Doug BurkeMar 10
Freya Blekman

I heard last week that the physics teacher of the daughter of one of my colleagues told the daughter that girls who do their nails don’t do physics. Sigh.

So, here are the nails of an internationally leading particle physics professor. My nails.

Don’t believe the gatekeepers! #womeninSTEM

Jan 19 at 12:12pmWeb
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
Also, my physics awesomeness is not stored in my nails. So physics is also totally doable for people without fancy nails. OBVIOUSLY.
Show threadAlisonW ♿🏳️‍🌈♾️Jan 19
@freyablekman
Nail awesomeness though! 💅❤️
Show threadGidJan 19
@freyablekman
i would see it as a good deal, doing one's nails and being a good physicist in return. 😅
Show threadEllenJan 19

@freyablekman Boys who put gel in their hair also don't do physics right?

Also: absolutely love your nails!

Show threadDagnabbit, Pascaline! 💥Jan 19

@freyablekman
AND the science behind those liquid/glass nails is awesome! 💖

Years ago I went to a party with mostly men discussing BLAH, and some women all pretty & talking about kitchen appliances, cooking, & gardening.

Anyway, I was also sitting there, all pretty with make-up, glitter, and festive clothing, but listened instead.

The men had been staring,
One grinned: "So, what do YOU do?"
I said "Oh, I create websites with HTML, PHP, CSS, and do computer maintenance."

They all got silent.

Show threadJo - pièce de résistanceJan 19
@freyablekman
There is physics in everything, so this guy is just a misogynist supremacist, thinks he’s a “serious man” but he’s profoundly unserious, and doesn’t even know it.
Show threadhindsightJan 19

@freyablekman Oh dear...

I do wish you hadn't added this..

Until then I had a perfect reason for my inadequacy in physics at shool and beyond ;-)))

Show threadWe Must DissentJan 20
@freyablekman here I were hoping for a silverbullet
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 20
@MxSpoon sneak peak behind the scenes - this image is slightly outdated, by now my nails are silver! like bullets!
Show threadraphaelJan 20

@freyablekman however, with the really cool properties of some nail polishes, some physics awesomeness is stored on the nails.

i.e. more physics awesomeness in total!

Show threadDoomBananas 🇳🇴Jan 21
@freyablekman thank you for the clarification 😁
Show threadXCondEJan 21
@freyablekman I dunno these fingernails look pretty awesome to me
Show threadcwicseolforJan 19
@freyablekman #alt4you A hand rotates to demonstrate iridescence in black-enameled nails, looking for all the world as if a magenta, gold, and green aurora were somehow captured in varnish.
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@cwicseolfor thanks, I thought I had added alt text but my scheduler seems to have eaten it. Yours is much nicer so i've edited it in :)
Show threadcwicseolforJan 19
@freyablekman It’s coincidentally a great example of applied physics. Pigments and reflective/ refractive materials are some of the prettiest physics available!
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@cwicseolfor yep and this specific varnish with magnetisable nano-glitter is a great example of Fabry-Perot interference. Good times :)
Show threadslowtigerJan 19
@freyablekman
Of ourse these are a physics professor's nails, they have particles in it!
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@slowtiger and even polarised particles!!!
Show threadAnkeJan 19
@freyablekman girls who do their nails with magnet effect polish are doing practical physics while doing their nails.
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@Anke that's right
Show threadEnergetic NovaJan 19

@freyablekman

What did the physics teacher say when you showed them?

Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@Energetic_Nova not my physics teacher, sadly. I would have showed them all corners of the room. Verbally, of course :) Still not OK.
Show threadT. J. BombadilJan 19
@freyablekman The nails of someone who can explain the cool optical phenomena going on with said nails, too!
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@c_dan4th "wanna know more about Fabry-Perot interference? Then check out my nails!!!"
Show threadJules she/herJan 19
@freyablekman as you can see I am working very hard today
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@afewbugs hehe so true. No nasty solvents for me. But I do have a fancy particle collider :)
Show threadnachtetJan 19
@freyablekman @afewbugs 😲
And that doesn't mess with nails?
Show threadAndrewJan 19
@nachtet @freyablekman @afewbugs someone design a nail polish that changes color when you bombard it with neutrons
Show threadJules she/herJan 19
@cinebox @nachtet @freyablekman I mean do we know for sure that regular nail polish doesn't change colour when you bombard it with neutrinos? Has anyone ever tried?
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19

@afewbugs @cinebox @nachtet every nail gets constantly bombarded with millions of neutrinos. So I'd say we're safe. (neutrons, on the other hand, only a few. but they would get stuck on top)

But nail polish with ground up/liquid scintillator in it would totally get me interested. And should not be *that* difficult. Probably biggest issue would be making it cosmetics-safe

Show threadBryan WrightJan 19

@freyablekman @afewbugs @cinebox @nachtet

Future headline:
"Dark matter particles finally detected by researcher's nail polish"

Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@catselbow @afewbugs @cinebox @nachtet come to think of it, such a layer would make it possible to make 50-100 micron thick scintillators. There might be applications 🤔
Show threadLarge Format ProjectionistJan 19

@freyablekman @afewbugs @cinebox @nachtet

Dr, Blekman,
you need to contact #Sephora RIGHT NOW.
1) I'd imagine they'd help spread the word of nail products for physicists.
2) If anyone could make the scintilators safe, it'd be a multi-billion dollar makeup corporation.

