Map of the chemical elements

Have you ever wanted to know where the chemical elements were discovered? If so, have a look at this map to learn how many elements have been discovered in your favorite city, country, region, or continent!

Effects of a vegan diet on child development

Recently, I had a discussion with a colleague about the effects of a vegan diet on child development. Being a vegetarian for more than a decade and becoming a (semi-strict) vegan in recent years, and not having a child, I had some feelings about the topic but little knowledge. Thus, I checked the scientific literature. Here is what I learned.

Last Christmas — Scientist Edition

December 2012 (I think) was a very special time of my PhD studies, a time of unspeakable pain, but also of great joy, fun, and laughter. The reason for this emotional roller coaster was a challenge: Listening at least 100 times to the song Last Christmas from Wham! before the Christmas break. We made it, and we even came up with some alternative lyrics. Here they are!

Quantum-Visualizing Molecular Vibrations

Do you have an idea what happens if a molecule vibrates? Probably you have a picture of moving nuclei wriggling around. This picture is simple, intuitive, and (somewhat) wrong. The post explores how molecular vibrations really look like in quantum mechanics.

TiP 4: Time in Quantum Mechanics

This is a post of the Time in Physics (TiP) series. Quantum mechanics is our best theory of the microscopic world. However, time in quantum mechanics is treated as a mysterious external parameter. We make it a “real” thing by defining a clock. However, we will see that the clock itself violates the rules of quantum mechanics!

TiP 3: A First Look at Quantum Mechanics

This is a post of the Time in Physics (TiP) series. To (also) describe microscopic objects, the theory of quantum mechanics was developed as replacement for classical mechanics. In this post, we explore the weirdness of quantum mechanics by showing that three spatial dimensions are not enough for it to work.

TiP 2: Classical Mechanics and Clocks

This is a post of the Time in Physics (TiP) series. Time can be viewed as correlation of motions inside a physical system. With the help of a runner, a clock, and balls on a billiard table we can replace the problematic concept of Newtonian time with something that can exists not only in the world of large objects, but also in the weird quantum world of tiny particles.

TiP 1: Classical Mechanics and Newtonian Time

This is a post of the Time in Physics (TiP) series. We discuss Newtonian time, which is a time based on non-relativistic macroscopic objects but which also appears in the theory of the microscopic world. With the help of balls on a billiard table we explore its intuitive meaning and get an idea of the shortcomings of the concept.