In which I use my double license as a physicist and a science fiction fan to engage in some half-assed futurism spinning off Chris Hayes’s much-discussed book. ————- I don’t read a lot of political books, because I tend to find them frustrating. They’re usually surprisingly ephemeral, trying to spin Deep Meaning out of a… Continue reading Twilight of the Elites and the Rise of the Culture
Category: Pop Culture
What’s FiveThirtyEight Good For?: The Inevitable Nate Silver Backlash
Now that we’ve apparently elected Nate Silver the President of Science, this is some predictable grumbling about whether he’s been overhyped. If you’ve somehow missed the whole thing, Jennifer Ouellette offers an excellent summary of the FiveThirtyEight saga, with lots of links, but the Inigo Montoya summing up is that Silver runs a blog predicting… Continue reading What’s FiveThirtyEight Good For?: The Inevitable Nate Silver Backlash
Twitter-Induced Degradation
In which I discuss the manner in which and the degree to which Twitter is ruining the media. ———— Yesterday, Kevin Drum posted saying that Twitter is ruining political journalism, calling out its role in solidifying media groupthink before events are even completed. That seemed like a pretty good criticism to me, but like a… Continue reading Twitter-Induced Degradation
Conceptual Physics Costumes for Halloween
For various reasons I can’t talk about, I’m not in a good mental place for deep and thoughtful blogging just at the moment. But prompted by yesterday’s Surviving the World, I’ll revisit a past post topic, and suggest some abstract ideas you could dress as for Halloween, if you’re so inclined. The Doppler Effect: Wear… Continue reading Conceptual Physics Costumes for Halloween
Gandalf Was Wrong: Spectroscopy and The Lord of the Rings
It’s a banner day for science explainer things I wrote, as a piece I wrote has just gone live at Tor.com: Why Gandalf Is Wrong Even as a kid, reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings at the golden age of twelve or so, Gandalf’s response to Saruman never sat well with… Continue reading Gandalf Was Wrong: Spectroscopy and The Lord of the Rings
What Your Canadian Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics, Eh
Having been on hiatus for a couple of months has made me forget my obligation for self-promotion via the blog, but I should note one fast approaching public appearance: I’ll be at the University of Waterloo next weekend, where they are celebrating the opening of their shiny new Quantum and Nano Center with an Open… Continue reading What Your Canadian Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics, Eh
She Said Songs
In which I list some pop song lyrics for you to guess, because it’s Friday and I’m tired. ———— The other night, on Twitter, Patrick Nielsen Hayden posted a snippet of song lyrics with the hashtag “#greatestalbumsofalltime.” I was bored and looking to kill time, so I followed up with a couple of my own,… Continue reading She Said Songs
Higgs Rumors Are the Price of Success
In which celebrity culture comes to particle physics. ———— It’s been about six months since we had a big flurry of Higgs Boson stories, and as enjoyable as the relative quiet has been, it means we’re due for another run. And, predictably enough, the usual suspects are stoking speculation about what, exactly, will be officially… Continue reading Higgs Rumors Are the Price of Success
10,000 New Ebooks, but Nothing to Read
In which we look at how the Brave New Publishing World makes it really hard to find something good to read. ———— In a recent links dump, I included a link to this post about the current state of publishing, which is a follow-up to an earlier post about the current state of publishing. Elsewhere… Continue reading 10,000 New Ebooks, but Nothing to Read
Woke Up This Morning
So, anyway, as of today, I’m apparently the same age as the Reverend D. Wayne Love in 1998 or thereabouts. And the sound makes its way outta the window Minglin’ with the traffic noises outside, you know and All of a sudden I’m overcome by a feelin’ of brief mortality ‘Cause I’m gettin’ on in… Continue reading Woke Up This Morning