A lot of Twitter energy was soaked up Friday afternoon by a half stupid article by Virginia Heffernan at the New York Times. Sparked by Sodamageddon, she takes a look at ScienceBlogs for the first time, and doesn’t like what she sees: Hammering away at an ideology, substituting stridency for contemplation, pummeling its enemies in… Continue reading The Heffernan Conundrum
Month: July 2010
Links for 2010-07-31
slacktivist: If you can make it there “Newcomers are often insecure, and a debt of gratitude can make anyone feel a bit awkward, so I try my best to be patient with some of the sillier things often said by those from the American “heartland” about supposed “East Coast elites” in general and New York… Continue reading Links for 2010-07-31
Reader Request: Borrowing Energy
Commenter miller asks: It’s often said that virtual particles can “borrow” energy, as long as it’s for a short enough time to be compatible with the uncertainty principle. This never made sense to me, because the uncertainty principle says that product of uncertainty in energy and uncertainty in time is greater than h-bar over 2,… Continue reading Reader Request: Borrowing Energy
Reader Request: Quantum Complexity
There’s some good stuff in yesterday’s post asking what physics you’d like to read more about. I’m nursing a sore neck and shoulder, so I’ll only do one or two quick ones today, starting with James D. Miller in the first comment: 1) Is it true that our understanding of quantum physics comes from studying… Continue reading Reader Request: Quantum Complexity
Should Doctors Have to Take Physics and Chemistry?
The New York Times today has a story with the provocative title Getting Into Med School Without Hard Sciences, about a program at Mount Sinai that allows students to go to med school without taking the three things most dreaded by pre-meds: physics, organic chemistry, and the MCAT: [I]t came as a total shock to… Continue reading Should Doctors Have to Take Physics and Chemistry?
Links for 2010-07-30
Getting young scientists into the science teacher pipeline: IU News Room: Indiana University “Producing science teachers who can keep up with rapidly advancing fields and can also inspire students is not an easy task. With a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis… Continue reading Links for 2010-07-30
Thursday Toddler Blogging 072910
I don’t know if Dijon the giraffe has made a Toddler Blogging appearance yet, but in case she hasn’t, here she is: SteelyKid is in the process of explaining that Dijon is her giraffe (“My graph!”). Which she is, being a gift from Aunt Erin and Aunt ‘Stasia. She’s a rather heavy knit giraffe, and… Continue reading Thursday Toddler Blogging 072910
Two Cultures Defining Research
I was initially puzzled by the headline “Research-Assignment Handouts Give Students Meager Guidance, Survey Finds,” and the opening sentences didn’t help much: Most research-assignment handouts given to undergraduates fail to guide the students toward a comprehensive strategy for completing the work, according to two researchers at the University of Washington who are studying how students… Continue reading Two Cultures Defining Research
What Physics Topics Would You Like to Read About?
I had intended to write up a recent paper for ResearchBlogging today, but I cleverly forgot to bring either the hard copy of the PDF home last night, which wrecked that plan. And I’ve got real lab work to do today, so it’s not happening at work. This seems like a good opportunity, though, to… Continue reading What Physics Topics Would You Like to Read About?
Dorky Poll: Experimental Hazing
I’m going to be spending a good chunk of the rest of my day scrounging up adapters to connect two different classes of plumbing fittings. In honor of that, here’s a poll question based on something that one research group used to do: Sending a new graduate student to the lab down the hall to… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Experimental Hazing