The Society of Physics Students at UC Santa Cruz

THIS WEEKS MEETING IS THURSDAY, MAY 29 AT 6:00 pm in ISB 231

It may be Spring, and you are hoping for more and more sunny weather, but that shouldn’t stop you from joining us for a presentation from Prof. Patrick Chuang about the physics of clouds.

Clouds are central to the complexity of the climate system.  In order to
understand how and why, he will first discuss the life cycle of clouds: how
they form, evolve, dissipate and sometimes even reproduce!  Then he will
discuss the key roles that clouds play in the climate system, focusing on
the complexities that have emerged over the past one to two decades of
research.

There will be coffee, tea and snacks as always.

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If you are interested in running for an officer position we have elections in the Fall every year so start thinking about it. If you have any questions ask a current officer after the meeting this week.

-Karl

THIS WEEK’S MEETING IS THURSDAY, MAY 22 at 6:00 pm in ISB 231

It’s almost the end of the year, and as Physics students we all know that between midterms and upcoming finals all of our lives may be a little out of equilibrium. Unfortunately SPS can not at this time take care of your work load issues, but this week at SPS Onuttom Narayan will be discussing the statistical mechanics of disordered systems.

Out of equilibrium disordered systems often behave in ways that one does not see in equilibrium. He will present examples in granular materials, magnets with impurities, and river networks.

THIS WEEKS MEETING IS THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008 at 6:00 pm in ISB 231

It’s getting hot and summer is coming up. Cool down before your midterms on Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter, with Professor Nimmo in the UCSC Earth Science department.

Europa has an ocean beneath a thin ice shell, while Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has active geysers blasting water vapour into space.

He will discuss three main topics of active research: Why are the Enceladus geysers at the south pole? What is driving them? and Is Europa’s ice shell rotationally stable?

If 2,000 leagues under Europa doesn’t sound refreshing enough there will also be coffee, tea and snacks.

-Karl

This week’s meeting is Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 6:00 pm in ISB 231

Attention: Pranksters, jugglers, painters, bongo players and physicists:Come celebrate the 90th birthday of the physicist who was all these things, Richard Feynman.

Sadly, a talk by Professor Feynman himself is out of the question, but we can celebrate his life and all of his contributions to the wonderful field of physics….. with scientific birthday partying, cupcake decorating, coloring and more!

This is our 3rd annual Feynman Birthday Celebration and as usual Feynman diagrams in edible form, coffee, and snacks will be served.

Joining us is Prof. Dave Dorfan who will speak about all the things Feynman has taught the physics community.

***If you have pictures from the Zone Meeting we want the good ones so we can post an album on the website.***

-Karl

The Zone Meeting/ Big Physics Day is this Saturday, May 3rd

The festivities of the Zone Meeting begin this Friday, May 2nd with a Movie Night.

Come Watch Bender’s Big Score in Thimann 1, Friday at 9:00 pm

THE BIG PHYSICS DAY STARTS SATURDAY AT 10:00 AM

The ZONE MEETING will take place in the BASKIN ENGINEERING AUDITORIUM (101)

Check out the awesome schedule of events here.

This is the zone meeting