I Hate Skittles

Taking the Physics GRE this Saturday and the general on Sunday.  This week sucks as I am doing nothing but studying.  I’ve got to go take another three-hour practice test now.

It’s something most of us¹ have been taught from the very beginning and take for granite from day to day…  no magnetic monopoles!  Gauss’s law for magnetism seems iconic and elegant, like one who would hold out, even until the very end in denying to give us a monopole while  seems suspicious and awkward.  In reality though I find this all thoroughly exciting² and am contemplating throwing a party in honor of the discovery.  I must say that this is a testament to science’s pursuit to ever expand and correct itself through the scientific method.  Take a look at the nature news article for more information and links to the papers.

1. or maybe just physicists [↩]
2. even surprisingly exciting [↩]

I am now proud to say that several friends and I are embarking on a new endeavor as embodied by The Institute of Really Bad Ideas.  We figure as long as we are already going to have really bad ideas, why not institutionalize it and maybe explode a thing or two.  As our mission statment explains,

“our institution’s main goal is to generate as many possibilities for experimentation as possible.”

So maybe what might start out as a really bad idea could turn into a good one or even an awesome one!  This seedling site already has some very intriguing posts and the faculty is growing every day.  I for one am extremely confident that this may be one of the really baddest ideas we’ve ever had.

It all started when the class hippie raised his hand in quantum. “Instead of class… can we watch Professor Milsom get pied”? Seconds later, and to everyones supries, 20 or so physics majors are racing across campus towards the mall.

Cheers broke loose from the crowd as Milsom approached and the bidding began. It was close, but in the end Rachelle won, out bidding half of the physics 252 class combined. And well, the rest is history.

Dr. Milsom is just one of those teachers you never forget. Whether you hate him or love him, you got to give him respect for taking a pie like that.