There have been a number of true and non-silly stories about astronomy and cosmology recently, which I’ll collect here as penance for the earlier silly post: Some theorists at Penn State have constructed a Loop Quantum Gravity model that they claim allows for an oscillating universe with no singularities. In one of those psychology-of-the-press moments,… Continue reading Serious News from Outer Space
Month: July 2007
Not Your Parents’ Summer Camp
The New York Times today has a story about a different sort of summer camp: Students with a passion for all things explosive and proof of United States citizenship pay a $450 fee that covers food, lodging and incidentals like dynamite. In the course of a week, the 22 students at this session set off… Continue reading Not Your Parents’ Summer Camp
Bush Commutes Pluto’s Sentence
WASHINGTON, DC (UP News Service)– In a move that supporters say shows sensitivity and compassion, President Bush today commuted the sentence of the planet Pluto, which was demoted to a “dwarf planet” by the International Astronomical Union in August of 2006. Under the President’s new order, Pluto will once more be regarded as a full-fledged… Continue reading Bush Commutes Pluto’s Sentence
Endangered Scientists
It’s really difficult to come up with new ways to frame crisis stories about the dwindling number of science majors in the US, but people keep finding them. The latest is from Marc Zimmer writing in Inside Higher Ed, who makes a number of biology analogies: The numbers indicate that the American scientist population is… Continue reading Endangered Scientists
Amateur Hour
Between the concert last night and an afternoon cookout at the house of one of Kate’s co-workers, we were out of the house for most of the day yesterday. This means light blogging today, as I struggle to deal with the stuff I really should’ve done yesterday. I do want to note, though, the New… Continue reading Amateur Hour
Richard Thompson Band Live
A while back, Kate and I saw Richard Thompson play a solo acoustic show at The Egg in Albany. Last night, he was back in town, this time with a band, touring in support of his new album, Sweet Warrior. Here are the band credits from the program: Michael Jerome: drums, percussion Taras Prodaniuk: electric… Continue reading Richard Thompson Band Live
Re-Order My Queue For Me
Kate’s going to Readercon next weekend, and I’m not. I have three summer students at the moment, and some other projects that I need to work on, and I just can’t spare the time. This means I’m going to have a whole weekend to do things that Kate doesn’t enjoy, like go out for sushi… Continue reading Re-Order My Queue For Me
You Gripe About What You Know
Via PZ, a blog on biology and science fiction is griping that biology gets no respect, and links to a Jack Cohen article complaining that authors and filmmakers don’t take biology seriously I was particularly struck by this bit: Authors, film producers and directors, special-effects teams go to physicists, especially astrophysicists, to check that their… Continue reading You Gripe About What You Know