This morning’s Times bring a story saying that astronomers are still dithering about Pluto. The latest plan would create a new category of “dwarf planets,” and presumably get the International Astronomical Union eaten by Cthullu. My immediate response is: “Jesus, people, make up your frickin’ minds!” Look, the joke is over, ok? The Pluto story… Continue reading Pick a Definition, Already!
Category: Science
What Do You Mean by Normal?
Over at Pure Pedantry, Jake has a nice post about a study showing that the ever-popular Body Mass Index measure is not a good predictor of the risk of heart disease. He’s got a lot of details about the study, including this graph of risk vs. BMI: Now, here’s the thing. This is the second… Continue reading What Do You Mean by Normal?
Relativity and Tiananmen Square
there’s a fascinating article in the TimeS this morning about Chinese physicist Xu Liangying, a man who has led an interesting life, to say the least: The first time he was purged, Xu Liangying was 27, an up-and-coming physicist, philosopher and historian and a veteran of the Communist underground. He had to divorce his wife,… Continue reading Relativity and Tiananmen Square
In the Dark No More
As hinted last week, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory has some new results conclusively showing that dark matter is a real, physical thing. This is big news, because the previous evidence for dark matter was all indirect, and based on inferring the mass distribution of galaxies and clusters of galaxies from looking at their motion. These… Continue reading In the Dark No More
Science Fantasy Camp
60 MinuteS last night had an interview/profile thing on Michael Jordan, shot mostly at his fantasy camp for rich middle-aged guys. For those who haven’t encountered the concept before, this is a pseudo-basketball-camp thing where investment bankers pay $15,000 apiece to spend a few days playing basketball with Michael Jordan. Or, based on the shots… Continue reading Science Fantasy Camp
Hair Gel and an iPod
As the “binary liquid explosive” plot sounds a little implausible, and the usual lack of, you know, hard evidence regarding the plot begins to become clear, the question has to be asked: what was really up with the terror plot that has banned an entire phase of matter? Wondermark has the answer. (Register link via… Continue reading Hair Gel and an iPod
Keeping Us In the Dark
You might think that, being a sciene blogger and all, I would have sources of science news that aren’t available to the average person on the street. You would be right, though they’re not as useful as you might think… The source for today’s news teaser is actually a thank-you email from a prospective student… Continue reading Keeping Us In the Dark
More Jobs in Science
The latest jobs in science post has prompted a lot of responses, several of them arguing that we need to expand the definition of acceptable careers for Ph.D. scientists. For example, there’s Nicholas Condon in comments: When I hear this incessant handwringing about jobs in “science,” it seems like it frequently comes from people with… Continue reading More Jobs in Science
Physics News
I had a bunch of students over for dinner last night, and while I was busy with that, stuff happened in the world. I hate that. Of course, there’s been a lot of energy expended on trivia like primary elections, but that’s not what I’m talking about. The important news all has to do with… Continue reading Physics News
Science Is A Scary Place to Work
Jonathan Katz’s “Don’t Become a Scientist” has bubbled to the surface again, turning up at P.P. Cook’s Tangent Space a few days ago. I can’t recall what, if anything, I said about this that last time it came around, but I’ll make a few comments here, in light of the recent discussions about jobs in… Continue reading Science Is A Scary Place to Work