Back before things went pear-shaped this weekend, Jonathan Zasloff had a good post about why “clean coal” is important: I think it’s terrific that the Coen Brothers are making funny, effective ads against relying on “clean coal” as part of the US energy program. But I worry that the clean energy community is really missing… Continue reading Why “Clean Coal” Matters
links for 2009-03-03
Foodie Politics | The American Prospect "Good food — the sort Waters features at her restaurant — is considered a luxury of the rich rather than a social justice issue. As Waters frequently argues, no one is worse served by our current food policy than a low-income family using food stamps to purchase rotted produce… Continue reading links for 2009-03-03
links for 2009-03-02
The Neon Season – Why I Would Not Have Greenlit Dollhouse "Last night I watched an episode of a show I had been avoiding due to issues I had with the premise, despite the creator having written some of my favorite TV shows. It had every single problem I would have expected it to have… Continue reading links for 2009-03-02
Donald Nepveu, 1951-2009
Kate’s father passed away today. He’s been battling cancer for while, so this was not unexpected, but the end was still surprisingly fast. He was at least at home with loved ones, including Kate and SteelyKid, who went down there yesterday. He will be missed.
Lab Grading Macros
A partial list of phrases I would like bound to a macro key, to save myself typing them over and over again as I mark up student lab reports (not all of these apply to the current crop of students): Not only were you able to [verb] the [noun], you did [verb] the [noun]. Say… Continue reading Lab Grading Macros
links for 2009-03-01
Cowbirds in Love Mad science vs. mad engineering (tags: science comics silly) Analysis of the price of a piece of a lego set | Dot Physics There’s nothing you can’t do with a least-squares fit. (tags: blogs math statistics kid-stuff toys dot-physics)
Bonus Baby Blogging
Because everybody could use some extra baby pictures, a reminder from SteelyKid that a baby’s reach should exceed her grasp… … but not for too long.
Moses Viney
This week was Founder’s Day at Union, one of the three big academic-procession events of the year (the others being Convocation in the fall, and Commencement in June), and this year’s event had a clear theme about race and equality, with the keynote speech being given by James McPherson on Union’s connection to the abolitionist… Continue reading Moses Viney
Wire Like a Physicist
One of last year’s physics majors is spending the year in rural Uganda working at a clinic/ school there. He’s keeping a blog, which is intermittently updated by western standards, but remarkably up-to-date given where he is. This week, he blogged about putting his physics education to use: I have been doing a lot of… Continue reading Wire Like a Physicist
links for 2009-02-28
Setshot: Basketball for the Aging and Infirm: "That guy is better than he looks": Appearance vs. ability "Here’s a topic I think about all the time: What factors most affect opinions about players’ skills, and by what process do those opinions change? In pickup basketball, there are often unknown players rotating into the playing roster.… Continue reading links for 2009-02-28