I'm writing essays at three blog sites, "IDEA & ISAAC: Femto-Essays," "IDEA & ISAAC: Surely I'm Joking!" and "Ted's Coffeehouse 2," all of which are provided by blogger.com. The following list has been derived from "Stats" pages made by the provider. The numbers of views are of all-time statistics of "pageviews" from July 1, 2010, when the service of taking statistics began, to December 31, 2010.
IDEA & ISAAC: Femto-Essays
• The Top Ten Physicists (Dec 5, 1999) 434 views
• Backscattering of Antiprotons (Aug 15, 2008) 152 views
• World Records for Men's 100 m . . . (Aug 20, 2008) 116 views
IDEA & ISAAC: Surely I'm Joking!
• The Unit "Dirac" (Jan 27, 2010) 267 views
[Other posts have gotten less than 100 views.]
Ted's Coffeehouse 2
• 日本語文章においての段落概念の欠如 (The Lack of the Paragraph Structure in Japanese Writing (Jul 10, 2010) 265 views
[Other posts have gotten less than 100 views.]
2010年12月31日金曜日
最もよく読まれた私のブログ記事 (My Blog Posts Most Frequently Viewed)
２０１０年１１月分記事へのエム・ワイ君の感想 (M.Y.'s Comments on November-2010 Articles)
In Japanese only
M.Y. 君から "Ted's Coffeehouse 2" 2010年11月分への感想を12月28日付けで貰った。同君の了承を得て、ここに紹介する。青色の文字をクリックすると、言及されている記事が別ウインドウに開く。
1. 「核なき世界へ：被爆国からのメッセージ」（11月8日付け記事の "From tweets of yesterday" 中）
朝日紙連載「核なき世界へ：被爆国からのメッセージ」に学ぶべき言葉が多い。11月6日付け、月下美紀氏「地上戦を経験した沖縄の人々は広島、長崎に関心を示さない。…中略…『戦争反対』を根底に据えることで、…中略…一緒に考えることができるのではないでしょうか。」11月7日付け、アーサー・ビナード氏「核抑止論はナンセンス。…中略…オバマ氏も見かけ倒しの『チェンジ！』ではなく、命がけでやれば方向転換出来るはずです。そもそも人間が作ったモノをなくすのだから、やる気があれば可能でしょう。
と筆者は、7回にわたる「被爆国からのメッセージ」の中から肝要な言葉を抽出しています。
オバマ大統領のやる気について、朝日新聞（12月24日付け朝刊）は、米上院が22日、米ロの新戦略兵器削減条約（新START）の批准を承認し、ロシア下院は24日にも批准承認する見通しであり、オバマ氏はこの批准承認後にホワイトハウスで記者会見し、「過去20年間で最も重要な軍縮合意だ。われわれはロシアとともに核兵器を削減する」と語ったことを報道しました。一方で、「核なき世界」に向けて米国が取り組むべき課題も山積しており、オバマ氏はそのために国内政治との相克をどう乗り越えるのか、答えは見えてこなくて、「次の一歩議会が壁」、と解説していました。時間がかかっても、大きな目標に向かい着実に努力し続ける限り、理性ある世界では、核兵器を使用した壊滅的な戦争は回避できるのではないでしょうか。
2. 京大11月祭
昨日、私は妻と第52回京都大学11月祭を見に行った。会場で長女の家族と落ち合う。今年同大学へ入った孫の一人が、吉田グラウンドでソフトボール部の仲間たちと豚汁の模擬店を出していたので、一杯食する。食べ物を中心に多数の模擬店が並び、大音声でスピーカーから音楽が流れている様子は、私の学生時代と比べて、大いに趣きを異にする。
と筆者は書いています。なるほど。
私は３回生の時、理学部３、４回生が合同で「11月祭の合唱へ」との募集に応じました。企画、指導、指揮は物理４回生のＭさんで、練習は、昼休憩時間に校舎の前の空き地で行うことで、夏前から始まり、合唱曲は「シベリウスのフィンランディア」などでした。このブログで紹介のあった真木和美君は、歌も好きで高い独特の美声を持ち、高音部を歌いました。歌詞は日本語で、比較的簡単なメロディーでしたが、Ｍさんは「この歌の本式のものはとても美しい。頑張りましょう」と皆を励ましました。この合唱曲は、交響詩「フィンランディア」の中間部に歌が付けられたものです。フィンランドがロシアの圧制から独立を勝ち取った時、この交響詩「自然の美を賛えるフィンラディア」は、国の自由を象徴する存在になりました。
私はずいぶん後になってこの合唱付き交響詩を聴き、素晴らしい曲だ、あの時はこんなに由緒ある名曲を歌ったのか、と感銘を受けました。当日は、時計台下の講堂で、大勢の聴衆の前で歌いました。京大交響楽団の演奏が音楽会をしめくくりました。また、3回生か4回生か定かではありませんが、文化祭の時に吉田分校の運動場で、ラテン音楽の演奏があり、壇上に平沢興総長が招き上げられて、団員と肩を組んで、「小さな星：Estrellita、コンドルは飛んでいく：El condor pas」 などの馴染み深い演奏に興ぜられ、愛嬌のある一面が見られました。——学園祭についてこのような記憶が甦りました。
3. 秋色、他
イロハモミジ、サクラ、京都・東大路のイチョウ並木、ハゼノキ、コバノズイナ、ハナミズキ、カエデ、ベニスモモ、団地、校庭の紅葉など、無意識に見過ごしがちな、秋の美しい彩りに気付かせて貰いました。何気ない日常の自然の美しさを感じる心のゆとりを持ちたいものです。「竹田城跡と立雲峡へのバス旅行（4月）」に関連して、YouTube ビデオ 朝霧に浮かぶ「天空の城」が11月5日付け記事に引用されているのを見て、感動しました。
ピンクのサザンカ (Sasanqua with Pink Flowers)
サザンカ（山茶花、ツバキ科）。2010年12月12日、わが家の庭で撮影。
Sasanqua; botanical name, Camellia sasanqua; family, Theaceae. The photo was taken on December 12, 2010, at our yard.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Blogs
[Retweet of Sean Carroll's words] My best blog posts of the year, as voted on by me: "Hits of the Year" Discover, Blogs / Cosmic Variance (December 29, 2010).
Neuroscience
Seeking the connectome: "In Pursuit of a mind map, slice by slice." New YorkTimes (December 27, 2010). —A "connectome" means the mental makeup of a person, akin to the human genome that stores the hereditary information of a person.
Physicists
[Retweet of NY Review of Books's words] Adam Michnik on Andrei Sakharov, "proof of the rationality of democratic protest." New York Review of Books, issue for January 13, 2011.
Psychology of Science
[Retweet of stevesilberman's words] "Using Google's Ngrams to distinguish real science from fads" Big Think, Blog: Mind Matters (December 29, 2010).
Science
"In with the New Scientist: Our predictions for 2011." New Scientist.
2010年12月30日木曜日
ネリネ (Nerine)
ネリネはヒガンバナ科の属の一つで、約30種がある。写真の種は、わが家の庭にあるもので、毎冬1本の茎が、ゲラニウムの葉の茂っている下から伸び出て花を咲かせ、花の少ないこの季節にうるおいを与えてくれている。2010年12月27日撮影。
Nerine is a genus of plants belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family. There are about 30 different species in the genus. The above picture, taken on December 27, 2010, shows the kind of species that is present in our yard. Each winter, a stem comes out from under the thick layer of geranium leaves, and flowers bloom, giving us delight in this period when flowers are scarce.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Science
"2010 review: 10 most popular physics stories." New Scientist (December 28, 2010). [Retweeted by Tim Jones]
[From Tim Beauchamp to Tim Jones and me] Don't you hate it when people publish a list of the 10 most popular, but don't say how they determined that?
[From Tim Jones to Tim Beauchamp and me] Yes, I wondered that. Is it web hits, comments, retweets, popular in New Scientist office etc etc?
[To Tim Beauchamp] I supposed similarly as Tim Jones replied, and also think that they should have written their method of choice at New Scientist.
