How To Finish

The only acceptable solar system diagram!

Tumblr Code.

You’re going to receive GOOD NEWS this week.

the cruel choice between pdf (free) vs physical copy (annotatable)

So I keep seeing posts on studyblr about how to take notes, some of them “official” methods like the Cornwell method or whatever it’s called, others more based on personal experience/ideas, but basically all of those don’t work well with math and physics.

So I made examples of how I take notes in physics and math, which based on what I’ve seen from professors and other students is pretty standard. (Blue text is commentary on the notes)

In math always start by defining the variables, because you will forget and you need to know all the assumptions you’ve made (like “did I define the function f as continuous, differentiable, bijective or just continuous and bijective?”). Drawings are good since they help visualise the abstract stuff (and look pretty), but not necessary. Always write down definitions, theorems, and lemmas, and ESPECIALLY their proofs. Exercises (both proof exercises and application exercises should be written down too, with varying detail based on how easy it is for you.

In math, and a bit less so in physics, you should always try to use mathematical symbols to shorten text. For the theorem I wrote what I would actually write in white, and below in blue I wrote the full, no symbol version of that. It’s pretty obvious which will be written down faster in class.

And never forget to write that sweet little quod erat demonstratum square at the end of a proof.

In physics the only thing you ALWAYS have to write down is a work through of an exercise or proof (this, of course, includes defining the variables, unless you’re the same variables as last time and can refer back to those). Since physics is about THE REAL WORLD you should strive to draw diagrams constantly, since sometimes you won’t be able to find a solution until you draw the diagram and examine the system (some proofs, especially those in optics, rely heavily on diagrams to explain what the fuck is even going on).

Unlike in math, in physics everything has a unit, which you should ALWAYS mark SOMEWHERE, because you might figure an exercise out solely based on your knowledge of units.

How to Finish

I drew this poster for Jon Acuff and his FINISH book tour. Big thanks to Jon for this collaboration, his book has some great ideas about how to complete creative and life goals.

Introducing Scientist Maker 1.0, a mini dress-up game promoting visibility of science in visual media! You can customize your scientist’s eyes, facial expressions, hairstyles, and give them science-y accessories!

Here we have a chemist, an astrophysics student, a environmental science student, a math student, a programmer, and a microbiologist!

The website is here: https://picrew.me/image_maker/634561

Picrew

Scientist Maker

'Are you made of copper and tellurium? Because you are cute.' Smart is the new cute! Unleash your inner geek and make your scientist person

Any non-commercial uses are welcome! Please credit @alchemysciviz if you are using it!

Mucus Buster

Everyone's got lingering congestion this year, so as someone who's no stranger to phlegm, and inherited the folk wisdom of a stage actress (the show must go on!) I share with you my recipe for making things better:

2L water

the juice and rind of one lemon (just dump the juiced rinds in, don't zest them, you maniac)

a small thumb of fresh ginger, sliced in coins

about a dozen cloves, some star anise, peppercorns, and maybe whole cinnamon or allspice or whatever else you like, in a tea ball (except the cinnamon if it doesn't fit, obvs)

good dollop of honey, to taste

Bring the water to a boil then dump in all the stuff. Keep it hot but not boiling – a slow cooker is good for this. Keep this pot on a low heat all day and serve yourself a mug every so often, adding water as necessary. At some point you will need to add a new lemon and some more honey, but the spices can generally carry over two pots if you're drinking it regularly.

The acid helps clear the gunk, ginger is good for the circulation, and clove/aniseed/pepper have some sort of decongestant/soothing properties. Honey is both nice and antiseptic, and apparently is a cough suppressant as well? Anyway, I just got over another run of Covid and this was wasn't 100% effective but it worked better than phenylephrine.

hi!!

does anyone have any useful literature review printables or literature review guideslines/resources they can link me to??? i'm struggling here big time.

Optical Astronomer: chronically tired, hates clouds, hates the sun

Radio Astronomer: sitting in the shade sipping lemonade while the big dish goes wheeee at 10 am

X-ray Astronomer: cries about the cost of a satellite launch