The lecture was on quantum mechanics, a subject that I’ve been interested in recently, and was given by Dr. Andersen. I was fascinated but also quite confused, a sentiment that was echoed by most people I talked to. After the lecture was lunch at the dining hall, and then Dhanush, Gio, and I decided to work on problem sets. After finishing all four questions on the physics problem set and even the first question of the astronomy problem set, we decided to head to the library, where we ate ramen and talked about physics and life. As we exited the building, we noticed that in New Mexico, all it took was 45 minutes for it to go from a clear sunny day to a dark and cloudy rainstorm.

After dinner, Joey, Eric, Hardev and I took a break from work and decided to make paper airplanes. We tested them from the second floor of Domenici Hall and then watched YouTube videos to improve our designs.

After working a bit more on physics, astronomy, and asteroid determination code, we left Domenici Hall at 11:00 PM, significantly earlier than normal. The fact that we are just over a week out from the end of SSP is surreal to me, and while it will be sad to see everyone go, I can’t wait for the memories that will be created in the next 10 days!

I’m Jason, and I’m a rising junior from Cincinnati, Ohio. My favorite subjects are math, physics, and chemistry. I also love riding my bike with friends, playing video games, and swimming.

The post Quantum Mechanics and Paper Airplanes first appeared on SSP International.

8:35: breakfast time is almost over! I head over to the classroom a bit early, since my team’s on classroom clean-up duty.

9:00: The room is hyped for Dr. Le’s first lecture! After 3 hours of physics, ranging from black holes and gamma ray bursts to the behavior of light and spectroscopy, class ends with thunderous applause. You can’t deny this groups’s enthusiasm for physics. 

12:00 pm: It’s lunchtime now, but after a lecture like that, our lunch break sneaks up on us!

1:00 pm: Back to the classroom – this time with Dr. Rengstorf! After such an enlightening discussion of light (get it?), it’s time to learn how telescopes and cameras collect, analyze, and display it! We get familiar with our local telescope, at Tortugas Mountain Observatory, and its inner workings. 

4:00 pm: Time to work on p-sets. No-one can tell me SSP isn’t a grind… I work on my python programming until dinner.

5:30: Dinnertime! The pasta is delicious. 

7:00 pm: After dinner, it’s back to the computer lab! I struggle for a while (read: almost 2 hours) trying to blur an image a certain amount. I get some stripy images, some swirly images, some completely unchanged images, until… Eureka! I fix a bug, and it works. Now I’ve got time to work on my Astro p-set. 

11:20 pm: Eyelids drooping after a few nights of little sleep, I grudgingly admit I’ll need to finish the Astro pset tomorrow, and I head back to the dorm. I’m tired, but I’m glad I got that code working. Sometimes progress is slow, but it’s always happening. I roll into bed and await a new day of SSP.

Hi, I’m Rachel, and I’m from Southern California. I’m super excited to be out here at NMSU to pursue knowledge in one of my favorite areas of study: physics! I love Star Trek, sci-fi books, and D&D, and I’m grateful to be here among fellow STEM-nerds.

The post A New Outlook on Physics first appeared on SSP International.

But before I go into detail about that, I wanted to celebrate the birthday of my amazing labmate and friend Gnataleigh. Whether protecting our pipette tips in the lab or discussing your love life at dinner, you have made my SSP experience truly memorable and it’s been a privilege to be in your group.

Anyway. After our lecture was done, we all got on the bus in preparation for our trip to Argonne National Laboratory. The 2 hour drive was surprisingly bearable despite the broken air conditioning on our side (shoutout to Eric for the fun games of wild rift on the way). We also ate our lunch on the bus, and we even had forks with the salads this time!

Once we reached Argonne, we had the chance to learn about all kinds of fancy scientific processes, machinery, and daily operations that happen in a large-scale research facility. Today I got to see the giant tubes through which electrons are accelerated at the speed of light, the multi-million dollar instruments at the forefront of scientific advancement, and more warning signs than I’ll probably see for the next few years. We finished off the trip by exploring the physics department’s particle collider (¹⁷O³⁺ is actually pretty cool) and discussed the evolution of nuclear reactor technology. This was an illuminating glimpse into what research looks like at the highest level, even if I didn’t understand most of what was going on.

After a return journey filled with a much needed nap, a few more games with Eric, and some spicy comments from Diego, we were soon back at the honors buildings for a pizza dinner. As I have grown used to by now, the seemingly many hours had once again flown past in another short, activity-filled day. 

My experience at SSP has been overwhelmingly positive, and I can’t believe that nearly 4 weeks have already passed in what felt like an instant. I’m immensely grateful for this unique chance to conduct advanced research and explore tools I wouldn’t have otherwise dreamed of. But even more so, I’m thankful for the kind, supportive, and fun community that has driven and inspired me in my whole time here. Even as I write this blog 20 minutes before the supposed deadline, I’m instead being pulled into a surprise party/fruit bar with others in the kitchenette, something I would never have imagined I could enjoy so much. I cherish every minute I spend with all the amazing people in this program, and I look forward to the next 2 weeks before our bittersweet goodbyes.

Hey! I’m Daniel, and I’m a rising senior at Basis Independent Silicon Valley in San Jose, CA. I enjoy playing soccer and table tennis, as well as various board games. I also enjoy redditing and playing video games in my spare time, so feel free to hit me up if you play League or Hearthstone.

The post “Our Assignments Are-Gonne” first appeared on SSP International.