Weight and weight loss has turned out to be more popular than I would’ve expected as a blog topic– I get a remarkable number of search engine hits looking for some sort of diet information. Given that, I would be remiss if I failed to note an ongoing series of posts on “fat acceptance” at… Continue reading I’m Not Fat, I’m Just Big-Boned
Category: Science
Stop Nodding!
Rob Knop talks about a great teaching moment: A student who refused to just smile and nod: I was very grateful for that student. You see, when professors ask, “do you understand that?”, it’s not a test. It’s not the professor trying to catch the students up in admitting to being confused, it’s not the… Continue reading Stop Nodding!
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Time and Money
Weirdly, this week’s Ask a ScienceBlogger question may be the hardest one to answer yet: Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why? Most of the responses have taken this as an “If you had it to do… Continue reading Ask a ScienceBlogger: Time and Money
Falling Rock Zone
Large meteorite hits northern Norway: A large meteorite struck in northern Norway this week, landing with an impact an astronomer compared to the atomic bomb used at Hiroshima. The meteorite appeared as a ball of fire just after 2 a.m. Wednesday, visible across several hundred miles in the sunlit summer sky above the Arctic Circle,… Continue reading Falling Rock Zone
True Lab Stories: Maybe You Should Ask a Rocket Scientist
It’s been a while since I did a True Lab Story, and it seems like an appropriate sort of topic for a rainy Friday when I have grades to finish. I’m running out of really good personal anecdotes, but there are still a few left before I have to move entirely to hearsay. And who… Continue reading True Lab Stories: Maybe You Should Ask a Rocket Scientist
Class Implications of the Brain Drain
Over at Gene Expression, Razib responds to my brain drain comments in a way that provokes some twinges of Liberal Guilt: Second, Chad like many others points to the issue of foreign scientists allowing us (Americans) to be complacent about nourishing home grown talent. I don’t totally dismiss this, there are probably many doctors and… Continue reading Class Implications of the Brain Drain
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Brain Drain
Another week, another “Ask a ScienceBlogger” question. This week, the topic is the putative “brain drain” caused by recent US policies: Do you think there is a brain drain going on (i.e. foreign scientists not coming to work and study in the U.S. like they used to, because of new immigration rules and the general… Continue reading Ask a ScienceBlogger: Brain Drain
Shameful History
We had an interesting colloquium yesterday from Mark Walker, a colleague in the History department, on the subject of Peter Debye, a Dutch chemist and Nobel laureate. It seems that a book published last year on Einstein in the Netherlands included some material accusing Debye of being a Nazi collaborator, which touched off a major… Continue reading Shameful History
Get Your Flamewar On
It’s not really all that flame-tastic, but Janet has a nice post on the women in science thing, taking off from yesterday’s post, and my comment that I don’t really have the energy to wage a “women in science” flamewar at the moment. If you do have the energy, head over to Janet’s blog. But… Continue reading Get Your Flamewar On
Nerdify the World
Scott Aaronson takes up the eternal question of why there are so few women in science. His contribution to the nature/ nurture side of the debate is particularly noteworthy: To put the point differently: suppose (hypothetically) that what repelled women from computer science were all the vending-machine-fueled all-nighters, empty pizza boxes stacked to the ceiling,… Continue reading Nerdify the World