One of my service activities at the moment is serving on the committee that determines our nominees for the Watson Fellowship. Participating institutions are allowed to nominate up to four students, and we’ve just selected this year’s nominees, who are a really interesting bunch. The Watson, for those who haven’t heard of it, is, as… Continue reading What’s Your Watson Idea?
Author: Chad Orzel
The Monkey Dance
As has already been noted by people with too much free time, my DonorsChoose challenge stands at $6,254. This is a big jump, and happened because somebody emailed to ask whether a donation of theirs had been counted; when I logged in to check, I found that there was $715 in account credits, which I… Continue reading The Monkey Dance
links for 2008-10-27
Corruption in textbook-adoption proceedings: ‘Judging Books by Their Covers’ Richard Feynman on the idiocies of the textbook selection process. (tags: science math education books politics culture publishing) What does it all mean — Crooked Timber "There are two big economic ideas that look substantially less appealing in the light of the current crisis." (tags: economics… Continue reading links for 2008-10-27
DonorsChoose Payoff: Meeting the Queen
Another day, another DonorsChoose incentive claimed. I’m actually late in responding to this one– I missed my self-imposed 24-hour deadline because we’re visiting Kate’s parents outside of Boston, but I’ll try to make up for it with the answer. Anyway, Helen asks: How did Emmy become part of your household? We decided we wanted a… Continue reading DonorsChoose Payoff: Meeting the Queen
Weird Windows by Various Authors
I tagged Ethan Zuckerman’s post abpout video “windows” to other places in a links dump recently. The idea is to put big video screens and cameras in fast-food restaurants around the world, and provide virtual “windows” into other restaurants in other countries. In talking about the idea, Ethan threw out a great aside: (If I… Continue reading Weird Windows by Various Authors
links for 2008-10-26
5 Presidential Elections Even Dumber Than This One (Somehow) | Cracked.com Hard as it may be to believe… (tags: politics history comedy US silly internet)
links for 2008-10-25
Roe vs. Wade? Bush vs. Gore? What are the worst Supreme Court decisions? – Los Angeles Times Legal experts weigh in. (tags: law politics us history society) Quantum Hyperion | Cosmic Variance Is Saturn’s moon there when nobody’s looking? (tags: science quantum physics astronomy planets) …My heart’s in Accra » Woices, and weird windows on… Continue reading links for 2008-10-25
Optimism and the Depression
This week’s department colloquium was Roel Snieder of the Colorado School of Mines on The Global Energy Challenge. I have to admit, I was somewhat rude, and spent a lot of the talk futzing with my tablet, but really, while his presentation of the material was very good, the material itself wasn’t new to me–… Continue reading Optimism and the Depression
Dark Matter Doesn’t Exist?
Claims of the non-existence of dark matter are a staple of astro-kookery, but Physics World today has a news story with the provocative title “Galaxy survey casts doubts on cold dark matter,” which makes it sound like people from reputable collaborations are questioning the existence of dark matter. So what’s the deal? Well, here’s the… Continue reading Dark Matter Doesn’t Exist?
Science Escape 2008
Chris Mooney visited Union on Wednesday, talking to two classes (one Environmental Studies class, and one class on presidential politics), and giving an evening lecture titled “Science Escape 2008.” He’s an excellent speaker, so if you’re looking for someone to give a talk about science and politics, you could do a whole lot worse. I… Continue reading Science Escape 2008