The Pip’s ringing in the New Year… Well, OK, he’s actually asleep upstairs. Because when you have a one-year-old and a four-year-old, you don’t really get out to a lot of parties on New Year’s Eve. Anyway, to be honest, I won’t be all that sorry to see 2012’s taillights fade to black. There were… Continue reading 2012 Was Just This Year, You Know?
Top Physics Breakthroughs of the 13th Baktun
We’re at that time of year where people publish lists of top stories of the year, but as many crazy people will be happy to remind you, this Friday marks the end of another calendrical period, in the Mayan calendar. So, I’m going to steal an idea from a college classmate on Facebook, who wrote:… Continue reading Top Physics Breakthroughs of the 13th Baktun
On the Time for Talking
As I’m sure you wish you hadn’t heard, there was another school shooting in Connecticut on Friday, one that was hellishly awful even by the standards of such things. The Internet, of course, instantly exploded with the depressingly predictable standard response. And it’s hard to put into words just how depressing it is that there’s… Continue reading On the Time for Talking
‘Tis the Season
It was a long and irritating week, for reasons that I can’t discuss on the blog, and just when it finally looked like there might be some motion in a positive direction, I got a call from day care saying that SteelyKid had a fever and needed to be picked up immediately. But, on the… Continue reading ‘Tis the Season
How to Think Like a Scientist
I have made allusions to a work-in-progress at various points recently, but my general policy is not to reveal any details until things become official. Well, as you can see from the above photo of signed contracts, it’s official: I sold the work-in-progress to Basic Books, my publisher for How to Teach Relativity to Your… Continue reading How to Think Like a Scientist
On the Checking of Boxes, and the Need to Chill Out
In the comments to yesterday’s post about college admissions, Joseph Yoon quoted my statement that “I’m somewhat sympathetic to claims that Asians have a difficult position in higher education,” and shot back with: I wonder if you will feel more strongly about this in 10 years when your kids are near college. Will you advise… Continue reading On the Checking of Boxes, and the Need to Chill Out
The Visual Presentation of Misleading Information, Anti-Asian Bias Edition
In which the skewing of a data plot in Ron Unz’s epic investigation of college admissions makes me more skeptical of his overall claim, thanks to the misleading tricks employed. ———— Steve Hsu has a new post on a favorite topic of his, bias against Asians in higher ed admissions. This is based on a… Continue reading The Visual Presentation of Misleading Information, Anti-Asian Bias Edition
Using Light to Put a Mirror in the Dark: “Optomechanical Dark Mode”
In which I unpack a cryptic paper title and explain how quantum superposition lets you use light to keep things from interacting with light. ————- I joined AAAS a couple of years ago to get a break on the registration fee for their meeting, and I’ve kept up the membership mostly because I like having… Continue reading Using Light to Put a Mirror in the Dark: “Optomechanical Dark Mode”
The Inspiring Power of You’re Doing It Wrong
I’ve got a bunch of browser tabs open on my various computers that have been there for weeks, one of which is Alastair Reynolds on writing science fiction. This is mostly a response to a not-terribly-interesting complaint that the science fiction genre has been “exhausted,” but there was a bit in there that resonated with… Continue reading The Inspiring Power of You’re Doing It Wrong
Hobbits and Prime Ministers: The Physics of Doors
Over at Tor.com, Kate has begun a chapter-by-chapter re-read of The Hobbit, and has some thoughts on Chapter 1. It’s full of interesting commentary about characters and literary technique, but let’s get right to the important bit: Physics! Kate mentions in passing in the post that the Hobbit style round door with a knob in… Continue reading Hobbits and Prime Ministers: The Physics of Doors