Hard for me to recall the end of 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall without thinking about the song "Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones.

It still boggles the imagination how many changes happened so quickly in succession -- the dissolution of the Soviet Union, end of the Cold War, and the demise of apartheid included.

Unfortunately, the world is still doling out untold hundreds of billions of dollars on military spending, while poverty persists and has even gotten worse in many places.  Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but I had high hopes that at least part of the "Cold War dividend" could be diverted to helping the needy.

End poverty and hunger right here and right now! 


Jesus Jones - Right Here Right Now

Sometimes getting the word out about one's writings feels a bit like a marathon.  I've been giving talks or interviews almost every week. 

On Thursday, my task was particularly daunting.  I needed to drive to Manhattan around midnight, go to a radio studio near Wall Street, and be interviewed on the Joey Reynolds Talk Show. 

It was my first time actually driving to and trying to park in Manhattan.  Normally, I would take the train, but, given that it would be the wee hours of the night, I was worried about missing the last low-price train back to Philadelphia and having to take a much more expensive train or even having to spend the night in the train station.  So, I drove.

The streets in Lower Manhattan didn't seem set up for parking.  During the day, I'm sure almost everyone parks in a garage.  So there were no clearly marked places on the streets to park.  I drove down Broadway, until it almost ended, and found a side street with a few cars parked there.  I looked around carefully to see if there were any no parking signs and didn't find any.  So I parked.

I was a bit early, so took a stroll to the very tip on Manhattan and got a great view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island right across the harbor.  I also walked down Wall Street and saw the Stock Exchange building-much smaller than what I expected.

Finally I headed to the studio.  There I met the second interviewee, who was dressed in a kind of running suit, and wearing gloves on his feet instead of shoes.  Turned out to be a writer who has just published a book about a Mexican tribe of super-runners.  He learned from them how to run up to 50 miles at a stretch and feel refreshed.  The key, he mentioned, was not to wear running shoes, but just to go barefoot or to wear a kind of gloves for the feet that feel like barefoot.  Interesting.

We were then invited to the kitchen of the studio for a midnight calamari (squid) dinner.  Felt a bit surreal.

Originally, the running writer and I were supposed to be interviewed separately, presumably because our topics were so different.  But then the host decided to group us together and interview both at once.

The host was very friendly and chatty.  He has a long history of interviewing rock stars, dating back to the early 1960s.  His style of interviewing is very different from what I have ever experienced--stream of conscious and connected to whatever happens to be in the news.  So we were chatting about New York City, the Yankees, Afghanistan, etc, with each of us trying to say a bit about our books.  I tried to think of as many ways as I could to relate physics to running, and connect up my topic with the co-interviewee.  I pointed out that Einstein imagined trying to run and catch up to a light wave.

After the interview I walked back to my car at 1:00 am and was relieved it was still there. I was looking forward to heading home and getting some sleep, since I had to teach the next day.  But first I had to cross the Holland Tunnel out of NYC, which had the worse traffic jam I had ever been in.  Something like four wide avenues, with four lanes of traffic each, had to converge into a single lane to pass into the tunnel.  Imagine hundreds and hundreds of honking cars, full of tired, frustrated drivers, all trying to muscle their way into a small, single-lane, tunnel entrance!  It literally took an hour just to travel about 1/4 mile and reach the long-sought exit from NYC!  I finally made it home by 4:30 am, only to have to wake up at 6:30 am for work.

Anyway, it was not an actual marathon (the famous New York Marathon is taking place as I write these words), but exhausted nonetheless.

For those of you who are night-owls:  I'm being interviewed on the Joey Reynolds radio show (broadcast from New York) on Thursday, October 29 at 1:00 am (technically it is the morning of the 30th).  It will be about my book Collider.  Here is a link:

Joey Reynolds Show

Last summer, as part of our travels, we visited beautiful Vermont.  There is an unwritten family rule that whenever we venture far enough north, be it to Canada, Maine, Massachusetts or wherever, we somehow must stop in Vermont because it is such a fantastic state.  For those who haven't been there, the state is covered with green forest and mountains, sprinkled with tons of little craft shops, comfy inns, and places to sample delicacies (chocolate, cheese, apple products, etc.).  It practically forbids large corporations from even venturing within, unless they are ecologically friendly.

One of the main products of Vermont is Vermont Cheddar.  Cabot, the leading producer, is a co-op run by many of the state's dairy farmers.  They have shops that sell the cheese, with huge sampling stations featuring dozens and dozens of varieties.  Just trying all the free samples is more than a meal in itself.  One of the shops is just down the road from the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory, that also has free samples in case one still has room for dessert.

Another Cabot shop is located in the village next to Quechee Gorge, a stunning natural attraction with fine hiking trails.  I didn't associate the cheddar with the gorge until just now when...

I happened to be browsing through a travel guide to England (not that I'm planning a trip right now, but I enjoy reading travel guides) and found out that the village of Cheddar in England is right next to a beautiful gorge ... Cheddar Gorge ... and that the name of the village probably comes from an ancient (Celtic?) word for gorge.

