Radon

This morning, the time is changed; 2 am became 3pm, so I lost a hour in this 23 hour day. Now it is 12:19am, Monday, but on the old clock, it should still be yesterday at 11:19pm, which is too early to sleep. So I feel like doing something in this hour that should belongs to Sunday.

I have had several drafts composed during the past several months, but never completed them. Most of the time it is because I don’t think I have enough thoughts to make a post. These are small revelations that I don’t know how to present them in order to make a point. But on the other hand, why bother making a point. So I decide to pile them up in this one post in the hope that they collectively will mean something.

1. A Meaningful Pursuit. Last edited 27 Dec. 2009.
That’s the title I gave to a self-assessment post on relationship. But nothing really happened, well, actually nothing encouraging really happened, so there is really nothing to say about. However, I do feel there is a change in my perception on relationship, as the title suggests, which is borrowed from a line in Casino Royale. This change is this: a relationship is not simply a task or a job, but something that you can spend your life on in order to better and better it everyday. (I begin to feel I don’t actually know what I am talking about now, so stop here.)

2. Tolerance, Last edited 2 Jan 2010
This draft was inspired by an article on Steve Chu, the new secretary of energy. In the article, there is this line:
“With scientists, he can be impatient. “He does not suffer fools,” says Michael Levi, an astrophysicist at the LBNL.”– Newsmaker of the year: The power player, Nature News. And I know exactly how he feels. I can be impatient, and very intolerant of imcompetency. However, having being incompetent myself in my first few years of graduate schools, I know how the reverse feels as well. People around me gave me help, but most importantly I think, I helped myself. No one can help you if you do not help yourself first.

3. Politics in the Copenhagen Climate Summit, last edited 2 Jan 2010
Having read so much about the climate talk, I wanted to write something about it in order to help me to form an opinion on this issue. But it is just too complex an issue. I felt like writing a research article. I wrote down a list of things that may be of interests. Here is the list: 1) different interests at play: international, domestic agenda, celebrity, energy industry; 2) Complex problem with a complex solution. 3) Negotiations between nations, the good, the bad and the ugly of negotiators. A hero in one side is a villain on the other . 4) Reality VS. Ideal. 5) Keep practical but not to lose ideal. Interest VS. conscience.6)Get rid of the simple-minded notion of politics.

4. a revelation had when seeing King Tut exhibit in AGO, Last edited 11 Mar 2010
I went to see the King Tut (http://www.ago.net/kingtut) exhibit last Wednesday evening by myself. And during the visit, I had a deja vu, as if I was back in New York or London, visiting Met, or British Museum, especially when I saw a canopic jar that looked so much like the one I saw in NYC. I felt suddenly being pulled out of the routine life, and I was back in travel mode, starting again exploring everything around me. I used to hate museums, because everything in it is so old. But now I had this sudden joy, maybe I should go to see ROM (http://www.rom.on.ca/) some day not too far in the future. Yes, eventually, after living so close to it for more than four years.

5. Feeling being victimized will never help, last edited 11 Mar 2010
Someone said something to me like this when writing a paper: if you write it in Chinese, it would be ok, but it is in english. At first I recognized the fact that I am not a native speaker,but immediately after I felt discriminated against. Just because I am not a native speaker doesn’t mean I cannot write well. I felt like being a victim. Naturally I wanted to fight back. But this instinct didn’t help, at all. On reflection, this feel of being victimized takes control of the emotion and the mind and justifies me fighting back at that moment. However, after cooling down, I started to think win-win. Ego-battle is not worth fighting, not at all.

Richard Feynman: Physics is fun to imagine

via Richard Feynman: Physics is fun to imagine | Video on TED.com.

Some thoughts:
1) Feynman once said if our civilization ever pass one piece of knowledge onto the next civilization, whatever form of life that civilization is, it is the structure of an atom.

2) The video on different ways of thoughts explains a great deal why when you explain some very basic concepts to first-year students, they look at you as if you are from another planet. It’s just that brains work differently. If you happen to have attended the personality and your career choice workshop in career center, or you happen to have read about MBTI instrument, you will find his nerdy observation is exactly what those theory try to address.

When I tell my parents that I have advanced to another belt in TKD, my father likes to remind me that the purpose of martial arts is not to get a belt or even to know how to fight. Instead, it is a way to keep fit and to discipline the body; it is to better oneself.

The club I am in runs color belt testing every two months. In the first color belt test, the yellow belt test, they ask children under 5 or 6 years old to practice a series of punching and at the same time shouting out loud “TKD, yes I can; TKD, yes I can. I respect myself; I respect my parents; I respect my masters and teachers.” For kids so young, practicing martial arts is also a process for character-building; and character, as Theodore Roosevelt said, “in the long run is the decisive  factor in the life of an individual and nations alike”. Mind you, not wealth, social status, family background, or even intelligence. It is character.

