Smith College - Physics

10/06/2026

Read carefully!

"Nobody has ever made it past 'Read carefully.'" — Desmond W.

IRONHOLLOW MIDDLE SCHOOL — Eighth-grade science teacher Mr. Wainwright confirmed Thursday that he hid the complete answer key to a 20-question worksheet on the periodic table inside the assignment's directions, directly between the phrases "Read carefully" and "Show your work." None of his 118 students located it, and the average score was 67%.

Kinsley, who asked "What are we supposed to do?" four times during third period, said she generally skips directions because "those are more of a teacher thing." Mr. Wainwright responded each time by pointing at the directions, a gesture she described as "not helpful."

The district has since approved assignment directions as a secure storage location for state testing materials, replacing a locked filing cabinet that students had gotten into twice since August.

09/04/2026

A different kind of collider!

Handedness

08/10/2026

Quantum-secure ballots

Two research teams have run small-scale demonstrations of voting protocols that could ensure election security using the principles of quantum mechanics.

08/08/2026

What are your learning objectives?

"I asked for our objective. He asked me back." — Nikos T.

GREATER AGORA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT — Veteran instructor Mr. Socrates received a rating of Needs Improvement following Tuesday's formal observation, after evaluator Mr. Stavrellis found no learning objective posted anywhere in the colonnade. The rubric awarded zero of four points under Domain 1c, noting that when students were asked what they would know by the end of the lesson, all 30 replied that they knew nothing.

At the post-observation conference, Mr. Socrates responded to each of the 11 findings with a question, which Mr. Stavrellis documented as additional evidence of unclear success criteria. Student Nikos told Eyes On Meme he once asked Mr. Socrates directly what the day's objective was, and has spent the weeks since questioning whether objectives can be known at all.

Mr. Socrates declined to sign the evaluation, asking whether a signature can certify understanding, and was logged as refusing to engage in the growth process. A follow-up observation is scheduled for spring, along with a separate hearing on corrupting the youth, which will use the same rubric.

07/24/2026

Nobel caution!

Calibration Nobel

07/22/2026

Could be useful!

Latest on my Substack is an excerpt from my book in progress on navigating the fraught transition out of academia.

"The central tension in the post-academic transition is recognizing the extraordinary skills and aptitudes you bring as a PhD that set you apart from the competition, while learning a new language to articulate how these will advance the needs not of a scholarly discipline or university, but rather the company and sector to which you’re applying. PhDs seeking to transition out of academia often veer wildly between two extremes: I’m VASTLY OVERQUALIFIED for these lowly jobs that utilize none of my special scholarly brilliance, and I’m ENTIRELY UNQUALIFIED for these amazing high paying jobs that need years of experience I missed while wasting my time getting a PhD.

The reality, of course, lies poised just in the middle. Your PhD was valuable, and the path to becoming a person “with a PhD” DID deliver extraordinary skills that are in high demand. And at the same time, you do need to learn translation techniques to reframe those skills in your thinking, writing, and speaking, for audiences who probably can’t see them or recognize their value without some help. Your task is to provide that help...."

07/06/2026

Are you a fan?

Will the cart move… or is the fan just pushing against itself? 🤔💨⛵

The fan pushes air toward a sail attached to the same cart. What does physics predict?

06/21/2026

06/17/2026

06/11/2026

Don’t try this at home

Beam Pipe