I think we need t-shirts of your lovely manicure making clear that physicists dig shiny like the rest of us.

Show threadARGVMI~1.PIFJan 20

@cinebox

Problem: bombarding things with neutrons makes them radioactive. 😬 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_activation

@nachtet @freyablekman @afewbugs

Neutron activation - Wikipedia

Show threadARGVMI~1.PIFJan 20

@nachtet

I'm no particle physicist, but I'm fairly sure you're supposed to keep your hands away from the beam.

@freyablekman @afewbugs

Show threadOdradekJan 19

@freyablekman @afewbugs was about to ask - not that it matters for the point - whether you are theoretician, lab-rat or administrator

anyway1: gorgeous!!!

anyway2: don't forget the "philosophers" variations and replace philosophers with "gender-/queerstudies" ;)

Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@Odradek @afewbugs started as a lab rat, now mostly administrator. I got my PhD over 20 years ago, the young peeps in my group are definitely hands on ofc but I now am proud when I can help them still when I have time. As is of course rather normal for academic career paths
Show threadOdradekJan 19

@freyablekman @afewbugs so no pauli-effect (lab equipment stops working when theoreticians are nearby) around you.

p.s.: a messuring-nailpolish-collection (magnetic fields, dosimeterpolish for ionizing radiation, younameit) … when?

Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@Odradek @afewbugs it exists for sun burn already btw.
Show threadOdradekJan 19

@freyablekman I only knew about the sad/infuriating part: to detect certain narcotics

halt immer wieder: feminis-muss

Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@Odradek interesting. Yeah I could see that could work. But also that likely could only be used in a super controlling way.
Show threadSteve GisselbrechtJan 19

@freyablekman @afewbugs

I'm a biologist and wear nail polish but I keep my nails short, so it doesn't add to material-under-nails risk.

Show threadΨ*ΨJan 19
@freyablekman @afewbugs This is so accurate! I stopped wearing nail polish for a few years working in organic chemistry labs. There was no point. The solvents always won 😔
Show threadJules she/herJan 19
@psistarpsiii @freyablekman you would think you could be very very careful and make sure that the solvents never went on your hands which after all isn't supposed to happen anyway, but no. The solvents always win.
Show threadnachtetJan 19
@afewbugs @freyablekman
I'm a hobby gardener and do my nails during season to hide the pathogenic material. 😁
Show threadJules she/herJan 19
@nachtet @freyablekman my most consistent period of nail polish wearing was about six months after I smacked my thumb with a mallet while putting up a tent, producing a horrible purply-green bruise under the nail. It was less effort to keep painting my nails than it was to keep answering the question "OMG what happened to your thumb?"
Show threadnachtetJan 19
@afewbugs @freyablekman 😁 Autschn, though! 😵‍💫
Show threadDan HattonJan 19

@afewbugs @freyablekman

My physics PhD involved a fair amount of acetone and isopropanol (for cleaning traces of oils off of things that needed to go in ultrahigh vacuum), so not sure about the right-hand blue/yellow boundary there.

Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19
@only_ohm true it depends on the sub-field, and the kind of work. At points of my career during experimental construction I have also worked with various fluids that would not be kind to nail varnish. But I would say that UV cured gel polish is much more robust :)
Show threadUsagiJan 20
@afewbugs @freyablekman Do you get tentacles growing from under your nails when doing biology? ​​
Show threadVeronica OlsenJan 19
@freyablekman Hear hear. I have a PhD in high energy physics, and I have done my nails a lot too. I don't do it so much these days because my nails rip very easily. Anyway, I particularly love the magnetic nail polish where you can use a magnet to create field lines as they dry. If that's not for physicists, then who!?
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 19

@veronica exactly!

I'm thinking of getting CMS experiment nail decals made for the CERN shop. I think they will be a winner.

Show threadVeronica OlsenJan 19
@freyablekman Great idea. I was there in September and there was a lot less fun stuff than there used to be when I worked at CERN (I worked on Hi-Lumi LHC some years ago).
Show threadDagnabbit, Pascaline! 💥Jan 19

@veronica

We need fun!
I mean, the men named the internet 'hyper space', try doing things like that nowadays. Bring back the fun and joy!
That being said, I suddenly remember Camilla, NASA's space chicken.

@freyablekman

Show threadWiebke FreyJan 20
@veronica @freyablekman Oh, where can I get that???
Show threadFreya BlekmanJan 20
@wiebiwetter @veronica They're magnet cat's eye design. Most nail salons know how to do them. Many combos of base colour and multicolor pigments possible, of course :)
Show threadWiebke FreyJan 20
@freyablekman @veronica Ahh, okay!
So far, I've always done my nails myself, so that would definitely be the next step... My new gold standard are your iridescent nails anyways... 😆 Like iridescent clouds ☁️😍
Show threadPetercarla62Jan 19
@freyablekman Great!
Show threadAcmeworksJan 19
@freyablekman I'm qualified to talk about neither physics nor nails but I am impressed.
Show threadIrinaJan 19
@freyablekman Those are very pretty nails.