The Mad Biologist, like 80% of ScienceBlogs, is mad at Chris Mooney: Here’s the problem: you keep coming to evolutionary biologists with a problem (the perception of evolutionary biology), and you don’t have a solution. Do you think there’s a single evolutionary biologist who is happy with public opinion regarding evolution and creationism? But you’re… Continue reading Scientists Don’t Have to Do Everything Themselves
Month: April 2008
The Telegraph Steals My Ideas
Via Swans On Tea, an article in the Telegraph about the Greatest Experiments in Science. Been there, done that, picked a winner. Over two years ago. Way to go, Torygraph. OK, fine, they did all of science, while I was only looking for the greatest experiment in physics. But, really, can any of those stamp… Continue reading The Telegraph Steals My Ideas
A Flock of Dodos
Randy Olson’s movie A Flock of Dodos comes up again and again in the course of arguments about public communication of science, but I had never gotten around to seeing it. I finally put it on the Netflix queue, and ended up watching it last night. For those who have been living in caves and… Continue reading A Flock of Dodos
links for 2008-04-30
Japan, a Brief Pop-Cultural Survey | The A.V. Club “Japan: land of the rising sun. […] Home to high-quality electronics, bizarre game shows, and vending machines that dispense beer and used girls’ panties (not together…yet).” (tags: Japan culture society silly) Confessions of a Community College Dean: Between the Dog and the Fire Hydrant “Why would… Continue reading links for 2008-04-30
God and Physics
Via the Zeitgeist, the Templeton Foundation has asked a bunch of famous smart people “Does science make belief in God obsolete?” I wouldn’t ordinarily note this, but if you scroll down a little, you’ll find my thesis advisor, Bill Phillips, who offers an “Absolutely Not!”: [A] scientist can believe in God because such belief is… Continue reading God and Physics
Physics to Finance
We had a talk yesterday at lunchtime from an alumnus who graduated with a physics degree, got a Ph.D. in Physics, did a couple of post-docs, and then decided to give academia a miss, and went to Wall Street where he’s been a financial analyst for the last 12 years. He talked, mostly for the… Continue reading Physics to Finance
Athletics and Alumni
Inside Higher Ed reports on a new study of the connection between college athletics and alumni giving, with some interesting findings: First, they find that male alumni who played on teams while they were undergraduates are more likely to donate more (to the athletics department and to the university as a whole) when the teams… Continue reading Athletics and Alumni
A Stable Heavy Element?
Via Swans on Tea, a new article on the arxiv reports the possible discovery of a new stable element: What they did was fire one thorium nucleus after another through a mass spectrometer to see how heavy each was. Thorium has an atomic number of 90 and occurs mainly in two isotopes with atomic weights… Continue reading A Stable Heavy Element?
links for 2008-04-29
The Art of the Possible » Blog Archive » Wussy Like a Fox? “Summing up: Obama risks looking marginally “weak” by “not hitting back” against Clinton’s attacks. But hitting back risks making him look like a) an asshole; b) a sexist; c) a scary negro man! “ (tags: politics US race gender) Solar System Live… Continue reading links for 2008-04-29
I Could Take Him
Barack Obama, hoopster: The real question is, why is he afraid to play me one-on-one? (Video via Matt Yglesias.)