for you to send some item to Africa, then RUN, RUN, RUN away.
Last month, I received the following email:
Dear Mr Chris,
I am very glad for your effeorts on your website.
I am a Head of Science Department in a high school and I need your guidiance on how I can get Video cassetes and CDs in Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Geography) that covers High School syllabus to back up the teachers efforts in the school.
I would be obliged if I can be refered to or assisted in this regards.
My best regard
Dr. George Robinson
H.O.D Sciences
First, I receive these types of emails a few times a month. Generally they come from students but every now and then I get an email from a high school or college teacher. Initially, I thought nothing of the request. However, a few key markers in the email should have tipped me off:
1) Why would the head of a science department at a high school who holds a doctorate have such a terrible grasp of the English language? I assumed “Dr. Robinson” was at a school in the UK, since he was using a UK Yahoo account, which brings us to …
2) Why would he send the request via Yahoo instead of via a school account? And …
3) Why in the world would he be incapable of finding this information on his own. Afterall, he supposedly has a Ph.D. and enough sense to be promoted to the head of a science department.
Anyway, I was in a generous mood. I send the following reply:
Hello George.
I’m sorry to get back to you so late.
I’m afraid I can really only help you with materials for physics.
Paul Hewitt has a really good series of videos:
http://www.arborsci.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=20
I also highly recommend his Conceptual Physics textbook for conceptual courses at the high school level.
Some really good video demonstrations can be found online for free. Specifically, Colorado State University has a good collection:
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/video_demos/
The Wonders of Physics is a good series by Clint Sprott:
http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/wop.htm
We are currently developing our own video series for ilovephysics.com, though this project will take about a year.
I would like to point out that out of the three recommendations, two were completely free and available online. This will be important in a minute. Usually, with these types of unsolicited requests my initial response is sufficient for the person doing the requesting. However, over 1 month later I receive the following email:
Dear Mr James, (notice I went from Mr Chris to Mr James)
I have visited the sites recommended to me by you, I am finding it a bit difficult to communicate with them because they have not been responding to series of e-mail sent to the customer care services of their organization. his is neccessary so that I can arrange a money transfer for the payment of the DVDs since I am not residing in the United States and credit card payment is not really reliable from africa countries.
I will like you to please rescue me from this predicament by getting me new or used DVDs in Physics, Chemistry, biology and Mathematics. Please send the bill via e-mail and how I can made that will get to you either through western union or any other way you might prefer. Please help select those you feel deem fit for high school student and maybe earlier part of their university programm. I will also enquire about the cost of shipping by DHL or any other Courier services and include the cash with the payment if you assist me on this.
I need this Dvds to back-up the teachers in their lessons.
I will be obliged if this can be done to assist me.
hank you for your anticipated cooperation.
Dr. G. Robinson
If the red flags weren’t a wavin’ after the first email, they sure as hell were after this one. In the first sentence, “Dr. Robinson” tells me that he could not communicate with the providers. First, I provided three links in my email. Two of those links were to sites that offered completely free online videos. Just for fun, I called Arbor Scientific about the Hewitt videos at their number posted on their contact page. I was speaking with someone within moments.
The second sentence lets me know that “Dr. Robinson” is not from the UK as I thought, but resides in an African country. Again, why would he be using a UK Yahoo account? Why would his school’s credit card be un-reliable? African countries (specifically, Nigeria) are hotbeds for fraud rings. US companies are leery of sending items to these countries without firm payment beforehand. However, credit card payments are the best means of payment in these situations.
And here comes the scam. The rest of the email asks ME to purchase the videos (notice he did not specify which videos), have them shipped to him in Africa, and he will pay me via some easily fraudulent method (such as Western Union). I’ve done sales on E-Bay, so I know that YOU NEVER accepts payment via Western Union from someone you do not know. If you do, you never ship anything until the payment clears. Oh, and you never ship anything to an African country, especially if they want to pay via Western Union.
The hard part is figuring out how he intends on making enough money off of me to make the scam worthwhile. The DVDs would be a few hundred dollars that, at best, he could sell for half their retail cost. My guess is that had I continued, more pieces of the scam would have come out.
Even if I wasn’t sure that this was the set-up for a scam, I wouldn’t do it. If some random physics teacher in Boise, Idaho emailed me asking about such a transaction I would refuse. In fact, I would find the request highly inappropriate from someone who should know better. Young physics students who I have never met ask me for all manner of things via email. But they do not know any better. A grown man with a supposed Ph.D. that heads the science department at a high school should know better.
After this email, I realized I was probably the target of a scam. Of course, “Dr. Robinson” could be real, so I simply responded via email that I found the request highly inappropriate. I received the following response within an hour:
Dear Mr James,
Thank you for your response, I actually got a response today (now precisely).
I believe I could also get more educational materials from you also been an educationalist like me. That is why I decided to also contact you for assistance and I will like to make payment with the method I feel I can rely on and will get to you also. I do not have access to international credit card, hence my decision to seek for your assistance in this regard. And I believe you can help since you are the USA and it will be easier to make purchases within US as I understand.
