The London School of Economics has a report on a study of academic refereeing (PDF) that looked at the effect of incentives on referee behavior. They found that both a “social incentive” (posting the time a given referee took to turn around the papers they reviewed on a web site) and a cash incentive ($100… Continue reading Cash and Respect
Category: Science
Bad Graphics, STEM Diversity Edition
There was a article in Scientific American about diversity in STEM collecting together the best demographic data available about the science and engineering workforce. It’s a useful collection of references, and comes with some very pretty graphics, particularly this one, showing the demographic breakdown of the US population compared to the science and engineering fields:… Continue reading Bad Graphics, STEM Diversity Edition
TED-Ed Lesson: What Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
The second one of the TED-Ed lessons I wrote about quantum physics has now been published: What Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. This is, again, very similar to stuff I’ve written before, specifically this old blog post and the relevant chapter of How to Teach [Quantum] Physics to Your Dog. As usual, I tried but… Continue reading TED-Ed Lesson: What Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
TED-Ed Lesson: The Central Mystery of Quantum Physics
My TED@NYC adventure last fall didn’t turn into an invite to the big TED meeting, but it did lead to a cool opportunity that is another of the very cool developments I’ve been teasing for a while now: I’ve written some scripts for lessons to be posted with TED-Ed. The first of these, on particle-wave… Continue reading TED-Ed Lesson: The Central Mystery of Quantum Physics
Intelligence vs. Priorities
Steven Pinker has a piece at the New Republic arguing that Ivy League schools ought to weight standardized test scores more heavily in admissions. this has prompted a bunch of tongue-clucking about the failures of the Ivy League from the usual suspects, and a rather heated concurrence from Scott Aaronson. That last finally got me… Continue reading Intelligence vs. Priorities
New Year, New Class: Gen Ed Relativity
The new academic year starts this week– first day of classes is Wednesday– and I’m dealing with the usual chaos associated with the influx of a new class of students. Who now look to me only a tiny bit older than SteelyKid and the Pip in the above picture (and if you think that sharing… Continue reading New Year, New Class: Gen Ed Relativity
Two Tenure-Track Faculty Positions at Union
I’ve posted this before, but a reminder can’t hurt: We’re hiring two tenure-track faculty this fall. The targeted research fields: We invite applications for two tenure-track Assistant Professor positions starting in September 2015, one in any area of theoretical physics or astrophysics, the other with a strong preference for biophysics or soft condensed matter (either… Continue reading Two Tenure-Track Faculty Positions at Union
Medium, Message, and Secondary Audiences in Public Speaking
Having just returned from a long trip where I gave three talks, one of the first things I saw when I started following social media closely again was this post on how to do better presentations. The advice is the usual stuff– more images, less text, don’t read your slides, and for God’s sake, rehearse… Continue reading Medium, Message, and Secondary Audiences in Public Speaking
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, Now With More “Quantum”
If you’re making your weekly check of the ebook editions (Kindle, Nook) of my quantum book (I’m not the only one who regularly looks at these, right?), you may have noticed a change: they’re no longer sporting the original black cover you’ll see in the right sidebar, but a new cover based on the smash… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, Now With More “Quantum”
Nordita Workshop for Science Writers: Wrap-Up
I didn’t write a summary of the third day of “Quantum Boot Camp” to go with my Day One and Day Two summaries for a simple reason: I would’ve needed to do that on Saturday, and I spent Saturday in transit back to the US. More than that, though, it was harder to summarize than… Continue reading Nordita Workshop for Science Writers: Wrap-Up