[From Tim Beauchamp to Tim Jones and me] An interesting experiment on gaming these publications' top 10 lists: "Cracking the New York Times Popularity Code" The Daily Beast Blog (December 20, 2010).
Neuroscience
Studies of brain: "Amygdala at the centre of your social network" A larger emotion-processing brain centre is linked to a bigger circle of friends. Nature, News (December 26, 2010); "Political views 'hard-wired' into your brain" Tories may be born not made, claims a study that suggests people with right wing views have a larger area of the brain associated with fear. Telegraph (December 28, 2010).
2010年12月29日水曜日
ベニスモモの葉 (Leaves of Purple Cherry Plum)
種々の木々の紅葉した葉が散ってしまった中で、ベニスモモの葉がなおりりしく、青空を背景に輝いていた。2010年12月4日、堺市西区・鳳公園で撮影。
After autumn leaves had fallen from different trees, the leaves of purple cherry plum were still showing their beautiful colors against the blue sky. The photo was taken on December 4, 2010, at Ōtori Park, Nishi-ku, Skai.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Arts
[Retweet of Cliff Pickover's words] Conversion of bird positions to transcendent music: "Birds on the Wires," Vimeo (September 4, 2009).
Astrophysics
"The best NASA photographs of 2010." The New Yorker Photo Booth (December 13, 2010) (via Andrew Jones).
Materials Science
"A molecule-sized light switch." Physical Review Focus (December 27, 2010). Reference: "Reversible bond formation in a gold-atom–organic-molecule complex as a molecular switch," Fabian Mohn et al. Physical Review Letteers (to be published).
Medical Science
"Interdisciplinary research partnerships set out to uncover the physics of cancer." Scientific American (Dec 27, 2010). [Retweeted by Fermin Aceves]
Philosophy
"New Year's resolution: I will believe in free will," by John Horgan, Scientific American (Dec 27, 2010).
Science and Technology
"Readers' choices: Top 10 Scientific American stories of 2010." The trends are interactive features, technology, health and the human experience. Scientific American (December 25, 2010).
2010年12月28日火曜日
柿 (Fruits of Japanese Persimmon)
枝に残っていた柿。熟れ過ぎているようである。2010年12月12日、ウォーキング途中で撮影。
Fruits of Japanese persimmon remaining on the branch. They seem to be too ripe. The photo was taken during walking exercise on December 12, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Chemistry
[Retweet of madge's words] "The Professor's Christmas Message" Professor Poliakoff discusses our new project for the International Year of Chemistry. The Periodic Table of Videos on YouTube (December 24, 2010).
Peace and Politics
ニュースレター九条科学者 No. 6, 九条科学者の会事務局 (December 27, 2010). —"「新安保懇」報告・平成22年版防衛白書にみる民主党政権の安保・防衛政策の危険な内容" など.
2010年12月27日月曜日
フェニックス雲 (The Phoenix Consisting of Clouds)
夕焼け雲が、天空を駆けるフェニックスのように見えないだろうか。2010年12月1日午後4時48分撮影。
The clouds aglow with the setting sun look like a phoenix soaring through the sky, don't they? The photo was taken on December 1, 2010, 4:48 pm.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Books
"Fumiko Yonezawa Reviews the Japanese Edition of The Strangest Man" Femto-Essays (December 26, 2010). ——慶応大学名誉教授・米沢富美子さんが赤旗紙に掲載した『量子の海、ディラックの深淵―天才物理学者の華々しき業績と寡黙なる生涯』（吉田三知世・訳、原作 Graham Farmelo, The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom）の書評を紹介。
2010年12月26日日曜日
天空のイヌ (The Dog in the Sky)
左向きのイヌが…。2010年12月1日撮影。
There is a left-facing dog . . . The photo was taken on December 1, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astrophysics
[Retweet of Nature Middle East's words] "Qatari team discover new planet," Nature Middle East, News (December 20, 2010) and why this is important, Nature, House of Wisdom (via Nature News&Comment).
[Retweet of PhysOrg Science News's words] "Statistical modeling could help us understand cosmic acceleration." Physorg (December 24, 2010).
Books
"Starry Messenger." New York Times (December 24, 2010). —Owen Gingerich reviews two biographies of Galileo by David Wootton and J. L. Heilbron.
Technology
[Retweet of New Scientist's words] Watch this: "Robot solve Rubik's cube in 15 seconds" (and not by taking it to pieces first, either) New Scientist, Blogs (December 24, 2010).
2010年12月25日土曜日
天空の魚 (The Fish in the Sky)
上側の一団の雲は、細身の魚のエックス線写真のように見える。2010年12月1日撮影。
The upper group of clouds looks like an X-ray photograph of a slender fish. The photo was taken on December 1, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astrophysics
[Retweet of io9's words] "Cosmic rays could have caused one of the worst mass extinctions on Earth." io9 Blog (december 23, 2010).
Internet
[Retweet of 浅井隆's words] 英語の140文字は全然表現できないんですけど、日本語は漢字があるので、AがあってBがってCがあってまで表現できるんですね。—リンダ監督 ("iwakamiyasumi 12/23/10 04:24AM": 岩上安身によるインタビューのビデオ)。
Peace and Politics
憲法九条を忘れ、「死の商人」の肩を持つ妄言。嘆かわしい："武器輸出三原則の見直し「先送り」は日本の安全保障に禍根を残す" 日経ビジネスオンライン (December 24, 2010). [Retweeted by J. Tanaka]
Science
"The top 10 science stories of 2010." A microbe with an artificial genome, a volcano with an almost unpronounceable name, a disaster that blackened Gulf waters—these and other events defined this year in science and technology Scientific American Slideshows (December 23, 2010). [Retweeted by P. F. Anderson @pfanderson]
Science and Moral
"The science of right and wrong: Can data determine moral values?" Scientific American (December 23, 2010). —Michael Shermer, the author of The Science of Good and Evil, writes about Sam Harris's The Moral Landscape.
2010年12月24日金曜日
天空の本 (The Book in the Sky)
もやもやした雲の中央上部に、本の形を見る。本好きであるせいか、あるいはむしろ、最近ツイッターにハマって、読書時間があまり取れていないうしろめたさのせいか。（2010年12月1日撮影）
At the top center of the wooly clouds, I saw the outline of a book. This is perhaps because of my love of books, or rather because of my shameful days of not having enough time for reading owing to addiction to Twitter. (The photo was taken on December 1, 2010.)
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
High Energy Physics
"Cosmologists discover how black holes can leak." Extra dimensions should allow information to escape from black holes, according to a new model of cosmology. Technology Review, Physics arXiv Blog (December 23, 2010).
Physicists
"Q&A: Impossible thoughts." As Roger Penrose publishes his collected works — six volumes comprising more than 5,000 pages — the mathematical physicist muses on 50 years of groundbreaking research in general relativity, quantum mechanics, cosmology, geometry and consciousness. Nature Vol. 468, p. 1039 (December 23, 2010). [Retweeted by Gregory A. Good]
Physics
"Look ahead to 2011." Space missions provided a lot of data in 2010. That looks set to continue next year. physicsworld, News (December 22, 2010).
"Best of the blog." The bizarre stories from the world of physics in 2010. physicsworld, News (December 22, 2010).
Science
"2010: The year in which …" A round-up of the top science news stories of the past 12 months. Nature, News (December 22, 2010).
"2010 Gallery: Images of the year." From volcanoes to graphene – and more. Nature, News (December 22, 2010).
2010年12月23日木曜日
流れ出る (Flowing Out)
画面右下から左上へ、またその動きの途中から右上へ、流れ出ているような雲の姿に魅せられて撮った写真である。
I took this picture because of the fascinating formation of clouds, which look like to be flowing out from the lower right to the upper left, and from the middle of that movement to the upper right.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Arts–Science Interaction
"Our favourite pictures of 2010." 15 images. Some are funny, some instructive and others are just plain beautiful. physicsworld (December 22, 2010).
"Scientific accuracy in art." Scientific American, Guest Blog (December 21, 2010). —Science-art is a way for the science-artist to explore forms: to marry and synthesize separate ideas in to a new idea, because we're human, we're awesome and we can do that. . . .
