Via email, Mike Steeves points me to an Ars Technica article about a Thomson Reuters report on the “decline in American science”: The US is beginning to lose its scientific dominance. That’s the message from Thomson Reuters, the people behind EndNote and impact factors. According to a report in their publication ScienceWatch, the US’ science… Continue reading Nationalism and Science
All Courses Are Not Created Equal
The Dean Dad is annoyed with the New York Times, for an article about how the recession is affecting the humanities. The whole piece is worth a read, but he singles out a quote from the former president of my alma mater: Some large state universities routinely turn away students who want to sign up… Continue reading All Courses Are Not Created Equal
links for 2009-02-27
362 – Greek To Me: Mapping Mutual Incomprehension « Strange Maps ""Has there been a study of this phrase phenomenon, relating different languages on some kind of Directed Graph?â Well apparently there has, even if only perfunctorily, and the result is this cartogram. When a Hellenophone has trouble understanding something, his or her preferred languages… Continue reading links for 2009-02-27
Thursday Baby Blogging 022609
For this week’s Baby Blogging, SteelyKid shows off the latest look for the baby on the go: In this picture, she’s all set to face a busy day at day care. She’s in her car seat, with the dangling toys on the handle (Left to right, a rattling snail, a butterfly with crinkly wings, and… Continue reading Thursday Baby Blogging 022609
What Do You Do Well?
ScienceWoman offers a good discussion question: You are in a room with a bunch of other female faculty/post-docs/grad students from your university. You know a few of them, but most of them are unfamiliar to you. The convener of the meeting asks each of you to introduce yourself by answering the following question: “What is… Continue reading What Do You Do Well?
Bacon: Is There Anything It Can’t Do?
Prior to SteelyKid’s arrival, the “Pasta with Butter, Sage, and Parmesan” recipe from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything had become one of our staple recipes. It’s dead simple to make, we always have the stuff on hand (I’ve been planting sage in pots outside for the last couple of years), and it’s very tasty.… Continue reading Bacon: Is There Anything It Can’t Do?
links for 2009-02-26
The Problem of Pretension. « The Internet Food Association Is it pretentious to insist on fresh food for school lunches? (tags: food politics class-war) the physics arXiv blog » Blog Archive » Calculating the cost of dirty bombs Basically the same analysis that’s in "Physics for Future Presidents," with some added financial figures. Bottom line:… Continue reading links for 2009-02-26
Photons Are Particles
Over at Dot Physics, Rhett is taking another whack at photons. If you recall, the last time he did this wasn’t too successful, and this round fares no better: So back to the photon. In my original post I made the claim that the photoelectric effect is not a great experiment to show photons. Maybe… Continue reading Photons Are Particles
The Down Side of President Obama
Now that we have a President who is smart, articulate, and has the best interests of the country in mind, I feel compelled to actually watch his major speeches, like last night’s not-really-the-State-of-the-Union address. It’s a small price to pay for having a President who speaks to the nation as if we were rational adults,… Continue reading The Down Side of President Obama
links for 2009-02-25
slacktivist: Saving newspapers "I’m glad at least though that Time and Isaacson are trying to deal with the question of newspapers’ survival. That’s more than I can say for many of the newspapers themselves. Take for example my employer, the largest newspaper chain in the country. They own dozens of newspapers, small and large, which… Continue reading links for 2009-02-25