M.J. Dunlavy

Keep "National Lie Down For a Bit Day" in your heart all through the year.

Working on a thing...

NS folk can now book flu and COVID shots novascotia.canimmunize.ca/en/booking/c...

New addition to the website. Hate that this needs to be said.

maptap September 3 100🎯 94🏅 96🔥 80✨ 100🎯 Final score: 926

My lifetime of telling people to "always check the cable first" about to be vindicated.

Wee little BGO on the hill.

While it's great that anyone can now see this incredible film, it used to be so hard to watch these types of films. Back in the day, my pal and I had to promise the moon to an English prof who had a copy on VHS so she'd lend it to us. Anyway, go ahead. Watch the best film of all time. For free.

Working on a thing... #lightingtests

A thing you can learn from the web traffic of a physics education website geared towards teachers is the time when folks start preparing for the start of Fall classes. And that time is now. Summer traffic doldrums are over!

Will you be the first to watch the new video about Magdeburg Hemispheres?? demos.smu.ca/demos/fluid-...

Q: What's the best thing to use as an example of something that weighs 80lbs? A big dog (german shepherd)? 10yr old kid? Asking for a friend...

Partially-eclipsed sun as seen inside the partially-air conditioned Atrium at SMU

Starting soon!

Working on a thing..

Practicing

This is amazing. And as I sign of good faith, I won't do it to the person who reposted it for me to learn about. But everyone else...

I have a ticket with a pretty decent seat for The Odyssey in 70mmIMAX this weekend (Sun 11am showing)... that I am cancelling. If any locals want it, DM me and I'll let you know when I hit the refund button.

An underrated aspect of the prism-rainbow refraction effect is that since the transparent prism bends all of the light, it leaves a shadow as if it is opaque.

2001 NYT crosswords hit different.

For no particular reason: here's an explanation for why the sun looks red when there's a lot of particles in the atmosphere. demos.smu.ca/demos/astron...

It's been 8yrs but I'd like to get a limited series podcast going again. I found the research folder for Earth's Mixtape and sadly it'll take that much work again. Speaking of: Like NASA history? Like thinking about talking to aliens? Well then... podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/e...

Let me see... what do I remember from that weekend...

I thought I was proud of this mushroom-spinach risotto *before* putting it on the table...

If you are on the SMU campus and have something you'd like photographed in infra-red, send me a DM within the next hour.

After far too long, the "Search" function on the site has been fixed! Now teachers and students can search for the demos they are looking for as if this site was made in the 21st century. demos.smu.ca

New Poll: 1) Complicated questions about public policy have answers that can only be expressed with nuance and context. 🔲 Agree 🔲 Disagree

If you're interested in spotting Venus blip out of view then come back, position yourself IN A SHADOW of a solid object, like a building without windows (not trees!) so you CANNOT accidentally look at the sun. I beg!! Do NOT accidentally look at the sun with a telescope or binocs!!!

Full description now up on the site: demos.smu.ca/demos/modern... #iTeachPhysics

New video! Using a Hoberman switch-pitch ball (easily available from many fine toy stores) to demonstrate Quantum Indeterminacy in the classroom! #iTeachPhysics youtu.be/rim-hknwDO0

When I moved to Canada as a what-would-be-described now a media-obsessed kid, this was the Canadian show that made the biggest impression on me. And that impression was that Canadian shows were bad.

It's done. Gonna sit with it for a night and then release it tomorrow after checking it again with unbleary eyes.

Do this long enough, and you can hear feedback from the future while you are editing. (and yes, I can also hear your typo comments)

The issue with filming at 1000fps (with my camera, at any rate) is the lo-res pixelation. Throwing lots of light at it helps, of course. But in this case, I think it works as an effect for the "indeterminate" state.

Ok. Doing a full video of this.

Was green. Then orange? A nice way to demonstrate superposition of states and how measurement (catching) collapses them. #iTeachPhysics

Sorry, I grabbed it because it is in a 4-pack with three others films I wanted.

Dang. Gonna get what-for from the Multi-Media office for this one...

For anyone on the SMU campus, the "Free Shelf" in the English Department currently has a pretty spiffy-looking DVD of "Singin' in the Rain" (a legit best-ever movie candidate).

They can't all be winners. For instance, here's Mr. Eclipse-Eyes. He gets happier as the eclipse proceeds.

New video! Styrofoam Peanuts on a Van de Graaf. Also: this demo is a pain for clean-up. We propose a cleaner alternative in the 2nd half of the vid. youtu.be/paAbr4HF0OQ #iTeachPhysics