SFA
Physics, Astronomy and Engineering News
March 31, 2004

Spring Meeting at Tarleton State University

Several SFA physics students, faculty, and alumni will be traveling to Tarleton State University this week for the Spring meeting of APS/AAPT/SPS. Here is a list of the SFA speakers:

Friday

3:00 PM - Norman L. Markworth, "Online Astronomy"
3:48 PM - Kris Byboth, "A Photometric Analysis of the Eclipsing Binary Star FZ Ori"
4:12 PM - Daniel Wilson, "Modeling Bicycle Mechanics"
5:36 PM - Andrew Wagers, "Radio Interfrometry at the SFA Observatory"

Saturday

10:45 AM, Dan Bruton and Walter Trikosko,
"Adventures in Natural Frequency: Boom Whackers and Gravity Chimes"

Meeting Home Page:
http://www.math.tarleton.edu/physics/Conference/main.htm

Seminar for Thursday

There will not be a physics seminar this week but...

The next Chemistry Department seminar is scheduled for Thursday, April 1, 2004 at 4:00 in Science 137. Dr. James B. Garrett (our Dr. Garrett’s son) will be presenting a seminar. He is an SFA alumnus who went to A&M and earned his doctorate in biochemistry. He did a post-doc at Illinois. He is currently working at Diversa, a biotech company in San Diego. He will be on campus Thursday and Friday so there will be plenty of opportunity to meet and talk to him. For more information concerning this or other departmental seminars, contact Dr. Michele Harris (mharris@sfasu.edu). http://www.sfasu.edu/chemistry/Seminars.htm


Contributors' Links

Who's Hiring Physics Bachelors?
http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/emptrends.htm

Impressive Cloud Chamber Videos
http://www.cloudchambers.com/VideoDownloads.htm

NASA's X-43A Scramjet Flies At 5,000 mph, Shatters Records
http://www.avweb.com/newswire/10_14a/briefs/186974-1.html

Star Map Poster at AllPoster.com
http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?apnum=390724

Rainbows and Atmospheric Optics
http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/atoptics/phenom.htm

Evicting Einstein
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/26mar_einstein.htm?list1065276

East Texas Jobs Online
http://www.wwits.net/jobs/

The University of Arkansas Alumni Profile: Thomas O. Callaway, PhD 1973
http://www.uark.edu/depts/physics/about/alumni/1998/alumni.html

Long John Silver's celebrates salt water on Mars?!
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=13905

All five naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) are visible in the early evening right now. Don't miss it -- go out just after the Sun drops below the horizon, and watch as the sky darkens. You'll first see Venus in the west, then Jupiter over toward the east. As the sky darkens, you'll be able to see the other planets. For details on exactly where to look, along with sky maps, go to http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/19mar_planets.htm?list146819. Be sure to notice that the 5 planets all fall on nearly the same line (or segment of circle) across the sky --- demonstrating that all the planets orbit the Sun in approximately the same plane.

Thanks to Ken Price, Tommy Gober, Ray Brown, Kellie Fletcher, and others for the links and information above. Feel free to send any interesting links that you find. This email message is sent to students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the department. If you would like to be removed from the emailing list or are getting multiple copies of these newsletters, then feel free to reply to this message with your request.

Clear skies,
Dan Bruton
astro@sfasu.edu