SteelyKid is much too young for cartoons, but it’s not to early to celebrate the weekend with a riot of bright colors and stylized animal shapes: We had a really good morning of “Happy Awake Baby” (as opposed to “Happy Sleeping Baby” or “Screaming Awake Baby,” which are more common), and she had a grand… Continue reading Over-Stimulated Baby Blogging
Month: September 2008
The End Is Here
After five long years, Fred Clark has reached the final pages in his exhaustive deconstruction of Left Behind (fittingly enough, they include a phone call). If you would like to see the beginning, the first few pages are here, but the series really starts with Left Behind Is Evil. Fred’s analysis has run to much… Continue reading The End Is Here
Science21: Funny Anecdotes
It was not a great night for helpless mammals in Chateau Steelypips last night. SteelyKid was a little colicky, and the Queen of Niskayuna has developed some problem with her paw necessitating a vet visit today, which led to some late-night whining. Kate ended up spending several hours soothing SteelyKid, while I wound up going… Continue reading Science21: Funny Anecdotes
Ambiguous Quantum Cubes
Speaking of quantum (as we were), I’ve been meaning to link to the recent Scientific American article by Chris Monroe and Dave Wineland on quantum computing with ions. This is a very good explanation of the science involved, but you’d expect nothing else, given that the authors are two of the very best in the… Continue reading Ambiguous Quantum Cubes
Fear the (Quantum) Turtle
The Pontiff beat me to it, but my Ph.D. alma mater has scored a $12.5 million grant from the NSF to fund the Joint Quantum Institute as a Physics Frontier Center for the development of quantum technology: The Physics Frontier Center (PFC) award, effective September 1, will fund 17 graduate students, seven postdoctoral scientists and… Continue reading Fear the (Quantum) Turtle
links for 2008-09-19
…My heart’s in Accra » Sumo and the cycle of nature "Every two months, there’s a 15-day basho. You can set your watch by it, if you happen to have one of those watches that’s accurate only to the week." (tags: sports Japan drugs blogs) Basics: Making graphs with kinematics stuff | Dot Physics "I… Continue reading links for 2008-09-19
Thursday Baby Blogging 091808
Your weekly picture of SteelyKid, with Appa for scale: Note the addition of the crib mirror. She’s started to become more aware of the world around her, and may parents picked up a couple of mirrors when they were here last week. The mirror is the most fascinating thing in the world, when she’s awake… Continue reading Thursday Baby Blogging 091808
Science Majors vs. Scientists
I have often expressed a wish for there to be more physics majors, and more science majors in general. Given the demographic information in the previous post, is this just irresponsible feather-bedding on my part? I don’t think so, but that’s because I would make a distinction between science majors, at the undergraduate level, and… Continue reading Science Majors vs. Scientists
Science21: Supply and Demand, Booms and Busts
There’s an article in yesterday’s Inside Higher Ed about the supply of scientists and engineers, arguing that there is not, in fact, a shortage: Michael S. Teitelbaum, a demographer at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, looked at what he called five “mysteries” of the STEM work force issue. For example, why do employers claim a… Continue reading Science21: Supply and Demand, Booms and Busts
The Internet Changes Financial News
On hearing that Washington Mutual is the next bank up in Wall Street’s fire sale, I have to admit that my first thought was “Well, that’s what they get for letting their customer service be handled by shady guys in Nigeria…” I’ve gotten so much scam email over the years with Subject: headers like “Washington… Continue reading The Internet Changes Financial News