When this first came out, I didn’t pick it up, despite a glowing recommendation from Jennifer Ouellette, because NASCAR is one of the few things on ESPN that interests me less than baseball. I didn’t really think I’d be interested in reading a whole book on the subject. I saw Jennifer and Diandra on Bloggingheads… Continue reading The Physics of NASCAR by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky
Month: June 2009
links for 2009-06-04
kitchen table math, the sequel: alternate universe "While visiting schools in a variety of districts, I began to notice something that puzzled me. Some of these schools, particularly those with large numbers of poor and minority children, are working against daunting â some would say unreasonable â expectations for improvement in test scores. In more… Continue reading links for 2009-06-04
Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
For reasons that don’t really matter, I learned yesterday that there is a marathon in Antarctica: On December 12th, 2009, the fifth Antarctic Ice Marathon will take place at 80 Degrees South, just a few hundred miles from the South Pole at the foot of the Ellsworth Mountains. This race presents a truly formidable and… Continue reading Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
links for 2009-06-03
slacktivist: Killing in the name of "In 1973, most evangelicals regarded opposition to abortion as a Catholic Thing — and therefore vaguely suspect, as though it might lead to praying to Mary or something. But throughout the 1970s and into the ’80s, that changed. The person most responsible for that change was Francis Schaeffer. He… Continue reading links for 2009-06-03
What Should I Say to High School Graduates?
I’m in a line of work where I have to listen to a lot of graduation speeches– at least one per year. Yesterday, though, I got a phone call asking me to give one at my old high school’s graduation in three and a half weeks. This is kind of a weird situation, because while… Continue reading What Should I Say to High School Graduates?
Wanted: Better Hugo Nominees
I’m eligible to vote for the Hugos this year, as a paid-up member of Anticipation. As such, I got the free packet of nominated works that they put together for the voters, and have started working my way through the short fiction (I’ve read all the novel nominees that I’m going to). Whether you’re eligible… Continue reading Wanted: Better Hugo Nominees
links for 2009-06-02
Silence Is The Enemy | The Intersection | Discover Magazine Today begins a very important initiative called Silence Is The Enemy to help a generation of young women half a world away.Why? Because they are our sisters and childrenâthe victims of sexual abuse who donât have the means to ask for help. We have power… Continue reading links for 2009-06-02
Three Quarks Voting, X-Change Files
Two noteworthy things in the meta-blog category: 1) The 3 Quarks Daily science blogging prize nominations are up, and it’s a great list of sciencey bloggy goodness. If you’re looking for a way to procrastinate, you could kill several days reading all 171 entries. Once you’re done reading them, go vote for your favorite. The… Continue reading Three Quarks Voting, X-Change Files
Seven Years Ago
Before there was such a thing as Uncertain Principles, let alone Thursday Baby Blogging, there was this: Still the best call I ever made, seven years on.
Nobody Expects the Vector Product
Today is the first day of the last week of class, hallelujah. Unfortunately, it’s also the first class on rotational motion and angular momentum. This is unfortunate because it’s the hardest material in the course– angular momentum doesn’t behave in as intuitive a manner as linear momentum, and the math involved is the most complicated… Continue reading Nobody Expects the Vector Product