Technical Reports and Papers from my work. Message boards: Muon1 Project Forum Software here General/Rubbish Discuss things. Miscellaneous: Black hole images Obtained from raytracing light through warped spacetime, done during my general relativity course at Oxford. |
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Browser Wars Connect-4 where your team is your web browser Colunms Blockular entertainment. Tubetris Tubular Tetrominoes. NCGi website An experimental Asteroids game? | ||||||
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2026-May-04 20:37:53 I just finished writing a paper about crystalline beams where the bunch heats at a rate of 0.529K/s. I also tweaked a parameter slightly, ran a simulation over the weekend and got one that heats at only 0.272K/s. Too late to change the paper now (I'd have to re-plot everything else!) Also, these simulations of 5500 turns in the #accelerator take 65 hours each, so not easy to scan parameters around to find the perfect spot. Having said that, maybe I could scan the magnet setting *during* the simulation and look for the flattest part of the temperature rise? #physics
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2026-May-03 17:52:39 Looks like one of the engines to pressurise the water for Starbase Pad 2's deluge exploded. [video] #SpaceX
RT https://x.com/TrackingTheSB/status/2050772642727141491 |
2026-May-03 00:47:57 Lawn is looking a bit better now the grass is growing and I've mowed it a couple of times. Multiple mowings seem to get rid of the dead leaves too. |
2026-May-02 03:00:05 Maybe it's _only_ starting Task Manager that powers off my work PC because I've been happily running simulations on the CPU and GPU. Doing a long simulation over this weekend, I'll see if it works. |
2026-May-02 01:06:03 I might have to try detecting charges in the 1fC - 1pC range. A suitable test source seems to be a sphere on an insulator charged up to a few volts. Then I touch it to the scope probe and see what I can detect. Then apparently I should add a "trans-impedance amplifier". Dunno if any of this will work but it's worth a try. #physics #electronics |
2026-May-01 23:24:37 The New Glenn fairing bends a lot when it re-enters, but it survives! #space [video]
RT https://x.com/davill/status/2050328439761379801 |
2026-May-01 17:17:59 Next #Starship flight (#12) could be as early as May 12th. #SpaceX
RT https://x.com/dpoddolphinpro/status/2050237415596372269 |
2026-Apr-30 19:19:47 Upgrading the energy of Jefferson Lab's CEBAF #accelerator facility from 12 to 22GeV requires more circulations around the machine, and one option is to put multiple electron energies in the same pipe. The animation below shows the sizes of six different energy beams as they are matched from the linac to the arc section: the same set of magnets has to make all six the correct size at once! This was a difficult optimisation problem. #physics |
2026-Apr-30 18:11:32 Two massive #swans by the highway as I was going to work, seems strange. One flapped its wings at me. |
2026-Apr-29 22:33:11 Falcon Heavy boosters land. #SpaceX [video]
RT https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2049494548275920926 |
2026-Apr-29 01:44:39 Outside my office window there's a blossom tree that's attracting a huge number of bees. I have the window open and a fan directed out of my office, my colleague opposite has a fan directed into his office, which is where I assume the bees will end up. |
2026-Apr-29 01:28:05 New Steam controller with dual trackpads:
https://fudzilla.com/valve-confirms-steam-controller-is-coming-on-may-4-for-99/ Framework laptop Ubuntu config is outselling Windows config: https://fudzilla.com/frameworks-ubuntu-laptop-is-beating-windows/ #PC #computing |
2026-Apr-28 22:14:10 Turns out it's quite practical to put crystalline beams into one of Brookhaven National Laboratory's existing #accelerators, if you adjust the magnet settings. (Paper below to be presented at IPAC'26).
