iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

New addition to the website. Hate that this needs to be said.

new side banner on the site saying no AI is used in the creation of materials for the website.

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

maptap September 3 100🎯 94🏅 96🔥 80✨ 100🎯 Final score: 926

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

My lifetime of telling people to "always check the cable first" about to be vindicated.

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

While it's great that anyone can now see this incredible film, it used to be so hard to watch these types of films. Back in the day, my pal and I had to promise the moon to an English prof who had a copy on VHS so she'd lend it to us. Anyway, go ahead. Watch the best film of all time. For free.

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

A thing you can learn from the web traffic of a physics education website geared towards teachers is the time when folks start preparing for the start of Fall classes. And that time is now. Summer traffic doldrums are over!

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Q: What's the best thing to use as an example of something that weighs 80lbs? A big dog (german shepherd)? 10yr old kid? Asking for a friend...

screen cap from a video attempting to explain what 80lbs translates to.

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Partially-eclipsed sun as seen inside the partially-air conditioned Atrium at SMU

Eclipse sen through Atrium skylight windows

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Somewhere I have a video of walking by the full length of that lineup.

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Reposted by M.J. Dunlavy

Tiffany @tiffzny.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Practicing

Selfie of Tiffany wearing eclipse glasses looking towards the sun

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This is amazing. And as I sign of good faith, I won't do it to the person who reposted it for me to learn about. But everyone else...

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Definitely agree on 3. He did quite a bit of kids tv in the uk.

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Respectfully: I think #2 would be incredible. He bounces between avuncular and angry in a very Muppet-y way.

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

It is very possible. I grew up near huge wild blueberry fields and every few years (when it was safe to do so, I assume), someone would set the whole area on fire. Picking literal gallons of blueberries was something my family would do every summer for most of August.

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Yeah, I think its only Easy-bake ovens (do they still exist? My sister had one back in the day) that work via light.

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I think you're okay here. Light is visible spectrum radiation, by definition I believe.

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I have a ticket with a pretty decent seat for The Odyssey in 70mmIMAX this weekend (Sun 11am showing)... that I am cancelling. If any locals want it, DM me and I'll let you know when I hit the refund button.

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

An underrated aspect of the prism-rainbow refraction effect is that since the transparent prism bends all of the light, it leaves a shadow as if it is opaque.

A transparent prism creates both a rainbow as well as a dark shadow.

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

2001 NYT crosswords hit different.

the solution to the clue "Bachelor's counterpart" is "Spinster"

Oh, Asimov was my GUY back in the day! So much so that I watched a surprising amount of Foundation, even though I spent the whole time wondering if the creators had actually read the books.

Well, ignoring the many-many-etc issues applies to anything written in the pulp era, and to writers like Howard who never evolved beyond it. Also: currently reading the JohnCarter books for the first time and BEarth is *such* direct crib.

This might be it for me as well. I read it as a scifi-obsessed kid with a love of Howard-Burroughs-esque pulp. When I attempted a re-read in undergrad, it was a real "oh, I was a real dumb-dumb" moment.

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

For no particular reason: here's an explanation for why the sun looks red when there's a lot of particles in the atmosphere. demos.smu.ca/demos/astron...

It's been 8yrs but I'd like to get a limited series podcast going again. I found the research folder for Earth's Mixtape and sadly it'll take that much work again. Speaking of: Like NASA history? Like thinking about talking to aliens? Well then... podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/e...

podcasts.apple.com

Earth's Mixtape

Education Podcast · A fun journey through the Voyager Golden Record, Earth's mixtape to the stars!

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Let me see... what do I remember from that weekend...

Box Office Game for the weekend before 9/11

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I thought I was proud of this mushroom-spinach risotto *before* putting it on the table...

$Plate of risotto with a diffracted sun beam on it from a prism in the window on a sunny day.$

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To be clear, the Atrium offices are air conditioned. This is just within the exterior glassed stairwell.

If you are on the SMU campus and have something you'd like photographed in infra-red, send me a DM within the next hour.

And here are some measurements made with a contactless IR thermometer against both interior and exterior surfaces as a function of number of steps from the ground floor.

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Here's what is looks like from the inside in infra-red. It can be hard to see, but the upper floors (at the top) are much hotter than the lower floors (bottom of pic) 2/3

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

So we have in the Atrium a glassed three story stairwell that acts as a type of greenhouse column. On a hot day like today, the temperature difference from top to bottom is noticeable! 1/3

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After far too long, the "Search" function on the site has been fixed! Now teachers and students can search for the demos they are looking for as if this site was made in the 21st century. demos.smu.ca

Website search function returns for the term "forces".

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

New Poll: 1) Complicated questions about public policy have answers that can only be expressed with nuance and context. 🔲 Agree 🔲 Disagree

Tiffany @tiffzny.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Reposted by M.J. Dunlavy

If you're interested in spotting Venus blip out of view then come back, position yourself IN A SHADOW of a solid object, like a building without windows (not trees!) so you CANNOT accidentally look at the sun. I beg!! Do NOT accidentally look at the sun with a telescope or binocs!!!

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

We're talking xfig. We're talking xmgrace. We're talking c-parse. We're talking LaTeX packages that were originally written on punchcards. Honestly, it'll be easier to start from scratch.

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Just spent a good amount of time to make sure the antiquated programs I use to produce lab manuals continue to work on a modern computer for a few more years. All of which to say: good luck to my successor!

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

New video! Using a Hoberman switch-pitch ball (easily available from many fine toy stores) to demonstrate Quantum Indeterminacy in the classroom! #iTeachPhysics youtu.be/rim-hknwDO0

youtu.be

How to Model Quantum Indeterminacy in the Classroom

YouTube video by SMUPhysics

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

When I moved to Canada as a what-would-be-described now a media-obsessed kid, this was the Canadian show that made the biggest impression on me. And that impression was that Canadian shows were bad.

M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

It's done. Gonna sit with it for a night and then release it tomorrow after checking it again with unbleary eyes.

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M.J. Dunlavy @mdunlavyca.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Do this long enough, and you can hear feedback from the future while you are editing. (and yes, I can also hear your typo comments)

Text card saying "But! (I hear you ask) Is it truly random?"