I didn’t post anything to acknowledge Memorial Day this past Monday, because Union doesn’t take the day off, so it was just another Monday around here, albeit with fewer stores and restaurants open than usual. SteelyKid was at Grandma and Grandpa’s for the weekend, though, and celebrated by going to the annual parade. Which was… Continue reading Thursday Patriotic Toddler Blogging
Month: June 2011
The Statistics of the Highly Improbable
This is the alst week of the academic term here, so I’ve been crazy busy, which is my excuse for letting things slip. I did want to get back to something raised in the comments to the comments to the Born rule post. It’s kind of gotten buried in a bunch of other stuff, so… Continue reading The Statistics of the Highly Improbable
PNAS: George Farrants, Freelance Translator
(This post is part of the new round of interviews of non-academic scientists, giving the responses of George Farrants, a freelance translator (and occasional marathon runner, as seen in the picture). The goal is to provide some additional information for science students thinking about their fiuture careers, describing options beyond the assumed default Ph.D.–post-doc–academic-job track.)… Continue reading PNAS: George Farrants, Freelance Translator
The Second Lives of Academic Posters
This morning’s Links Dump included a post from Mad Mike and an entire blog on improving academic posters. For those not in the sciences, one of the traditional means of communicating research results is at a poster session where tens to hundreds of researcher each prepare a poster (usually 3’x5′ or thereabouts) about their project,… Continue reading The Second Lives of Academic Posters
Links for 2011-06-02
Mpemba’s baffling discovery: can hot water freeze before cold? (1969) | Skulls in the Stars “”My name is Erasto B Mpemba, and I am going to tell you about my discovery, which was due to misusing a refrigerator.” With those words, Tanzanian student Erasto Mpemba entered scientific history, and also sparked a scientific mystery and… Continue reading Links for 2011-06-02
What’s Interesting In Molecular Physics?
In just under two weeks, I’ll be giving an invited talk at DAMOP (that is, the annual meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society) that is intended to serve as an introduction to the meeting for new students or physicists from other fields. My plan is to… Continue reading What’s Interesting In Molecular Physics?
One Person’s Golden Age Is Another Person’s Catastrophic Crash
One of the interesting things about reading David Kaiser’s How the Hippies Saved Physics was that it paints a very different picture of physics in the mid-1970’s than what you usually see. Kaiser describes it as a very dark time for young physicists, career-wise. He doesn’t go all that deeply into the facts and figures… Continue reading One Person’s Golden Age Is Another Person’s Catastrophic Crash
PNAS: Jennifer Saam, Medical Science Liason
(This post is part of the new round of interviews of non-academic scientists, giving the responses of Jennifer Saam, who translates between different departments at a medical diagnostic laboratory. The goal is to provide some additional information for science students thinking about their fiuture careers, describing options beyond the assumed default Ph.D.–post-doc–academic-job track.) 1) What… Continue reading PNAS: Jennifer Saam, Medical Science Liason
Links for 2011-06-01
I’ve Gone and Done It Now: What It’s Like Without the Muslim Headscarf « Inner Workings of My Mind “I experimented last week. I took off my hijab – the headscarf many Muslim women wear to cover their hair. I have been wearing a headscarf when I leave the privacy of my home for 25… Continue reading Links for 2011-06-01