It’s that time of year again in academia. The time when academics at other institutions write posts directed at graduates, reminding me that summer is starting for everybody else, while we have another four %$^*$ing weeks to go before the end of the term. Grumble, mutter, grump. Stupid calendar.
Month: May 2009
Mysteries of Back Pain
Everybody I know who has back problems swears up and down that sleeping on a really firm mattress is key. My father used to have a big plywood board under his side of the mattress, so that his side of the bed would be less soft (I think they have since bought a new mattress… Continue reading Mysteries of Back Pain
links for 2009-05-11
Disco Hayes: It’s all Greek to me "And then the joke hits me. It’s witty, it’s relevant … ah, it’s perfect. It happens so fast, before I know it my lips are making a coy, dry grin to indicate I’m about to be a smart alec. I figure the Doctor has a hundred physicals to… Continue reading links for 2009-05-11
links for 2009-05-10
The winners of Slate’s "Define Baseball in 150 Words" contest. – By John Dickerson – Slate Magazine "Seven guys wait for these other two guys to play catch but this other guy is jealous because he wants to play and so he’s trying to stop them with a stick." should’ve won. (tags: silly sports slate)… Continue reading links for 2009-05-10
links for 2009-05-09
The Final Frontier: The Science of Star Trek: Scientific American "To get a sense of how much actual science has made its way into the science fiction universe of Star Trek, ScientificAmerican.com spoke to Lawrence Krauss, author of The Physics of Star Trek, the first edition of which appeared on bookshelves in 1995. […] We… Continue reading links for 2009-05-09
Would You Like Some Calculus With Your Physics?
It’s a nice demonstration of the oddity of the blogosphere that a libertarian political blog has become my go-to-source for thoughtful blogging about physics education. Thoreau had two good posts yesterday at Unqualified Offerings, one on the problems created by breaking down incorrect intuition, and another on the lack of calculus in calculus-based physics texts:… Continue reading Would You Like Some Calculus With Your Physics?
Dorkiest Family Vacation Ever
Via Michael Nielsen, a page documenting what I really hope is the dorkiest family vacation ever: Project GREAT: General Relativity Einstein/Essen Anniversary Test Clocks, Kids, and General Relativity on Mt Rainier: In September 2005 (for the 50th anniversary of the atomic clock and 100th anniversary of the theory of relativity) we took several cesium clocks… Continue reading Dorkiest Family Vacation Ever
The End of Planets
We had a colloquium yesterday from Ted von Hippel of Siena College, over on Route 9, about “White Dwarf Debris Disks and the Fate of Planetary Systems.” The abstract was: After a brief introduction to white dwarfs and debris disks, I will present observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes of metal-polluted white… Continue reading The End of Planets
Are You Feeling Festive?
I get sent a lot of publicity material by people hoping I’ll mention it on the blog, but because I’m a terrible person, very little of it actually gets used. One thing that shouldn’t be allowed to slip through the cracks, though, is the announcement of the program for the 2009 World Science Festival, June… Continue reading Are You Feeling Festive?
links for 2009-05-08
Evolution and the Second Law | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine "Without even addressing the question of how âlifeâ should be defined, we can ask what sounds like a subsequent question: does life make thermodynamic sense? The answer, before you get too excited, is âyes.â But the opposite has been claimed â not by any… Continue reading links for 2009-05-08