Astrophysics
"Milky Way's galactic neighbourhood puzzles astronomers." It looks as if the Milky Way and its nearest neighbours make up one of the rarest configurations in the local Universe. Now astronomers are wondering why. Technology Review Physics arXiv Blog (December 21, 2010).
[Retweet of The SETI Institute's words] Missed last night's lunar eclipse? Check out this amazing time lapse video of the whole event—gorgeous! "Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse." Vimeo (December 21, 2010).
Books
"The Curies, seen through an artist’s eyes." In 'Radioactive,' Lauren Redniss presents the Curies. New York Times (December 21, 2010). [Retweeted by Karin Fornazier and Fermin Aceves]
Culture
[Retweet of The New York Times's words] Debates emerge over Ngrams, Google's Book Database. "Five-million-book Google database gets a workout, and a debate, in Its first days" New York Times (December 23, 2010) (via artsbeat).
Peace and Politics
"新防衛大綱には｢戦略｣がない" 日経ビジネスオンライン (December 20, 2010). —これは国民と近隣国に敵愾心をあおる愚論である。新防衛大綱はすでに平和憲法の精神を逸脱している疑いがある。
Philosophy of Physics
'Science "faction": Is theoretical physics becoming "softer" than anthropology?' by John Horgan, Scientific American, Cross-check (December 21, 2010).
Science
"2010 Review of the year." Nature, Specials. —"2010 Gallery: Images of the year," "News: Reader's choice," etc.
2010年12月22日水曜日
網に写る影 (Shadows on the Net)
上掲の写真は近くの高校の運動場の金網塀を撮ったものである。金網塀の内側に、もっと目の細かい網が吊り下げられている。それでも外からは、運動場がかなりよく透けて見えるのだが、網の向こうに木や校舎があるところでは、網の緑色が濃くなり、透明性が減って、陰の部分を作っている。その部分に、右斜め上からの日光によって、さらに黒っぽい木の影が重なり出来て、そこでは透明性が回復している。——これは、そういういう面白い光景である。内外の網の破れ目などもあって、注意深く見ていると、しばらく見飽きない。（2010年12月10日撮影）
The photo above shows the fence of the playground of the senior high school near my house. It is made of wire netting. Inside the fence, a sheet of finer netting is hung. From the outside, we can see the playground fairly well through the nets. Where school buildings and trees stand beyond, the internal net become darker green, reducing the transparency and forming the shade regions. Onto those regions, the sunlight from upper right projects the much darker shadows of trees, and transparency is restored there. — This is such a fascinating spectacle. Carefully looking at this photo, I also find rents on both the inner and the outer net, and do not get tired of scrutinizing the image for a while. (The photo was taken on December 10, 2010.)
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astrophysics
"Rare cosmic event to transpire Tuesday morning." Big Think, Dr. Kaku's Universe (December 18, 2010) (via About Physics).
Books
"Top 10 books for 2010." physicsworld (December 20, 2010). —"In 2009 picking the year's top book was easy: Graham Farmelo's biography of Paul Dirac, The Strangest Man, stood head-and-shoulders above the rest, and won a Costa 'Best Biography' gong to prove it. The competition for 2010 was tighter, . . .
3. Massive: The Hunt for the God Particle by Ian Sample
2. How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel
1. The Edge of Physics: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Cosmology by Anil Ananthaswamy."
Fundamental Physics
"Combining two approaches to the strong force." Physics. Synopsis of Steven Weinberg's paper published in Physical Review Letters Vol. 105, p. 261601 (December 20, 2010). [Retweeted by Maien Binjonaid]
Humor
[From MLB's words] Lunar Eclipse tribute: "Baseball on the Moon." a YouTube video (May 15, 2008); Wally Moon, a former Major League Baseball outfielder in "Wikipedia"; and the portrait of Wally Moon.
Physics
"Physics World reveals its top 10 breakthroughs for 2010." (December 20, 2010).
1. Antihydrogen success
2. Exoplanet atmosphere laid bare
3. Quantum effects seen in a visible object
4. Visible-light cloaking of large objects
5. Hail the first sound lasers
6. A Bose–Einstein condensate from light
7. Relativity with a human touch
8. Towards a Star Wars telepresence
9. Proton is smaller than we thought
10. CERN achieves landmark collisions
Science
[Retweet of Scientific American's words] "In praise of scientific error" Scientific American (December 20, 2010). —"We should always be willing to question the outcomes of science, but we should be even more willing to question ourselves."
2010年12月21日火曜日
ナンテンの実 (Fruits of Heavenly Bamboo)
（南天、メギ科）。2010年12月6日、ウォーキング途中で撮影。
Heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo; botanical name, Nandina domestica; family, Berberidaceae. The photo was taken on December 1, 2010, during walking exercise.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astrophysics
[Retweet of sciencedaily's words] "Construction of the world's largest neutrino observatory completed: Antarctica's IceCube." Culminating a decade of planning, innovation and testing, construction of the world's largest neutrino observatory, installed in the ice of the Antarctic plateau at the geographic South Pole, was successfully completed December 18, 2010, New Zealand time. Science Daily (December. 19, 2010). [Retweeted by can't be blank]
Fundamental Physics
"The universe, and other stuff: Physicist Sean Carroll looks at the nature of time." Times-Tribune (via Sean Carroll) [Retweeted by Fermin Aceves]
Mechanics
"Early astronomer described Coriolis effect centuries before Coriolis." Technology Review The Coriolis effect appears in an ancient astronomical text published 200 years before Coriolis did his work, says an historian. Physics arXiv Blog (December 20, 2010).
Medical Science
[Retweet of 4 The Fight's words] "Scientists find protein that may help control prostate cancer." Discovery could aid in limiting tumor growth and . . . Cancer Compass (December 3, 2010).
Solid-State Physics
[Retweet of Physics World's words] "Semiconductor memory stores spins." Technique could play a part in spintronic data processing. physicsworld, News (December 19, 2010).
2010年12月20日月曜日
ススキ (Chinese Silver Grass)
ススキ（芒、薄、イネ科）。2010年12月1日、ウォーキング途中で撮影。
Chinese silver grass, Eulalia grass, Maiden grass, Zebra grass, Susuki grass, or Porcupine Grass; botanical name, Miscanthus sinensis; family, Poaceae. The photo was taken on December 1, 2010, during walking exercise.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Physicists
'Somehow he has still managed to publish a scientific paper this year — a look at "a novel way of measuring the strength of the Higgs coupling to gluons".' [Retweet of Guardian Science's words] "Brian Cox: why he made headlines in 2010" The face of TV science reflects on his new fame. Gurdian (December 19, 2010).
2010年12月19日日曜日
遊ぶ子ら ２ (Playing Children 2)
写真は堺市中区で、2010年12月1日撮影。
The photo was taken at Naka-ku, Sakai, on December 1, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Arts
Virtual Museum of Optical Illusions: Current exhibition "Metamorphic Postcards" November 2010 – October 2011 (via Internet Scout).
Astrophysics
"Cosmos Incognita: Voyager 1 spacecraft arrives at the cusp of interstellar space." Thirty-three years into its voyage, the solar wind speed around Voyager 1 has dropped to zero as the space-hardened craft nears a milestone in its journey out of the solar system Scientific American (December 16, 2010).
Atomic Physics
""Movies of electrons in atoms."" Physical Review Focus (December 17, 2010). —New simulations indicate the possibility.
Biological Physics
"The puzzling role of biophotons in the brain." Various work suggests that neurons emit and even conduct photons. Could it be that biophotons help to synchronise the brain? Technology Review Physics arXiv Blogs (December 17, 2010). [Mentioned by Neil Gunther @DrQz]
Books
"Book Review: Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume 1." The book turns out to be a wonderful fraud on the order of the Duke and the Dauphin in their Shakespearean romp, and . . . still able to catch the public’s attention a century after he expired. New York Times (Decemer 16, 2010).
Fundamental Physics
"Size of a proton? Really small." But physicists can't agree on one number. Science News (December 17, 2010).
Internet
Tried to use "Google labs: Books Ngram Viewer" for the words related to my past activities:
•Dosimetry vs irradiation —I made researches related to these words just in the years when these showed peaks.
