Last week’s guess-the-number contest for my spare copy of Massive by Ian Sample generated over 150 comments. So, who won? Well, I said at the time: I am thinking of an integer between 0 and 1000 (inclusive). The person who comes closest to guessing the number by midnight Eastern time Friday, November 5 wins a… Continue reading Massive Giveaway Winner(s)
Month: November 2010
Links for 2010-11-08
Sunday Function : Built on Facts “[T]he idea of function as a machine is such a powerful and intuitive one that it tends to be used pretty universally until you have a good reason to abandon it. Non-mathematicians rarely encounter such reasons, even in the more mathematically demanding disciplines like physics, computer science, and engineering.… Continue reading Links for 2010-11-08
The Bob Dylan Plan for Economic Growth
I bought the Witmark Demos a week or so ago, because I could always use another 50 Bob Dylan songs, and listening to them on shuffle play has managed to earworm me with one song in particular, “I Shall Be Free”, which it occurs to me has great current relevance: Well, my telephone rang it… Continue reading The Bob Dylan Plan for Economic Growth
Links for 2010-11-07
Democrats didn’t lose the battle of 2010. They won it. – By William Saletan – Slate Magazine “Politicians have tried and failed for decades to enact universal health care. This time, they succeeded. In 2008, Democrats won the presidency and both houses of Congress, and by the thinnest of margins, they rammed a bill through.… Continue reading Links for 2010-11-07
Short Story Club: “The Heart of a Mouse” by K. J. Bishop
This week’s Short Story Club story is “The Heart of a Mouse” by K. J. Bishop, from Subterranean Press (which means I’m faintly surprised not to have to pay $15 for it). I recognize Bishop’s name, and think I have a copy of The Etched City upstairs that I’ve never gotten around to reading, but… Continue reading Short Story Club: “The Heart of a Mouse” by K. J. Bishop
Entangled in Sports Analogies
Having written in defense of analogies in physics yesterday, I should note that not all of the analogies that are brought out in an attempt to clarify physics concepts are good. For example, there’s this incredibly strained opening to a Science News article on entanglement: If the Manning brothers were quantum physicists as well as… Continue reading Entangled in Sports Analogies
Links for 2010-11-06
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Schrodinger’s job interview. (tags: silly physics history comics smbc) NASA Space Games | Wired Science | Wired.com “The future is now. NASA wants to start playing space games. Check out this NASA Spaced Out Sports Design Challenge. Unfortunately, the challenge is geared towards grades 5-8, but I can’t help thinking about this.… Continue reading Links for 2010-11-06
DonorsChoose 2010: The Final Days
I haven’t been flogging it as hard as in some past years, but the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge is still going on, though it wraps up on Tuesday. To date, we’ve raised just over $1,300 to support education in needy schools, which is great, and thanks to all those who have donated. If you haven’t donated… Continue reading DonorsChoose 2010: The Final Days
Physics Is All About Analogies
Regular commenter onymous left a comment to my review of Warped Passages that struck me as a little odd: The extended analogy between the renormalization group and a bureaucracy convinced me that she was trying way too hard to make sophisticated concepts comprehensible. Also, I’m not really sure that analogies are the best way to… Continue reading Physics Is All About Analogies
Links for 2010-11-05
Five close-approach images of Hartley 2 by Deep Impact, with commentary – The Planetary Society Blog | The Planetary Society “Here’s the five close-approach images of Hartley 2 captured today, November 4, 2010, by the Deep Impact spacecraft, collected into one file. Boy, do these images reward close examination!” (tags: science astronomy pictures space blogs… Continue reading Links for 2010-11-05