Author: Chad Orzel

Graduation Day 2010

A grey and dreary day here in Schenectady for the 216th Commencement at Union College. This is probably healthier for the graduates than the years when it’s sunny and hot and people pass out in their seats, but it isn’t the most pleasant send-off. Then again, my own college graduation was a grey and dismal… Continue reading Graduation Day 2010

Links for 2010-06-12

slacktivist: Sex & Money, part 3 “My conundrum was not unique — not to me and not to the question of usury. The same dilemma arises whenever we treat the Bible as a rulebook. That’s an approach that guarantees — that manufactures — conflicts between text and reason, text and experience, text and reality, text… Continue reading Links for 2010-06-12

Published
Categorized as Links Dump

(Belated) World Cup Contest

This was supposed to go up earlier, but it turns out that thinking you selected “Scheduled” in the MT back end is not, in fact, enough to schedule the post to appear. So this is showing up after games have already begun, but nothing of consequence has happened yet, so it’s no biggie. Anyway, the… Continue reading (Belated) World Cup Contest

My iPod Counts to Ten

I’ve got multiple home improvement projects that need work while SteelyKid is out of the house and the weather is reasonably nice, so no deep thoughts about science today. Instead, here’s some silly pop culture: a selection of songs from my music collection starting with numbers from one to ten: “One,” U2 “Two,” Ryan Adams… Continue reading My iPod Counts to Ten

Links for 2010-06-11

Will New York Rebel Against Fracking? – Green Blog – NYTimes.com “A well blowout that shot gas and water polluted with drilling fluids as high as 75 feet into the air in Pennsylvania is a vivid reminder how a new generation of gas drilling is becoming more of a presence in the Northeast. Discussion of… Continue reading Links for 2010-06-11

Published
Categorized as Links Dump

Through the Wormhole

The Science Channel debuted a new show last night, Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, with the premier apparently designed by committee to piss off as many Internet types as possible. The overall theme was “Is there a creator?” and it featured physicist-turned-Anglican-priest John Polkinghorne talking about fine-tuning but no atheist rebuttal. It spent a… Continue reading Through the Wormhole

I Need to Work on My Sound Bites

One of the questions asked of Neil deGrasse Tyson at the WSF thing last week was “When did you change from a mild-mannered astrophysicist to a rock-star scientist?” (or something close to that phrasing). In his answer, he said that after his first tv interview was edited down to a three-second shot of him wiggling… Continue reading I Need to Work on My Sound Bites

The Coveted Uncertain Principles Endorsement Goes to…

I’m not in the general habit of endorsing candidates for state office in districts where I don’t live, but I think I can make an exception in this case: In a unanimous vote, the Broome County Democratic Committee approved of Town of Triangle Councilman John Orzel to run for the state’s 52nd district, currently represented… Continue reading The Coveted Uncertain Principles Endorsement Goes to…

Academic Poll: Methods of Evaulation

I’m back in Niskayuna, dealing with mountains of end-of-term paperwork. Which means you get a poll to pass the time: The best end-of-term evaluation method is:survey software This poll is brought to you by the number π, the letter q, and the two take-home exams I’m waiting for before I can finish my grading.