If the need arrises I will give you a call
Best Regards
Dr. R. George
Now I KNOW that “Dr. Robinson” (or is it Dr. George?) does not exist and that I am the target of a scam. We’ll see if he calls. That should be fun.
The moral of the story: If someone in Africa that you do not know asks you to buy them something, then RUN, RUN, RUN.
By Christopher Moore
I’ve decided to participate in the OneBillionBulbs project and have begun replacing my old incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving fluorescent bulbs. I encourage everyone else to join the ilovephysics.com group and begin saving money and energy.
The graphic will remain on the right side of the page.
Hat tip: Kn@ppster and Glen Reynolds.
By Christopher Moore
Like every other Virginian, I am literally numb. More than 32 innocent people lost their lives today on the campus of Virgina Tech. If you live in Virginia, then chances are you know someone who either attends or works at the University, and chances are you have been paralyzed by today’s senseless violence. I have former students who go there, and I pray they are alright. I have colleagues who work at the school, and I pray they are alright. And of course, I pray that the 27,000 others are alright, though I know that is not the case for those 32.
Although I am currently a VCU Ram and in August I will be a Longwood Lancer, I am a Hokie today.
We are all Hokies today.
By Christopher Moore
The ink is dry on the contract, so I can announce the results of my recent job search. If you didn’t know, I have been hunting down an academic job since September and I just recently bagged one. Come August 10th, I will become Longwood University’s newest faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Physics.
I’m working on a two part series of articles about the academic job search in physics titled: How to Become a Physics Professor. The article will focus on what a young student needs to think about if they think they might want to pursue an academic career. Keep an eye out over the next few weeks to learn more about what an academic job search entails. For now, the quick and dirty details for my search are as follows:
Applied for 18 positions
Went on 5 interviews
Turned down 2 other interviews
Received 3 job offers
Accepted 1 job offer (duh!)
I sent out over 120 pages of application materials. I spent up to three months waiting to go on interviews. I spent a total of one month on the road visiting potential schools. My search sent me to 5 different states (I got to visit 2 states during one interview). I spent some time in the mountains, and then a day later I was headed to the beach. The final result: I’m moving 1 hour down the road from where I am now, and 45 minutes away from free babysitting (Balin’s grandparents).
I look forward to working with the students and faculty at Longwood come August. Now I must go and finish my dissertation.
By Christopher Moore
I received the following email over the weekend from a concerned brother who wishes to assuage his young brothers fears. The question is one that I’m sure we have all thought about from time to time: Will you die if you see yourself headless in a plane mirror? The answer may surprise you.
First, the email:
Hi there, my name is Jason and i saw your email adress from your website Ilovephysics.com, I seek your knowledge in order to help my brother, my brother is convinced of the superstition that “IF you see yourself headless in a mirror, You will die” This is very irrational but he is convinced with it making him paranoid and dillusional, it distracts him and i hate seeing him suffer from irrational fears, unfortunately, i do not know much about light reflection.
so i was wondering if you could explain how and image is formed in the mirror and WHAT guarantees reflection? what makes it so mirrors would always be making Images with your HEAD intact. so that my brother will be convinced that No matter what you would always be seeing yourself with a head in the mirror.. and it would be helpful if you could also give me proofs of the statements you will provide.
i very much hope to hear from you. thanks in advance
First, the unfortunate truth is that we all die whether we see ourselves headless in the mirror or not. It is just a question of when — maybe 70 years from now. Can seeing yourself headless in the mirror speed up the process, though?
If you look into a regular plane mirror and you see your headless body in the reflection, then you probably should be worried. Something strange is going on, indeed. However, I would not worry too much, since the likelihood of encountering yourself decapitated is practically zero. You see, in order for the mirror to portray an image of a headless person, there has to actually BE a headless person standing in front. It is not the act of looking into the mirror that causes death, but whatever chopped off your head in the first place. Besides, how can you “see” yourself in the mirror when your eyes are still sitting in your head, which is … well … somewhere else.
So, I guess, the answer to the question is yes. If you see yourself headless in a plane mirror (no tricksies), then I think it is safe to say that you are most likely headless in real life and you will die rather quickly.
Concerning your questions about reflection and mirrors in general: unfortunately this is a topic that generally takes at least a few days out of an introductory physics course, so I can not do the topic justice in an email (or blog post). I suggest posing questions in the forum, or reading the optics section of a good introductory physics book. The links below will take you to a few free ones online:
http://www.motionmoutain.net
http://www.lightandmatter.com
If you have an interesting question that you would like a physicist to address, then feel free to shoot me an email as well.
By Christopher Moore
Do you visit ilovephysics.com or are you a Phan of Physics? Place yourself on the Physics Phan Map. Click on the map below and tell us where you live (just the city, we’re not coming to your house or anything). A big red dot will be placed on the map just for you.
