The Muckraker’s Progress: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com “[Bob Livingston] said he thought I was a bottom-feeder. So they called me for a comment and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s right, but look what I found when I got down there.’ ” –Larry Flynt (tags: politics US society stupid) scifantasy: Bimbos And Zombies, or Getting Away… He’s… Continue reading links for 2007-12-23
Author: Chad Orzel
Christmas Songs That Don’t Suck, 2007
Thanks largely to the leather canary, I’ve amassed a surprising number of non-sucky Christmas songs this year. There’s some painful stuff in there, too, but most of the tracks on their mixes aren’t likely to make you want to stab ballpoint pens through your eardrums. If you’re in need of a holiday soundtrack, you could… Continue reading Christmas Songs That Don’t Suck, 2007
links for 2007-12-22
E Y E W E A R: The Failure of Interest In Poetry In Our Time Today’s nominee for Pompous Ass Comment of the Year: “The fact that poetry does not interest most people suggests most people are no longer interesting.” (tags: academia culture poetry literature books) Christmas with Christopher Hitchens | The A.V. Club… Continue reading links for 2007-12-22
Bunnies Made of Cheese: The First Draft
“Hey, dude. What’s in the binder?” “Well, it’s the first draft of my book. I finished it this morning, and printed it out to have a paper copy to look at.” “Ooooh! The book about me?” “Well, it’s a book about physics, featuring you. But yes, that’s the only book I’m working on at the… Continue reading Bunnies Made of Cheese: The First Draft
Family Traditions
Tomorrow, Kate and I will be heading off to Scenic Whitney Point to spend a few days with my family. Part of this will be the traditional Christmas Eve dinner with my father’s side of the family (described in more detail below the fold). It occurred to me a little while ago that this is… Continue reading Family Traditions
Tree of SCIENCE!!! #9
This one may not look like much, but it covers a lot of ground for the Tree of SCIENCE!!!: This ornament is built around a copper plaque, and copper is a very good conductor, which means it includes an element of solid state physics. The copper in the plaque is from the roof of the… Continue reading Tree of SCIENCE!!! #9
links for 2007-12-21
COROT surprises a year after launch Stellar seismology and a new extrasolar planet. (tags: astronomy news science planets) The quest for a new class of superconductors An article positing superconductors in which electrons pair up through something other than phonon interactions. (tags: physics science news low-temperature materials) Boston College physicists find new explanation for superconductivity’s… Continue reading links for 2007-12-21
Bobby Petrino and Media Bias
It’s been a rotten year for the Atlanta Falcons– Michael Vick turned out to have even worse judgement than people had thought, and the team immediately went into a death spiral. Then, last week, their first-year head coach, Bobby Petrino (formerly of Louisville), announced that he was leaving to become the head coach at Arkansas,… Continue reading Bobby Petrino and Media Bias
Google Passeth All Understanding
As previously mentioned, I plan to end the book with a chapter on quantum flim-flam. As research for this, I’ve been looking at kook sites on the web, and Googled “quantum healing,” which turns up all manner of gibberish from Deepak Chopra. It also includes a helpful little item at the bottom of the page:… Continue reading Google Passeth All Understanding
Tree of SCIENCE!!! #8
Today’s Tree of SCIENCE!!! ornaments salute this here series of tubes: On the right side of this picture, you see two little clothespin soldiers in sailor outfits with semaphore flags. These guys represent communications technology.