https://stephenbrooks.org/ap/report/2026-1/WEP4324.pdf Normally we put "charged plasma", structured like a gas, into accelerators, but this bunch behaves like a slightly-molten liquid. Solid structure for the most part, but occasionally the ions swap places, maybe like tar or molasses. Anyway, this is interesting because these near-solid bunches have about a factor 10^5 less velocity spread than typical bunches, in all three axes, so a focal point should be 10^15 (one quadrillion) times denser. That's why I was talking about synthesising nuclear density matter (neutronium) earlier. #physics |
2026-Apr-28 21:36:08 Lithium high-powered ion thruster. #space #physics [video] #NASA
RT https://x.com/NASAJPL/status/2049197532761428103 |
2026-Apr-27 22:04:04 The Extremely Large #Telescope is 70% complete. [photos] #astronomy #science
RT https://mastodon.social/@esoastronomy/116475431270173841 |
2026-Apr-27 21:41:14 Today's supermarket robot:
"Hazard detected!" Yellow lights come on and it starts speaking in Spanish. |
2026-Apr-27 00:08:46 A sapling was trying to grow out of the side of my electricity meter. This is not what I meant by green power. |
2026-Apr-26 20:04:42 Two rabbits (one having lunch) on my walk today. |
2026-Apr-25 19:54:10 Very zoomed in solar eclipse. [video] #space #astronomy
RT https://x.com/AJamesMcCarthy/status/2048119654619484354 |
2026-Apr-25 00:51:02 Some pretty slick drone video from #SpaceX.
RT https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2047800137133756633 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHWvbbQGb5g |
2026-Apr-23 22:58:44 The deuterium-hydrogen ratio in comet 3I/ATLAS suggests it formed under different conditions to our own solar system. #space #astronomy
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02850-5 |
2026-Apr-23 22:44:03 Found out today if you set marker fill colour to 95% transparent in #Excel you can make it shade the density of points if you have too many to plot. |
2026-Apr-22 23:20:04 Boards of Canada are on the Fediverse - that makes sense actually.
https://mastodon.social/@boardsofcanada/116449198300768616 |
2026-Apr-22 23:16:06 Bug spray in my mailbox so the ants don't try and put their eggs in there like they did on several previous years. |
2026-Apr-22 22:38:19 You can see Earth from #Mars (at least, through this telescope).
https://x.com/NASAMars/status/2046931058084782348 |
2026-Apr-21 22:54:31 Another reason I may have had ants in my recycling bin is I put it on top of an ant nest when I put it out last week. |
2026-Apr-21 22:17:16 Taking photos of the Orion heatshield under water. #NASA #space
RT https://x.com/DJSnM/status/2046368312742092829 |
2026-Apr-20 14:25:03 ...and outside my office window.
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2026-Apr-20 14:24:39 Trees blossoming in my neighbourhood...
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2026-Apr-20 00:23:52 Earthset in real time, as seen from Artemis II. [video] #space
RT https://x.com/astro_reid/status/2046009031613907029 |
2026-Apr-19 19:00:59 New Glenn booster lands for a second time. [photo] #space #BlueOrigin
RT https://x.com/spaceOFFSHORE/status/2045828578286137574 |
2026-Apr-18 23:33:09 Emptied the kettle and there was a spider in the water.
This means I just drank a cup of Earl Grey tea infused with spider. |
2026-Apr-18 19:08:09 https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/04/16/agrivoltaics-maintain-or-enhanche-forage-quality-study-finds/ |
2026-Apr-18 19:00:45 My lawnmower again seems too powerful. It ejected a piece of debris so fast out of the side chute that, although it didn't go through my trouser material, it broke the skin on my leg when it bounced off. |
2026-Apr-17 23:44:19 Cow operating a water valve. [video]
https://x.com/SaltyBitch_52/status/2044860660517933568 |
2026-Apr-17 14:34:51 I didn't realise "Coriolis force" should be capitalised, but it's actually named after this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspard-Gustave_de_Coriolis (I thought it had some Greek root, not a person!) |
2026-Apr-16 22:47:34 Lots of chores this week - had the car in for service yesterday but needs to come back for brakes and rear tyres on Monday. Laundry tonight, mowing the lawn this weekend. And ants came into my kitchen just now (something in the recycling bin). |
2026-Apr-16 02:09:06 I measured the time the simulations took and scheduled about 22 hours worth this morning, so they should be done tomorrow morning and I can plot my graph. |
2026-Apr-15 23:35:20 They just static fired the booster! #SpaceX #Starship (go back 15mins)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJOsivvVL5I |
2026-Apr-15 22:56:03 Large Docking Adapter. [video] #space #large
RT https://x.com/vast/status/2044440122096300411 |
2026-Apr-15 22:55:25 Footwear company moves into AI compute infrastructure.
