Security Beat The DHS gets security advice from Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and David Brin. I feel safer already. (tags: stupid SF war US politics) States’ Data Obscure How Few Finish High School – New York Times “Like Mississippi, many states use an inflated graduation rate for federal reporting requirements under the No Child Left… Continue reading links for 2008-03-22
Small Colleges Represent!
Congratulations to Davidson, who just knocked off Gonzaga. It’s a 7-10 game, so not that big an upset, but there aren’t a lot of liberal arts schools winning NCAA games, so let’s hear it for the Wildcats.
God and Fraternities
There was a faculty-student happy hour event last week for St. Patrick’s Day, and I spent a bunch of time drinking Irish beer, listening to Irish music (one of the English department faculty is an accomplished piper, and brought a bunch of other local musicians in to play for the party), and talking to some… Continue reading God and Fraternities
Basketball Game of the Day (Syracuse-Maryland)
There was a lot of basketball played yesterday, and a lot more will be played today, but the most important of these games was unquestionably Syracuse’s victory over Maryland last night in the Carrier Dome. What? Yes it’s an NIT game, not an NCAA game. So what? They’re the two teams I root for, and… Continue reading Basketball Game of the Day (Syracuse-Maryland)
Hugo Nominees 2008
The Hugo Award nominees for this year have been released. The category I care most about is Best Novel, where we have: The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate) Brasyl by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr) Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor; Analog Oct. 2006-Jan/Feb. 2007) The Last Colony by John Scalzi (Tor)… Continue reading Hugo Nominees 2008
links for 2008-03-21
Backreaction: Experimental Traffic Jams More detail on the Japanese simulation of Washington, DC. (tags: physics science experiment video youtube) What is the matter with the universe? – Telegraph An article on CP violation experiments, which is pretty good, but might be dated=– I thought BaBar was shut down? (tags: physics experiment science) Supersymmetry could be… Continue reading links for 2008-03-21
Literary Divination
Over at Making Light, Abi has proposed a parlour game using books as Tarot cards. As always for Making Light, the resulting comment thread is full of dizzyingly erudite responses, and clever literary in-jokes. But it strikes me that there’s a fundamental flaw in the game– Abi’s examples all involve selected works, chosen to be… Continue reading Literary Divination
Uncomfortable Questions: Physics Curriculum
Johan Larson asks: How would you change the requirements and coursework for the undergraduate Physics major? This is a good one, but it’s a little tough to answer. I have ideas about things I’d like to change locally, but I’m not sure I really have the perspective I would need to be able to say… Continue reading Uncomfortable Questions: Physics Curriculum
March (Physics) Madness
I give you the last four rounds of the Worst NCAA Pool Bracket Ever: That’s small and hard to read, but it’s filled out with the winners determined by the rankings of the physics graduate programs of the competing schools. (If only one of the schools offers a Ph.D. program in physics, that school wins;… Continue reading March (Physics) Madness
There’s Methane in Them Thar Planets
The coolest-sounding science news of the moment is undoubtedly “Hubble Finds First Organic Molecule on an Exoplanet”“ NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has made the first detection ever of an organic molecule in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting another star. This breakthrough is an important step in eventually identifying signs of life on… Continue reading There’s Methane in Them Thar Planets