This Is Really Interesting! Is There Any Reason Why This Would Be Useful? Is It Useful, Apart From Getting

my morning coffee / jupiter

these are stunning! <3

notes: theory of spiral galaxies [01, 02 / x]

very specific types of physicists

emeritus: a well-meaning retired professor who still frequents the department. occasionally seen jogging up and down the halls of the lab. it’s how he gets his daily exercise. his field of research is obsolete and he spends most of his days making art based on physics equations. asks all of the female undergrads if they plan to teach high school physics.

star child: no one will measure up to this alumnus. they started research in high school, graduated from undergrad a year early with a few papers already under their belt, and finished their phd (at a very prestigious university) in two years. they visit occasionally to present their research and talk to the undergrad physics students. very down to earth and kind. undergrads, grad students, and professors alike are in awe.

father figure: this prof’s lectures are full of dad jokes, metaphors comparing the behaviors of particles with sugared-up three-year-olds, and digressions about something that’s more fun to talk about than the subject matter. says “i’m not angry, just disappointed” when the class does poorly on an exam. when you go to his office hours there is almost always a child or two underneath his desk or drawing on his whiteboard (the bottom third of which is always covered in stick figures and scribbles). intensely watched the construction from his office window as a new laboratory was being built.

academic rival: you were friends over the summer when you were both doing research but they became distant. small talk always turns into bickering about the importance of your respective research when you run into each other getting coffee in the common room. begrudgingly you admit to yourself, they’re really good at what they do. thank god you don’t belong to the same research group.

harsh but kind: brilliant researcher with high expectations of their students. will offer and make you tea as they grade your problem sets (with commentary) in front of you. after your semester in their class, you buy a bag of loose-leaf jasmine green tea because they got you hooked on it.

the politician: buddies with some higher-ups in university admin and the heads of other colleges. your peers derail class by bringing up current events. has a fixation on swords and genealogy. a bit of an anglophile. you took apart a transistor radio with them once. will make formal complaints to the math department on your behalf.

melancholy teaching professor: very cynical from a career in academia but here to have fun. one of the friendliest faces in the department. organizes the students and faculty to do outreach and lugs physics demos all around the tri-county area. talks to the undergrads like they are people. always kind of sad, it makes you wish you could fix all of the ills of academia for them.

Dark Academia self-care tips for the wintertime.

Embrace the beauty of the natural world as we enter into the depths of winter. There’s something wonderfully haunting about the barrenness, the muted saturation, the quiet. This season is like the stillness between the exhale and the inhale. Dwell in that space.

Try and get in the habit of waking up early, even if you only manage it on odd occasions. This time of year, the sun might rise later than you. Bask in the morning twilight.

Dress well and fully, even if you do not intend to leave the house.

After you wake up, go for a walk, be it brief of meandering. Do not listen to music, but rather hone in on the silence, the sound of your footfalls, the winter birds.

If you live near a park or otherwise pleasant natural area with benches, take with you a novel or poetry collection, and linger for a time to read. Remember to wear gloves so that you may turn pages without discomfort.

Open a window periodically throughout the day, even if it is cold. That brief blast of air will anchor you to the natural world.

Try to complete at least one chapter of reading per day. You must tend to your mind just as you tend to your body.

If you wish, you may compose handwritten letters to those you care for, or fear with whom you may be losing touch. A physical letter holds so much more weight than a text or email. Practice your cursive, make the letter truly lovely.

Eat dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate, tea rather than soda, whole bread rather than white.

Keep a handwritten journal of your upcoming tasks, daily aspirations and idle musings. Maintaining a written record of one’s obligations helps to remind oneself of the obligations’ true scales so that they do not try to expand and sprout teeth in the mind.

Work hard. This season is stark and unyielding, as are you. You were built for this. Face the storm head on.

As night draws in, play some classical music in the candlelight. Close your eyes, tip your head back, and lean into it. Let the song flow through you in haptic ecstasy.

Before retreating to bed, record some of the positive experiences brought to you throughout the day: from tasks you completed successfully, to poetic thoughts that stuck you, to birds you spotted on your windowsill. Kindle your childlike sense of wonder, for there is so much in this world to wonder at.

Breathe. Always. Feel it. 

the one with the brains

problem solving tips that actually worked for me

Hey there!

If you have a math, or science related subject (like I always do), you’ll find that you really can’t escape analysis and problem solving, especially if you’re majoring in something science or maths related. So I am here to share some tips that actually made studying technical subjects a little bit easier and manageable for me in college:

Practice solving. If you have a subject that requires you to solve, you really have to practice solving, there is no easy way out of this one. This allows you to develop your own technique in solving the problem. You can start by doing the problems you did in class, then venture out to some examples in textbooks, then further into the problems in the textbooks until you get the hang of how the concepts and theories are applied. 