https://www.ft.com/content/a4b63cc1-2d1c-44c8-a22a-425cf0efb5cf |
2026-Apr-15 22:54:37 They got drone footage of a droneship rocket landing. #SpaceX
RT https://x.com/Alexphysics13/status/2044274482290839858 |
2026-Apr-15 19:00:22 Power has been restored. #physics
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2026-Apr-15 18:59:17 I don't know why the laboratory has a branded shipping container, maybe for training? The logo is out of date, of course.
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2026-Apr-15 01:26:06 Jupiter is pretty bright in the evening, between Orion and Gemini. #astronomy #space |
2026-Apr-15 00:34:10 They finally static fired the upper half of #Starship V3 at 3:50PM CT. #SpaceX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf0sZZOK-fY |
2026-Apr-14 15:28:04 I remember when the search box appeared in software, I thought "this wouldn't be necessary if the information was well-organised to start with". Now I'm tempted to use the AI box for search because the search works so badly. |
2026-Apr-13 21:16:57 Put the air conditioning units in the windows. |
2026-Apr-12 22:13:32 Finally figured out how to have dynamic word wrap on by default in the Kate editor. |
2026-Apr-12 20:29:27 Excellent explanation of some Artemis II heatshield discolouration from the NASA admin.
RT https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2043172376167256396 |
2026-Apr-12 19:11:14 Flaming #bollard! [video]
https://x.com/WorldBollard/status/2043400297037369580 |
2026-Apr-12 18:32:52 Had to wait for a deer crossing my road. It walked really slowly while staring at me. Also some pink trees (probably cherry and magnolia) are starting bloom. |
2026-Apr-11 23:00:36 US appeals court declares 158-year-old home distilling ban unconstitutional
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-appeals-court-declares-158-year-old-home-distilling-ban-unconstitutional-2026-04-10/ |
2026-Apr-11 19:05:14 Looks like the #Starship booster might be tested (with all 33 engines?) tomorrow. #SpaceX |
2026-Apr-11 17:25:19 Why isn't it easier to subdivide your social media into streams of different topics that people can select from?
The traditional solution seems to be alt accounts but then you get persistent login cookies that make it hard to bee logged into multiple accounts. |
2026-Apr-11 16:30:46 ---
"And when it comes down to it, dogs don't care if what they are seeing is AI." But do dogs actually watch TV and does it do them any good? The research is mixed. --- 🤨 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq59leg3gp5o |
2026-Apr-11 01:44:50 Was looking in my e-mail inbox to see if I'd sent my name on the Artemis II SD card. No. I've put it on Europa Clipper. |
2026-Apr-10 23:27:37 Got a simulation running over the weekend, should do 45ms (>5000 turns around the ring) in about 64 hours. Unless there's a power cut. #physics #accelerators |
2026-Apr-10 22:50:45 Astronauts re-entering in just over an hour.
#Moon #space #NASA #ArtemisII #thelasttimeillusethesehashtags https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_veRvxj-5VQ |
2026-Apr-10 15:20:50 Beees.
https://x.com/PenguinSix/status/2042578007005581745 |
2026-Apr-10 00:47:12 Saw my first rabbit of the year in the garden this evening, not quite in time for Easter. |
2026-Apr-09 22:18:49 The Moon eclipse photo with labelled planets. #NASA #space #ArtemisII
https://x.com/NASASolarSystem/status/2042308573850681740 |
2026-Apr-08 23:06:26 RT https://x.com/HumanoidHistory/status/2041294313582166289 |
2026-Apr-07 22:21:41 RT https://functional.cafe/@loke/116363428040402987 |
2026-Apr-07 21:56:04 So what does the Moon do exactly?
