Tuesday was the last day of the fifth week of classes (out of ten; for reasons that passeth all understanding, we started on Wednesday, so all the week-based deadlines fall on Tuesday). Accordingly, it seems like a decent time for an update on the active learning stuff I’ve been doing in my classes. Each class… Continue reading Active Learning Experiment: The Halfway Point
Physicists Are Cheap
Alternate title: I Have an Overdeveloped Sense of Responsibility, Which Is Going to Get Me in Trouble Someday. So, it’s October, which means the annual DonorsChoose fundraising challenge is upon us. I really don’t have time to do a good job of this, but having raised a whole bunch of money for them in the… Continue reading Physicists Are Cheap
End of an Era, Countdown to a New Era
This is primarily of note to a handful of family members, but it’s the end of an era at Chateau Steelypips: Well, two eras, I suppose, for the two items of furniture. The dresser dates from around 2002, and was bought when I first moved to Schenectady, so Kate would have a place for her… Continue reading End of an Era, Countdown to a New Era
Shameless (if Belated) Self-Promotion: Me on the Radio
If you want to know how stressed and busy I’ve been lately, you don’t have to look any farther than the fact that I’ve totally fallen down on the shameless self-promotion front: I was on a radio show, and forgot to post about it here. I know, bad blogger, no pageviews… Anyway, I talked about… Continue reading Shameless (if Belated) Self-Promotion: Me on the Radio
Congratulations to Perlmutter, Schmidt and Riess, and also Evan and Cusp
The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.” Ethan will presumably have a post with about a gigabyte worth of images in it shortly, or if you prefer your information in… Continue reading Congratulations to Perlmutter, Schmidt and Riess, and also Evan and Cusp
Nobel Prize Betting Pool 2011
I have been sufficiently out of it that I didn’t realize the Nobel Prizes were due to be announced this coming week. Which means there’s only a small amount of time to get my traditional betting pool set up… So, here are the rules: 1) To enter, leave a comment to this post specifying the… Continue reading Nobel Prize Betting Pool 2011
Thursday Shana Tova Blogging 092911
The JCC, where SteelyKid goes to preschool, is closed for Rosh Hashanah, so she’s off at Grandma and Grandpa’s for the weekend. They start doing a little more religious instruction at the preschool level, so we got to hear about Jewish theology, SteelyKid style: It’s the birthday of the world, so I’m going to Grandma… Continue reading Thursday Shana Tova Blogging 092911
Faster Than a Speeding Photon: “Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam”
There have been a lot of pixels spilled over this faster-than-light neutrino business, so it might not seem like something I should take time away from pressing work to write up. It is the story of the moment, though, and too much of the commentary I’ve seen has been of the form “I am a… Continue reading Faster Than a Speeding Photon: “Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam”
Neutrino Hypotheses Non Fingo
The final sentence of the neutrino paper that everybody is buzzing about: We deliberately do not attempt any theoretical or phenomenological interpretation of the results. From a somewhat older work in physics: Rationem vero harum gravitatis proprietatum ex phænomenis nondum potui deducere, et hypotheses non fingo. Quicquid enim ex phænomenis non deducitur, hypothesis vocanda est;… Continue reading Neutrino Hypotheses Non Fingo
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: The Cover
I’m looking at an email from my editor when Emmy wanders by the computer, sniffing around just in case a crumb of food has fallen on the floor in the last five minutes. “Hey,” I say, “Come here and look at this.” “Look at what?” “This:” “It’s the cover for my new book.” “A-hem.” “OK,… Continue reading How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: The Cover