Jason Sanford: Why science fiction predictions hold back the genre “In many ways, the idea that science fiction is about predicting the future is a remnant of the genre’s past. During the 1940s and ’50s, genre promoters pitched SF as a way to inspire and teach people about science and technology. And during the era… Continue reading Links for 2010-06-20
Author: Chad Orzel
How to Teach Physics to Your Brazilian Dog
As I was heading out with SteelyKid to do some shopping, I noticed that the mail had arrived, including a large book mailer from my agent. I was a little puzzled as to what that could be, but left it for my return. Where I was pleased to open the envelope and find: That’s a… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Brazilian Dog
That’s Our Baby!
Friday was the last day of the school year hereabouts, so SteelyKid’s day care had an end-of-year ceremony for all the preschool classes, which included her group (“Waddlers,” which are between “Infants” and “Toddlers”). They gave certificates to all the kids, for a variety of different things. Here’s a picture of SteelyKid’s certificate: I have… Continue reading That’s Our Baby!
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Signing Tomorrow
Today is my birthday– my age in dog years is now equal to the freezing point of water in Kelvin (to three significant figures). I’m celebrating by not reading anything that might piss me off, and by spending the day at home watching soccer (about which more later) and getting some stuff done around the… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Signing Tomorrow
Hugo Reading: Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente
When the Hugo nominees were announced, Catherynne Valente’s Palimpsest was the only one of the three Best Novel nominees I hadn’t already read that I was pretty sure I would read. I have very little interest in Robert Sawyer’s work, and I’ve read just enough of Paolo Bacigalupi’s short fiction to dread the thought of… Continue reading Hugo Reading: Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente
Links for 2010-06-18
www.dumpert.nl – Hoe amerikanen voetbal kijken A good spoof of American sports television, applied to soccer. the titles are Dutch, but the video is in English. (tags: soccer sports world television silly) World Cup 2010: Brick-by-brick fussball – England 1-1 USA | Video | Football | guardian.co.uk “An animated recreation of England’s first match against… Continue reading Links for 2010-06-18
Thursday Baby Blogging 061710
No elaborate pose this week, just simple, classic Baby Blogging: A few months back, her weight had failed to increase as quickly as expected, so she had a couple of weight-check appointments scheduled. The latest was this week, when it was discovered that she had gained about three pounds since the last check-up (the proportional… Continue reading Thursday Baby Blogging 061710
The Problem of Broader Impacts
Over at the Cocktail Party, Diandra Leslie-Pelecky has a post about the image of scientists that spins off this Nature article on the NSF’s “broader impact” requirement (which I think is freely readable, but it’s hard to tell with Nature). Leslie-Pelecky’s post is well worth reading, and provides a good deal more detail on the… Continue reading The Problem of Broader Impacts
Faculty Evaluation Is Really Complicated
There’s a paper in the Journal of Political Economy that has sparked a bunch of discussion. The article, bearing the snappy title “Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to Professors,” looks at the scores of over 10,000 students at the US Air Force Academy over a period of several years, and… Continue reading Faculty Evaluation Is Really Complicated
Links for 2010-06-17
The Virtuosi: How Long Can You Balance A (Quantum) Pencil “In this post I’d like to address a fun physics problem. How long can you balance a pencil on its tip? I mean in a perfect world, how long? No really. Think about it a second. Try and come up with an answer before your… Continue reading Links for 2010-06-17