Today’s New York Times has an article on the loss of the middle class in major cities: The Brookings study, which defined moderate-income families as those with incomes between 80 and 120 percent of the median for each area, found that the percentage of middle-income neighborhoods in the 100 largest metropolitan areas had dropped to… Continue reading Advantage: Blogosphere!
Author: Chad Orzel
Ask a ScienceBlogger: No Time Like…
This week’s Ask a ScienceBlogger question breaks a three-week string of topics I have no real opinion on: If you could have practiced science in any time and any place throughout history, which would it be, and why? I have two answers to this question: the true answer, and the answer they’re looking for (below… Continue reading Ask a ScienceBlogger: No Time Like…
Hybrids vs. Hummers
Via a mailing list, Reason magazine has an article claiming that SUV’s are better for the environment than hybrid cars: Spinella spent two years on the most comprehensive study to date – dubbed “Dust to Dust” — collecting data on the energy necessary to plan, build, sell, drive and dispose of a car from the… Continue reading Hybrids vs. Hummers
Top 25 Lyrics
We haven’t done the guess-the-lyrics thing since I moved over to ScienceBlogs, and that seems like a good thing for a lazy Friday (I played soccer after work on Tuesday and Thursday, and basketball at lunch on Wednesday, so I’m pretty wiped. What a drag it is getting old.). A little variant on the “Random… Continue reading Top 25 Lyrics
Diversity in Academia
I’m pretty sure the folks at Inside Higher Ed don’t know that it’s International Blog Against Racism Week, but they’ve provided some good material all the same. Today, Alan Contreras offers some provocative thoughts on diversity in academic hiring: Anyone interested in actual improvement of the presence of good nonwhite faculty in our universities needs… Continue reading Diversity in Academia
New Vacation Destination
So, you’ve finally achieved (through a combination of hard work and inheritance) a livable monthly income, and are looking for a way to cut loose and splurge a little? Well, for just $35 million, you can both visit the Space Station and walk in space ($20 million to get there, $15 million for the spacewalk).… Continue reading New Vacation Destination
Are the (Dimensionless) Constants Constant?
In the previous post, I said that the fine structure constant alpha provides us with a way to measure whether the fundamental constants making it up (the electron charge, Planck’s constant, and the speed of light) have changed in the last few billion years. How, exactly, does that work? The easiest way to see how… Continue reading Are the (Dimensionless) Constants Constant?
The (Dimensionless) Constants of Nature
As noted yesterday, someone going by “who” (who may or may not be a doctor) took me to task in the comments to the dorky poll for talking about fundamental constants that have units, preferring dimensionless ratios instead: I would be really interested to hear what your readers come up with if the popularity constest… Continue reading The (Dimensionless) Constants of Nature
Clustering of Athletes
In the wake of academic scandals involving the Auburn football program, Inside Higher Ed reports on a study looking at the majors of athletes. The results will be shocking to, well basically no-one who has ever set foot on a college campus: While accusations of widespread abuse like that alleged at Auburn are unusual, “clustering”… Continue reading Clustering of Athletes
Race and Cleaning
Kate and I both hate doing housework, so a year or so ago, we broke down and hired a cleaning service. Every other week, they send a crew in to vacuum and dust and clean the bathroom and kitchen, so we don’t have to. IT’s not a terribly expensive service, and we’re happier as a… Continue reading Race and Cleaning