•Betatron vs linac —I worked with an electron linac around the years of the first peak of the linac.
•Electron backscatter vs ion reflection —I studied the former in the years around its first peak; the latter, just during the years of its peak.
Quite interesting!
Peace and Politics
この「主張」に全く同感である："新「防衛大綱」—また海外でたたかうつもりか—" しんぶん赤旗 (December 18, 2010).
Technology
"New tool tracks culture through the centuries via Google Books." The field of "culturomics" promises humanities researchers a robust quantitative tool to analyze cultural trends back to the 1500s. Scientific American (December 17, 2010). [Retweeted by J.M.Peterson]
2010年12月18日土曜日
遊ぶ子ら １ (Playing Children 1)
写真は堺市中区で、2010年11月30日撮影。
The photo was taken at Naka-ku, Sakai, on November 30, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Arts–Science Interaction
[Retweet of The Exchange's words] Tap your toes to sounds of science! New blog post about the wonderful mix of science and music: "Science: The Musical!" The X-change Files (December 16, 2010) (via Jennifer Ouellette).
Condensed Matter Physics
"Topologist predicts new form of matter." A link between quantum mechanics and topology implies the existence of an entirely new state of matter. And physicists have already found the first example. Technology Review Physics arXiv Blog (December 16, 2010). —From Efimov states to "Efimov physics."
Fundamental Physics
What word is now rising? [Retweet of S. C. Kavassalis's words] "Books Ngram Viewer: superstrings vs geometrodynamics." I love labelling what papers inspired the peaks!
Geohysics
"X-ray vision tracks lighting bursts." Researchers are first to see X-rays spew out of lightning bolts. physicsworld (December 16, 2010).
Peace and Politics
"新防衛大綱 :「動的防衛力」を構築 中国、北朝鮮情勢懸念." 毎日新聞 (December 17, 2010). —軍事力を誇示して隣国を脅すのは愚かしい。軍拡競争に陥るだけである。国際問題の解決はあくまでも外交で。憲法九条こそが国を守る。
Quantum Physics
"Quantum theory survives latest challenge." Entanglement still defies classical explanation. physicsworld (December 15, 2010).
Science
"Insights of the Decade, Breakthrough of 2010." Science. —The list of the former includes Shinya Yamanaka's finding of reprogramming cells.
2010年12月17日金曜日
晩秋の光景 ６ (The Scenery of Late Autumn 6)
写真は堺市・鈴の宮団地で、2010年12月1日撮影。
The photo was taken at Suzunomiya Estate, Sakai, on December 1, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astronomers
"Allan Sandage (1926-2010)." Nature Vol. 468, p. 898 (December 16, 2010). —"His favourite time was sitting at the dark telescope, as he did for so many nights of his life, taking long exposures while the dome reverberated with the music of composer Richard Wagner."
Astrophysics
[Retweet of National Geographic's words] "Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?" 3-D NASA pictures "shock" scientists. National Geographic Daily News (December 15, 2010).
Chemistry
"Atomic weights of 10 elements to be altered." The adjustments planned for the Periodic Table of the Elements will more accurately reflect the nature of 10 types of atoms, including carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Los Angeles Times (December 14, 2010). (via stevesilberman).
History of Physics
"Physics Centennial #2: 1957 OU Lecture by Niels Bohr." OU History of Science Collections (August 25, 2010) (via Center for History of Physics/Niels Bohr Library & Archives on Facebook). —The lecture is entitled "Atoms and human knowledge." Audio files and scanned pdf file of the booklet of the lecture are available. (OU means University of Oklahoma.)
Life
見ました。私もしなければと思いました。[Retweet of NHK広報局's words] . . . 総合では19:30「クローズアップ現代：断捨離 人生の大そうじをする人々」. . .
注：「断捨離」とは、ヨガの行法哲学「断行・捨行・離行」をもとに生まれた言葉で、断=入ってくる要らないモノを断つ、捨=家にはびこるガラクタを捨てる、離=モノへの執着から離れる、を意味し、これによって新しい世界がはじまるとする。
参考文献：やました ひでこ著、新・片づけ術「断捨離」
Particle Physics
"No black holes, but extra time at LHC." Upgrade likely to be delayed in bid to capture Higgs particle. Nature, News (December 14, 2010).
2010年12月16日木曜日
晩秋の光景 ５ (The Scenery of Late Autumn 5)
写真は堺市・八田荘公園で、2010年11月30日撮影。
The photo was taken at Hattashō Park, Sakai, on November 30, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astrophysics
"Venus miss is a setback for Japanese program." Akatsuki mission on hold for six years before next attempt to approach planet. Nature, News (December 14, 2010). [Retweeted by Karin Fornazier]
2010年12月15日水曜日
マリー、さようなら (Goodbye, Marie!)
このブログのサイドコラムに、昨日までブログペットの子犬、マリーが住んでいた。私の記事から学んだ言葉をつなぎ合わせて、ユーモラスなおしゃべりをしたり、時には俳句を詠んだりして、楽しませてくれた。ブログペットのプロバイダーがそのサービスの提供を昨日限りで止めることになり、マリーは去って行った。マリー、さようなら。
In the side column of this blog, a "blog puppy," Marie, lived until yesterday. Piecing the words learned from my blog posts together, Marie humorously chattered and sometimes made haiku to let us feel pleasant. However, the provider of the blog pet ended this service yesterday, and Marie went away. Goodbye, Marie!
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Arts–Science Interaction
[Retweet of Institute of Physics's words] "Picturing Science — an exhibition examining the collision of art and science" IOP blog (December 14, 2010).
Astrophysics
"Rings in sky leave alternate cosmic visions." New York Times (December 13, 2010). "The rings, though real, are part of the current universe we already know and love," two groups of astronomers reported.
Cognition Sciences
"鏡の謎について" by 多幡達夫, 日本物理学会誌 Vol. 62, p. 213「会員の声」欄 (2007). Now available online at CiNii.
Nuclear Physics
"Islands of insight in the nuclear chart." A kind of radioactive beam experiment yields new insight for neutron-rich nuclei. Physics Vol. 3, p. 104 (2010).
Optics
"Invisibility cloak hides objects visible to the naked Eye." Physicists have cloaked a macroscopic object for the first time. And they've done it using conventional materials and techniques. Technology Review Physics arXiv Blog (December 14, 2010). [Mentioned by Colin Peters, rodmckie and whuddafugger]
Particle Physics
"A 'Little Bang' arrives at the LHC." Physics Vol. 3, p. 105 (2010). —A Viewpoint on ALICE and ATLAS papers published in Physical Review Letters. [Retweeted by Maien Binjonaid @Physlad and Glaucio Souza @gtsouza]
"A question of size." Physics Synopsis of the paper "High-Precision Determination of the Electric and Magnetic Form Factors of the Proton" by A1 Collaboration.
"Higgs hunt may delay LHC's planned shutdown." New Scientist (December 13, 2010) (via Institute of Physics and Karin Fornazier)
Peace and Politics
[Retweet of NY Review of Books's words] "It may be difficult for us, but at least we have a chance to make a very, very large difference." —Liu Xiaobo. "At the Nobel Ceremony: Liu Xiaobo’s Empty Chair." NYR Blog (December 13, 2010).
Physicists
"Michael Tinkham (1928-2010)." Physicist who helped to unravel the mysteries of superconductivity. Nature Vol. 468, p. 766 (December 9, 2010). —I knew his name by his classic book "Introduction to Superconductivity," which cited the work of the late Kazumi Maki, a good friend of mine, on many pages.
Science and Religion
"Buddhism and science: Promise and perils." NPR (December 7, 2010) (via Andrew Jones).
2010年12月14日火曜日
晩秋の光景 ４ (The Scenery of Late Autumn 4)
写真は堺市・八田荘公園で、2010年11月30日撮影。
The photo was taken at Hattashō Park, Sakai, on November 30, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Arts
[Retweet of leia in la la land's words] "Historians discover letters and numbers in Mona Lisa's eyes" Yahoo! 7 News (December 13, 2010). —In the right eye appear to be the letters LV which could well stand for his name Leonardo Da Vinci while in the left eye there are also symbols but they are not as defined.
