160/366: Nice Crowd

The audience for my Science Series talk last night at Jefferson Lab.

I did bring my good camera with me to Newport News, and took it on the tour of Jefferson Lab yesterday, but despite the existence of DSLR pics, you’re getting a cell-phone snap for the photo of the day: That’s the audience about 10-15 minutes before my talk last night, so it was a good… Continue reading 160/366: Nice Crowd

159/366: Thanks, Manitoba

Door to my room at JLab's Residence Facility.

I’m in Newport News, VA, to give a talk tonight at Jefferson Lab, and they’re putting me up at the on-site Residence Facility. The rooms at this are apparently sponsored associated with institutions that use the facility, with big signs on all the doors. Here’s mine: So, I guess my stay is in some sense… Continue reading 159/366: Thanks, Manitoba

158/366: Fort

The blanket fort du jour in the basement of Chateau Steelypips.

Since our recent trip to Vermont, SteelyKid has been obsessed with building blanket forts. These have mostly been in the living room, leading to a bit of angst at the end of the day when we need the blankets back. So i did a little reorganizing in the basement, and dug some sheets out of… Continue reading 158/366: Fort

Quantum Physics for Dogs at Jefferson Lab: TOMORROW

Tribute to Emmy, added to my quantum-for-dogs talk.

I’ve been remiss in my self-promotional duties, but I’m giving a public lecture tomorrow night in Newport News, VA, as part of the Jefferson Lab Science Series. This will be my traditional “What Every Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics” talk, with the sad addition of a slide honoring the late, great Queen of Niskayuna… Continue reading Quantum Physics for Dogs at Jefferson Lab: TOMORROW

157/366: SteelyKid, Badass

SteelyKid doing a round kick while warming up at the taekwondo tournament.

We spent most of Saturday at a taekwondo tournament– the AAU Adirondack Championship, or some permutation of those words. This was held in the gym over at Hudson Valley Community College, and was fairly big: It was, however, 99% waiting around. They did black-belt sparring in the morning, and said that staging for the colored… Continue reading 157/366: SteelyKid, Badass

155/366: Boom!

The Pip's rocket control panel. (One of his teachers wrote the words for him...)

A few days ago, The Pip came home with a “present” for me and Kate, wrapped up in construction paper. This turned out to be another sheet of paper, which is actually a launch control panel: The layout of the “buttons” is all him, but he got one of his teachers to do the labels.… Continue reading 155/366: Boom!

142-150/366: On-Deadline Catchup

Clouds at sunrise, with the bus picking up the kid across the street.

I’ve been neglecting the photo-a-day thing for the last week-and-a-bit, but for a good reason: I had a deadline of, well, today, to finish a chapter I was asked to contribute to an academic book. And while I fully realize that actually hitting that deadline is not typical academic behavior, I have A Thing about… Continue reading 142-150/366: On-Deadline Catchup

Advice to the Past

Over at Scientific American, Amanda Baker has a story about what scientists say they would tell their younger selves. I reached out to eight of my colleagues who are currently in STEM fields and asked them a series of questions about their childhood interests in science, school experiences, and roadblocks that they faced on their… Continue reading Advice to the Past

141/366: Holes

View through the hole I cut through some pieces of particle board to use testing SteelyKid's balsa-wood structure for OM.

As mentioned last week, SteelyKid is doing Odyssey of the Mind this year, and her team has elected to build a balsa wood structure. The goal for these is to support the maximum possible weight, and the first step of the testing is to put a “crusher board” on top. This is a couple of… Continue reading 141/366: Holes

140/366: Dog and Volcano

SteelyKid's balloon dog, and The Pip's clay volcano.

When I arrived to pick SteelyKid up the other night, she and her friends were light-saber fighting with long balloons, which is fairly typical of that bunch. While I gathered her stuff up, though, she stopped and twisted her balloon into an animal shape: She got a “How to Make Balloon Animals” kit a few… Continue reading 140/366: Dog and Volcano