SFA
Physics, Astronomy and Engineering News
January 16, 2006

SFA Scholarships
SFA scholarship applications for 2006-2007 are now available in the Financial Aid Office (Austin Building 104), the Alumni Foundation Office (Alumni Center), or on-line at www.sfasu.edu/faid or www.sfaalumni.com. All applications must be received or postmarked by February 1, 2006.

Spring 2006 Courses

Schedule of Courses:
http://www.sfasu.edu/registrar/Registration/scheduleofclasses.html

AST 105 - Modern Astronomy
AST 305 - Observational Astronomy (That's 8:00 PM not 8:00 AM.)

EGR 112 - Foundations in Engineering II
EGR 342 - Digital Systems

PHY 108 - Introduction to Engineering/Physics
PHY 110 - Introduction to Electronics
PHY 118 - Musical Acoustics
PHY 131 - Mechanics and Heat
PHY 132 - Electricity Sound and Light
PHY 241 - Technical Physics I
PHY 242 - Technical Physics II
PHY 321 - Engineering Dynamics
PHY 430 - Thermodynamics
PHY 440 - Electricity and Magnetism
PHY 470 - Seminar

PHY 551 - Advanced Quantum Mechanics
PHY 570 - Seminar
PHY 575 - Advanced Graduate Studies
PHY 589 - Thesis Research
PHY 590 - Thesis Writing

Stardust Capsule Lands
A capsule carrying dust particles from the tail of a comet parachuted to the Utah desert Sunday, and elated NASA scientists were eager to examine the samples for clues about how the solar system formed.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/main/
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/01/15/stardust/index.html - Video

Contributors' Links
More news from newsletter recipients

Real Video: Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream"
http://webevents.yahoo.com/mlk/dream/
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html

Here's a fully drivable webcam tank with mounted laser sight and paintball cannon. If you email the guy he may give you a test run for free.
http://gamereality.se/
http://hem.passagen.se/gamereality/Klipp2.wmv - Movie
http://hem.passagen.se/gamereality/Klipp3.wmv - Movie

Recent Physics Employment Statistics
http://www.aip.org/statistics

Check out the lab section. A lot of cool stuff.
http://www.neave.com/

Texas Drought
http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

Zelda Parody..The Legend of Zelda: And The Lampshade of No Real
http://www.flashplayer.com/games/legendofzeldathelampshade_movie.php

Undergraduate Fellowships in Nuclear Chemistry & Radiochemistry
http://www.cofc.edu/~nuclear/nukess.html

MILKY WAY SUPERNOVA RATE CONFIRMED - 1 every 50 years???
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1650_1.asp

SPINNING PULSAR SMASHES RECORD - rotates 716 times per second
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1659_1.asp

VEGA MYSTERY SOLVED - Vega's poles are about 9,900°C, a whopping 2,300°C hotter than the equator
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1657_1.asp

PROBING POLARIS
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1655_1.asp

MORE EVIDENCE THAT BLACK HOLES ARE FOR REAL
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1656_1.asp

Spacewander - Interactive?
http://www.spacewander.com/USA/english.html

The Physics Behind Car Crashes
http://science.slashdot.org/science/06/01/05/0114254.shtml?tid=99&tid=14

Fun with Ferrofluid
http://www.wondermagnet.com/ferro.html

Ok, put down your soldering iron, turn off your spectrum analyzer, and let's play chess
http://www.leapsecond.com/pages/chess/

Japanese robots to guard shops and offices
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8330600/

Phases of Venus Movie
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060110.html

Recent Image from Mars
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051128.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051114.html

Job Interview Question
You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night. You pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for the bus:

1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect man (or) woman you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car? Think before you continue reading. This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application. You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first; or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your perfect dream lover again.

The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. He simply answered: "I would give the car keys to my old friend, and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the woman of my dreams."

Scholarships and Employment Opportunities

Consider teaching labs for our department or teaching at the high school or college level in your future. For more info see your professors and http://www.aapt.org/

SFA Opportunities

Other Opportunities

Thanks to James Teel, Jonathan Belew, Walter Trikosko, Norm Markworth, Ryan Williams, Nathan Phetteplace Dave Deming, Kris Byboth, Nathan Ryan, Chris Pierce, Marco Meniero, Wally Boyd, Ryan Williams, Robert Payne, Wally Boyd, Andy Flanagan, Jessi Souther, Barry Smith, Robin Marshall, Andy Wagers, Larry Luther, Chris Dahl, Doreen E. Everett, Tommy Gober, Brian Thomas, Tim Rothenbush, Allen Hubbard, 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

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