Pummelos are by far the most unruly of citrus. In taste, they are everything I wish a grapefruit would be, but they are a real hassle to peel. Apologies to grapefruit enthusiasts - the bitterness gets to me. But my eating of grapefruit provides ample amusement for others since the bitterness causes me to make twisted sour faces.
Like celery, pummelos must have the "negative calories" deal going for them, just because it takes that much effort for me to get them open. Then again, I have a history of having trouble with peeling things. A great example of this was when I tried to unshell a hard-boiled egg by making the holes on the top and bottom of the egg and blowing through one of the holes. In case you've never seen this done, I refer you to here. Needless to say, it didn't work too well for me. Problem 1, didn't use baking soda. Problem 2, it was a soft boiled egg. Messy.
Thankfully, I have been more successful in other efforts of mine. I've been back from break for two weeks now doing some classwork and working on a healthy amount of outside projects. Semester hasn't actually started yet so it's a more relaxed atmosphere on campus. MIT has winter break for two weeks and then an optional 4-week Independent Activities Period (IAP). We're currently on at the beginning of week 3 of IAP.
IAP has been often compared to rehab since during IAP students can take classes that they wouldn't normally get a chance to take during semester (Ex: Build Your Own Electric Guitar, Make Your Own Decorative Paste Paper, Play StarCraft 2...more here).
I'm currently taking architecture classes for credit, which has been quite a bit of work so far, but plenty of fun. I'm taking an intensive version of the 2nd undergraduate studio course and a free-hand drawing class for architects. Those of you who have taken studio probably think the term "intensive" is redundant.
Besides classes, I've been working on an art installation project with a few friends and plotting schemes of modifying old blondegeek code. I keep mentioning the art project in posts, but I won't say more about it as to not ruin the surprise. :)
I haven't been working on physics since semester ended, but the research group I work with just published a paper! Check it out on arXiv. The paper addresses to how to extend physicists' ability to detect light in detectors (specifically Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers) that utilize strong electric fields. The issue is our light detectors (photomultiplier tubes - PMTs) cannot be used in a strong electric field, since PMTs use their own electric fields to create a signal cascade which creates a signal of approximately 10^10 electrons for every photon detected. Our solution is to use an acrylic lightguide which guides the light through internal reflection from an area in a detector where a strong electric field exists to where the PMTs sit, where there is no external field. The acrylic lightguides are coated with a chemical, TPB, which serves the purpose of shifting the wavelength of signal photons from UV, which our PMTs are horrible at seeing, to blue.
Back to pummeling the pummelo. I'll be sure to post some pics of my architecture projects soon.
Labels: architecture, IAP, MIT, physics, procrastination of homework, projects, pummelo
Posted by Tess |
i'm addicted to your blog. thank you :D
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