Title: "Relativity and Mark Twain's 'My Watch' "
         by Hugh Henderson Abstract

Time: 4:00 PM on Thursday
          October 19, 2006

Place: Science Room 334

All students and faculty are welcome to attend our seminars. Refreshments will be served.

Job Opportunity - Manned Space Vehicle

Dr. Bruton,

I am sending you this, stumping for my company. SAIC has recently won a contract on the Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance (SR&QA) contract for the next generation manned space vehicle. This will be the vehicle that will take man back to the Moon and eventually on to Mars. In that light, SAIC is currently hiring. I believe that they are not only looking for experience people, I believe that they are also looking for young scientists and engineers out of college to fill the ranks. This would be an opportunity for a person who is interested in space travel to get into the new vehicle, the new program on the ground level.

Our team uses our engineering, scientific and mathematical skills to provide risk, reliability and logistical analysis of current and future vehicles to assist in the design, maintenance and upgrades for these vehicles.

If there are any new or upcoming graduates that you know of who may be interested in something like this, please have them send me their resumes. I will then submit them to my management for their perusal and consideration. I cannot guarantee an interview or a job offer, but I can say that the resumes will be seen and considered for a position in our team.

James Teel
SAIC
Probabilistic Risk Analyst
S&MA Analysis Group
Mail Code NA2450
(281) 335-2289
James.E.Teel@nasa.gov

Editor's Note: James Teel graduated from SFA with a masters degree in physics in 1998.

Scholarships for Future Teachers

The American Association of Physics Teachers is offering two $2,000 scholarship for future high-school physics teachers. This scholarship, supported by an endowment funded by Barbara Lotze, is available only to U.S. citizens attending a U.S. school. Undergraduate students in, or planning to enter, physics teacher preparation curricula and high-school seniors planning to enter such curricula are eligible.
http://www.aapt.org/Grants/lotze.cfm

Urban Legend

Claim: Walt Disney arranged to have himself frozen in cryonic chamber full of liquid nitrogen upon his death, and he now awaits the day when medical technology makes his re-animation possible.
Status: False.
Origins: When the "frozen Disney" rumor was started, and by whom, is unknown. The privacy Disney maintained concerning his personal life extended to his death, and the lack of details available about his funeral and burial arrangements -- combined with his reputation as a technological innovator -- has helped foster the story of Disney's cryonic suspension ever since.
http://www.snopes.com/disney/waltdisn/frozen.htm

Dynamics Schedule?

For the Spring 2007 Semester, as it is scheduled now PHY 321L (2-4:50 pm) overlaps with MTH 333L by 15 minutes. Please contact Dr. Downing if you have any problem with PHY 321L running from 2:30-5:20 on Mondays to resolve this overlap problem.

Quantum Computing Seminars

Jeremy Becnel
Math/Nursing Room 357
Oct 9, Oct 16, Oct 23, & Oct 30
Abstract: We introduce the postulates of Quantum Mechanics and demonstrate how a finite dimensional Quantum Mechanical system can be used to perform computational task. Using these notions we develop the Shor algorithm for factoring an integer.

Science News

ASSIST movie from MIT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZNTgglPbUA
http://rationale.csail.mit.edu/project_assist.shtml

Americans win Nobel physics prize
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/03/nobel.physics.ap/index.html

Software finds missing 'a' in Armstrong's moon quote
"One small step for a mankind, one giant leap for mankind."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/30/moon.quote.ap/index.html

CNN Video: Phones that Scream
http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1055937567&pt=Y

Novarupta
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/03oct_novarupta.htm?list184210

T-Shirt
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/science/8964/

Movie: Working together really well!
http://astro.sfasu.edu/movies/Formadoporgente.wmv

Astronomers find supernova first spotted in A.D. 185
Nearly 2,000 years ago, Chinese astronomers spotted a bright light materializing in the night sky. Turns out the skywatchers had witnessed the spectacular explosion of a dying star. That was the year 185 AD. Tuesday astronomers said they might have identified the remains from this ancient stellar explosion, now considered the oldest supernova on record.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060928.html

Face on Mars -- Recent Images
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060926.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060925.html

Earth as seen From Saturn
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060927.html

Autumnal Equinox: Vertical Lines on the Sunlit Earth
http://astronomy.physics.tamu.edu/Java/Tools/Earth/Sun/

Movie: Magic Quarter with Chriss Angel?
http://astro.sfasu.edu/movies/MagicQuarter.wmv

Movies: The World's Safest Table Saw
http://www.sawstop.com/

The space station is really growing!
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060920.html

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