The sneaky folks at the Nobel Foundation have thrown a spanner in the works when it comes to the Physics prize. All the speculation has surrounded exotic quantum effects and theoretical esoterica, and they turn around and give it to something –gasp– practical… The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics is split three ways: half to… Continue reading Nobel for High-Speed Internet and Digital Cameras
Category: Astronomy
Why Are You Publishing a Comment, Anyway?
I tagged Steinn’s post on publishing a comment a few days ago, because I thought it was pretty funny. In the interim, it’s been picked up by the usual suspects as more evidence of the need to completely discard the current publishing model in favor of something more blog-like. None of the subsequent discussion has… Continue reading Why Are You Publishing a Comment, Anyway?
The arXiv: When You Can’t Plot Well Enough for Analog
There’s another paper about the Fermi Paradox highlighted on the arXiv blog today. This one describes extensive numerical simulations which purport to show that no more than 1,000 spacefaring civilizations can be exploring the galaxy with non-replicating slower-than-light robotic probes. Of course, this is highly contingent on a bunch of assumptions about the behavior of… Continue reading The arXiv: When You Can’t Plot Well Enough for Analog
PNAS: Mike Sperry, Planetarium Specialist
(On July 16, 2009, I asked for volunteers with science degrees and non-academic jobs who would be willing to be interviewed about their careers paths, with the goal of providing young scientists with more information about career options beyond the pursuit of a tenure-track faculty job that is too often assumed as a default. This… Continue reading PNAS: Mike Sperry, Planetarium Specialist
Man Walks on F*&%ing Moon
The Internet has been all abuzz today over the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. Tor has the best one-stop collection of reminiscences, but there are plenty of others. They’re roughly equally split between “Wasn’t that the coolest thing ever?” and “Isn’t it a shame we stopped going. I was a bit over -2 when… Continue reading Man Walks on F*&%ing Moon
PNAS: Richard Edgar, Chandra X-Ray Center
(On July 16, 2009, I asked for volunteers with science degrees and non-academic jobs who would be willing to be interviewed about their careers paths, with the goal of providing young scientists with more information about career options beyond the pursuit of a tenure-track faculty job that is too often assumed as a default. This… Continue reading PNAS: Richard Edgar, Chandra X-Ray Center
Neil deGrasse Tyson Owes Emmy a Cookie
I’m watching an episode of NOVA scienceNOW (eccentric capitalization makes it hip!), and Neil deGrasse Tyson is doing a segment on extrasolar planets. I’m only half listening, because I’m also trying to keep SteelyKid from trying to eat any of the furniture, but it’s quite good. All of a sudden, Emmy’s head snaps up. “Hey!”… Continue reading Neil deGrasse Tyson Owes Emmy a Cookie
Unscientific America: The Pluto Thing
I’ve been really surprised at the number of people writing about Unscientific America who are confused by the discussion of the Pluto incident (Mad Mike is the latest, but it’s not hard to find more). For those who haven’t read the book, the first chapter opens with a description of the public reaction to the… Continue reading Unscientific America: The Pluto Thing
Plagiarism, Garbling, and Superluminal Motion
I no longer recall who pointed me to this current.com post titled “Scientists Make Radio Waves Travel Faster Than Light “— somebody on Facebook, I think. As it would be a pretty neat trick to make light move faster than light, I took a look. The opening is fairly standard semi-gibberish: Scientist John Singleton insists… Continue reading Plagiarism, Garbling, and Superluminal Motion
Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson
While I’ve seen him on tv a bunch of times (both on NOVA and on the Comedy Central fake-news shows), I have somehow managed not to read anything by Neil deGrasse Tyson before. I’m not sure how that happened. After his appearance on The Daily show last year, and especially after the Rubik’s Cube thing… Continue reading Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson