editors / 23 / 02 / 2009 / Views / Home – Inside Higher Ed Inside Higher Ed has done a comprehensive redesign of the site, including a bunch of new features. The best online academic journal just got better. (tags: academia computing internet) The Reality-Based Community: Annals of sexist oppression "In the middle of… Continue reading links for 2009-02-24
Author: Chad Orzel
Good Writing Needs Editing
Inspired by Leigh Butler at tor.com, I’ve been re-reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books. This happened to coincide with my recent vicious cold, which is good, because they’re great sickbed reading. Most of my re-reading has been done on my Palm, which miraculously came loaded with electronic copies of all the books. These are… Continue reading Good Writing Needs Editing
Academic Poll: Exam Reporting
No, this isn’t a mistake– I’m doing two quasi-polls on academic issues today, because I care what you think… I’m handing back last Thursday’s exams today. The scores on the test were about what I expect, given the material. As I’m looking at the scores, trying to assess the class as a whole, I’m curious… Continue reading Academic Poll: Exam Reporting
Academic Poll: Formula Sheets
In the basement, across the hall from my lab, there are three plastic-covered collages made up of formula sheets from long-ago exams. One of my colleagues let the students in a Physics for Pre-Meds class write whatever they wanted on one sheet of paper to bring into the final, and made art from the collected… Continue reading Academic Poll: Formula Sheets
links for 2009-02-23
What will be your Edward Gorey death? – Quiz | Get More Quizzes at Quizilla "We are all going to die. Why not die in an Edwary Gorey way. Find out how which Gashlycrumb Tinies child you will die like." (tags: silly literature books internet) Cocktail Party Physics: when satellites collide, it’s really a drag… Continue reading links for 2009-02-23
Mr. Earbrass Writes a Pop-Science Book
Holding TUH not very neatly done up in pink butcher’s paper, whcih was all he could find in a last-minute search before leaving to catch his train for London, Mr Earbrass arrives at the offices of his publishers to deliver it. The stairs look oddly menacing, as though he might break a leg on one… Continue reading Mr. Earbrass Writes a Pop-Science Book
Asteroids Killed Newspapers, GIF at 11
This week’s Science Saturday on bloggingheads.tv features Carl Zimmer and Phil “Bad Astronomy” Plait: It’s a wide-ranging conversation, covering topics in astronomy, why people believe crazy things, how the Internet can help, and the death of newspapers and their eventual replacement by blogs. Plait is really energetic (he spends a couple of minutes talking over… Continue reading Asteroids Killed Newspapers, GIF at 11
links for 2009-02-22
Cocktail Party Physics: science, politics, and getting it wrong "One surefire way to panic the heck out of people is to mention nuclear bombs and radical Islam in the same sentence. I dunno about you, but I kinda had a mini-freakout when I read about the amount of enriched uranium the United Nations says that… Continue reading links for 2009-02-22
Go Figure
Maryland 88, North Carolina 85 (WARNING: Auto-playing video): Greivis Vasquez did something no Maryland player had done since 1987, and the Terrapins pulled off an upset that was almost as remarkable. Vasquez had a career-high 35 points and 11 rebounds and 10 assists — Maryland’s first triple-double in 22 years — and the Terrapins rallied… Continue reading Go Figure
What I’m Planning to Nominate for the Hugos
We are now one week out from the deadline for Hugo Nominations. I’m eligible to nominate this year, and while a couple of past requests for recommendations have failed to generate anything, I thought I’d throw up a preliminary look at my ballot in hopes of bringing in a few recommendations: