Monthly Archives: February 2009
PhD Comics’ tribute to Darwin: The Origin of the Theses
The original is at the PHD Comics site.
Nature wants you to blog
The journal Nature, that is — in an editorial available here: More researchers should engage with the blogosphere, including authors of papers in press. Is blogging a part of science, journalism or public discourse? In fact it may be all … Continue reading
Posted in General
3 Comments
Spintronics – I : The discovery of Giant MagnetoResistance (GMR) and the birth of spintronics
Let me start with this quote, “The theory of metallic resistance abounds in mysteries,” rightly said by Meaden (1971). One of these mysteries is about how and why electrical resistance changes when a magnetic field acts on ferromagnetic materials. And … Continue reading
Posted in Classics, General
Tagged giant magnetoresistance, IBM, multi-layers, Nobel Prize, Spintronics
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke is one name that didn’t draw as much attention as Newton’s did, though both were contemporaries; but his work has been no less significant and diverse. The famous Hooke’s Law in elasticity came from him in 1678 in … Continue reading
Posted in General
Why materials scientists should celebrate the insights of Darwin
An article in Nature Materials tells why (which piece, for some of you, unfortunately, might be behind pay wall); to give a flavour of the piece: Trees avoid sharp-cornered notches by growing wood in a shape that reduces concentrations of … Continue reading
Posted in General
Funny quotes
Here’s a list of some funny quotes, very apt for materials engineers. Enjoy!!
Materials Quotes: 011
My crown is in my heart, not in my head, Nor decked with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen; my crown is called contentment; A crown it is, that seldom kings enjoy. – William Shakespeare [Henry VI Part … Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged Contentment, Crown, Diamond, King, Quote, Shakespeare
Materials Quotes 010
Wolfgang Pauli once claimed ” God created the volume but the surface was invented by the devil”. Fortunately or unfortunately these surfaces are what we engineer today to strengthen or weaken the materials suiting our needs!!!
Materials Quotes: 009
David Turnbull (1979 Von Hippel award acceptance speech): [...] There are those who tell us from time to time that all the important problems in a field have, in principle, been solved and the field is therefore dead. So we … Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged Discovery, Excitement, Future, Predictions, Quote, Turnbull
A theme change, a header image contest, and a couple of announcements
I am trying out a brand new theme called Vigilance that has just been made available. I like pretty much everything about it, except perhaps the font (I prefer Verdana or some such ‘fat’ sans-serif). More importantly, I like its … Continue reading