When a martial arts becomes a sport, competition becomes routine. Talent will definitely play a factor when people are pitted against each other. However, the true essence of martial arts is not competition, not about fight, though competition and sparring are central parts of it. When I practice TKD and Taiji, I always feel there is another side of those martial arts that balance the brutal side. And that is the side that gives the martial art a spiritual aspect. Louis Cha (Jing Yong) resorted to Buddhism. Right now, I simply feel it gives a comforting effect and gives  me a calm and peaceful mind.

Having the first paper accepted, published, and printed, naturally I felt a sense of relief. When I started out, I was told that if one didn’t get a paper out after the second year, the pressure would mount quickly. It surely did. Now after the first project, I am more or less free to do what I want to do. So at this turning point, I feel the need to reflect my past habits, and to keep the good ones and discard the bad ones.

First, reading. There are two types of reading. One is fast and rough; the other slow and in detail. Browsing ASAP papers belongs to the former while reading those I intend to reproduce is the latter. The latter requires a higher mental concentration than the former, so naturally the latter deserves quality times such as mornings. Other reading such magazine browsing and newspaper reading also belongs to the second category. So the general rule of reading is simple: read important papers in the morning. (An important corollary is that do NOT read newspaper in the morning.) If there happened to be important paper coming up while I browse the journals, put it in the ReadMe folder for later reading. And for those interesting but not immediately relevant papers, store it in Connotea.

Second, literature research. This activity can be quite time consuming, and at the same time also requires a significant level of mental concentration, sometimes just in order to keep focused. It is also better to be done while sufficient alert.

Third, experiments. It might sound odd, but experiments are actually more time-intensive than mind-intensive, especially those routine experiments. But the interpretation of experimental results is a different story. It is mind-intensive. If one thinks about reading and experimenting as ways of data input, then the analysis of these information is data processing. Both are important. The first stage requires constantly asking myself what I am looking for in order not to get lost, the second step requires answering the question why it is so.

Fourth, multitasking. Swift switch between minds is necessary. What I find particularly helpful is to have a short period of buffer time, usually 5-10 minutes, to review what has been done previously and to prepare myself to get into the mood of a specific task.

Fifth, knowing where the end is (or seems to be). Whitesides’ recommendation, using a paper to organize a project is immensely helpful. No project ever ends. But papers do. Writing the outlines of a paper as early as possible can help keep the project focused and efficiency high. And writing an outline is a mind-intensive activity.

Finally, about balancing experiments and thought. Bruce Albert wrote in a Science editorial on Becoming a Scientist, “An enormous number of different experiments are possible, but only a tiny proportion will be really worthwhile. Choosing well requires great thought and creativity, and it involves taking risks.” Everyone can do systematic work; but for creative work, work that explores a new frontier, picking the right combination of conditions is where the genius’s intuition lies.

“It’s not about money, but sending a message.” — Joker, The Dark Knight

“Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.”  — J.K. Rowling

My summer trip to NYC,  London, and Edinburgh cost me US$ 2500 in total. It includes $900 for transportation, $400-500 for accommodation, and $1000 for food, souvenirs, tickets, and others. And my spending has also increased in the last year. It includes an increase in rent, food expenses and six TKD testing. As a result, I not only don’t have any saving during the past year, but also had a big money problem during the summer. It was fortunate that I got extra TA sessions in the summer to cover some costs.

It’s funny that you won’t realize its importance until you don’t have it. But then again, being a graduate student means choosing to be poor. And there is a difference between being poor and choosing to be poor.

Cut back unnecessary expenses.

Rains in fall are mainly caused by the cold air moving from north to south to replace the warm air. And this replacement will not only result in rains, but also a change in the humidity, atmospheric pressure and of course temperature. All of these  change in the environment will affect body functions. Since the body needs to adjust to the change, it will use a part of its energy for this adjustment and will not perform as efficient as it usually does. And naturally, the efficiency of one’s daily activities will go down, in work and other ordinary routines. My observation tells me that this low activity period due to weather change happens to everyone. And for me, it also causes stress because I like to keep a high level of activities. Being self-aware about this chain of effects help me cope with similar situations. But every now and then, when I just got lost in the middle of all the things I was doing, it’s hard to remind myself to slow down and not to stretch to the breaking point.

