@gravity-levity.bsky.social
you're right, most of us never get famous
November 9, 2025 at 2:41 AM
you're right, most of us never get famous
(I made this dumb joke on twitter a few years ago: x.com/gravity_levi... )
Brian Skinner on X: "Life cycle of a physicist: https://t.co/M3m4oHXX5z" / X
Life cycle of a physicist: https://t.co/M3m4oHXX5z
x.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:52 AM
(I made this dumb joke on twitter a few years ago: x.com/gravity_levi... )
Life cycle of a physicist:
November 9, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Life cycle of a physicist:
It's because we're all sick of Trump and immediately scroll away whenever his face appears
October 6, 2025 at 4:02 PM
It's because we're all sick of Trump and immediately scroll away whenever his face appears
Measurement is a classical process by definition (even in quantum mechanics), so I can only conclude that a "quantum measurement" is a normal measurement that has gone through a marketing transformation
October 4, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Measurement is a classical process by definition (even in quantum mechanics), so I can only conclude that a "quantum measurement" is a normal measurement that has gone through a marketing transformation
They'll sing a different tune when I've published my brilliant and deeply moving debut novel: Bill Dung's Roman Adventure
September 29, 2025 at 3:48 PM
They'll sing a different tune when I've published my brilliant and deeply moving debut novel: Bill Dung's Roman Adventure
It was like getting a preview of what the adult mind must be like, and I wasn't sure I liked it but I couldn't look away.
September 29, 2025 at 1:59 PM
It was like getting a preview of what the adult mind must be like, and I wasn't sure I liked it but I couldn't look away.
My parents had a bunch of these collections, and as a kid in the early 90s I read them with a kind of perverse fascination. There were clearly points of appeal to kids, but the focus was squarely on "adult themes" (risque, political, banal).
September 29, 2025 at 1:57 PM
My parents had a bunch of these collections, and as a kid in the early 90s I read them with a kind of perverse fascination. There were clearly points of appeal to kids, but the focus was squarely on "adult themes" (risque, political, banal).
that was true before this tweet
September 11, 2025 at 4:16 PM
that was true before this tweet
As someone who is never able to maintain focus on a single problem for more than a year or so, I'm so glad there are people like this in science.
(And of course I worry that the modern culture and pace of science is pushing them out)
(And of course I worry that the modern culture and pace of science is pushing them out)
September 8, 2025 at 5:25 PM
As someone who is never able to maintain focus on a single problem for more than a year or so, I'm so glad there are people like this in science.
(And of course I worry that the modern culture and pace of science is pushing them out)
(And of course I worry that the modern culture and pace of science is pushing them out)
Just found this longer, and much better telling of the story: www.kavliprize.org/rainer-weiss...
Looks like I mostly remembered things correctly, but the full story is much better than my telling.
Looks like I mostly remembered things correctly, but the full story is much better than my telling.
Rainer Weiss life story
Rainer Weiss life story
www.kavliprize.org
September 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Just found this longer, and much better telling of the story: www.kavliprize.org/rainer-weiss...
Looks like I mostly remembered things correctly, but the full story is much better than my telling.
Looks like I mostly remembered things correctly, but the full story is much better than my telling.
10/10 "Wait, could you actually detect a relative change in distance of order one part in 10^20?" He spent all summer thinking about it.
And that was the beginning of his obsession. It took 48 years from that moment to the first actual detection of a gravitational wave.
And that was the beginning of his obsession. It took 48 years from that moment to the first actual detection of a gravitational wave.
September 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
10/10 "Wait, could you actually detect a relative change in distance of order one part in 10^20?" He spent all summer thinking about it.
And that was the beginning of his obsession. It took 48 years from that moment to the first actual detection of a gravitational wave.
And that was the beginning of his obsession. It took 48 years from that moment to the first actual detection of a gravitational wave.
9/ The point of the problem was to show that there is a relative change in distance between the masses less than one part in 10^20, and you go "ahh, got it, the effect is negligible" and you move on.
But during the summer after the class ended, the problem stuck with him and kept bothering him.
But during the summer after the class ended, the problem stuck with him and kept bothering him.
September 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
9/ The point of the problem was to show that there is a relative change in distance between the masses less than one part in 10^20, and you go "ahh, got it, the effect is negligible" and you move on.
But during the summer after the class ended, the problem stuck with him and kept bothering him.
But during the summer after the class ended, the problem stuck with him and kept bothering him.
8/ It was a simple homework exercise, and he showed it as part of the colloquium: the solution takes less than a page, and he claims that everyone in the class was able to solve it correctly.
September 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
8/ It was a simple homework exercise, and he showed it as part of the colloquium: the solution takes less than a page, and he claims that everyone in the class was able to solve it correctly.