Looking back at the archives, I see that I never did get around to blogging about Jennifer Ouellette’s Black Bodies and Quantum Cats, which I finished back in May. This is a particularly shameful oversight, as she visited campus in late May, and gave two excellent talks for us, so the least I can do… Continue reading Black Bodies and Quantum Cats by Jennifer Ouellette
American Music
“American Music,” the Violent Femmes “California Stars,” Billy Bragg and Wilco “The City of New Orleans,” Arlo Guthrie “Song to Woody,” Bob Dylan “The Body of an American,” the Pogues “Born in the USA,” Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band “Fortunate Son,” Creedence Clearwater Revival “American Idiot,” Green Day “War,” Edwin Starr “Buffalo Soldier,”… Continue reading American Music
Wednesday Hawk Blogging
On the way in from the parking lot yesterday, I caught up with a colleague from Mechanical Engineering, who was on a bike, but had stopped to look at one of the local raptors. There are at least two red-tailed hawks living on campus, and one of them was on the ground only ten or… Continue reading Wednesday Hawk Blogging
Serious News from Outer Space
There have been a number of true and non-silly stories about astronomy and cosmology recently, which I’ll collect here as penance for the earlier silly post: Some theorists at Penn State have constructed a Loop Quantum Gravity model that they claim allows for an oscillating universe with no singularities. In one of those psychology-of-the-press moments,… Continue reading Serious News from Outer Space
Not Your Parents’ Summer Camp
The New York Times today has a story about a different sort of summer camp: Students with a passion for all things explosive and proof of United States citizenship pay a $450 fee that covers food, lodging and incidentals like dynamite. In the course of a week, the 22 students at this session set off… Continue reading Not Your Parents’ Summer Camp
Bush Commutes Pluto’s Sentence
WASHINGTON, DC (UP News Service)– In a move that supporters say shows sensitivity and compassion, President Bush today commuted the sentence of the planet Pluto, which was demoted to a “dwarf planet” by the International Astronomical Union in August of 2006. Under the President’s new order, Pluto will once more be regarded as a full-fledged… Continue reading Bush Commutes Pluto’s Sentence
Endangered Scientists
It’s really difficult to come up with new ways to frame crisis stories about the dwindling number of science majors in the US, but people keep finding them. The latest is from Marc Zimmer writing in Inside Higher Ed, who makes a number of biology analogies: The numbers indicate that the American scientist population is… Continue reading Endangered Scientists
Amateur Hour
Between the concert last night and an afternoon cookout at the house of one of Kate’s co-workers, we were out of the house for most of the day yesterday. This means light blogging today, as I struggle to deal with the stuff I really should’ve done yesterday. I do want to note, though, the New… Continue reading Amateur Hour
Richard Thompson Band Live
A while back, Kate and I saw Richard Thompson play a solo acoustic show at The Egg in Albany. Last night, he was back in town, this time with a band, touring in support of his new album, Sweet Warrior. Here are the band credits from the program: Michael Jerome: drums, percussion Taras Prodaniuk: electric… Continue reading Richard Thompson Band Live
Re-Order My Queue For Me
Kate’s going to Readercon next weekend, and I’m not. I have three summer students at the moment, and some other projects that I need to work on, and I just can’t spare the time. This means I’m going to have a whole weekend to do things that Kate doesn’t enjoy, like go out for sushi… Continue reading Re-Order My Queue For Me