From Lara Beaton: Some people are like Slinkies – They serve no useful purpose, but they do give you a smile when you push them down a flight of stairs. (Of course, anybody in physics education would probably quibble with the statement that Slinkies are useless, but I’m willing to overlook that for a well-turned… Continue reading Quote of the Day
Month: June 2006
Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band
I’m a little ragged today because Kate and I went up to SPAC last night to see Bruce Springsteen, who is currently touring behind his album of Pete Seeger songs. This was a short-notice concert– I only got the tickets (as a birthday present) on Sunday– so this review will be pretty much it as… Continue reading Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band
Stringy Links
For those interested in keeping abreast of the latest stuff on string theory and its discontents, some links: Jonathan Shock is based in Beijing, and blogging about the Strings 2006 meeting. He’s got a first-day recap including descriptions of several of the talks, and incident events. Victor Rivelles is also blogging from Beijing, and has… Continue reading Stringy Links
Ask a ScienceBlogger: This IS My Hobby
This week’s Ask a ScienceBlogger question deals with blogging itself, and not so much with science: How is it that all the PIs (Tara, PZ, Orac et al.), various grad students, post-docs, etc. find time to fulfill their primary objectives (day jobs) and blog so prolifically? I have a slightly more serious response to this… Continue reading Ask a ScienceBlogger: This IS My Hobby
Bored by the Landscape
The big event of the moment in physics, at least on the high energy/ theory side, is the Strings 2006 meeting in Beijing, which will feature the usual suspects talking about the usual topics in string theory. This comes on the heels of the SUSY06 meeting, which was extensively blogged by Clifford and others. This… Continue reading Bored by the Landscape
Diversity in Science
Inside Higher Ed has an article today on a study of career tracks that found markedly different results for different ethnic groups. This ought to be interesting data for the endless debates about diersity in science hiring, especially this tidbit: Asian doctorates – 51 percent of them – are far and away the most likely… Continue reading Diversity in Science
Neverending Pledge Drive
I’m really not going to keep flogging the DonorsChoose fundraiser in an active way for the next two weeks (it runs through July 1), so you don’t have to worry about that. I will continue to include the donation button/ link in my posts, though: and occasional updates will follow as events warrant. Collectively, we’re… Continue reading Neverending Pledge Drive
DonorsChoose Update
ScienceBlogs Charity Liason Janet Stemwedel provides an update of the first two days of the ScienceBlogs fundraiser for DonorsChoose: over $8,000 in direct contributions, with our Corporate Masters at Seed agreeing to match up to $10,000. Not bad for two days, on a weekend no less. As for the local update, the Uncertain Principles challenge… Continue reading DonorsChoose Update
World Cup Update
I was awakened rather too early yesterday by the dog, so wound up dozing on the couch for a lot of the Portugal-Iran game. Which was pretty doze-worthy, actually– Portugal approached the game sort of like an NBA team, and played eleven loosely connected games of one-on-one, and while Iran was game, they just didn’t… Continue reading World Cup Update
Every Child Left Behind
Via coturnix, the tremendously depressing resignation letter of a public school teacher in North Carolina. It’s a rotten note on which to discover what looks like a pretty good blog. The racist comments and inappropriate sexual remarks desribed in the letter are really pretty disturbing. I wish I could say it was surprising, but sadly,… Continue reading Every Child Left Behind