Via a mailing list, probably via this Tyler Cowen post, an awful statistic about adjunct faculty: 35 years ago there were 44% more tenured faculty than adjuncts. Today there are 76% more adjuncts than tenured faculty, via @chronicle — Ángel Cabrera (@CabreraAngel) April 25, 2014 This is awful in two ways. First, it’s obviously a… Continue reading Adjunct Faculty and Awful Stats
Academic Round-up: Exam Review, Student Comments, Speaker Invitations
A collection of miscellaneous stuff with an academic inclination from the past week or so: — We gave an exam last night in introductory E&M (I’m teaching one of five sections this term), so we’ve spent a lot of time this week on exam review. One thing that might be worth mentioning here is the… Continue reading Academic Round-up: Exam Review, Student Comments, Speaker Invitations
Flame Challenge Finalists 2014: What Is Color?
The finalists for the 2014 “Flame Challenge” have been selected, three written entries and three visual entries. None of these is my entry, alas, but it was worth a shot. I watched the videos last night, and it was sort of interesting to compare what ended up working well with the test audience of 11-year-olds… Continue reading Flame Challenge Finalists 2014: What Is Color?
Guardian Emmy
“DAAAAADDDDDYYYYY!!!!” “What’s the matter, honey?” “I don’t like being alone.” “Well, I’m sorry, honey, but I have work to do, and it’s time for you to go to sleep.” “But when I’m alone I get scared.” “Well, I can put on some music if you like. You can listen to that, and it might give… Continue reading Guardian Emmy
Go Fly a Kite
The kids spent last week at Grandma and Grandpa’s, as school was closed for Passover/Easter (best wishes for each of those holidays to those who celebrate them), and Kate and I went down there for the weekend. During which trip we went up on top of the flood control dam in town, and flew a… Continue reading Go Fly a Kite
In Which I Read Hard Science Fiction
Astonishingly, in the last few weeks, I’ve actually found time to read some– gasp— novels. In particular, I finished two books that probably belong in the “Hard SF” genre: A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias and Lockstep by Karl Schroeder. Both Jim and Karl are people I’ve met many times at cons; I’ve enjoyed… Continue reading In Which I Read Hard Science Fiction
String Experiment: Capillary Action is Complicated
As I’ve mentioned here before, I do a lot of work these days in my local Starbucks. This is slightly ironic, as I don’t like coffee– instead, I order tea, which I put in an insulated travel mug. I tend to get the tea, carry the mug back to the table, and let it steep… Continue reading String Experiment: Capillary Action is Complicated
Uncertain Dots, Episode 12
The last couple of days have been ridiculously hectic, but Rhett and I did manage to record another episode of Uncertain Dots, our twelfth: This time out, we talk about labs, undergrad research, kids doing chores, weather, student course evaluations, and I didn’t really rant about superheroes. Relevant to the weather thing, I offer the… Continue reading Uncertain Dots, Episode 12
Superheros are Anti-Science
I’m not really a comic-book guy, but I’ve watched a bunch of comic-book movies recently. Kate was really fired up for the new Captain America movie, so I finally got around to watching the first one as background for that, then when I was sleep-deprived last week I watched the second Thor movie via on-demand… Continue reading Superheros are Anti-Science
Cosmos Reboot Gets Small
A diabolical psychologist brings a mathematician in for an experiment. The mathematician is seated in a chair on a track leading to a bed on which there is an extremely attractive person of the appropriate gender, completely naked. The psychologist explains “This person will do absolutely anything you want, subject to one condition: every five… Continue reading Cosmos Reboot Gets Small