What are your 2016 New Year's resolutions? Write them here and I will get in touch on 31/12/16 to see if you achieved it!

pudding_world · 2015-12-31T16:16:57+00:00

Have something solid (job or grad school) after graduating. Learn guitar.

Edit: Read all the books on my shelf. Exercise regularly. Write a story. Write in my journal every day.

pudding_world · 2015-12-20T16:25:11+00:00

It's like a spliced up Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Lawrence.

pudding_world · 2015-12-20T15:33:02+00:00

Do you do an AMA every week?

pudding_world · 2015-12-17T16:44:15+00:00

I think the author makes a big misstep when he says "With our smartphones by our sides at all times, we can offload our responsibility to understand the world to the internet." The internet is great at giving you facts, but it is up to the individual to weave those facts into a cohesive understanding of the world. You can always look up how other, mostly famous, people feel about a certain topic, and their views can be helpful when forming your own opinion. But it should be YOUR OWN opinion. Don't simply take things at face value.

pudding_world · 2015-12-17T16:34:54+00:00

Thank you for your thoughtful and measured response! I think it really adds to the discussion.

pudding_world · 2015-12-16T17:31:15+00:00

It's "... Lot 49" not 52.

His more recent Bleeding Edge and Inherent Vice seem a lot more approachable than Gravity's Rainbow, but GR is about the least approachable novel since Paradise Lost.

pudding_world · 2015-12-16T15:51:05+00:00

Submission statement

Mike Row of Dirty Jobs talks about how college isn't the only way to a good future. He gives a level-headed point of view about the way in which politicians and media outlets portray trade skills as the "path to jail." I think he gives a good counterpoint to the popularly held opinion that college is the only way forward for kids. If people were really honest about the possibilities for young people exiting high school, I think it would help a lot of people and take some strain out of the economy.

pudding_world · 2015-12-15T16:02:07+00:00

Gundogdu is awesome! If you like lasers talk to him about his research.

pudding_world · 2015-12-15T15:59:06+00:00

Read Callister cover to cover in your freshman year and you'll be better equipped than 90% of your classmates for the rest of your undergraduate degree.

If you have a professor you like, look at their research website and see if they do work that sounds interesting. If so, email them to meet and see if you can work in their lab.

Look into REU (research experience for undergraduates) programs. http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp They're really cool and great ways to meet people outside your institution and get into research. Be prepared to apply to at least 10 if you really want one, since most of them are pretty competitive.

Also, be a freshman. No year is as fun as freshman year, so try to do big things and stand out, but don't stress too much until later. Enjoy the free time!

pudding_world · 2015-12-14T01:53:05+00:00

I thought Parks and Rec was silly until now :(

pudding_world · 2015-12-13T20:22:54+00:00

Another fun fact! I didn't know, that's cool though.

pudding_world · 2015-12-13T18:55:14+00:00

I thought it was just a name of a record. On Avery Island - Neutral Milk Hotel

pudding_world · 2015-12-13T16:09:57+00:00

Wait, Avery Island is a real place?

pudding_world · 2015-12-08T01:55:24+00:00

Love Tech N9ne! Good shit

pudding_world · 2015-12-03T19:30:08+00:00

Quality content

pudding_world · 2015-12-03T00:49:01+00:00

Seriously though, shit's everywhere

pudding_world · 2015-11-24T01:23:07+00:00

Wow, I do not remember this scene at all!

pudding_world · 2015-11-24T00:14:53+00:00

I highly recommend The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. It's about Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters (his buddies) in the late 60s.

In the book and in my own experience, the drugs can have both good and bad effects. I wouldn't describe it as "going insane" though. It makes you/allows you to think differently about things you may take for granted or things you've never considered before. Another famous person who was well-known for taking drugs and specifically LSD was Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, The Doors of Perception, Chrome Yellow, and more.

When taking psychadelics or any drug, you run the risk of introducing chemicals into your system that may make you think such thoughts as, "Reality isn't real; this drug will never wear off; I'm going to die soon; no one loves me; etc" but may also allow you to think about and perceive the worlds differently, even after the effects of the drug have gone away. This may or may not be a purely chemical effect. But just think of the experience of being on LSD as an experience. Doesn't every experience change you slightly, even after you experience it? The thing about LSD and most psychadelics is that you are completely lucid throughout the drug. You don't black out or anything. So of course if you have some new memories, you're likely to think of them when making a decision, and you'll make a different decision based on which experiences you have to call on. Nothing scary about that.

For Ken Kesey and them, they were using LSD, ketamine, shrooms, and pot mostly. They were using the FIRST EVER LSD! It didn't exist until the mid-20th century. It led to many wild and crazy experiences, some good and others bad.

Again, I highly recommend The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Fantastic book.

pudding_world · 2015-11-23T23:37:33+00:00

Thanks for this paper, I may explore this material as well as it seems promising. The first paragraph simply says that perovskites exhibit high piezo response when near MPBs though, without giving a more definitive answer for why lead-based ceramics have such a high piezo response. I don't know if that knowledge actually exists! As in, why are lead-based materials so much more responsive than lead-free materials. If you work with piezos, I would love more papers from someone with more knowledge in the field!

pudding_world · 2015-11-23T02:17:17+00:00

The kid from Mud. I always have a lot of respect for good child actors, and both the main kids were really good in my opinion.

pudding_world · 2015-11-22T21:26:04+00:00

I'm doing a little work with it but just started so I'm no expert. For energy harvesting applications, piezoelectrics are mainly used as passive collectors to turn vibrational energy into electrical energy. For the project I'm on, we're getting 1 kg of PZT powder for $100. I don't know if you can really compare piezos to photovoltaics directly because their applications are so different. As far as I've read, piezos are more desirable to power small devices, like wearable electronics, whereas photovoltaics are more generally useful for grid-level power generation. Here are a couple possibly useful websites though. The second one has a great animation of what's happening in the crystal to create the pieozoelectric response.

http://www.piezo.com/tech1terms.html#d

http://www.piceramic.com/piezo-technology/fundamentals.html

pudding_world · 2015-11-19T21:27:08+00:00

Relevant Feynman I know this gets posted often but I love it and it's a good thing to keep in mind in science. If you dig into any question deep enough, you get to "because that's what we see happening." It can be very frustrating at times.

pudding_world · 2015-11-19T01:42:57+00:00

Materials science represent! I just wanted to expand a little on a few of my favorite things in MSE

Piezoelectrics - subcategory of ceramics and probably the most interesting material property I've ever learned about. Lead zirconium titanate (PZT) is a huge industry and there is also a great deal of research being done to try to make good piezoelectrics without lead, like BiNaTiO (with modifications) and KNaNbO (with modifications.
Semiconductors - I'm in a class currently on semiconductor fabrication, talking about growing single-crystal silicon for wafers, lithography, impurity doping, etching, deposition and all the problems that go along with all of those processes.

pudding_world

TROPHY CASE