It turns out that there’s a Facebook group for quantum information types called the Church of the Larger Hilbert Space after a remark by John Smolin (Facebook link here), which I thought was the nerdiest thing I ever saw. Until I looked at the “Related Groups,” and saw “I support the right to choose one… Continue reading Math Nerds Need Social Networks, Too
Author: Chad Orzel
links for 2007-11-24
Web Log — Charles Bernstein: “Doping Scandal Rocks Poetry ‘Cooper pairs’ can be found in insulators as well superconductors They explain superconductivity, and also some insulating behavior– is there anything they can’t do? (tags: physics quantum experiment science news) Have we sealed the universe’s fate by looking at it? In which the Quantum Zeno Effect… Continue reading links for 2007-11-24
Tablet PC Software Query
As mentioned a while back, I recently obtained a Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet PC, which I’ve been playing around with a bunch. I like it quite a bit– the handwriting recognition is a whole lot better than the older Toshiba model I used for a while last year, and the interface works a little more… Continue reading Tablet PC Software Query
Local Green Construction
We live just a few blocks away from the local high school, which has had some sort of massive construction project going on for a few months now. I’ve been wondering what created the giant pile of dirt to one side of the grounds, but haven’t been bothered enough to actually, you know, look it… Continue reading Local Green Construction
links for 2007-11-23
[0711.0745] Imaging the Internal Structure of the Earth with Atmospheric Neutrinos “The absorption of neutrinos with energies in excess of 10 TeV when traversing the Earth is capable of revealing its density distribution.” (tags: physics theory articles science) mmcirvin: Retract your ad homonyms Matt McIrvin explains a classic of Usenet debate. (tags: politics blogs computing)… Continue reading links for 2007-11-23
Thanksgiving 2007
Kate and I will be hosting Thanksgiving again this year, but not until Saturday, for reasons having to do with pet-sitting– the Queen of Niskayuna will not tolerate inferior dogs (i.e., any dog who isn’t her) in her house, and for some reason, it’s hard to find a pet-sitter for Thanksgiving Day. Imagine that. Anyway,… Continue reading Thanksgiving 2007
links for 2007-11-22
Jobs, News and Views for All of Higher Education – Inside Higher Ed :: More Doctors of Philosophy (and Science) The number of Ph.D.’s awarded goes up, but most of the increase is among foreign-born researchers. (tags: academia US education) Confessions of a Community College Dean: Access and Limits A “law and order liberal” on… Continue reading links for 2007-11-22
Scientist as Detective
On a happier science-related note, the AIP’s Physics News Update highlights a very nice article in The American Journal of Physics about the wide-ranging scientific investigations of Luis Alvarez: Scientist as detective: Luis Alvarez and the pyramid burial chambers, the JFK assassination, and the end of the dinosaurs Luis Alvarez (1911-1988) was one of the… Continue reading Scientist as Detective
The Easterbrook Idiocy Supercollider
I generally like Gregg Easterbrook’s writing about football (though he’s kind of gone off the deep end regarding the Patriots this year), but everything else he turns his hand to is a disaster. In particular, he tends to pad his columns out with references to science and technology issues. I’m not quite sure what the… Continue reading The Easterbrook Idiocy Supercollider
links for 2007-11-21
Crooked Timber » » Disciplines and deterrence A brief history of shoddy death penalty scholarship. (tags: economics academia politics society US) New Stem Cell Method Could Ease Ethical Concerns – New York Times Let’s all take a few minutes to appreciate the accomplishment here, before getting all worked up about the political implications. (tags: biology… Continue reading links for 2007-11-21