Not much, it just floats in space. > Photo of the Moon floating in space WHOA https://x.com/NASAArtemis/status/2041606250291515482 |
2026-Apr-07 15:00:57 Higher-res images from the lunar flyby.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyv183v02j3o |
2026-Apr-07 01:37:13 So when the sun rises or sets on the Moon you always get a view of the corona, like half a solar eclipse from Earth. The astronauts just saw it, that's neat. |
2026-Apr-06 21:08:10 They're going around the back of the #Moon now. #ArtemisII #NASA #space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-j1uxBmis0 |
2026-Apr-06 21:06:16 Why is my simulation 3x slower now? I had relativity turned on for some particles that were only going about 10m/s. #physics |
2026-Apr-06 21:05:52 Artemis II surpasses the Earth-distance record set by Apollo 13. #NASA #space #Moon
RT https://x.com/NASA/status/2041214639988478110 |
2026-Apr-05 22:33:56 Rabbits.
RT https://x.com/HumanoidHistory/status/2040823268827930868 |
2026-Apr-05 19:53:43 Cambodia unveils statue to honour famous landmine-sniffing rat
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rx7xzd10xo |
2026-Apr-05 18:35:21 High-fps interpolated Apollo 16 lunar rover footage with mission audio.
RT https://x.com/Moonpans/status/2040835097343991871 |
2026-Apr-05 03:23:27 Artemis II is now over 1 light-second away from Earth. #NASA #space #Moon
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2026-Apr-04 02:48:54 The spider crickets in my bathroom have a life cycle. There are a couple of mini-hoppers right now. |
2026-Apr-03 19:41:01 Artemis II is 182000km from Earth, meaning that the round-trip time for signals at the speed of light is about 1.2 seconds. #physics #space #Moon #NASA |
2026-Apr-03 19:40:48 It's the Earth [photo]
RT https://x.com/NASA/status/2040059770237849635 |
2026-Apr-03 01:23:38 A barrel of oil is 42 gallons, so I figured out the heating oil I had delivered yesterday cost $215 per barrel. However, that includes the wages of the guys who brought it to my house. |
2026-Apr-03 00:21:55 Track the location of the #NASA Orion capsule in real time in your browser: #Moon #space #ArtemisII
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis-ii/arow/ |
2026-Apr-03 00:11:36 RT https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2039857997556416676 |
2026-Apr-02 21:34:10 Blue Origin's Moon melty thing, produces oxygen, iron, silicon from #Moon dirt. [gif] #space
https://x.com/blueorigin/status/2039758550130417786 |
2026-Apr-02 21:33:21 Giant marshmallows cause problems for UK value added tax legislators.
https://www.ft.com/content/eb37569d-0a2b-4df6-bd11-4d0c4e81cdc9 |
2026-Apr-02 01:10:43 There's actually a full moon right now, it's worth a look. |
2026-Apr-02 00:49:22 World's oldest known tortoise, Jonathan, dies aged 193
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c393xmpzjwko |
2026-Apr-02 00:12:45 Live views from Orion. #NASA #ArtemisII #space #Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RwfNBtepa4 |
2026-Apr-01 23:48:11 Here's the #ArtemisII mission schedule. #NASA #space #Moon
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/artemis-ii-overview-timeline-public-final.pdf |
2026-Apr-01 22:35:35 Liftoff!
https://x.com/NASASpaceflight/status/2039471877249216837 |
2026-Apr-01 21:49:11 Live coverage of Artemis II from #NASA. #space #Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_UjBMIzNo |
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