Distilled Faculty Outrage

Via Inside Higher Ed this YouTube video is pretty much a distillation of faculty reaction nationwide to higher education’s response to the world economic crisis: The IHE link gives a little more context to the video, and some of the reaction to it. The arguments here are not all well-founded– science and engineering will necessarily… Continue reading Distilled Faculty Outrage

Electron Spin for Toddlers

The subject of the “spin” of the electron comes up again and again, so as pointed out in a comment, I really ought to do a post explaining what it is and how it works. As a bonus, this gives me the opportunity to do the dorkiest thing anyone has ever done with a cute-toddler… Continue reading Electron Spin for Toddlers

Chateau SteelyKid

I’ve made a few oblique references to home improvement projects over the last week or so. These weren’t for our house, but for SteelyKid’s– Kate’s mom got her a playhouse for Christmas, which we finally got around to installing in the back yard. SteelyKid has taken right to home ownership: Don’t let her studied cool… Continue reading Chateau SteelyKid

I Need to Work on My Sound Bites

One of the questions asked of Neil deGrasse Tyson at the WSF thing last week was “When did you change from a mild-mannered astrophysicist to a rock-star scientist?” (or something close to that phrasing). In his answer, he said that after his first tv interview was edited down to a three-second shot of him wiggling… Continue reading I Need to Work on My Sound Bites

Bouncing Baby

SteelyKid’s day care is closed today and tomorrow for a Jewish holiday (happy (?) Shavuot to those who celebrate it), so she’s home all day for the next two. Of course, Kate and I are both crazy busy, so my parents are coming up to watch SteelyKid today while we’re off at work. We really… Continue reading Bouncing Baby

SteelyKid Dance Party

I have copy edits for an Anglicised edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog to review, lecture notes to write, and a faculty meeting to go to, so I’m going off-line for the rest of the day (with one possible exception). To keep you amused in my absence, here’s some video of SteelyKid… Continue reading SteelyKid Dance Party

Bath-Time Fluid Dynamics

SteelyKid’s every-so-often bath was last night, and as always, she was fascinated by scooping up water in a hexagonal cup thing that’s part of one of her bath toys, and watching it drain out. Which is completely understandable– not just because she’s a baby, but because there’s a bunch of physics at work, here. I… Continue reading Bath-Time Fluid Dynamics