Thinking from Kansas, Josh Rosenau notices a correlation in data from a Daily Kos poll question on the origin of the universe: Saints be praised, 62% of the public accepts the Big Bang and a 13.7 billion year old universe. Democrats are the most positive, with 71% accepting that, while only 44% of Republicans agree… Continue reading Correlation, Causation, and Belief in Creation
Category: Education
Links for 2010-05-27
Confessions of a Community College Dean: Thoughts on DIY U “Eleemosynary institutions have real and serious flaws, but they exist to empower the weak. They are necessary to empower the weak. If you rend them asunder, you will expose the weak to the predations of the strong. This is so fundamental that I’m surprised it… Continue reading Links for 2010-05-27
Bath-Time Fluid Dynamics
SteelyKid’s every-so-often bath was last night, and as always, she was fascinated by scooping up water in a hexagonal cup thing that’s part of one of her bath toys, and watching it drain out. Which is completely understandable– not just because she’s a baby, but because there’s a bunch of physics at work, here. I… Continue reading Bath-Time Fluid Dynamics
Knowing What’s Essential Is Essential
Spinning off a blog at Inside Higher Ed, the Dean Dad has a post on deciding what classes are essential: My personal sense of it is that the distinction between core and periphery is largely a function of purpose. If your goal in life is to be an exhibited artist, then you might well decide… Continue reading Knowing What’s Essential Is Essential
Help Me Guide Teachers
My publisher would like to include a Teacher’s Guide with the paperback edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. which means that, well, I need to put together a Teacher’s Guide for How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. The problem is, I’m not exactly sure what should go in that sort of… Continue reading Help Me Guide Teachers
I Do Not Think “Adiabatic” Means What You Think It Means
Over at the Virtuosi, there’s a nice discussion of the physics of letting air out of tires. Jesse opens the explanation with: Have you ever noticed how when you let air out of a bike tire (or, I suppose, a car tire) it feels rather cold? Today we’re going to explore why that is, and… Continue reading I Do Not Think “Adiabatic” Means What You Think It Means
Into the Universe With Portentous Music (and Stephen Hawking)
While I missed the controversial episode with comments about aliens, I figured I should at least take a look at the Discovery Channel’s Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking, so I put it on last night after putting SteelyKid to bed. This was the big two-hour “Story of Everything” episode, starting with the Big Bang… Continue reading Into the Universe With Portentous Music (and Stephen Hawking)
Laser Smackdown: Final Days of Voting for the Most Amazing Laser Application
We’re just over 600 votes in the Laser Smackdown poll in honor of the 50th anniversary of the laser, as of early Friday morning. I notice that it has moved off the front page of the blog, though, so here’s another signal-boosting repost, just so we have as many votes as possible, to establish maximum… Continue reading Laser Smackdown: Final Days of Voting for the Most Amazing Laser Application
Reminder: Vote for the Most Amazing Laser Application of All Time
As of 1:45 Monday, 217 people have cast votes in the Laser Smackdown poll. That’s not bad, but it’s currently being handily beaten by the 271 people who have voted for a favorite system of units. The nice thing about using actual poll services for this sort of thing, though, is that I can re-post… Continue reading Reminder: Vote for the Most Amazing Laser Application of All Time
Amazing Laser Application 12: Laser Guide Stars!
What’s the application? Producing artificial “stars” to serve as a reference for telescopes using adaptive optics to correct for atmospheric turbulence. This allows ground-based telescopes to produce images that are as good as those from the Hubble Space Telescope. What problem(s) is it the solution to? “How can I make this giant telescope produce even… Continue reading Amazing Laser Application 12: Laser Guide Stars!