It’s been a while since I did one of these, so here’s a new Dorky Poll for readers to vote on: What’s your favorite of the fundamental forces of nature? As always, vote by leaving a comment. The winning force will be entitled to display a small graphic proclaiming it the choice of ScienceBlogs readers… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Favorite Fundamental Force?
Month: September 2006
The Next String Theory
The current crop of String Theory Backlash books has a lot of people wondering about what will replace string theory as the top fad in theoretical physics. Other people (well, ok, me) are worried about a more important question: What will replace string theory as the most over-hyped area in theoretical physics? Dave Bacon selflessly… Continue reading The Next String Theory
Random Tracks
Despite turning in early last night, I’m sleep-deprived and I have an early morning lab, so here are some random songs from iTunes to hold you until I feel more like blogging. Ten tracks from the four-and-five-star playlist, with bonus commentary on a few: “Little Razorblade,” The Pink Spiders. A new purchase, that I’m really… Continue reading Random Tracks
Philosophia Naturalis
Over at Science and Reason, Charles Daney has launched a new blog carnival, focussing on physical science and technology issues. I rarely remember to participate in these things– the deadlines just go whooshing by, like deadlines do– but the general concept is pretty popular, and we need more physical science blogging on the Interweb. There… Continue reading Philosophia Naturalis
Visiting Japan on the Cheap
Next year’s World Science Fiction Convention is being held in Yokohama, Japan, the first time a Worldcon has ever been held in Japan. With this year’s Worldcon out of the way, we’re starting to see some discussion of who’s going, and whether various US-based fans will make the trip or not. If I pass my… Continue reading Visiting Japan on the Cheap
Classic Edition: GenEd Daydreams
Timothy Burke is thinking up new classes all the time, which is probably the bane of any academic. It’s probably more common in the humanities, where the curricula are more mutable, but even us science types usually have a couple of ideas that would make for a good course if only we didn’t have to… Continue reading Classic Edition: GenEd Daydreams
I Got Your Nerdy Watch Right Here
Janet thinks she’s scoring nerd points by posting a picture of her nerdy watch, but I can match her timepiece: OK, there’s nothing particularly nerdy about the watch itself– the nerd part is the band, which in this case, is held together with a cable tie. The little loops that are supposed to keep the… Continue reading I Got Your Nerdy Watch Right Here
Those Crazy Chemists
Dylan Stiles is blogging from the American Chemical Society meeting, as only he can. He’s got three daily summary posts up (one, two, three), with more presumably on the way for however long the meeting lasts. Personally, I can’t make heads or tails of the scientific content, so I can’t tell you whether any of… Continue reading Those Crazy Chemists
Peter Woit, Not Even Wrong
The two most talked-about books in physics this year are probably a pair of anti-sting-theory books, Lee Smolin’s The Trouble With Physics, and Peter Woit’s Not Even Wrong, which shares a name with Jacques Distler’s favorite weblog. I got review copies of both, but Not Even Wrong arrived first (thanks, Peter), and gets to be… Continue reading Peter Woit, Not Even Wrong
We’re Talkin’ ‘Bout Practice
When Redskins running back and noted NFL whack job Clinton Portis got injured in a preseason game, he generated a lot of buzz with a press-conference rant about how stupid it is to make players go through pre-season games at all. The sports punditocracy kept the topic alive for pretty much the whole rest of… Continue reading We’re Talkin’ ‘Bout Practice