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Comment by janandonly

3 days ago

It takes a special kind of mind to appreciate this short post, not as fiction, but as truth and also as a jab at the physics sciences in general.

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janandonly

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ssivark  3 days ago

Why is it a jab at physics? It's honest and beautiful -- I imagine this is exactly what an experience on the cutting edge of experiment is like! :D

Making this measurement (an ancient discovery) with latest equipment is easy, but imagine what it might have been like for the people who actually discovered this property of germanium. Our tools/probes cannot advance much faster than our understanding of a (related) subject -- we are constantly inventing/improvising tools using cutting edge scientific knowledge from a related field.

  • throwway120385  3 days ago

    I mean if you didn't already know how to solder to Germanium crystals you would have had to spend months experimenting with the material before you could get leads to stick.

    • robocat  2 days ago

      Google said (AI result):

        Soldering a lead to a germanium crystal typically involves using a gold-germanium solder alloy (like 88% gold, 12% germanium) due to its compatibility and good bonding properties

      Also one of the search results implied etching first could help remove germanium oxide and used a different solder: https://www.researchgate.net/post/How-to-solder-germanium-wa...

      Plus you'd need to decide how to get a good thermal connection to set the temperature of the crystal - maybe via one big lead?

      Being in the future makes some things simpler?

      The little experience I've had with lab physicists showed they needed a good ability to build, debug and maintain their own equipment. You can't always rely on technicians.

      2 replies →

  • lazide  3 days ago

    Especially when the entire concept might seem absolutely absurd at the time.

analog31  2 days ago

I'm an industrial physicist, and the post put a smile on my face. And indeed, it's not fiction. It's a blast. You will go through times like this, I guarantee it.

I've been wrestling with a cantankerous experiment for a couple of weeks. It produces reproducible results, but they don't make sense, and the work is not in a domain where discovering new physics by accident is likely.