Author Archives: iaizzi

How to send end-to-end encrypted emails using any email provider

Leave a reply

Note to reader: I consider this procedure to be in beta. If you encounter difficulties, I want to know about it. Please leave a comment or get in touch with me.

It turns out that you most desktop email clients support end-to-end encryption using S/MIME. These work using public/private key encryption. You generate a key pair with a private key (which you store securely on your computer) and a public key (which you can share freely).

Using the private key, you can sign your emails so that anyone with the public key knows that the email came from you and hasn’t been modified along the way. Once someone has your public key, they can encrypt an email such that only someone holding the private key (you) can read it. Crucially, the email servers (and your email provider) do not have the ability to decrypt the email because they do not have the key.

Continue reading →
Wide angle shot of double rainbow showing supernumerary bands below main rainbow and dark Alexander's band between first and second rainbow.

Rainbows are way more complex than I thought: supernumerary bands and Alexander’s band

Leave a reply

Nearing the end of a long summer day, less than an hour from sunset, a sun shower passes through. Out the window we see a remarkable sight: a double rainbow in front of a blue sky! Conditions were basically perfect: bright sun coming in at a low angle against a darkening sky. It was one of largest and brightest rainbows I’ve ever seen.

I grabbed my DSLR and started taking photos. For the first time I had taken a good photo of a rainbow (they tend not to look nearly as dramatic in photos as the look in real life).

As I was looking through the viewfinder, I thought “wow, it kind of looks like there are extra bands beyond the violet on the main arc. And the photo confirmed: there are. It turns out there is more to rainbows that I knew about.

But before we get to that those extra bands: what is a double rainbow? For that matter…

Continue reading →

Please vote for me for the position of Councilor for the Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics (FIAP)

Leave a reply

It’s been my pleasure to serve on the executive board of the APS Forum for Early Career Scientists (FECS) for the past five years. I’m currently running for a position as Councilor for the APS Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics (FIAP). The role of councilor is to serve as FIAP’s representative to the APS Council of Representatives, which represents the interests of APS members to the board, focusing on “all matters of science and membership, including science policy.”

Continue reading →

Did you just watch Oppenheimer? Want to learn more?

Leave a reply

Just a few days ago I watched Christopher Nolan’s new film Oppenheimer, a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who lead the Manhattan Project and is widely known as the “father of the atomic bomb.” I loved it!

I’ve long held an interest in the history of nuclear weapons, and seeing part of this story get a big budget Hollywood movie is a real treat.

Continue reading →
Photo of NASA's artemis on the launch pad

Photography for physicists: Part I

Leave a reply

Over the past few years I’ve picked up photography as a hobby. It’s a nice creative outlet and it’s an excuse to go look at things. I dabble in photographing trains, planes and wildlife along with astrophotography. I don’t think I’m particularly good at it, but that’s not the point.

Anyways, I’m not writing today to talk about my hobbies or to show off my photos. I’m writing about how I think about photography as a physicist.

Continue reading →

What’s inside a relay?

Leave a reply
Top down view of relay showing the circuit diagram of what is inside.
Top down view of relay showing the circuit diagram of what is inside.

Ever wonder what’s inside a RELAY?

These little electrically-powered switches allow a low power circuit to control a high power circuit. They’re a big part of a lot of appliances that have a power button and you can often hear them switch on with an audible click.

This one is from my car and it is used to flash the lights when the headlights aren’t on. The big copper coil is an electromagnet. When the current through the coil is on, it creates a magnetic field that moves that little arm to close an electrical circuit.

Continue reading →

Nominate yourself or someone else for the APS/FIAP Career Lectureship Award (FCLA)

Leave a reply

APS and the APS Forum for Industrial and Applied Physics (FIAP) just reworked their distinguished lectureship award to focus more clearly on careers. It’s now called the FIAP Career Lectureship Award (FCLA). The goal of this award is to find physicists with fascinating careers outside of physics and support them in giving talks on their career to physics students. Does someone you know have a cool non-academic career? Do you? If so, considering nominating them (or yourself)! Applications are due June 1.

More information here.

And a little humblebrag: I did help redesign this award as part of my work on the APS Committee on Careers and Professional Development (CCPD).

iaizzi

April 14, 2023

iaizzi's avatar

Today, 4/14, is World Quantum Day 🎉 (4/14 is a reference to Planck’s constant 4.14…×10−15 eV⋅s). Have a superluminal day!

Black cat glaring at camera
Here’s my cat, who refuses to take part in any experiments after that incident with Schrödinger.

FECS Events at the 2023 March Meeting

Leave a reply

If you’re interested in *my* talk, that information is here.

I’m really excited about the slate of events that FECS has put together for the 2023 March Meeting in Las Vegas. This includes Monday’s talk by Dr. Savannah Garmon “A trans perspective on building supportive and inclusive physics communities” and Tuesday’s FECS reception which will, for the first time since 2019, include complementary BEER. Hope to see you there!

Continue reading →