Paul Duffell
@paulduffell.bsky.social
I'm Paul and I do Hydro.
Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Purdue University.
Located in beautiful Lafayette, Indiana.
Host of the Astrophysics Podcast.
Group Website: http://physics.purdue.edu/duffell/
Podcast Website: rss.com/podcasts/astrophysics/
Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Purdue University.
Located in beautiful Lafayette, Indiana.
Host of the Astrophysics Podcast.
Group Website: http://physics.purdue.edu/duffell/
Podcast Website: rss.com/podcasts/astrophysics/
My neurotic self always assumes that's what people say when I call or email them.
November 8, 2025 at 12:59 PM
My neurotic self always assumes that's what people say when I call or email them.
In their defense, they do need to send a reminder to me every day or I will forget.
November 5, 2025 at 3:19 PM
In their defense, they do need to send a reminder to me every day or I will forget.
lol it's going to write an awful letter full of vague platitudes
October 31, 2025 at 3:40 PM
lol it's going to write an awful letter full of vague platitudes
I think 90% of colloquium speakers don't know what the word "colloquium" means.
October 28, 2025 at 11:59 PM
I think 90% of colloquium speakers don't know what the word "colloquium" means.
Honestly somebody should lose their job over that. The scoring system demonstrates it's more than a typo. There's someone out there writing AP test questions that should not be.
October 20, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Honestly somebody should lose their job over that. The scoring system demonstrates it's more than a typo. There's someone out there writing AP test questions that should not be.
Another fun exercise is to check that your error falls off like 1/sqrt(N)
October 20, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Another fun exercise is to check that your error falls off like 1/sqrt(N)
Wow that's incredible detail! I didn't realize you could get this good an image of the crab with a smaller telescope.
October 13, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Wow that's incredible detail! I didn't realize you could get this good an image of the crab with a smaller telescope.
Prospective PhD students should know how much their emails to professors look like they were auto-generated. Also our inboxes are overcrowded with so much administrative BS I am often looking for excuses to ignore emails.
October 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Prospective PhD students should know how much their emails to professors look like they were auto-generated. Also our inboxes are overcrowded with so much administrative BS I am often looking for excuses to ignore emails.
I bet this is exactly the issue! The easiest way to build the original circuit makes it very hard to measure I1; I'm guessing there's a strong tendency to avoid re-building after they built it once. You need to build the circuit with the measurement in mind. But that makes it a good assignment.
October 8, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I bet this is exactly the issue! The easiest way to build the original circuit makes it very hard to measure I1; I'm guessing there's a strong tendency to avoid re-building after they built it once. You need to build the circuit with the measurement in mind. But that makes it a good assignment.
I'm sure the calculation has been done before as to how close a planet needs to get before that happens. We've seen very massive exoplanets (bigger than Jupiter) at very small orbits (smaller than Mercury's) so they presumably can keep their gaseous atmosphere at least sometimes.
October 3, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I'm sure the calculation has been done before as to how close a planet needs to get before that happens. We've seen very massive exoplanets (bigger than Jupiter) at very small orbits (smaller than Mercury's) so they presumably can keep their gaseous atmosphere at least sometimes.
Thank you, I very much appreciate the kind words!
I think our current understanding of the gas giants is that they have cores about ten times the Earth's mass. But it's not crazy to think that the outer gaseous material could get stripped away if they migrate too close to the sun.
I think our current understanding of the gas giants is that they have cores about ten times the Earth's mass. But it's not crazy to think that the outer gaseous material could get stripped away if they migrate too close to the sun.
October 3, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Thank you, I very much appreciate the kind words!
I think our current understanding of the gas giants is that they have cores about ten times the Earth's mass. But it's not crazy to think that the outer gaseous material could get stripped away if they migrate too close to the sun.
I think our current understanding of the gas giants is that they have cores about ten times the Earth's mass. But it's not crazy to think that the outer gaseous material could get stripped away if they migrate too close to the sun.
How did you know?
October 1, 2025 at 6:14 PM
How did you know?
Hopefully this generates enough press to effectively become an advertisement for the conference.
October 1, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Hopefully this generates enough press to effectively become an advertisement for the conference.
Some authors actively disregard the requests of the referee. If you think an author is doing that, just send them a report saying the changes you requested are not optional. If they don't like that they can find another referee. It sounds like you're not being mean, but they might be dismissive.
September 23, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Some authors actively disregard the requests of the referee. If you think an author is doing that, just send them a report saying the changes you requested are not optional. If they don't like that they can find another referee. It sounds like you're not being mean, but they might be dismissive.
Whoa, I am jealous!
August 27, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Whoa, I am jealous!
lol it's really misleading of them to call it a "retreat". I distinctly remember the realization setting in that this was just stretching out our usual painful 1-hour meeting into a full day.
August 19, 2025 at 11:56 AM
lol it's really misleading of them to call it a "retreat". I distinctly remember the realization setting in that this was just stretching out our usual painful 1-hour meeting into a full day.
Thank you! It's so nice to hear positive feedback!
August 2, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Thank you! It's so nice to hear positive feedback!
To answer your question, no they're not listening.
July 27, 2025 at 11:13 AM
To answer your question, no they're not listening.
Sounds like now is a great time to make predictions for the apparent motion of the jet across the sky!
July 16, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Sounds like now is a great time to make predictions for the apparent motion of the jet across the sky!