Why Public Employees Are The New Welfare Queens | The New Republic “To what extent is the problem that the retirement benefits for unionized public sector workers have become too generous? And to what extent is the problem that retirement benefits for everybody else have become too stingy? I would suggest it’s more the latter… Continue reading Links for 2010-08-10
Month: August 2010
Toddler Thermodynamics
As seen in yesterday’s post, SteelyKid got a grill this weekend: This led to one of the cutest toddler anecdotes to date, which I’ll put below the fold for the sake of those heartless souls who don’t like cute kids.
Cold Atoms and Cooper Pairs
So, last week, I talked about how superconductors work, and I have in the past talked about the idea of making cold atoms look like electrons. And obvious question, then, whould be: Do cold atoms systems allow us to learn anything about superconductivity? The answer here is, unfortunately, “Yes and no.” That’s pretty weaselly, dude.… Continue reading Cold Atoms and Cooper Pairs
P=???
the hot topic in mathematical sciences at the moment is the draft proof that P≠NP (warning: PDF). This is one of the biggest issues in computer science, and one of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s Millennium Problems, so a proof would be Big News in math/CS, and earn the prover a cool $1,000,000. Reaction among blogging… Continue reading P=???
Links for 2010-08-09
Young Engineer Uses Webcam, Laser to Build Budget 3-D Scanner | Gadget Lab | Wired.com “Using little more than a webcam and a laser, a young engineer has built a cheap 3D scanner that dovetails perfectly with the Makerbot and other desktop fabricators. It could be used as part of a copying system that would… Continue reading Links for 2010-08-09
Sunday Suburban Toddler Blogging
SteelyKid was down in Boston at her grandmother’s for a few days, which was a nice break, but it’s always good to get home to Chateau SteelyKid: Notice the spiffy new grill in the right corner of the patio, Of course, when you’re out of town for a few days, all sorts of work piles… Continue reading Sunday Suburban Toddler Blogging
It Was Two Years Ago Today…
Happy second birthday, SteelyKid! That wasn’t taken on her birthday, but it’s one of my favorite early pictures of her. Now, of course, she looks like this:
All the Myriad Inceptions
In comments to yesterday’s post about my favorite Many-Worlds story, a couple of people mention “All the Myriad Ways,” a Larry Niven short story. I don’t think I’ve ever actually read the story, but it gets brought up all the time, so I’m familiar with the concept. It’s an angle on Many-Worlds that I don’t… Continue reading All the Myriad Inceptions
Silly Poll: Pinch Me
I was going to write something serious about physics, but it’s my student’s last day, so we’re taking him to lunch. So here’s a silly poll to entertain you until I get back: If I suspected I might be living in a dream, but couldn’t be sure, I would:survey software You can only choose one… Continue reading Silly Poll: Pinch Me
Inception
We haven’t yet gotten to the point where we’re comfortable leaving SteelyKid with a babysitter, so seeing the movie everybody’s talking about took a while. Since she’s off at Gammy’s, though, we got a rare night to ourselves and went to the movies. My immediate reaction is that it’s great to see a movie that’s… Continue reading Inception