A while back, after handing in my manuscript and before SteelyKid, I asked readers to suggest blog topics. I got to a few of them already, but there’s one more that I’ve been meaning to comment on, from tcmJOE: I’m a physics undergrad about to begin my final year, and while I’m still thinking of… Continue reading Reader Request: Career Options
Author: Chad Orzel
Olympic Comments
I am generally not hugely enthusiastic about the Olympics, and I really wasn’t following the run-up to the Beijing games this year. The games turn out to be great mindless distraction while SteelyKid is between feedings, though, so I’ve ended up seeing a fair amount of them. I know you’re dying to hear my comments,… Continue reading Olympic Comments
I Love It When a Plan Comes Together
OK, I know, I said I was going to stop posting SteelyKid pictures every day, but, ummmm…. She made me do it! She’s an evil genius, I tell you! Can’t you just hear her saying “Eeeeexcellent….. Everything is unfolding according to my plan for household domination…”? Stewie Griffin, watch your back.
links for 2008-08-17
nanoscale views: Cryptophysicists "I think that we need to coin an official term, "cryptophysicist", to describe people who do physics research outside the mainstream." Hey to "Uncle Al." (tags: science physics stupid blogs) Built on Facts : Temperature of a Microwave What is the temperature when you nuke food? Does the question even make sense?… Continue reading links for 2008-08-17
links for 2008-08-16
Five Secrets to Publishing Success :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education’s Source for News, Views and Jobs Not so much for the scientists, but a good look at the process for the humanities. (tags: publishing journals humanities social-science academia) If One Professor Gropes, Does Everyone Need Training? :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education’s… Continue reading links for 2008-08-16
You Are What You Eat
I’ve seen this a bunch of places, but the most recent was Skwid’s LiveJournal: below the fold is a big long list of foods (exotic and otherwise), with ones I’ve eaten marked in bold face. The standard instructions call for striking out anything you won’t even consider eating, but I can imagine circumstances in which… Continue reading You Are What You Eat
Sex, Engineering, and the Difficulty of Satire
We live in a difficult era for satire. It’s not that there’s a shortage of targets deserving a humorous skewering, but the obvious candidates are so quick to dive headlong into self-parody, as with this recent gem from the anti-sex movement: It’s been linked in all sorts of places, but I think Matt Yglesias has… Continue reading Sex, Engineering, and the Difficulty of Satire
Global Baby
I did a bit of running around yesterday, including one stop to drop off a rather large check to secure a day care spot for SteelyKid starting in January (Kate’s taking a bunch of time off, obviously, and I was able to arrange my teaching schedule so I have no classes in the fall term,… Continue reading Global Baby
links for 2008-08-15
Green-Clad Olympic Archer Steals Gold Medals From Rich, Gives Them To Poor | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source "Since entering China last month by using a forged Sherwood Forest passport under the name Robert Huntingdon, the archer has appeared at more than 70 medal ceremonies, escaping with the gold every time." (tags: silly… Continue reading links for 2008-08-15
A Look on the Bright Side
As much as I complain about the relatively low status of science and science writing, it could be worse. As Kevin Drum reminds us, media treatment of economic issues is even more toxic: Question for the folks who populate our newsrooms: Why is it that a 0.8% rise in inflation, the biggest since 1991, is… Continue reading A Look on the Bright Side