I just watched the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Just as different music gives different mood,  different movies have different moods as well. This movie gives me a new perspective. There are different ways of living a life: running is one; walking is also one. When you run, you enjoy the speed. When you walk, you enjoy the scenery. Slowing down the daily activities doesn’t mean accomplish less, but rather it is just a different way of living, if the eyes and the mind are kept open.

TKD black stripe. Black belt test next July.

These models are provided in the Flamingo tutorials. They are beautiful. Seeing these pictures being rendered under the eyes is just fantastic.

I have always wanted to write something about London since I came back in early September. But there were so many things to say: the history, the art, the architectures, the religions, the science, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, Sherlock Holmes’ imaginary residence on 221b baker street, and Samuel Johnson’s House. So naturally, I don’t know where to start, and haven’t written anything yet. Now it seems that my memory is fading, and I have to resort to photos to remember what I have seen in London.

I still remember there is one piece of advice in the Lonely Planet Travel Book: if you have to pay for one ticket during your stay in London, make it the Tower of London. Even though it is called the Tower of London, it is more of a castle than just a tower. When I visited it, there was an exhibition on Henry VIII going on. Many of his original manuscripts, weapons he has used, armors he wore, his portraits, clothings and many other things were on display. His biggest contribution, according to the history book, is that he separated England from Roman Catholic Church. And that separation has a lasting effect in the politics and religions of Europe. Besides being a king, he is also a great athlete, a strong warrior, and a master of various languages. Body, mind, courage, he has them all, so he seems to be the right king material.

But there is another side of his marvelous genius, as most talents do: the ego. It was mentioned in the exhibit that he was only concerned about his own glories and care little about others. The separation from Roman Catholic Church freed him from his last constraints. He is effectively the only power in England. He was famous for settling dispute on gallows, disputes in politics, religions, and in personal aspects. Especially astonishing is his disastrous family life. Though the eager to father a son might be a reasonable human desire,  to attain this goal, he has literally destroyed his family: He had 6 wives: two were divorced, two beheaded, one died, and one survived.

It is often said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is true for Henry VIII. And it also seems to me that any man, even without power, needs a balancing force just to counter one’s own ego.

It occurs to me today that if time travel is possible, not only will the chain of causes and effects be disrupted, but also the law of mass conservation will be broken. Science fictions seem to like exploring the consequences of the former, a few of which I happened to watch this week, such as Back to the Future and Star Trek. In those movies, things called parallel universes or alternative realities come to rescue the logical sequence of causes and effects. But I haven’t seen anyone trying to explain what happens to the broken law of mass conservation. Einstein might have a solution: instead of the conservation of mass, it is the conservation of energy. But energy is a slippery concept that anything can turn into a form of it or transform from one form into another .

Now jump to a totally unrelated perspective. During a dialogue between Buddhist monks and theoretical physicists, the monks likened the meditation in Buddhism with maths in physics. Maths in physics is a tool to guide the logic reasoning; and through years of experience, users of these maths tools can see through the symbols and equations and get direct intuitions of the actual physical images and relationships they represent.  For example, Jonh Pendry, the theoretician who proposed the construction of negative-refractive-index meta-materials, said the idea of split-ring resonators came to him on a raining afternoon when he was playing around with Maxwell equations. Similar things happen in meditation, the monks said: only through years of practicing meditation, they start to see things normal people don’t see (figuratively, and maybe literally as well).

This argument strikes me particularly strong because science thrives due to human intuition, and if there is another completely different source of intuition that hasn’t been explored, it means that we have left many things out of our considerations, and hence whatever we come up with in science to explain the world is incomplete.

When teaching young Luke Skywalker the art of Jedi, Yoda famously said “You need to unlearn what you have learned” in order to learn how to use force, for example to levitate a spacecraft. So it seems that to leave a slight doubt on everything, including what we believe and what we hold as absolute truth, is necessary for a healthy science.

But it’s not just about science. Humans are known for mistaking beliefs with facts, and convictions with truth. To acknowledge the one is fallible and to accept that fact is essential in any relationship not only between us and the physical world, but also among ourselves, humans. And as colleagues, we have ups-and-downs in our relationships in the past year, and will definitely have more ups-and-downs in the coming year. I treasure all those experiences, and am thankful for everything we have shared in the past year, and look forward to the exciting things coming in the new year.

Now what do all these have anything to do with holidays? Wait.

So if the law of energy conservation doesn’t hold, what disrupt it? It is the FORCE! (Recall the derivatives of energy with respect to distance is force!)

On the occasion of a new decade, I wish all of you “MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU! “.

Warm regards,
Wendong

PS. This is my new year’s greeting letter to my group. Weird chain of thoughts.

Cartoon Source: http://athene.as.arizona.edu/~lclose/teaching/nats102/time_travel_cartoon_2.gif