"Jane Austen's popularity grows with young on the Web." Other renowned English authors aren't so posthumously popular—at least among the Web set. Wall Street Journal (December 6, 2010). —Her birthday is December 16 (via Internet Scout).
Astrophysics
"Astronomers find evidence of other universes in cosmic microwave background." Our cosmos was "bruised" in collisions with other universes. Now astronomers have found the first evidence of these impacts in the cosmic microwave background. Technology Review Physics arXiv Blog (December 13, 2010). [Reteeted by Karin Fornazier, Jackson and Rikugen Takagi]
Particle Physics
"Border Country: From Barnet to Evian via a new toothbrush and an old railway station" by Jonm Butterworth. Guardian (December 11, 2010). —The experimental particle physicist's life near Christmas.
2010年12月13日月曜日
最後の一葉 (The Last Leaf)
桜の木に最後の一葉があった。オー・ ヘンリーの短編小説「最後の一葉」では、ツタの葉であるが。写真は堺市・笠池公園で、2010年12月6日撮影。
Found the last leaf on a cherry tree at Kasaike Park, Sakai, on December 6, 2010. In O. Henry's novella "The Last Leaf," it was the leaf of Boston Ivy.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astrophysics
"No evidence of time before Big Bang." Nature News (December 10, 2010) Latest research deflates the idea that the Universe cycles. [Retweeted by U]
Environment
"Climate negotiators reach 'balanced' agreement in Cancun" The Great Beyond nature.cpom (December 11, 2010); "Statement by the Secretary-General on the outcome of the climate change negotiations in Cancun, Mexico" United Nations (December 11, 2010); but what did Japan do there? See: "Japan threatens progress at climate talks in Cancun." Climate Justice Now! (December 1, 2010).
2010年12月12日日曜日
晩秋の光景 ３ (The Scenery of Late Autumn 3)
写真は堺市・八田荘公園で、2010年11月30日撮影。
The photo was taken at Hattashō Park, Sakai, on November 30, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Particle Physics
[Retweet of Nature News&Comment's words] "LHC plans extra year for Higgs hunt." Collider may run right through 2012 to find elusive particle. Nature News online (December 10, 2010).
2010年12月11日土曜日
晩秋の光景 ２ (The Scenery of Late Autumn 2)
写真は堺市・津久野南団地の庭園で、2010年11月30日撮影。
The photo was taken at the garden of Tsukuno-minami Estate, Sakai, on November 30, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astrophysics
"Shining new light on dark energy with galaxy clusters." Scientists' murky understanding of dark energy may have just gotten a little clearer, thanks to recent work by a team of researchers that includes astrophysicist Neelima Sehgal of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at SLAC. The team used observations from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, or ACT, in the Chilean Andes to more narrowly define the properties of dark energy. PhysOrg (December 9, 2010) (via Drea + team, astroparticle and Karin Fornazier). [Retweeted by Glaucio Souza]
Fundamental Physics
"CERN moves closer to antihydrogen spectroscopy." physicsworld (Dec 9, 2010). —ASACUSA group, led by Yasunori Yamazaki of the RIKEN laboratory in Japan, created beams of antihydrogen atoms by combining antiprotons with positrons in a "cusp trap." [Retweeted by Fermin Aceves]
Life Science
"Q&A: 'Science' journal official talks arsenic-based life." A recent announcement of the discovery of arsenic-based life on Earth was preceded by intense media speculation about possible implications for the search for extraterrestrial life. Now the journal Science is looking to keep the discussion grounded in a more Earthly reality. Live Science (via Jeremy Hsu and Nature News&Comment).
Peace and Politics
「九条の会」メルマガ108号 編集後記 朝鮮半島情勢に関する「武力紛争予防のためのグローバル・パートナーシップ（GPPAC）東北アジア」の声明、主要な６点の呼びかけを紹介。1. 今すぐあらゆる軍事行動を止めること、 2. 対話のための作業を開始すること、など。
Technology
[Retweet of John Pavlus's words via madge] Epic Process: "Making the Lego Antikythera," video with Adam Rutherford et al. Small Mammal. —A 2000-year-old analog computing device reconstructed out of Lego. It predicts solar and lunar eclipses, accurate to within two hours.
2010年12月10日金曜日
晩秋の光景 １ (The Scenery of Late Autumn 1)
写真は堺市・津久野南団地の庭園で、2010年11月30日撮影。
The photo was taken at the garden of Tsukuno-minami Estate, Sakai, on November 30, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
Astrophysics
"Extrasolar planets: A giant surprise." The discovery of an inner giant planet in the unusually massive solar system around the star HR 8799 creates an ensemble of planets that is difficult to explain with prevailing theories of planet formation. Nature Vol. 468, p. 1 (News & Views) (December 9, 2010).
"Dancing stars turn on the red light." Two stars become one, and trigger a rare type of nova. Nature News (Online) (December 7, 2010).
Particle Physics
[Retweet of PhysOrg Science News's words] "A flow of heavy-Ion results from the Large Hadron Collider." Peter Jacobs of the Nuclear Science Division at Berkeley Lab, which hosts U.S. participation in ALICE, said the experience was both exciting and exhausting: "ALICE generated four key papers in two weeks." PhysOrg (December 8, 2010).
Quantum Physics
"Hot entanglement." Quantum entanglement has been observed at low temperatures in both microscopic and macroscopic systems. It now seems that the effect can also occur at high temperatures if the systems are not in thermal equilibrium. Nature Vol. 468, p. 769 (News & Views) (December 9, 2010).
2010年12月9日木曜日
薄明光線 (Crepuscular Rays)
一昨日、上掲の写真に向って右側の光景を撮った写真を掲載し、そこに見られる放射状の光の筋の集合を何と呼べばよいかという疑問を記しておいた。これに対して、一人の方からコメント欄で「天使の梯子（はしご）」、「レンブラント光」、それに「雲間からの光芒」（彼自身が使用しているもの）という呼び方を教えて貰った。
そこで、「天使の梯子」でインターネット検索をしたところ、『ウィキペディア』 の「薄明光線」の項［2010年11月13日 (土) 21:43］が見つかった。これが気象現象としての名称で、一般的には「天使の梯子」がよく知られている、と説明されている。そして、他に「天使の階段」、「ヤコブの梯子」、「レンブラント光線」、「光芒」の名も挙げてある。
ヤコブの梯子、天使の梯子という名称は、旧約聖書創世記28章12節に、ヤコブが夢の中で、雲の切れ間から差す光のような梯子が天から地上に伸び、そこを天使が上り下りしている光景を見たという記述があることに由来するそうだ。また、レンブラント光線という名称は、レンブラント (1606–1669) がこれを好んで描いたことに由来するという。
Two days ago, I posted a photo of the scenery at the right of that of the above photo and wrote the question what we should call a group of radial light-rays seen there. In reply to this, one person wrote in the comment column the following names: "天使の梯子 (angel's ladder)," "レンブラント光 (Rembrandt ray)" and "雲間からの光茫 [light beams through gaps in clouds (the commenter's own words)]."
Thus, I made an Internet search of "天使の梯子" and found the page "薄明光線 (crepuscular rays)" of Wikipedia [Japanese edition, 13 November 2010 at 21:43]. The phrase "crepuscular rays" represents the atmospheric phenomenon just in my photos of Tuesday and today. According to the above Web page, crepuscular rays are better known by the name of "angel's ladder" [in Japan], and other names of this phenomenon are "angel's stairs, angel's stairway," "Jacob's ladder," "Rembrandt ray" and "light beams."
The names "Jacob's ladder" and "angel's ladder" come from the following description in the Book of Genesis (28:12): Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, like the light beam through clouds; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it [adapted from "Jacob's ladder" page of Wikipedia (English version, 5 December 2010 at 22:08)]. The name of "Rembrandt ray" comes from the fact that Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt (1606–1669) liked to draw crepuscular rays.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Astrophysics
"Japanese space craft misses Venus." A Japanese space probe on a £190 million mission to orbit Venus has missed the planet completely – but could be more successful when it next passes by in six years' time, scientists said. Telegraph (December 8, 2010).
