Stephen Hawking's public lecture at Caltech

... in which I freely admit that I only partially understood some of the topics which he discussed, but don't yet admit that his institution (which grew out of Oxford) is any more superior than my future institution.  :-)  Also, apologies for the poor grammar, sentence, and paragraph structure.

Overall, I loved the lecture.  It was accessible to someone who had only read "A Brief History of Time" but also engaging enough for the host professors to comment on new theories in the field.  Loved it.  Professor Hawking also has an awesome sense of humor.

Info: Hosted by Caltech

Notes:
Prof Hawking started with a rundown throughout the past few thousand years of humans' understanding of our role in the universe, starting with a tribal group (can't remember where) that believed a typical myth with a main god, who invented the sun, creatures, and stars.  Skipping along, he discussed Aristotle, and then Kant, who held that there are possible universes that exist in space independent of time.  Einstein came along and showed that there is a link between space and time.  Yay.

He discussed that time outside of the universe as we know it is undefined.  It's not that there is no time, or that time would run negative, but more like you couldn't have one without the other (I imagine this as us existing on an X,Y plane, and trying to graph a point with only one coordinate.  Impossible.

He mentioned how if we thought there was a specific start to time, we would probably have to arbitrarily pick it, and then that point would be incomplete, as one moment earlier there would be a lack of information (ie. no space).

He explained that one requirement of a good model was that it gave hypotheses that could be tested and proven true or false.  fuzziness in notes here...   (But that previous point is worth remembering!)

Then we come a bit more into the modern discussion on the origins of the universe, and that the stars are not spread evenly, but formed into galaxies, and that when Hubble first observed the galaxies outside our own, he found a peculiar thing: more galaxies were moving away from us than towards us.  This meant that the universe was not created stagnant and continued unchanging, but rather that the universe is expanding (by observing that the farthest galaxies were moving the fastest).  This means that earlier in time, the galaxies were closer together, and that possibly, they could have been colocated at some "beginning point."

So then people (?) came up with the "Steady State Theory" that although galaxies were, indeed, spreading out, that new galaxies were continually being formed from newly created matter.  Unfortunately, this was proven untrue by noting the uniform radio noise when observing space.

The next theory that came was the Collapse Fail Theory - again starting with the idea that there was no start to the universe, but rather that it was continually expanding (our cycle now) and contracting (just before our cycle now, and will happen again).  The theory says that in the case of a collapse of the universe to a near single point, with a lack of symmetry, the matter in the universe would simply slingshot around the center of mass of the universe and then expand again.  Professor Hawking disproved this, though I'm ashamed to say I don't understand.  He basically proved that asymmetry during collapse couldn't happen.

Then the discourse got lighter for a bit and he joked about the ambient microwaves from space being very ineffective at defrosting our frozen pizzas, as well as joking about his fear of the Inquisition, in light of his presentations at the Vatican (and a bit of a jab at JP2's lack of scientific knowledge [though I think Prof Hawking is allowed to make that joke regarding most other humans on the planet, to be fair]).

He discussed the rate of inflation in Germany after WWI, and how it wasn't such a good thing, but that the rate of expansion of the universe after the Big Bang dwarfed the German currency inflation, and that *was* a good thing.  On the order of one million, trillion, trillion fold within a fraction of a second.  (Turns out that this is related to a second thesis of his "Hawking Radiation" idea, more later.)

Extreme inflation right after the big bang.

We looked at some maps of the universe, which was sweet.

Map of the infant universe, from WMAP data.  (By the way, over 100 WikiPedia pages link to this image.  For real.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ilc_9yr_moll4096.png

Professor Hawking discussed how General Relativity doesn't cover quantum items, which fall under quantum theory.  Which is fine, except when you realize that the entire universe might be tiny as viewed from the outside, and in that case, our entire universe might follow quantum theory.  So we've got some challenges there, since we think we've got all the items under General Relativity under control / understanding.  To answer this, we learned about Feynman's "Sum History" of universes in which every possibility is indeed possible, but with various weighting for probability.  

Now onto the "No Boundary Proposal" that Prof Hawking and Prof Hartle (UCSB) proposed.  In this, we have a formation of the universe in a Euclidean frame of reference, where there is no time, and simply space on each of two axes.  At some point, this transitions to a Lorentzian frame, where time replaces one axis and we now have the space-time that Einstein helped us understand.  (See image below) The explanation of the Euclidean frame is much like the bottom half of the earth.  If you traveled to the South Pole, you would find yourself at a point.  Now, if someone asked you to travel south, you would not be able to.  Not for lack of trying, or lack of space, but more that there exists no point more southerly.  It's undefined.  Just as the laws of physics hold on our Earth's South Pole, so should the laws of nature hold at the beginning of time, at this space X space frame.

Hartle-Hawking model of Big Bang

He discussed *very* briefly the "M theory" which is a collection of theories that try and answer the deep questions such as "Why are we here", "Where did we come from" and "Why do we have this set of laws, and not some other set of laws."  Lots of multiple universe stuff going on for a minute.