So now I know the secret of Cheddar cheese.  It is all in the water that must be mixed with limestone in rock formations attractive to tourists.  And that is why shops with free cheese samples lead one to gorge.  Never knew that until just now.

Cabot Cheddar in Quechee Gorge Village

Cheddar Gorge


P.S. A NASA mission to the moon last week exploded a bit of its surface to create kind of a "gorge"  The aim was to test for water.  Silly that we once thought the moon was made of cheese.  Hmmm...

When we look up in the sky at night we see stars and other forms of visible matter.  Yet, as astronomers have discovered, more than 95% of the substance of the universe doesn't shine at all.  The invisible majority of the cosmos is made up of two mysterious entities, dubbed dark matter and dark energy.

On Thursday, October 22, from 1 PM to 2PM in Griffith Hall, Room C, the University of the Sciences Physics Program and The Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureship Program of the American Astronomical Society are pleased to host:

Michael Turner
University of Chicago

An internationally recognized expert on cosmology, the science of the universe, Prof. Turner coined the phrase “dark energy” to describe the unknown force accelerating the universe. He is also a pioneer  in attempts to unravel the mystery of dark matter.

His lecture, "The Dark Side of the Universe:  Beyond Stars and the Starstuff We Are Made Of," will be free and open to the public.  It will be followed by a reception.  We're greatly looking forward to Prof. Turner's visit!

So if you happen to be in the Philadelphia area that day, please stop by!

I was interviewed on Dublin City Radio for the show "Bridging the Gaps."  The hour-long segment will be broadcast at 11 am (Irish and UK time) on Sunday, October 4.  Live streaming is available at:

Dublin City Radio

If the server is down, I'm told that I'll be receiving a copy of the interview, and would be able to post a link at some future point.

I feel fortunate to know so many talented people on MySpace and elsewhere.  In case any readers of this blog are unfamiliar with some of the creative projects of some of the other bloggers/contributors I thought I'd make some introductions.  Let me start off with ten for today, hoping to pick up this thread another time.  (If I have left out anyone's projects please forgive the omission--let me know and I'll try to mention them in a future post.)

1.  Wiffledust, organized by the talented Lisa Ferreri, sponsors artistic and musical events both online and in real life.  (I was fortunate enough to attend a real-life Wiffledust concert yesterday by the wonderful singer/songwriter Buddy Mondlock).  They have just put together a new website highlighting their artistic endeavors:
Wiffledust Online

2.  "Cape Cod" is a very clever singer/composer from Glasgow, Scotland and has been especially prolific in recent weeks:
 Cape Cod Acoustic

3.  Davin Flateau, an astronomer and astronomy educator, maintains a blog that is a stunning mixture of poetic and astronomical insights:
The Perfect Silence

4.  For all matters scientific, covered with ample humor, I would turn to Michael Gross, who writes in English and German.  His recent book "The Birds, the Bees and the Platypuses" offers an ideal introduction to the diversity of his writings. Check out his website:
Prose and Passion

5.  I have been fortunate to get to know the amazing art, music and writings, as well as the bubbling optimism of Lisa Tenzin-Dolma.  She is also an expert in animal psychology, amongst her many talents:
Lisa Tenzin-Dolma Website

6.  Insightful writer Peter D. Smith, author of Doomsday Men, reviews book for the Guardian and maintains a fascinating blog:
Kafka's Mouse

7.  I am always amazed by blogger Ivy's insights about progressive rock, philosophy, science, books and other topics:
Ivy's Blog

8.  For a diverse range of ideas about science fiction, Penn and Teller, life in Canada, cooking, relationships and countless other areas I would recommend:
Hey Red (Amanda)

9.  For engaging critiques of politics, religion and other topics, there's:
Brian the Dilettante

10.  String is an inspiring writer with spectacular insights about life, music, art and the universe:
Creative Alchemy

Took a break from writing and such last weekend to travel with some family members to beautiful Hawk Mountain, about 2 hours northwest of Philadelphia.  It is not a very high mountain but has spectacular views of the countryside around it, including a "river of rocks" formed through a freezing-melting cycle.  It is a great place for sighting hawks, vultures and raptors, but we didn't see any during our visit. 

Then, after several hours of hiking, we took a lunch break at the nearby "Deitsch Eck Restaurant"  That is Pennsylvania German dialect for "German Corner"  The menu include some local specialties such as "chow-chow" (sweet pickled vegetables), pickled beets, pepper cabbage, and different kinds of fritters (like tarts):  apple and corn.  Delicious and filling.

We've been enjoying warm, sunny weather, and it was great to do some travelling, even if it was relatively local.

I'm happy to report that an interview with me about COLLIDER has been published as the lead story this evening on Wired.com:

High Energy Particle Physics Demystified

There is also an excerpt from my book:

Excerpt from COLLIDER

There are also some cool photos and another article:

Last days of Big American Physics