About Books
"Not just a pretty face." physicsworld (December 6, 2010). —Review of the book: Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis The Shape of Inner Space: String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions.
"Inside Penrose's universe." physicsworld (December 6, 2010). —A provocative review of Roger Penrose's Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe.
"Archimedes coins 'Eureka!' in the nude—and other crazy ah-ha moments of science." Scientific American (December 7, 2010). —An excerpt from John Monahan's They Called Me Mad.
About Fluid Dynamics
"Physicists solve cloud formation puzzle." Clouds sometimes form more quickly than the laws of physics seem to allow. Now atmospheric physicists think they know how. Technology Review Physics arXiv Blog (December 7, 2010).
About Particle Physics
"Quark–gluon mania returns to CERN." physicsworld (December 7, 2010). —The task of interpreting the LHC's first year of data is far from over.
2010年12月8日水曜日
映画『ブロンド少女は過激に美しく』 (The film "Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl"
昨日、阪急電車・十三駅の近くにある第七芸術劇場という映画館まで出かけて、私の好むマノエル・デ・オリヴェイラ監督の『ブロンド少女は過激に美しく』を見て来た（この映画の撮影中に、同監督は100歳になったそうだ）。
時刻あるいは季節を変えて何度か映し出される海岸の街・リスボンの全景の美しさや、文化的な社交の場の様子などは、はるばる見に来たかいがあったと思わせるものだった。64分の中編なので、終わったときは、いささかあっけない感がしたが、これは結論的な印象ではない。結末につながる伏線が早くにありながら、観客は間もなくそれを忘れさせられ、結末にいたって思い出させられる、という繊細なプロットが巧みに映像化されていたことを振り返ってみると、この映画の注意深い技術と味わい深さに気づく。
Yesterday, I went to the Seventh Art Theater near Juso Station of Hankyu Railway in order to look at the movie "Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura (Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl)" directed by one of my favorite directors, Manoel de Oliveira (we hear that he became 100 years old during the making of this film).
Panoramic views of the coastal town Risbon, at different times or seasons, repeatedly shown, were so beautiful and cultural atmosphere of the social occasion included in the story was so smart to make me think that it was worthwhile to come to see this movie all the way. I got a little bit of anticlimactic feeling when this film of only 64 minutes finished, but this was not the decisive impression. In the earlier part of the story, there was a foreshadowing event, but we are forced to forget about it, being reminded of it by the final episode. Looking back that such an intricate plot was finely depicted, we perceive the meticulous technique and rich flavor of this film.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Astrophysics
"Can we test inflationary expansion of the early universe?" A set of proposed relations among observable quantities may allow strong tests of whether a rapid expansion of the very early universe produced the seeds of the large-scale structure we see today. Physics Vol. 3, p. 103 (2010). [Retweeted by Colin Peters @ColinPeters]
[Retweet of The SETI Institute's words] Learn all about Dark Matter in this great new SETI Talk video! "Dark Matter - Chung-Pei Ma" YouTube (1:11:33) (December 5, 2010).
About Neuroscience
"Searching the brain for the spark of creative problem-solving." New York Times (December 6, 2010). "Test your insight" is included.
Exchange of Words with Friends
[To Karin Fornazier in reply to her words: I am so frustrated. . . . I hate myself when I came to conference, presented a talk and noboby asks. . . . God, I feel so stupid.] Don't mind about getting no asking for your presentation. Hideki Yukawa also got no question for his presentation of the meson theory, but a person said, "I was unable to hear you. Please repeat from the beginning!"
[From Karin Fornazier] Unfortunatly I am not a Yukawa; and people were hearing me. But, thank you so much for these words :)
2010年12月7日火曜日
光の何？ (What of Light?)
この写真のような空の光景を見て、中学生だった頃の私に、「光のしまが見えるよ」といったのは母だったか、あるいは、伯母だったか。そのとき私は、「しま」を「島」と受け取り、いささか妙だが、雲間あるいは雲の中の明るい部分を、海に浮かぶ島に見立てての詩的な表現だと思った。しかし少し後で、それは何本もの光の筋が暗い部分を挟んで並んでいる様子を指しての「縞」だったと気づいた。「縞」はおおむね並行に走る模様をいうので、このように放射状である場合、それを指していることが、聞いた瞬間には分かりにくかったのだと思う。それでは、このような光の模様を何と呼べばよいのか。「放射状の光線の束」というような長たらしい表現になるだろうか。
Pointing to the sky as seen in this picture, my mother (or was it my aunt?) said to me, "We see shima of light there." It was probably in my junior high school days. At that time, I thought that she meant "island" by shima (one of the meanings of the Japanese word shima is "island") and that it was a poetic expression of the bright areas among or in the clouds, likening them to the islands in the sea, though it sounded a little strange. However, I noticed soon later that she had referred to the light rays with dark portions among them (another meaning of shima is "stripes") The "stripes," however, commonly run in parallel. Perhaps, this made it difficult for me, at the moment of hearing them, to realize that her words referred to the radial pattern. Then, what is the suitable expression for the pattern of light rays as seen here? Is it such a lengthy expression as "a bundle of radial light rays"?
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Arts
"Snow (1963)." Guardian (December 6, 2010). —Railways, scenery, workers, passengers—a humorous film of 7 min 47 sec with matching music.
About Books
"Review of the book 'How I Killed Pluto' by Mike Brown." New York Times (December 5, 2010).
2010年12月6日月曜日
サントリー1万人の第9 (Suntory Presents Beethoven's 9th with a Cast of 10000)
昨日、妻と大阪城ホールへ表記の演奏会（第28回）を聞きに行った。娘の一人が1万人の合唱メンバーに参加したのである。オープニングで「Japanese Soccer Anthem（日本サッカーの歌）」が演奏され、プログラムの第1部には歌手・平原綾香が登場し、「Jupiter」、「威風堂々」、交響曲第9番第3楽章にオリジナル歌詞をつけた「Love Story」、そして「Joyful, Joyful」を歌った。第2部が交響曲第9番である。総監督を務めた指揮者・佐渡裕は今回の公演のテーマとして「野性味」を考えたそうだが、合唱部分では、それが十分に発揮された力強い歌声が広いホール一杯に響いた。最後に聴衆も加わって「蛍の光」の合唱があり、午後3時から始まった演奏会は、午後6時近くに、文字通り全員の歓喜のうちに終了した。会場を出ると、ライトアップされた大阪城が夜空にくっきりとした姿を見せていた（上掲の写真）。
Yesterday, I went to the Osaka Castle Hall with my wife in order to listen to "Symphony No. 9 with a chorus by ten-thousand people (the 28th)." One of our daughters took part in the chorus. At the opening, "Japanese Soccer Anthem" was played. In Part I of the program, Ayaka Hirahara joined to sing "Jupiter," "Pomp and Circumstance," "Love Story" (her original lyrics for the third movement of Symphony No. 9) and "Joyful, Joyful." Part II consisted of Symphony No. 9. Conductor Yutaka Sado, who was the general director of this event, chose "wild style" as the concept of this year's performance, and the voice of the chorus strongly sounded just with the flavor of these words to the every corner of the big hall. At the end, the audience also joined the chorus of "Auld Lang Syne." The concert, which had begun at 3 o'clock, closed a little before 6 o'clock with the joy of all the participants. Going out of the hall, we saw the lighted tower of Osak Castle clearly in the night sky (the picture above).
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Medical Technology
"Medical isotope shortages could become commonplace." physicsworld (December 3, 2010).
2010年12月5日日曜日
秋色 ２４ (Autumn Colors 24)
堺市・鈴の宮公園のイロハモミジ。2010年11月26日撮影。
Leaves of Japanese maple seen in Suzunomiya Park, Sakai. The photo was taken on November 26, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Fundamental Physics
So many interesting projects, wonderful! [Retweet of Sean Carroll's words] Updated my research page. Woohoo!
About History of Physics
"Dirac postscript." Physics Today December 2010, p. 12. —Dirac's eight-page paper published in Reviews of Modern Physics got absorbed into mainstream high-energy physics under the name of light-front dynamics—an indispensable tool for high-energy physics.
About Internet
"The 70 online databases that define our planet." Technology Review, Physics arXiv Blog (December 3, 2010). —Useful correction of databases are included.
