Via Arcane Gazebo (who adds a category), an entertainingly snarky taxonomy of lab scientists: Weird and Whacky Consider the “mad scientist” of popular fiction, someone so obsessed with their subject that they forget to dress and show up to the lab in their pyjamas. Without wishing to indulge in stereotypes there are scientists who are… Continue reading Taxonomy of Researchers
Category: Silliness
Media Demographics of the Construction Industry
The classroom across the hall from my office is currently being remodeled into interview rooms for the Psychology department (we traded it for some laboratory space in the basement). As a result, my usual office soundtrack of KEXP streaming over the web has been supplemented by, well, whatever the guys doing the remodeling happen to… Continue reading Media Demographics of the Construction Industry
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
Career Options for Theorists
As noted by several people, most recently JoAnne Hewett, one of the players at the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event is a Ph.D. physicist: Michael Binger, recently of SLAC. So, I guess we need to expand the list of non-academic physics careers to include “professional poker player.” I’m not sure… Continue reading Career Options for Theorists
Get Out of the Lab
If you’re in the habit of reading science blogs, you’ve probably already seen Mark Trodden’s article on the science of coffee, including a chemical analysis of the contents of espresso. You might be asking “Is there nothing these science types won’t analyze?” Apparently not, as Dylan Stiles demonstrates. Now there is somebody who needs to… Continue reading Get Out of the Lab
July Search Engine Keywords
I’m very pleased to report that in the month of July, no less than 35 people found this site by searching for some variant of the phrase “Queen of Niskayuna.” The dog’s going to be insufferable when she hears this. I’m also pleased to report that Aaron Bergman no longer shows up in the top… Continue reading July Search Engine Keywords
Total Eclipse of Futurism
Over at Making Light, the Nielsen Haydens stumbled upon a video of the Hurra Torpedo version of the Bonnie Tyler/ Jim Steinman kitsch masterpiece “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which absolutely boggles the mind. Of course, the weird thing is that their re-invention isn’t actually any weirder than the original video, which Teresa also attempts… Continue reading Total Eclipse of Futurism
Who Needs RateMyProfessors.com?
Written on the whiteboard in the student lounge (which has been serving as a convenient surface for student grafitti for the whole summer) last week: Little Known Fact: Prof. Orzel is actually an evil genius working on a gigantic laser which he plans to use to hold the world ransom for $1,000,000,000,000,000. Sadly, it was… Continue reading Who Needs RateMyProfessors.com?
Internet Comic Repair Services
This is a few days old, now, but Truth and Beauty Bombs has done something I would’ve thought impossible: They’ve suggested a way to make Garfield amusing. Who woulda thunk it? It’s not as deeply and gloriously wrong as yesterday’s Medium Large, but it’s weirdly compelling. (Via a mailing list.)
Less Dorky Poll: Karaoke Supernova
So, here’s a different sort of scenario for an audience-participation post: Imagine that you are in a weirdly well-stocked karaoke bar, and you have to sing a song. There’s no way out of it– if you don’t you’ll lose your job, rabid squid will eat your family, deranged America-hating terrorists will kill a puppy, whatever.… Continue reading Less Dorky Poll: Karaoke Supernova