Dear Physics Community,

On Monday, we had an 8 am phone call discussing reduced COVID-19 protocols, slides here. On Thursday, we learned of reduced COVID restrictions on campus (here) — particularly that we can now serve food (grab-and-go style), and instructors can remove masks in classrooms.  I will take the progress, but I know things remain difficult for many.

I saw this article about an artist who created a fake traffic jam on Google maps by pulling a wagon of 99 cell phones down a street in BVerlin, making Google Maps think this was a jam of cars moving slowly down a street.  I found this a) pretty funny, b) just horrifying, and c) just deserts for Google’s intrusive surveillance of us all.  I would love to hear of similar pranks that show how creepy surveillance technology can be.

Peter

Announcements

• Postdoc opportunity at Stanford with Giorgio Gratta here

• Now Accepting 2022 APS Innovation Fund Pre-Proposals here

• Well bearing webinar series here
• National Medal of Science Nominations here
• Seeking participation in a study of STEM Faculty Experiences with Work and Relationships here.

Physics

• Fusion records: Joint European Torus here, National Ignition facility here
• Neighbors: our nearest star seems to have an Earth-like planet