The Society of Physics Students will meet on Friday the 23 of September from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Vander Werf 104. We’ll discuss activities of interest. Be sure to go to this meeting if you want a free National SPS subscription! Its on the house!
SPS Problem of the Week
A bored astronaut plays with a measuring tape in space. He pulls out an arbitrary length of tape, and then lets go with both hands at the same time.
What is the ensuing behavior of the measuring tape?
Send a written solution that explains the behavior of the measuring tape, as well as a username you would like to be referred to by, to jason.gombas@hope.edu. We will publish the username of any student who provides a correct solution in next week’s post.
This Week in Physics
- September 18 1977: Voyager I takes first photo of Earth and the Moon together.
- September 19 1957: First underground nuclear test takes place in Nevada.
- September 21, 1978: Two Soviet cosmonauts set a space endurance record after 96 days in space.
- September 21, 2003: Galileo space mission ends as the probe is sent into Jupiter’s atmosphere where it was crushed.
- September 22 1959: Saul Perlmutter, astrophysicist; shared 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for providing evidence towards the idea that the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate.
- September 23 1961: William “Willie” McCool, American astronaut; among those killed when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated while reentering Earth’s atmosphere (2003).
- September 24 1970: The Soviet Luna 16 lands, completing the first unmanned round trip to the moon.
Mayo Research Opportunities
Hope Physics Aluma Dr. Cynthia McCullough asked us to share the following opportunities with the Hope Physics community:
- Mayo Graduate School offers PhD and MD/PhD training to future leaders in biomedical research and education. Training is especially distinctive for the world-class research laboratories at Mayo Clinic campuses in Minnesota, Florida, and Arizona, and Mayo Clinic’s unique funding model where all PhD students are awarded 5-year internal fellowships to select the mentor of their choice with no teaching responsibilities. Mayo Graduate School particularly welcomes applications from international and underrepresented students. The Mayo Graduate School application deadline is Dec. 1, 2016.
- Mayo Graduate School Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program offers a world-class opportunity for undergraduates to conduct a summer research project for 10 weeks while developing technical skills, networking, and enjoying special weekly seminars about current research. The SURF application deadline is Feb. 1, 2017.
- Mayo Graduate School created and sustains the oldest competitive NIH-funded Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) in the U.S. This program enriches PhD- and MD/PhD-bound post-baccalaureate students from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research, with the goal of a future biomedical research workforce whose diversity matches that of our country. Participants benefit from mentored research, graduate courses, and focused training in communication skills. The PREP application deadline is May 1, 2017.
Look for more information about these excellent training programs on the Mayo Graduate School website
Physics Seminar: Dr. Ben Shank
How to make Products that Keep Working (Introduction to Environmental Testing)
Physics and Engineering Department Seminar
Friday, September 16 at 3 pm
Thermotron Test Chambers, Holland, MI and Hope Physics Department
Anyone who has taken an advanced lab class knows that just because a design works on paper does not mean it will work on the benchtop. More experienced engineers and scientists know that working on the benchtop is not the same as working reliably in the lab or in the field. This talk aims to answer some of the major questions students have about environmental/reliability testing. Although delivered from a product engineering perspective, the concepts are applicable to anyone who makes anything, including laboratory experiments.