M Theory representation

His closing suggestions:

"Look up at the stars, not down at your feet!  ...  Be curious! ...  It matters that you don't just give up!"
(I like how he doesn't say "don't give up" but instead "It matters that you don't just give up!")

In the Q&A we discussed Hawking Radiation which is the idea that radiation is emitted at the event horizon of black holes, and this is a possible way that the energy escapes.  In a second, later case, Hawking Radiation is the radiation emitted at the horizon of the Big Bang, which would have disturbed the uniform density of all matter to break up into dense pockets that eventually became galaxies.

He mentioned that now that we have matter (mostly) figured out (though he hates being a bit wrong on the Higgs Boson), that we have a grasp on 6% of the universe: the normal matter.  Now we can delve into the 27% of the universe: dark matter, and then onto the remaining 68% which is dark energy.  Whew!

A few other questions about Quantum Entanglement and the Big Bang Black Hole Theory, in which Prof Hawking discussed the necessity of an event horizon to move as matter is consumed (and the fact that nothing could know of this move before it moves, because there could be matter further ahead of you, about go go over the event horizon) as well as killing the idea that matter that enters black holes could somehow be forming other universes (and be a possible source of our universe).

Successful End of Event!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
Better info: http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/news/former-kitp-director-receives-einstein-prize
Better graphic: http://www.springerimages.com/Images/RSS/1-10.1007_978-3-642-18137-5_8-1

http://www.sukidog.com/jpierre/strings/mtheory.htm

You can probably make yourself happier.

To my many and important blog followers, I thought I would share a great thing. Grateful160 is a free website that sends you a text or email one to four times a day. All you do is respond quickly with something you are grateful for and it records it. It keeps a record online for you. It will send you a record every week too.

It’s great to have a record. But the best part is definitely the reminder to be thankful each afternoon.   (Thanks to TannerTimes for reminding me to share this sentiment!)

But why should we all start recording our thankfulness?

Research continues to show that a major portion of individual's happiness is derived from their attitude, and that being grateful for the good things in your life is one way to have a better attitude.  Check out the various sources here.

Try it!  Sign up here and see how things go!

While we're on the subject of happiness, I should really point out that there's an entertaining documentary that I watched on WORLD HAPPY DAY back in February; here's the trailer for Happy!:

(HAPPY (and here) is now available on DVD and iTunes in US and Canada!)

Finally, there's a few TED talks that you can watch on the subject, here.  You'll see some common themes throughout all the research - one of which is to be grateful.

So take the first step, and sign up for this awesome daily text message service!

 Sign up here!  (Free)

HB's Birthday - Explore LA!

I've really been enjoying a bit more free time lately to enjoy all the great happenings that LA has to offer.  Last week I enjoyed sunset at the Griffith Observatory, including seeing the Tesla Coil fire, camera obscura 360, and their awesome foucault's pendulum.

Photo: http://www.nytimes.com/

View of historic "Hollywood" sign from the Griffith

Telsa coils are awesome.  So was Tesla, himself.

Photo: http://discoverlosangeles.com/

Then a few days later we watched the sunset from the top of Mount Wilson, while eating a snack and taking in the great views of the greater LA basin.  Super beautiful.

Photo: http://www.khurramhashmi.org/

For my birthday, I explored LA's new Metro EXPO line which transports passengers from downtown (7th St. Metro Center) towards (but not quite yet to) Culver City.  We took our bikes and explored all over, though our main attractions were right next to the Expo line itself.

First stop was the California Science Center.  We had a superb afternoon with all of the hands-on science, though some 'hands-on' stuff didn't really teach WHY or HOW things were happening (no cause-and-effect).  Maybe the folks at Iridescent Learning have some lessons that the Science Center could use?

Super simple physics game to motivate balls into a goal, with mechanical claws, controllable ramps, and bursts of air.

Far-Infrared camera showing cold-blooded animals crawling around (tortoises, lizards, etc.)

We also went into the Butterfly Pavilion - a spring/summer exhibit outdoors in a netted area where many, many (hundreds?) of butterflies hang out, get fat and happy on flowers and fruit, and also some caterpillars and cocoons, etc.

Sorry for the lack of focus on these -- there were tons (okay, not literally), everywhere!

Then we went to the LA County Museum of Natural History Museum and saw and touched real dinosaur bones, as well as learned more California history.  Super awesome.

We came on the last "First Friday" of their season to host speakers and musicians.  It was an excellent use of space, and we'll be back next year!

The music was provided by KCRW DJs (Thanks Garth, and Anthony!) as well as Cut Chemist and Superhumanoids.  We danced out a bundle of energy, and then returned home via the Expo Line, Red Line, and Gold Line, followed by a mini-bike ride.  Long, awesome birthday!

The speaker was Jonah Lehrer, who is an excellent writer and speaker, and had some fun insights into how humans find solutions to problems, based on academic research.  Reminded me a bit of Malcolm Gladwell - just as engaging, and applicable.