About Particle Physics
"Working Title," by Jon Butterworth. Physicists are quite good at retro-fitting acronyms. But Jimmy knows, it has it's limits. Guardian (December 3, 2010).
About Physicists
Physics Today December 2010, "Special issue: A Chandrasekhar centennial."
Exchange of Words with Friends
[Arjen Dijksman's retweet of my words] Femto-Essays: "About a quote from Marie Curie." Femto-Essays (December 3, 2010). —I wonder how many US Nobel were originally not US citizen.
[To Arjen Dijksman] Thanks for your retweet of my blog post. But I'm afraid that your comment is against the spirit of the Marie Curie quote.
[From Arjen Dijksman] No offense:-) The comment was intended to show that it was not appropriate to count number of US Nobel, US community being international.
[To Arjen Dijksman] Thanks for your reply, which was the same as my interpretation of your comment after rethinking. [My response was a superficial one to your words, "US Nobel." (December 5)]
2010年12月4日土曜日
秋色 ２３ (Autumn Colors 23)
堺市・鈴の宮公園の秋景色。2010年11月26日撮影。
The autumn scenery of Suzunomiya Park, Sakai. The photo was taken on November 26, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Biology
"A bacterium that can grow by using arsenic instead of phosphorus." Paper in Science and Nature news bundle.
About Science
"Publishing: A helping hand." Manuscript-editing services are growing. Can they turn a mediocre paper into a publishable one? Nature Vol. 468, p. 721 (2010).
Quotations
"It's not the individual concepts characteristic of each model [. . .] that matter [to physicists]; it's the structure as a whole." -- Sean Carroll, "From Eternity to Here" [This is mentioned for the understanding of "time" but is applicable to any physics problem.]
2010年12月3日金曜日
秋色 ２２ (Autumn Colors 22)
堺市・鈴の宮公園の秋景色。2010年11月26日撮影。
The autumn scenery of Suzunomiya Park, Sakai. The photo was taken on November 26, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Astrophysics
"A ground-based transmission spectrum of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b." Nature Vol. 468, p. 669 (02 December 2010). —Report from a team using the Very Large Telescope facility.
Bundled link to Dokkum-Conroy paper "A substantial population of low-mass stars in luminous elliptical galaxies" Nature (Published online December 1, 2010) and media news about it: " 'Trillions' of Earths orbit red stars in older galaxies," by BBC and "How many stars? Three times as many as we thought, Report Says," by New York Times.
[From Colin Peters, about the BBC news above] As Carl Sagan would say, "Trillions and trillions."
About Arts
Watched "Yutaka Sado talks about Leonard Bernstein" on TV. It included moving stories about a teacher, in conducting an orchestra, and "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history (words in New York Times, quoted by Wikipedia)," by his disciple.
About Books
"Biography: Envy and power." Nature Vol. 468, p. 629 (December 2, 2010). —Robert Crease reviews István Hargittai's Judging Edward Teller: A Closer Look at One of the Most Influential Scientists of the Twentieth Century.
"Books in brief." Nature Vol. 468, p. 631 (02 December 2010). —A review of Martin Bojowald's Once Before Time: A Whole Story of the Universe included.
About Condensed Matter Physics
Bundled link to "Equilibration rates and negative absolute temperatures for ultracold atoms in optical lattices" Phys. Rev. Lett. Vol. 105, p. 220405 (2010) and New Scientist article to explain it.
About Fundamental Physics
"Trapped antihydrogen." Antimatter was first predicted in 1931, by Dirac. [. . .] Antihydrogen is of interest for use in a precision test of nature’s fundamental symmetries. [. . .] Here we demonstrate trapping of antihydrogen atoms. Nature Vol. 468, p. 673 (02 December 2010).
About Nuclear Physics
Bundled link to "New type of asymmetric fission in proton-rich nuclei" Phys. Rev. Lett. (in press) and Nature News to explain it.
Exchange of Words with Friends
[In reply to Colin Peters's tweet about astrophysics above] Oh, I have a copy of Carl Sagan's "Billions and Billions" but have read only about 1/3.
[From Colin Peters] I'm a big Sagan fan. I especially liked "Billions and Billions" as I recall.
[To Colin Peters] I like Sagan, too; read "The Dragons of Eden," "Cosmos" and "The Demon-Haunted World"; and want to read the rest of "Billions and Billions." (December 3).
2010年12月2日木曜日
秋色 ２１ (Autumn Colors 21)
堺市・鈴の宮公園の秋景色。2010年11月26日撮影。
The autumn scenery of Suzunomiya Park, Sakai. The photo was taken on November 26, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Arts–Science Interaction
"Symphony of science: A wave of reason." A video that brings science and music together in a creative way. Guardian (December 1, 2010).
About Astrophysics
"Magnetic fields may protect exo-earths after all." Astronomers fear that Earth-like planets around dwarf stars cannot be protected by magnetic fields. Now they may be forced to change their minds. Technology Review, Physics arXiv Blog (November 30, 2010).
[Retweet of PhysOrg Science News's words] "Astronomers use moon in effort to corral elusive cosmic particles." Seeking to detect mysterious, ultra-high-energy neutrinos from distant regions of space, a team of astronomers used the Moon as part of an innovative telescope system for the search. PhysOrg (November 30, 2010).
About Books
In Sean Carroll's From Eternity to Here, I again found the mentioning about a book I read earlier: R. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values.
[Retweet of TIME.com's words] "Virtual book club: Five great social reading sites" Times (November 30, 2010).
2010年12月1日水曜日
秋色 ２０ (Autumn Colors 20)
堺市・鈴の宮公園の秋景色。2010年11月26日撮影。
The autumn scenery of Suzunomiya Park, Sakai. The photo was taken on November 26, 2010.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Astronomer
"Is Tycho ready for his close-up?" The story of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe has box-office potential. New York Times (November 29, 2010).
About Fundamental Physics
"Via satellite." Physics Vol. 3, p. 100 (2010). —Data collected from the LAGEOS II satellite is offering a new way to test general relativity.
"The X factor." Physics, Synopsis. —X and X-bar pair might explain the existence of both dark matter and the prevalence of matter over antimatter. See also "New particle links dark matter with missing antimatter." physicsworld (November 29, 2010).
[Retweet of S. C. Kavassalis's words] Perimeter names Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, Bohr and Dirac research chairs: RT Nature News "Physics centre plans rapid growth." Perimeter Institute steps up drive to attract top talent. (November 29, 2010).
[Retweet of FQXi Physics's words] E8 theory strikes back: (A. Garrett Lisi's feature about his FQXi-funded research in Scientific American) "A Geometric Theory of Everything" (November 29, 2010).
About Nuclear Physics
"Far from the stable nuclei." Physics, Synopsis. —An advance in computational techniques points to an island of inversion near chromium-64.
About Peace and Politics
NHK ニュースは最近、政治家の発言について「認識を示した」という言い方をする。日常使わない固い表現である。「考えを述べた」ではいけないのか。——と思っていた矢先、『図書』12月号に丸谷才一が長谷部恭男著『憲法の imagination』中の「認識を示す」という文を紹介しているのを読んだ。長谷部は、「あたかも価値判断を全く含んでいないかのように装いつつ、実は特定の価値判断を前提として人々の行動を一定の方向に誘導することにこそ、『認識』は示されている」と論じているという。これを読むと、「認識」という語の発生源は NHK でなく、政治家たちのようだが、そうなのだろうか。
先のツイートが肯定されるならば、私が好ましくないと思った NHK ニュースの言葉遣いの責任は、政治家たちにあることになりそうだ。しかし、この言葉遣いの発端が政治家たちにあるにしても、「認識を示した」という報道語は、政治家の発言引用の外にある。つまり、毎回のこの形の報道内容において、政治家自身が「認識」の語を使ったかどうかは明らかでない。したがって、長谷部によるこの語の意味からすれば、客観的に報道すべき NHK が、人々の行動を一定の方向に誘導しているという疑いが残り、やはり好ましくない言葉遣いであることになる。
About Science
"Science sees further": A series of articles on some of the most exciting areas of science today. Royal Society (November 30, 2010) (via Nature News).
