The final content area from my DAMOP overview is Precision Measurement. This is also the smallest area, with only one invited session on the topic on Fundamental Symmetry Tests, though two of the “Hot Topics” talks (by Zheng-Tian Lu and Ed Hinds) were precision measurement talks. You might be able to make an argument that… Continue reading What’s So Interesting About Precision Measurement?
Month: July 2011
At Least He’s Honest?
The topic sucking up all blogospheric oxygen at the moment is the great elevator incident. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can find lots of good summaries and explanations, including from Phil Plait and Josh Rosenau. The core of the story is that Rebecca Watson was propositioned in an elevator by a… Continue reading At Least He’s Honest?
Links for 2011-07-08
Evil and Riddles: The Grey King | Tor.com I don’t need to re-read this, really I don’t. And yet… (tags: books sf review blogs tor nostalgia literature) Cheryl’s Mewsings » Blog Archive » Anthologies: Some Data “On Saturday I mentioned that I had been sent some data about gender splits in anthologies. I have since… Continue reading Links for 2011-07-08
Thursday Firefighter Blogging 070711
This week’s Toddler Blogging is a cell-phone picture in slightly dim light, but it’s too cute not to use: This is particularly noteworthy because the fire truck was bought by Grandma and Grandpa last year, while the fire hat was bought by Grandma and Grandpa before they were grandparents. In 1974 or thereabouts, I would… Continue reading Thursday Firefighter Blogging 070711
All-Purpose Political Commentary for 2011
It is my fervent hope that at some point in the future, we will once again live in a society where all discussions of politics are not indescribably depressing. Really, that pretty much sums up my feelings about everything in the news right now, on-line and off. There are a bunch of things going on… Continue reading All-Purpose Political Commentary for 2011
Links for 2011-07-07
The Slacktiverse: DragonRaid: moral teaching through roleplaying games? “In the mid-90’s a friend and I became fascinated by the “Christian adventure game” (similar to a roleplaying game) called DragonRaid, published by Adventures in Christ. (Details can be found at the DragonRaid website.) We never managed to actually play it, largely because we were living in… Continue reading Links for 2011-07-07
This Is All For Science
Today’s Links Dump came late because I was at the meeting of the APS’s Committee on Informing the Public. We apologize for the inconvenience, but I was too busy acquiring this critically important scientific data: What is that, you ask? It’s this:
Links for 2011-07-06
As Shuttle Program Ends, Dreams of Space Linger – NYTimes.com Most of the scientists I know would be thrilled to see humans exploring space, landing on Mars, for example — they just don’t think that science should pick up the check. Many of them were suspicious of the shuttle, both because of the cost drain… Continue reading Links for 2011-07-06
Links for 2011-07-05
Performance and Recording: “Everyone sing the chorus–including intellectuals!” — Crooked Timber “I just read two books back to back to good effect: Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy and Elijah Wald’s How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music […] Ong’s book is a classic. Out of date in some… Continue reading Links for 2011-07-05
What’s So Interesting About “Traditional” AMO Physics?
The fourth content area from my whirlwind overview of DAMOP is “traditional” AMO physics. This was the hardest to talk about in my talk, because I know it the least well, but ironically, that makes it really easy to write up here, because I don’t have much to say about it. Where the other areas… Continue reading What’s So Interesting About “Traditional” AMO Physics?