It’s been an uneven week for SteelyKid. She was a litle bit sick last week, and really only got better last weekend, only to turn listless and feverish at day care Monday. This led to yet another trip to the pediatrician, at which we learned that waking a sleeping baby up to press a cold… Continue reading Thursday Baby Blogging 050709
Month: May 2009
Fairy-Tale Physics 2: Spinning Gold
You might think that Monday’s discourse on thermodynamics in the Goldilocks story was the only children’s story in which physics plays a role, but that’s not true. Physics is everywhere in fairy tales. Take, for example, the story of Rumpelstiltskin, in which a mysterious little man demands a terrible price for helping a miller’s daughter… Continue reading Fairy-Tale Physics 2: Spinning Gold
The Wall Street Journal Gets Entangled
I was surprised, a few days ago, to see a post from ZapperZ recommending a Wall Street Journal article on quantum entanglement. It was surprising not only because it’s weird to see anything in the WSJ that doesn’t have an immediate financial connection, but more than that, I was surprised because the article contains a… Continue reading The Wall Street Journal Gets Entangled
links for 2009-05-07
‘Columbine,’ by Dave Cullen — New York Magazine Book Review Most of what you think you know about the Columbine school shooting is wrong. (tags: society books review history media) The Laptop in the Classroom « Easily Distracted "I am sure there are students in my classes who have multitasked during a lecture or discussion.… Continue reading links for 2009-05-07
Preventative Bacon
I’m waiting for the toaster when the dog trots into the kitchen. “You should give me some bacon!” she says. “Why is that?” I ask. “To prevent swine flu!” “Look, there’s no chance that I’m going to get swine flu from eating pork products. I know you saw some people on the Internet saying that… Continue reading Preventative Bacon
Good Science Books for Kids
The proprietor of Good Mom, Bad Mom emails to point out a post spinning off Monday’s Goldilocks post. A good thing she did, as Technorati has collapsed into utter uselessness, at least for finding people who link to my posts. Her post quotes an unnamed correspondent, who writes: My two daughters are both compulsive readers,… Continue reading Good Science Books for Kids
links for 2009-05-06
Why Canât You? « Easily Distracted "I had a fun conversation with a student this week who had a number of challenging questions about issues to pose to me. The question Iâm still knocking around: if academic cultural critics understand expressive culture so expertly, why canât they create it? Wouldnât it be better to always… Continue reading links for 2009-05-06
Malcolm Gladwell Is No Charles Barkley
I’m never quite sure what to make of Malcolm Gladwell. Lots of smart people seem to be favorably impressed by his writing and ideas, but whenever I actually read anything by him, there doesn’t seem to be much there. Take, for example, this New Yorker piece on basketball as a metaphor for innovation. As seems… Continue reading Malcolm Gladwell Is No Charles Barkley
Quantum Computing in Diamond, on the Arxiv Blog
As I understand it, the Physics ArXiv Blog is not affiliated with the people who actually run the Arxiv (Paul Ginsparg et al.). Which is probably good, as I’m never entirely sure how seriously to take the papers they highlight. Take yesterday’s post, Diamond Challenges for Quantum-Computing Crown, which is about a paper that asks… Continue reading Quantum Computing in Diamond, on the Arxiv Blog
links for 2009-05-05
The 25 most important movies ever made about war and diplomacy. – By Fred Kaplan – Slate Magazine "Last week, in the online edition of Slate’s sister publication Foreign Policy, two of its regular bloggers, Stephen M. Walt and Daniel W. Drezner, drew up lists of what they regard as the best movies ever made about… Continue reading links for 2009-05-05