It’s been a very long day, so I’m lying on the couch watching “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN. They’re having a boring conversation about baseball, and I’m just drifting off into a pleasant doze when: “Fear! Fire! Foes! Awake! Fear! Fire! Foes! Awake!“ I jolt awake. “What are you barking at?!?” I yell at the… Continue reading Evil Squirrels from Extra Dimensions
Category: Pop Culture
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Obsessive Update
A few upcoming events related to How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: The big one is that I’ll be aprt of the “Author’s Alley” portion of the World Science Festival Street Fair in New York City on Sunday, June 6th. The last couple of these have coincided with out-of-town trips for me, so I’m… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Obsessive Update
Bohemian Mechanical Rhapsody
Blame Bryan O’Sullivan for this– after his comment about misreading “Bohmian Mechanics” as “Bohemian Mechanics,” I couldn’t get this silly idea out of my head. And this is the result. I like to think that this was Brian May‘s first draft (he does have a Ph.D. in astrophysics, after all), before Freddie Mercury got hold… Continue reading Bohemian Mechanical Rhapsody
Musical Poll: British Invaders
No Links Dump today because a combination of work and a nasty cold kept me off the Internet most of yesterday. Here’s the moral equivalent, though: a poll question brought to you by the letters “U” and “K” and the song “Gimme Sympathy” by Metric: Who would you rather be?online surveys The song is unclear… Continue reading Musical Poll: British Invaders
The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck by Marcus Chown
I should note up front that I’m kind of jealous of Marcus Chown regarding this book. Subtitled “What Everyday Things Tell Us About the Universe,” The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck is a book that uses trivial everyday observations– the fact that you don’t fall through the floor, the fact that the sky is… Continue reading The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck by Marcus Chown
Ancient Aliens: Performance Art or Government Disinformation?
One of my many character weaknesses is a fondness for the kooky UFO programs run on the History Channel and other educational cable networks. The nuttier the better– there’s something about the credulity and self-delusion displayed by the “researchers” they trot out that I find really hilarious. I have to say, though, that they’ve outdone… Continue reading Ancient Aliens: Performance Art or Government Disinformation?
The Past and Future of the Laser
While it’s not aprt of the official LaserFest package of stuff, Physics World is marking the 50th anniversary of the laser with a couple of really nice pieces on lasers in science and popular culture: Where next for the laser interviews six laser experts– Claire Max of UCSC, Bill Phillips of NIST, Steven Block of… Continue reading The Past and Future of the Laser
Help Me Guide Teachers
My publisher would like to include a Teacher’s Guide with the paperback edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. which means that, well, I need to put together a Teacher’s Guide for How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. The problem is, I’m not exactly sure what should go in that sort of… Continue reading Help Me Guide Teachers
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Obsessive Update
It’s been a couple of weeks since I did an update on How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, but that’s been as much laziness as a lack of news. Some developments, mostly relating to foreign lands: The US paperback edition is slated for December release. I’m working on a Teacher’s Guide to go with… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Obsessive Update
Into the Universe With Portentous Music (and Stephen Hawking)
While I missed the controversial episode with comments about aliens, I figured I should at least take a look at the Discovery Channel’s Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking, so I put it on last night after putting SteelyKid to bed. This was the big two-hour “Story of Everything” episode, starting with the Big Bang… Continue reading Into the Universe With Portentous Music (and Stephen Hawking)