Category: Links Dump

In which we look at the job situation for different specializations, yet another dumb modest proposal to fix education, and a smackdown of NBA players who are ignorant of fashion history. ———— Physics and Physicists: Job Advertisements For Theorists and Experimentalists In Physics Today Apr/May 2012 Anyone reading my blog on the Problem in Pursuing […]

In which physics tackles a burning question from the world of computing, a famous biologist says something idiotic, and the world’s smallest violin plays for frequent fliers. ———— Does Your Download Progress Bar Lie to You? | Wired Science | Wired.com Different browsers do this differently. Some show a little bar to indicate how much […]

In which we look at a great commencement speech, the oversupply of mediocrity, the nominees for a science blogging award, and Facebook games distilled to their essence. ———— Wellesley High grads told: “You’re not special” | The Swellesley Report Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to […]

In which we look at a prize for science blogging, a new book club, and the unhappy situation of associate professors. ———— 3quarksdaily: Sean Carroll to Judge 4th Annual 3QD Science Prize As usual, this is the way it will work: the nominating period is now open, and will end at 11:59 pm EST on […]

In which we look at one of the great spoofs of all time, a clever twist on a viral physics video, one of the great cartoons of all time, the puzzling lack of relationship between violence and the NFL’s popularity, the new approach of the US National soccer team, one of the greatest musicians of […]

In which we look at creepy fairytales, the writing of science books, when overfishing is actually okay, and what it means to be an experimental physicist. ———— 10 Creepy Details Glossed Over By Modern Versions Of Fairy Tales A surprising number of these can still be found in SteelyKid’s fairy tale books. Making the leap […]

In which we look at the evolution of Republican attitudes toward higher education, the early days of nuclear secrets, the science of communicating science, the amazing things you find in textbooks, and the unwritten rules of science journalism. ———— Confessions of a Community College Dean: Thoughts on Romney and Higher Ed Over the past decade […]

In which we look at relativistic rockets, scientific revolutions, and the mathematical connection between entanglement and nonlocality. The Relativistic Rocket Science fiction writers can make use of worm holes or warp drives to overcome this restriction, but it is not clear that such things can ever be made to work in reality. Another way to […]

In which we post a new collection of random links in an effort to see if the RSS feeds actually work now but aren’t showing anything because I haven’t posted anything. Craig Sager’s Suits and Sideline Sartorial Disasters – Grantland You’ve been blown off your couch and knocked from your barstool with disbelief — even […]

Back of the Envelope Problems A collection of classic estimation problems, with answers, written by E.M. Purcell for the American Journal of Physics back in the day. nanoscale views: The unreasonable clarity of E. M. Purcell Purcell had the insight that in a cavity, the number of states available for photons is not quadratic in […]