Electricity + OLPC Lesson Plans (Grammar School Science)

This post is about the lesson plans that I created for the Electricity chapter of the class 6, 7, and 8 students back in Meerut, India. They include the basic concepts, some examples of classroom interaction and homework, as well as the low-cost science experiments (materials and explanations) that I produced. Additionally included are notes on the learning curve and student interaction with the OLPC laptops. As with the OLPC report, this one wasn't written with a clear audience, and in hindsight, should have been separated into a mostly-science report and a mostly-OLPC report. C'est la vie. Take it or leave it.

[Sample of Lesson Plan / Notes used for teaching: Wikipedia graphics and custom graphics.]

Click here to download the Lesson Plans / Notes that I created.
Click here for a Test (with answers) for all three classes.

[Sample of student's work, showing the path of electricity from the source to a light in the home.]

It should be noted that I've posted this content just for blog readers - mostly friends and family. As the folks over at Iridescent Inc have discovered, random lesson plans on the internet aren't too helpful for educators, there are plenty of bad ones out there to sift through (I'd like to think mine are good although I'm sure we all would). The times are changing, and now even lesson plans are out - replaced by simpler concept maps that teachers can build around.

If you are an educator, and looking to contribute or to find content, check out Iridescent's new approach: a wiki for science education analogies! It's in it's early stages, so get involved and throw some content in there!

HMI - Part II

After our week and a half of physical training and lectures in Darjeeling, we commenced our trek up to HMI Base Camp. A quick bus ride later put us at the start of the trek, in Yuksom, West Sikkim, India. (Yuksom is an ex-capital of Sikkim, with a coronation seat, and was the meeting place of the lamas.) From Yuksom, at about 6,000 feet, we made our way up through Bakhim ("House of Bamboo"), through tiny Dzongri, over Dzongri Pass, and finally arrived at the Base Camp, at 16,400 ft. With rest days and acclimatization hikes each afternoon, the trip took 4 days.

(Shot while taking a break on the trail -- the yaks were carrying lots of food and cooking equipment that we'd use at Base Camp. Shot just above Bakhim, around 11,000 ft.)

Let's play word association. I say "this bridge"... you say.... "safe?"

HMI Base Camp (To see in Google Earth click here) is officially called "Chowri Khang" which means "Grazing place of the Yaks," due to the bit of flat land magically plopped among towering peaks. The flat spot is, of course, not wasted when yaks aren't around, as the worlds highest cricket pitch, as well as a usually-unaccessible helicopter landing pad. At camp there are a number of stone, fiberglass, wood, and tin roof buildings: one hut each for men and women, a few huts for instructors & caretakers, a kitchen hut, and a mess hall hut.

(HMI Base Camp from above. Since our course was so overpopulated, we used extra tents (row of white) in addition to cramming in the huts. The tents sometimes prevented runaway soccer and cricket balls from bouncing down the ravines -- but not usually.)

Here's a (whiplashing) panorama movie shot at base camp:

And two shots, one looking up at the Kabru peaks, the other looking down the valley towards Dzongri Pass.


Almost every day we made a 2-3 hour trek (each direction) towards the north west to reach the Rathong Glacier. Here we learned and practiced sequence climbing on ice, pick and toe (and other methods of) ice climbing, crevasse rescue, rappelling, and self arrest. After a few hours on the glacier we'd get some tea and then hike home, reaching Base Camp in the mid-afternoon for lunch. Afternoons were spent resting, attending lectures, and lots and lots of singing (Bengali, Nepali, Hindi, etc.).

Treking up to the glacier - one one of the very few good weather days. Our random pet street dog came with us to the glacier sometimes (he never had his crampons or ice axe, though!).

My friend Ashish on the glacier.


(Lecture on ice and snow anchoring techniques. Coldest lecture of my life. And in Hindi.)


Random glacier activities.

My team practicing making an improvised stretcher. From top, clockwise: Instructor Juna Sir, Ajeet, Saikat Banerjee, Holden Bonwit, Tumpa Roy (in stretcher), Hiten, Ashish Palande.

Up at base camp we had almost the same diet as in Darjeeling, with the following exceptions: no leavened bread (chapatis for breakfast), no eggs, and rare servings of meat (mutton) and soya for the vegetarians. There were a few occasions when we got halva parantha, kheer, or some canned pineapple dessert.
(Typical lunch or dinner at base camp: water, dal, rice, & potato subsy (also had chapatis every meal, I think those were in my pocket at the time of the photo -- I promise, I can explain).)


One of our pieces of equipment (an ascender / Jumar), proudly proclaiming its historical origin: "Made in USSR"!

Going for the summit: as we headed out from Base Camp for the summit of BC Roy peak, I got an education in Indian Mountaineering trail food. The top two items (chocolate & energy bar) in the picture I happened to bring personally, but the others (all candies + biscuits) were meant to sustain us for the 8 hour summit / trek & (I assume) save us in the case of emergency. Sugar, anyone?

More about the summit attempt of BC Roy peak, places not to fall down, and the final installment in the HMI series in the next post!