In today’s New York Times Natalie Angier has a nice story about increased interest in physics: Many people wring their hands over the state of science education and point to the appalling performance of America’s students in international science and math competitions. Yet some of the direst noises about our nation’s scientific prospects may be… Continue reading Physics for Everyone (for Some Value of “Everyone”)
Peer Reviewed Blogging
You may start seeing these little icons showing up on your favorite science blogs. So, what’s the deal? Dave Munger of Cognitive Daily has been marking posts that discuss published articles in detail for quite a while now, but there was mroe general interest in having a service to tag and vet such articles. So,… Continue reading Peer Reviewed Blogging
The Dressed State Picture
I’ve never been one for costumes, but if you lean that way, and still don’t know what you’re going as tomorrow, Jennifer Ouellette offers some physics-themed Halloween costumes: Schrödinger’s Cat, Maxwell’s Demon, and BEC: If you’re looking for something a bit less mainstream, how about dressing up as a Bose-Einstein condensate this Halloween? That’s what… Continue reading The Dressed State Picture
links for 2007-10-30
Aspie-quiz Do you have an autism-spectrum disorder, or are you neurotypical and just kind of an asshole? (via Scalzi) (tags: science psychology society blogs) The Dragaeran Cycle of Houses by ~Silversaff on deviantART So… A lyorn is a Labrador Retriever with a horn? (tags: books art SF) Laelaps : The good, the bad, and the… Continue reading links for 2007-10-30
DonorsChoose Payoff: Changing Categories
An anonymous donor asks a tricky question, namely: how apparently successful research faculty … can best make the transition to a small teaching/research institution? This is a tricky question not only because anything relating to academic jobs is tough, but also because I don’t have a great deal of experience with it. I’ve been in… Continue reading DonorsChoose Payoff: Changing Categories
An Open Letter to the People of London
Hey, I just wanted to drop you all a note to say sorry about that football game yesterday. I know I’ve already admitted that rugby is a superior game, but honestly, the NFL can do better. You see, the thing is, the Miami Dolphins are a really bad team this year. And the New York… Continue reading An Open Letter to the People of London
DonorsChoose: Limping to the Finish Line
The ScienceBlogs DonorsChoose challenge event runs through the end of this month, which means we’ll take new contributions through the end of Wednesday. The Uncertain Principles challenge stands at $3,412 at the moment, which is terrific– more than I realistically expected to get (I set the challenge goal too high at the start). I’d love… Continue reading DonorsChoose: Limping to the Finish Line
links for 2007-10-29
The Washington Monthly Paul Glastris goes on the Colbert Report: “[I]t’s a bit disconcerting to be twelve inches away from a guy who’s doing a very believable impression of a total lunatic.” (tags: politics silly television) Whatever: Football With Jesus Why you shouldn’t let Christ in your Pop Warner league. (tags: football religion silly blogs)… Continue reading links for 2007-10-29
Eat Your Heart Out, Cal-Stanford
With my Giants having done their part to ensure that the NFL never catches on in Europe, here’s a college football play that ought to appeal to the rugby fans out there. Trinity vs. Millsaps, two seconds to play, Trinity needs a touchdown to win, and has the ball on their own 39: All it… Continue reading Eat Your Heart Out, Cal-Stanford
Tons of Rain
On Thursday last week, the Schenectady weather forecast I have in my Bloglines feed called for “Tons of Rain,” which I thought was amusingly unprofessional. I mentioned this to Kate yesterday (after it had, in fact, rained quite a bit), and she said “I wonder how much rain you would need to make a ton?”… Continue reading Tons of Rain