Laser Cooling

Warning: geek post below

One of the podcasts I listen to is TVO's Big ideas (site, podcast). Big Ideas is a series on Ontario public television that is devoted to lectures and lecturers. They put out a podcast once a week with the last week's lectures. I know - some of you are tuning out right now. That's ok - it's not for everyone. But if you like to learn about stuff it's a good place to start.

The lecture this week is from William D. Phillps from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He talks about laser cooling, among other things. Laser cooling was a term I had heard about but never really understood (how can a laser cool something when all the movies I watch has it heating things up?). I won't claim I understood everything, but I could probably now explain the fundamentals about laser cooling to someone who asked.

Anyways - if you are into physics and like a good lecturer with a goofy laugh, take a listen. It's about an hour long, perfect for washing your car, raking your backyard or your weekly status meeting at work (if you get small ear buds and sit at the back of the room)

I have no idea how long it will be up, so grab it while it's hot.