Monthly Archives: February 2012

Physics and Astronomy at Western Blog, Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

Plagiarism

Here’s an interesting article about plagiarism:

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1130885–ryerson-professor-s-work-plagiarized-by-iranian-academics

The article talks about the fact that two Iranian professors published a word-for-word duplicate of a paper originally written by a prof from Ryerson. It turns out that these two have done the same thing on other occasions. The Iranians’ version of the paper was withdrawn by the journal and they have been banned from submitting papers there for three years. I have to agree with the sentiments expressed in the paper that this punishment is pretty feeble – there are zillions of other journals they can submit plagiarized papers to! If one of our students submits plagiarized work, they automatically get a zero for that work. If they do it again, they could well face expulsion from the university. If one of my colleagues made a habit of submitting plagiarized work, I hope they would lose their job!

One of my colleagues at Memorial had one of his papers plagiarized once: someone took paragraphs from my colleague’s paper and alternated them with paragraphs of his own. The overall result made no sense at all, and was caught by a diligent referee. However a bit of digging showed that the perpetrator had done the same thing previously, and got it published. That journal was notified and printed a retraction. The perpetrator’s university (in India, if I remember correctly) was notified and did nothing.

Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

Five planets to be visible in a single night this month

 


Sky watchers in the city are in for a celestial treat at the end of this month as they get an opportunity to see Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, all in one night. It is a rare phenomenon as these are the only planets visible to naked eye from earth, and all five will be seen in one go.

Arvind Paranjpye, director, Nehru Planetarium, said, “One or more of these planets are usually hidden behind the sun, hence they cannot be seen in a single night.”

The phenomenon is estimated to take place between February 22 and 24. Venus and the moon will be seen together around February 23 to 24. The five planets will be seen between 7 pm and 1 am during this period.

In fact, Mars and Saturn are already easily visible without optical aids, from sunset to sunrise. Mars can be seen in the east with the naked eye. Venus is visible towards the west after sunset, till 9 pm and Jupiter can be seen above Venus till 11 pm.

Paranjpye said, “In the coming days, Saturn will be seen in the east close to midnight. February is shaping up to be an excellent month for those who like to gaze at the night sky, especially for those who like to look at our closest neighbours in the universe, the planets.”

Mercury, the innermost planet of the solar system, will be visible in the evening sky during the last week of February.

Paranjpye said, “Uranus is also visible these days and can be easily spotted, compared to other days. It can otherwise be seen only with the help of specialised star maps. However, in the coming few days, it will be close to Venus. Since Venus is easy to spot, spotting Uranus without the help of specialised maps is possible.”

 

Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

Cats and Physics

 

Question: If you strapped a slice of buttered bread to the back of a cat, which way down would it land?

Answer: I’m glad you asked this question.

When you drop a buttered piece of bread, it drops butter side down and a cat always lands on its feet. What would happen if you took a piece of buttered bread, strapped it on the back on a cat (butter side up) and dropped it off Centerpoint Tower?

Even if you are too lazy to do the experiment yourself you should be able to deduce the obvious result. The laws of butterology demand that the butter must hit the ground, and the equally strict laws of feline aerodynamics demand that the cat can not smash it’s furry back.

If the combined construct were to land, nature would have no way to resolve this paradox. Therefore it simply does not fall.

That’s right you clever mortal (well, as clever as a mortal can get), you have discovered the secret of antigravity! A buttered cat will, when released, quickly move to a height where the forces of cat-twisting and butter repulsion are in equilibrium. This equilibrium point can be modified by scraping off some of the butter, providing lift, or removing some of the cat’s limbs, allowing descent.

Most of the civilized species of the Universe already use this principle to drive their ships while within a planetary system. The loud humming heard by most sighters of UFOs is, in fact, the purring of several hundred tabbies.

The one obvious danger is, of course, if the cats manage to eat the bread off their backs they will instantly plummet. Of course the cats will land on their feet, but this usually doesn’t do them much good, since right after they make their graceful landing several tons of red-hot starship and pissed off aliens crash on top of them.