Category: Science

Mark Alpert, Final Theory [Library of Babel]

I’ve gotten a fair number of free science books in the last few years, from publishers looking for bloggy publicity, but Mark Alpert’s Final Theory is the first time that I’ve been asked to review a novel on ScienceBlogs (I’ve gotten advance copies of some other novels, but I’ve specifically requested those). Mark Alpert is… Continue reading Mark Alpert, Final Theory [Library of Babel]

Science Festivals, Science Books, and Science Funding

The World Science Festival happened while I was at DAMOP (I missed getting to talk to Bill Phillips, because he left shortly after his talk to go to NYC), and by all reports it was a success– they claim 120,000 attendees on their web site, and sold more tickets than expected for several events, and… Continue reading Science Festivals, Science Books, and Science Funding

DAMOP Day 2

I spent a whole bunch of time running around between talks on Thursday, and at one point was grumbling to myself about the way the organizers had scheduled all the good stuff at one time. Only later did I realize that it really wasn’t their fault– it’s all good stuff, and there are only a… Continue reading DAMOP Day 2

Missed It by That Much

So, the Martians go and helpfully draw a box on the ground as a target for the Phoenix landing, and what do they do? They land next to it, not in it. Way to go, NASA. I bet if they hadn’t screwed up the unit conversions, they would’ve hit it…

Built On Facts

Every now and then, I look at the huge list of blogs and news sources in my RSS feeds, and say to myself “You really need to thin these out…” How can I make any progress, though, when there are always great new blogs being created? The latest new blog to ctach my interest and… Continue reading Built On Facts

Publish or President?

The pinhead filling in for Colin Cowherd (himself a pinhead of epic proportions) yesterday on ESPN radio was unduly proud of himself for coming up with the following hypothetical (paraphrased from memory): Suppose that you had a choice between having your favorite candidate win the presidential election, or having your favorite sports team win a… Continue reading Publish or President?

Agricultural Research Cuts Threaten Food Supplies

Some cheery Sunday morning reading from the Times, showing the perils of short-term thinking when it comes to staying ahead of agricultural pests: The damage to rice crops, occurring at a time of scarcity and high prices, could have been prevented. Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute [in the Phillippines] say that they know… Continue reading Agricultural Research Cuts Threaten Food Supplies

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Festive Physics

Over at Cocktail Party Physics, Jennifer Ouellette offers her Top Ten events at the upcoming World Science Festival in New York City the week after next. The full program is at the festival site, and it looks like there’s even something for the stamp collectors. Probably to keep the cool physics-themed events from being overcrowded.… Continue reading Festive Physics

Quest for Physics

We had a colloquium talk yesterday from the very energetic Jessica Clark of the American Physical Society’s outreach office who talked about the many things that the APS does to bring positive physics experiences to a wide audience. It was a terrific talk, and brought to my attention a couple of programs I hadn’t heard… Continue reading Quest for Physics