Listen during class. I know, it’s boring. But you have to do this. This way, you’ll be able to understand the topic once it is presented to you. In my opinion, it’s better if you let an expert explain it because they know the important bits in the lesson. Then study it afterwards on your own to develop your own techniques.

Ask your professors. Don’t be afraid to ask questions in class. Or if you’re shy, you can ask them after the class. However, it’s important that you ask them about the lesson when you already did your part; meaning: you already studied the material/solution over and over again but there’s just something that you can’t seem to grasp. 

Study before the class. Studying the lesson in advance doesn’t hurt. Plus, it works because you already have an idea about it. However, I don’t do it usually. What I do is that prior the discussion, I study the lessons that are going to be essential to the next topic. Example: Say that our topic later will be about introduction to thermodynamics (which includes derivation of various thermodynamic formulas); what I’m going to study instead is the different integration and derivation techniques, and different basic thermodynamics concepts like laws of thermodynamics. This ensures me that I know the prerequisite lessons of the next topic in class.

Absorb the conceptual parts of the topic first. Before diving into the problems itself, try to digest the concepts or theories behind it first. This way, you can understand which information is important and easily think of a solution because you know the problem’s framework. Even when your professor gives you a problem that seems different from your other sample problems, the concepts will still be the same throughout.

Reverse engineer the solution. Reverse engineering is reading and understanding your solution from bottom to top. I do this to make connections while going through the solution. I usually ask myself “‘where did this come from?’, ‘why did this happen?’, or ‘why is the answer like this?’” It allows me to look into the parts that I missed which are usually concepts or theories that I forgot to apply in solving the problem.

Look for key terms or phrases. There are some problems that put in information that may seem unimportant, but actually is really important. Examples such as the phrases constant velocity, constant acceleration, starting from rest, accelerate uniformly, reversible isothermal, adiabatic conditions, isobaric/isochoric compression/expansion, etc., are easy to miss but actually gives you vital information especially when solving a problem.

Try to ask yourself how or why it happened in every step of the solution. You can do this to gauge your mastery of the lesson. If you can answer yourself confidently, then you’ve studied well enough. But, if you can’t or if you feel that it’s not enough, then you better get your pen, paper, and calculator to practice some more.

If you have to draw it, draw it. Some problems need the use of your imagination, and these problems are the ones that get tricky most of the time. It’s easier to draw each of the time frames that are important so you get the sense of what’s going on between these pictures. This way, you’ll know which information you’re missing and which ones are you failing to take into account.

It’s okay to be messy and slow while practicing. Not all of time you can solve in a tumblr-esque manner because, dude, tumblr notes or solutions are soooo pretty to look at, BUT, what’s more important is that you understand each step of the solution and how the answer came to be 8.0658 m/s directed 32° south of west. So it’s okay to have dashes, strikethroughs, and crosses on your scratch paper, as long as you’re learning, a messy solution on a paper you’re not going to submit to your professor is fine.

IF YOU’VE REALLY GOTTEN THE HANG OF SOLVING IT, try to solve a fresh set of problems as fast and accurately as you can. Try to solve as if you’re in an exam. This is also to gauge how well you’re prepared for it, but you need to do this accurately. I repeat, accurately. It doesn’t work if you’ve finished it in less than an hour but all of your answers are wrong.

Rest. If you know that you’ve done a good job, then take your mind off of everything first and let it wander to wherever it wants to wander. You deserve it ✨

Schedule: work on that paper, mayb-

Brain: see how many superscripts and subscripts you can make before LaTeX throws a shit fit

(01.15.2021) || lit review and trying to prep for spring semester.

(Travel Journal)

New Zealand 2022: Christchurch

Christchurch was so much smaller and quieter than I had expected, especially having lived in Melbourne for years. It felt very much to me like a big town than a city, resembling Ballarat or Bendigo in Australia, but with its unique charms, of course.

We visited the Tannery (Yes I've posted this spread inspired by the vibes there before, so this is a re-post), a quaint shopping area with beautiful boutiques and vintage shops. Most of the time however, we were around the Riverside Market, trying the local produce or just enjoying the vibes of the place.

Christchurch Botanic Gardens was definitely a highlight, with flowers I've never seen before, massive trees, beautiful water features and charming rose gardens. I enjoyed Christchurch Botanic Gardens more than the one in Auckland, although the weather probably played a big part! The curated experience of the two gardens were very different though, so it's probably not a fair comparison. But I'd definitely recommend all three areas to anyone visiting Christchurch.