@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz
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j_bertolotti

@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz

Associated Professor of Physics at the University of Exeter.
Scientific visualizations (grouped under the hastag #PhysicsFactlet).
He/lui/on. All opinions are my own fault.

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ThomasNoppers, to Transformers
@ThomasNoppers@mastodon.social avatar

Transformers shirt idea.
Am I on to something here?
Is it too loud or busy?
Any pointers?

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@ThomasNoppers How does it look on a more neutral background? I feel the electric blue background makes it look more chaotic than it really is

j_bertolotti, to godot
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Keeping in mind I don't really have the time or mental space to truly learn it, and I definitively don't have the skills necessary to actually make a game: any advice for a beginner tutorial?

j_bertolotti, (edited ) to random
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Linear algebra is easy.
Just remember that real numbers are vectors, polynomials are vectors, integrable functions are vectors, matrices are vectors, tensors are vectors, and so on.
As I said, easy.

d_yellowlees, to random
@d_yellowlees@mastodon.online avatar

More pictures won't save your presentation

lots of images or busy images can be just as overwhelming as lots of text. It's about how much 'information' you are putting out not what form it's in.

Use simple visuals & words or take the time to go slow.

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@d_yellowlees In September I have to give a seminar about making scientific animations, and I will probably have this post in one of the first few slides!

testtubegames, to random
@testtubegames@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

Want to recreate your eclipse experience? Or perhaps see what an eclipse on Neptune would look like?

Eclipse Explorer by MinuteLabs 🔭

A fun variety of options to choose from, and cool chill vibes.

https://labs.minutelabs.io/eclipses/#/earth/luna

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@testtubegames TL;DR: Earth gets the coolest eclipses 😃

christianp, to random
@christianp@mathstodon.xyz avatar

My immunosuppressed wife just booked her covid booster jab. I got one last autumn as her carer, so I went on the form to book for myself, but it looks like that's not a thing any more. 😞

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@ColinTheMathmo @christianp
Same (anecdotal) experience here. If they have plausible deniability, they will give you the jab irrespectively of what the government rules say.

dfeldman, to random
@dfeldman@hachyderm.io avatar

Saying "an LLM is just fancy autocorrect" is like saying "fire is just a redox reaction like rusting iron." It's a true statement, but it's not very helpful when your house is burning down.

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@dfeldman Well, knowing it is a redox reaction tells you that you can stop it by removing energy from the system, e.g. using a liquid with high specific heat capacity and high latent heat, or by removing oxygen 😉

j_bertolotti, to random
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

This one is way above my level, but I'd love to hear the opinion of @johncarlosbaez 🙂
https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.00071

j_bertolotti, to random
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar


Dear hive mind: is there a simple to use, and decently stable macroblogging platform on the Fediverse that one can use without having to self-host?
Thank you

p.s.
Main big requirement is the possibility to categorize the posts so that they are easy to find even after some time has passed.
Second big requirement is that it can't be a beta or a personal project that is likely to be abandoned in an year.

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@ab78702 Thanks, but it feels that approach requires javascript coding, and I have neither the time, nor the mental space to learn js.

Kay, to gamedev

This is the sign you've been waiting for. Make a dungeon crawler! 👀

To help you get started, I've got over 200 dungeon themed 3D models on my itch page for FREE, Oh there's animated characters, weapons, and enemies too!

video/mp4

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@Kay If only I knew how to code I would make my own vtt for my ttrpg gaming sessions 😃

carnage4life, to random
@carnage4life@mas.to avatar

Google has launched an “Audio Emoji” feature where during a phone call on Android you can play an animation on your phone with a sound effect that the other person also hears. Sounds include applause and farting.

It’s a really strange feature. WTF?

https://9to5google.com/2024/04/30/google-phone-audio-emoji-rollout/

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@carnage4life Google: We are sorry we are killing all those useful products, but it is for a good cause. You see, we need all hands on deck to ship a button that plays fart noises during a phone call.

j_bertolotti, to random
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

"Non-commutative Math is the least weird idea in history!"
(by @ZachWeinersmith )
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/commute-2

eniko, (edited ) to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

"The market will efficiently allocate resources where they're most needed!"

Meanwhile, the market: we're putting this "AI" thing that doesn't seem to work and everyone hates into everything you use including your mouse. We're sure this will make us rich somehow. Do you like this? [Yes / Ask me again later]

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@eniko One of the problems with economics is that the assumptions behind those grandiose statements (e.g. perfect knowledge) are seldom stated out clearly. And nobody ever checks if those assumptions are satisfied in the real world.

j_bertolotti, to random
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Business idea: A course teaching University Professors how to start their presentation from their own computer (with an advanced course on how to share your screen when online).

Not sure anyone would be willing to pay for it, but there is clearly a need for such a course.

ZachWeinersmith, to random
@ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social avatar

This is probably just the communities I'm in, but it feels like whereas AI art had a fairly serious backlash, AI music has not? Is this your impression?

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@ZachWeinersmith I have not been bombarded with AI music, so I am less likely to rant about it.

carnage4life, to random
@carnage4life@mas.to avatar

Google really brought the Killed By Google vibe that has caused everyone to think twice about adopting their consumer products to their developer tools. 😫

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@carnage4life When was the last time Google has made a good decision on anything?
("Let's make a ton of money by exploiting our monopolistic position" doesn't count as a good decision.)

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

i dont understand achievements. i dont understand why the act of playing literal video games needed to be gamified

note: please don't explain achievements to me. it will not help me understand, it will only annoy me

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@eniko Me beating a super-hard semi-secret boss: 85% of the players got this achievement.
Me simply progressing the story without doing anything special: 2% of the players got this achievement.

Achievements in videogames are weird 🤷‍♂️

sfera314, to random

I'm thinking 🤔 of founding (unless it already exist) the

'Revolutionary Brigades for the Boycott of Bureaucracy' (RBBB) 🥺

a transnational, non-violent movement whose mission is to expose the irrationality of many norms affecting our life and challenge them through civil disobedience. 👩‍🚒

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@sfera314 History teaches us that this a noble battle, but also one we have lost a long time ago.

j_bertolotti, to random
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

I need a physical button on my smart(?)phone for "please connect to those damn Bluetooth earbuds you were already connected to 15 minutes ago. NOW!"

j_bertolotti, to random
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

90% of political takes online can be classified as "people falling for the false dichotomy fallacy (again)"

j_bertolotti, to random
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: The "Ashcroft/Mermin Project"
I will try to (likely very slowly) go through the classic textbook "Solid State Physics" by Ashcroft and Mermin and make one or more animation/visualization per chapter.
This will (hopefully) help people digest the topic and/or be useful to lecturers who are teaching about it. As with all my animations, feel free to use them.
The idea is that the animations are a companion to the book, so I will give only very brief explanations here.

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Released into the and uploaded to together with the script used to generate it: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drude_Model.gif

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

: The "Ashcroft/Mermin Project"
Chapter 2: Sommerfeld model
Electrons in a metal can be approximated as a Fermi gas, where only one electron can occupy a given state. At low temperature most of them are difficult to excite, because there is no free state available.

Fermi function plotted against energy for increasing temperatures (purple line). A dashed black line represent the Fermi energy, and the thermal energy is represented as a shaded orange area. At the bottom of the plot a number of small disks represent the electron piling up and, when the temperature is high enough) getting randomly excited to higher energy states.

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Released into the and uploaded to together with the script used to generate it: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fermi_Gas.gif

lowqualityfacts, to random
@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

That makes sense.
https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

@lowqualityfacts Physicists like to describe this as the parachute making spacetime more flat.

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