SteelyKid is running a bit big for her age– she’ll be six months next weekend, but she’s outgrown all her six-month size clothes– but she’s still tiny. At least, I think so, and Kate has the pictures to show why.
Month: January 2009
A Finishing School for Third-Rate Burglars
I’m getting twinges in my neck indicating that I’ve been spending too much time looking at the computer, and I’ve got some computer-heavy work coming up in the next couple of weeks, so expect reduced blogging in the next few days. I couldn’t let this essay in the New Yorker (via Matt Yglesias) pass without… Continue reading A Finishing School for Third-Rate Burglars
Pedagogical Poll: Good Results or Historical Accuracy?
This week’s lab (well, half of it– the class is so big that I have to run two experiments in parallel) is somewhat controversial, so I thought I would throw this out to my wise and worldly readers to see what you all think. The problem is this: we have two different set-ups for doing… Continue reading Pedagogical Poll: Good Results or Historical Accuracy?
Congratulations to Cirac and Zoller
I’m not sure what the BBVA Foundation is, but they’ve awarded a Basic Science prize to Ignacio Cirac and Peter Zoller: The Basic Sciences award in this inaugural edition of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards has been shared by physicists Peter Zoller (Austria, 1952) and Ignacio Cirac (Manresa, 1965), “for their fundamental work… Continue reading Congratulations to Cirac and Zoller
links for 2009-01-30
US LHC Blog » Can We âPointâ the LHC, Too? "[C]ould we put up some kind of page where people could vote on what kind of physics we would study over the course of some particular week? Maybe a choice between searching for Supersymmetry, or a high-mass Higgs boson, or a low-mass Higgs boson? "… Continue reading links for 2009-01-30
Thursday Baby Blogging 012909
Today was a pretty rotten day in a lot of little ways that aren’t worth going into. A smiling, happy baby does a lot to make up for that, though: This week’s picture was actually taken last night by Kate. The height differential between us accounts for the fact that neither SteelyKid nor Appa are… Continue reading Thursday Baby Blogging 012909
Pop Culture Interlude: Least Grammatical Lyrics?
I was thinking of trying to post something really erudite about science today, but a series of minor catastrophes has completely derailed that plan. Now, I’m just hoping to get through my afternoon lab without punching anybody. So, in place of the science stuff, here’s a pop music topic. While on the way to pick… Continue reading Pop Culture Interlude: Least Grammatical Lyrics?
How to Moderate a Discussion of Global Warming?
As noted in the previous post, I’m supposed to be moderating a panel at Boskone the weekend after next, with the title: Global Warming: Facts and Myths, (and all that jazz) This is not my usual line, but then, I don’t have to provide expert commentary, I just need to steer the discussion. Still, it… Continue reading How to Moderate a Discussion of Global Warming?
What I’m Doing at Boskone
Boskone, the Boston-area SF convention that Kate and I go to every year, is the weekend after next. Once again, I’ll be doing a few panels and one talk. For those who might be attending, or who care about this for some reason, here’s my preliminary schedule:
links for 2009-01-29
Astronomers get a sizzling weather report from a distant planet "The researchers used NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to obtain infrared measurements of the heat emanating from the planet as it whipped behind and close to its star. In just six hours, the planet’s temperature rose from 800 to 1,500 Kelvin (980 to 2,240 degrees Fahrenheit).… Continue reading links for 2009-01-29