Randy Olson’s movie A Flock of Dodos comes up again and again in the course of arguments about public communication of science, but I had never gotten around to seeing it. I finally put it on the Netflix queue, and ended up watching it last night. For those who have been living in caves and… Continue reading A Flock of Dodos
links for 2008-04-30
Japan, a Brief Pop-Cultural Survey | The A.V. Club “Japan: land of the rising sun. […] Home to high-quality electronics, bizarre game shows, and vending machines that dispense beer and used girls’ panties (not together…yet).” (tags: Japan culture society silly) Confessions of a Community College Dean: Between the Dog and the Fire Hydrant “Why would… Continue reading links for 2008-04-30
God and Physics
Via the Zeitgeist, the Templeton Foundation has asked a bunch of famous smart people “Does science make belief in God obsolete?” I wouldn’t ordinarily note this, but if you scroll down a little, you’ll find my thesis advisor, Bill Phillips, who offers an “Absolutely Not!”: [A] scientist can believe in God because such belief is… Continue reading God and Physics
Physics to Finance
We had a talk yesterday at lunchtime from an alumnus who graduated with a physics degree, got a Ph.D. in Physics, did a couple of post-docs, and then decided to give academia a miss, and went to Wall Street where he’s been a financial analyst for the last 12 years. He talked, mostly for the… Continue reading Physics to Finance
Athletics and Alumni
Inside Higher Ed reports on a new study of the connection between college athletics and alumni giving, with some interesting findings: First, they find that male alumni who played on teams while they were undergraduates are more likely to donate more (to the athletics department and to the university as a whole) when the teams… Continue reading Athletics and Alumni
A Stable Heavy Element?
Via Swans on Tea, a new article on the arxiv reports the possible discovery of a new stable element: What they did was fire one thorium nucleus after another through a mass spectrometer to see how heavy each was. Thorium has an atomic number of 90 and occurs mainly in two isotopes with atomic weights… Continue reading A Stable Heavy Element?
links for 2008-04-29
The Art of the Possible » Blog Archive » Wussy Like a Fox? “Summing up: Obama risks looking marginally “weak” by “not hitting back” against Clinton’s attacks. But hitting back risks making him look like a) an asshole; b) a sexist; c) a scary negro man! “ (tags: politics US race gender) Solar System Live… Continue reading links for 2008-04-29
I Could Take Him
Barack Obama, hoopster: The real question is, why is he afraid to play me one-on-one? (Video via Matt Yglesias.)
Science Movies
Inspired by the suggestion of a pro-science film festival, the Seed editors have launched a poll asking about science movies. They’ve narrowed it to four, all with both pros and cons: Contact Pro: Arecibo is way cool. Con: woo-woo ending is even less compelling than in the book. Gattaca Pro: Believable human interactions between characters.… Continue reading Science Movies
Matter and Interactions by Chabay and Sherwood
Today’s episode of “Thrilling Tales of Physics Pedagogy” is brought to you through a comment by CCPhysicst who picks up on the implications of last week’s schedule post: You are ripping right along in that course. You do E and then B and only later get around to circuits? Yes and no. We are ripping… Continue reading Matter and Interactions by Chabay and Sherwood