[Retweet of Guardian Science's words] "Ten questions science must answer." (November 30, 2010) (via Ed Yong).
About Solid-State Physics
"Qubits, meet photons." Physics, Synopsis. —A proposed nanoscale device that mediates interactions between qubits and light.
2010年11月30日火曜日
秋色 １９ (Autumn Colors 19)
堺市・鈴の宮公園のイロハモミジ。2010年11月26日撮影。
Japanese maple leaves in autumn colors. The photo was taken on November 26, 2010, at Suzunomiya Park, Sakai.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Astrophysics
Doubts are raised from statistical part of the analysis: [Retweet of Peter Coles's words] "Doubts about the Evidence for Penrose's Cyclic Universe." Blog In the Dark (November 28, 2010) (via S. C. Kavassalis).
About Life Science
"Telomerase reverses ageing process." Nature News (November 28, 2010). —Dramatic rejuvenation of prematurely aged mice has been observed. [Retweeted by Glaucio Souza]
About Technology
Dealing with the present one would not be so easy: [Retweet of jonahlehrer's words] The long history of "information overload" anxiety: "Information overload, the early years." boston.com (November 28, 2010) (via Teobesta).
2010年11月29日月曜日
２０１０年１０月分記事へのエム・ワイ君の感想 (M.Y.'s Comments on October-2010 Articles)
In Japanese only
M.Y. 君から "Ted's Coffeehouse 2" 2010年10月分への感想を11月28日づけで貰った。同君の了承を得て、ここに紹介する。青色の文字をクリックすると、言及されている記事が別ウインドウに開く。
1. 水彩画「夏木立」（9月掲載分）、水都の一景
堺市役所本館エントランスホールで開催された美交会展（11月15日から18日）に、筆者が出品したものです。画題の選定には作者の趣向が感じられます。ツイッター友達の Chaira Maieron さんもこのブログを見て共通の趣味をお楽しみの様子。私もブログでこの傑作を鑑賞しました。実物は色彩表現に作者の苦心が感じられるでしょうが、ブログではかなわないことです。
2. バス旅行「秋のかやぶき音楽堂コンサート」
4回にわたって、概略次のように記されています。
妻とバス旅行「秋のかやぶき音楽堂コンサート」に参加した。バスは午前9時に JR 大阪駅前を出発した。まず、兵庫県篠山市にある兵庫陶芸美術館へ寄り、特別展「型が生み出す、やきものの美—柿右衛門・三田—」を見学した。
そのあと、篠山市の「お菓子の里丹波」の本館で昼食をして、コンサート会場の音楽堂（京都府南丹市日吉町胡麻）へ行く。音楽堂は福井県大飯郡の禅寺「善応寺」の旧本堂を移築したもので、迦陵頻窟（からびんくつ）と名づけられている。1階客席は、床に敷かれた座布団の上に座るようになっており、2階と3階にも客席がある。
コンサートの演奏者ザイラーピアノデュオ（夫妻）は、日本各地はもとより、世界各地で4手のための連弾アンサンブルとして活躍しているほか、世界各地で未出版や廃版になったピアノデュオ曲の発掘にも精力的に取り組んでいる。演奏曲目は、ロベルト・シューマン「小さな子どもと大きな子どものための連弾曲集 」より9曲、ヨハネス・ブラームス「シューマンの主題による変奏曲」など。帰途のバスの中で、ゲーテが好んだという植物の、ザイラー夫妻が増やした苗が土産として配布された。
途中の美しい旅の寛ぎの後、古い日本建築を活用した音楽堂の風雅な雰囲気でのコンサートを、たっぷり楽しまれたことでしょう。「長時間姿勢を保つのがやや苦痛だった」のは残念ですが。
3. 「浜辺の歌」、「故郷を離るる歌」
前者は「歌声喫茶 in さかい」で、筆者が最近、「この歌の3番の歌詞を覚えたばかりだったので、リクェストしたのだ。リクェストの6割ほどは知らない歌だったが、楽しい時間を過ごした」とあります。私もこの歌は、小学生の時、町の小学校の合同発表会で女生徒が清らかな声で歌ったのを聴いて心に残りました。3番の歌詞はずっと後になって知りました。チェロ奏者のミッシャ・マイスキーが情感豊かに美しく弾いているCDをよく聴いています。後者については、10月26日づけ記事中、J. Tanaka さんとのツイート交換の項にあり、筆者のこの歌を好む理由が書かれています。Tanakaさんは、「上手な少女の合唱で聞くと不思議な感動を覚える」と述べています。私は中学3年の音楽の時間に習いました。歌詞、メロディーとも美しい歌で、中学卒業後、就職して故郷を去る友人には、「蛍の光」のように心に響く歌だろうな、と思って歌っていました。
4. ツイートなど
先端の科学・技術、平和、友人との言葉の交換、引用、インタ－ネットの利用などについて、よくこれだけの情報が毎日提供できることかと、筆者の見識の広さと好奇心と処理効率のよさに感心しています。筆者のフォロワーの多くは外国の方だそうです。『iPad英語学習法』著者、湯川さんによると、「英語学習には英語ツイートが有効」とのこと。筆者もこれを肯定し、吉田兼好や泉谷閑示の文の各一節を自身で英訳した例（それぞれ、10月15日づけと10月1日づけツイッター記録 "Quotations" の項）を掲載しています。通じる英語能力があってこそ外国のフォロワーが増えるのでしょう。Tanaka さんの言葉「ただ今HPを拝見し、ツイッターも拝見しましたが、殆どが英文の高度な内容で、いったんたじろいでしまいました」の通り、難解な話もありますが、最新情勢や啓蒙的なものを楽しんでいます。
秋色 １８ (Autumn Colors 18)
堺市・鈴の宮公園のサクラの紅葉。2010年11月26日撮影。
Cherry leaves in autumn colors. The photo was taken on November 26, 2010, at Suzunomiya Park, Sakai.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Books
About 15 years ago I read the novel Fermata written by Nicholson Baker and now unexpectedly find it referred to in Sean Carroll's book, From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time.
About Cognition Science
小特集－鏡映反転：「鏡の中では左右が反対に見える」のは何故か? 認知科学 Vol. 15, No. 3 (2008). 小亀、多幡、高野の各説、相互批判、批判への回答、の各論文がここから無料ダウンロードできます。
About Mathematics
About instrumental and relational understanding: [Retweet of Republic of Math's words] "The axis of symmetry of a quadratic function" (after James Tanton) Republic of Mathematics Blog (November 27, 2010).
About Particle Physics
[Retweet of Colliding Particles's words] "Colliding Particles Episode 7" is now online! —A video, 10 min 43 sec.
About Philosophy of Physics
"Boredom: symmetry, god and x-factor," by Lily Asquith, Guardian (November 27, 2010). —About Peter Kosso's paper "The epistemology of spontaneously broken symmetries." Synthese Vol. 122, p. 359 (2000).
2010年11月28日日曜日
秋色 １７ (Autumn Colors 17)
写真は堺市・鈴の宮団地で、2010年11月19日撮影。
The photo was taken on November 19, 2010, at Suzunomiya Estate, Sakai.
From tweets of yesterday (edited by rephrasing, adding words, etc.)
About Astrophysics
"Cosmic rebirth," Circular patterns in the universe's pervasive background radiation suggest the Big Bang was only the latest of many. Science News (November 26, 2010). —About Gurzadyan-Penrose paper.
About Books
[Retweet of Andréia Azevedo Soares's words] Last great book Oliver Sacks read: Dirac's biography by Graham Farmelo. "It's 600 pages long, not a word too long." A YouTube video (October 27, 2010).
About Particle Physics
"Firing a quark through the early universe," by Jon Butterworth. Latest results from the Large Hadron Collider use quarks and gluons to "X-ray" the nuclear soup we came from. Guardian (November 26, 2010).
[Retweet of madge's words] "Large Hadron Collider experiments bring new insight into primordial universe." After less than three weeks of heavy-ion running, the three experiments studying lead ion collisions at the LHC have already brought new insight into matter as it would have existed in the very first instants of the Universe’s life. Physorg (November 26, 2010).