Speaking of fictional science, was there a sci-fi cliche that Eureka (new show on the Sci-Fi Channel) missed last night? Shows like this really make me question whether Battlestar Galactica can be as good as people insist it is (the one episode I watched didn’t sell me on it). (I’m also kind of apprehensive about… Continue reading Festival of Cliches
Month: July 2006
Fictional Science
The article about physicists in movies cited previously had one other thing worth commenting on: the fictional portrayal of the practice of science: All these films illustrate a fundamental pattern for movie science. Rarely is the central scientific concept utterly incorrect, but filmmakers are obviously more interested in creating entertaining stories that sell tickets than… Continue reading Fictional Science
Classic Edition: Move Out of Your Parents’ Basements
Benjamin Cohen at The World’s Fair posts a link to an article about physicists in movies. The author provides a surprisingly detailed breakdown of what must be every character described as a physicist in the history of motion pictures. He also says really nasty things about What the Bleep Do We Know?, which warms my… Continue reading Classic Edition: Move Out of Your Parents’ Basements
Pirates of the Caribbean 2
On Saturday, Kate and I went to see Johnny Depp swish his way through a second movie as Captain Jack Sparrow, with assistance from Kiera Knightly, Orlando Bloom, and a lot of other wooden props. She’s posted a review with spoilers, and I’ll post some spoilers below the fold, but my one-word, spoiler-free review is… Continue reading Pirates of the Caribbean 2
International Blog Against Racism Week
This week has been dubbed “International Blog Against Racism Week” by some folks over on LiveJournal, with the goal being to have lots of people, well, blog about issues related to race. It’s not likely to save the world, but it’s a noble enough cause, and deserves a mention. There’s some good stuff over there–… Continue reading International Blog Against Racism Week
Liquid Nitrogen on TV
This past weekend, Union played host to the New York State Association for College Admissions Counseling’s Camp College program. This is a three-day summer program where students from disadvantaged backgrounds (the vast majority of this year’s students were from New York City, with a handful of local students, and one group from Philly) spend a… Continue reading Liquid Nitrogen on TV
Physics Conference Blogging
It’s not as sexy as Strings 2006, but it’s easier to understand what the talks are about: Nathan Lundblad is blogging from the International Conference on Atomic Physics in Innsbruck, Austria (the bastard). Posts so far: First day introduction. First day talk recaps. (The latter includes the announcement of the [Norman] Ramsey Prize, “to be… Continue reading Physics Conference Blogging
Exposition Across Genres
As you know, Bob, clumsy exposition, particularly in the form of lengthy “infodump” sequences in which large quantities of information are blasted toward the reader in the manner of a shotgun or a firehose, is often held to be one of the hallmarks (or, perhaps, banes) of the SF genre (where “SF” means “speculative fiction,”… Continue reading Exposition Across Genres
Times Book Review Comments
We get the Sunday New York Times delivered, because there’s something infinitely more civilized about reading an actual paper than sitting at the computer browsing news stories on the Web. The message isn’t any different, but the medium makes a difference. Also, I’m more likely to stop to read a story on paper than I… Continue reading Times Book Review Comments
Still Life With Lecture Props
In the lecture hall yesterday, from left to right: A dewar of liquid nitrogen, a tube of racquetballs, a squeaky dog toy, a handful of yellow balloons, a vase of flowers, an inflated red balloon, an insulated glove, and a 4-liter jug of liquid nitrogen. The dewars, the vase, the glove, and the dog toy… Continue reading Still Life With Lecture Props