FUV
Category: random
i humped your hummer - video blogs seen on Boing Boing strangely enough this offsets the incredibly obnoxious tofu hummer ad, almost...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:11 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Dynamics of Cats
Speculations on astronomy, astrophysics, news I find interesting, theoretical issues, science and science policy. I will digress into computational physics, science fiction and general issues and basically whatever I feel like whenever. And, of course, cats.
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Profile
Working for an analytic exactapproximate solution to the herding problem
Recent Posts
- the evolution of the To Do list
- details of a PBD
- are we kidding ourselves
- iPod iChing - oh canada
- flu like illness on Canadian train
- teh science frame
- cut off their goolies
- Wingardium Leviosa Aragog
- a grain of sand
- Chaiten Volcano Chile
Recent Comments
- Steinn Sigurdsson on flu like illness on Canadian train
- SASsy Little Thing on flu like illness on Canadian train
- Markk on flu like illness on Canadian train
- Steinn Sigurdsson on teh science frame
- Blake Stacey on teh science frame
- mihos on teh science frame
- TOMMY on Exotic Earths
- Sigmund on cut off their goolies
- Steinn Sigurdsson on a grain of sand
- Steinn Sigurdsson on whence nuclear Iran?
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Blogroll
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Scientists:
- Cosmic Variance
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- Real Climate
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- Information Processing
- Systemic
- Leaves on the Line
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- Angry Physics
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- nanoscale views
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- Only In It For The Gold
- The Astrobiology.Network
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- Random Thoughts of an Astro Major
- Science After Sunclipse
- The Stay at Home Scientist
- The Beagle Project
- Universe Today Academics:
- Crooked Timber
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- Conscience of a Liberal
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- The Angry Professor
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- Guardian NewsBlog Web: Links under construction...
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Other Information
So you want to be an astrophysicist?
Random info.
The Old Dynamics of Cats blog
Old Favourites:
- Global warming on Mars? (or here, here, or here)
- WMAP for Dummies
- Fractal Dust, LEDs and Cracks in the Cosmos
- On The Proper Subject Order in High School
- Iranian Nukes: Plain Language version
- Imminence of the Eschaton
- Chasing the wrong variable
- Triumph of Evil
- Getting cold gets you colds
- What to do...
- Hæstaréttarmálaflutningslögmannsvinnukonuútidyralyklakippuhringurinn
- Bird 'flu for theorists
- The More You Write, The More You Write...
- King of Tambora
- Goethe's Revenge
- Food for Fighting - in praise of Skyr
- Is this going to be on the test?
July 31, 2006
Silver lined snowflakes
Category: science
The issue of what to do with surplus frozen embryos has had high profile recently As has a recent french study on nature vs nurture in IQ development, in particular both the elasticity of IQ (is it sensitive to nurture...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:38 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
transcription error breakthrough
Category: science
Good catch by Cocktail Party Physics... Prof Blair Hedges applies genetic error clock techniques to date manuscripts and books!...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:44 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A DNA metacode?
Category: science
About ten years ago I heard Fred Hoyle give a talk where he argues that "junk" DNA segments in fact must code for something else - his particular conjecture was that they coded for structural instructions (the example he...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:12 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
in which I create alife...
Category: science
Avida is Caltech's Digital Life Laboratory "auto-adaptive genetic system". I first came across it when I heard one of the DLab researchers (Adami, I think) give talk at Astrobio'04. Thought it was neat. And filed under "check it out...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:42 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
alife attacks
Category: science
WaPo ponders the possibilities of synthetic virii and genetically modified bacteria Yawn. been there, done that. Ok, they go in depthish as benefits a proper newspaper. Only slightly hysterical. Or we could just read some Greg Egan, Charlie Stross...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:31 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 30, 2006
LAT reviews ID
Category: science
Hotz at the LA Times Sunday Book Review looks at three books on evolution and intelligent design.. The Reluctant Mr. Darwin An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution David Quammen Intelligent Thought...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:58 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 28, 2006
before I forget
Category: academia
So, I never answered the original question: Why do scientists work hard? Because we like it. Science is fun. You get caught up doing it, you can't help yourself. And there is so much to do....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 5:30 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Astronomy Really Rocks
Category: astro
Bora wants some scientist rock stars Astronomy obliges!...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:04 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
iPod iChing - Thar She Blows
Category: random
It is a sticky friday and news are mixed... So, we ask the Mighty iPod One: will RS Ophiuchi in fact become a type Ia supernova?...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:13 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 27, 2006
Science and hard work: II
Category: academia
A sergeant in the rangers, on patrol in Afghanistan works hard; so do nurses, deep sea fishermen, coal miners, sole proprietor restaurant startups. They guys who painted my house this summer worked outside, 10 hour days, physical labour at half...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:54 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Science is not hard enough, and that is why they leave
Category: science
Why do people leave science, and is it too hard? Because of perception of poor opportunities, it is not too hard.
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:20 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Gazumping: Casus Belli
Category: random
The Daily Show just drew my attention to the irreconcilable promises allegedly made by that G-d person to different tribal faction on different occasions Which leads us to the conclusion that War is an extension of Gazumping by other...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:06 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 26, 2006
New report boosts prospects for Washington Reds
Category: science
I heard that within 15 years, global warming will have made Napa County too hot to grow good wine grapes. Is that true? What other changes are we going to see during our lifetimes because of global warming?......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:51 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Experimental Astrophysics
Category: astro
Doug Hamilton has a nifty Astronomy Workshop web page, with lots of fun little tools....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:31 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 25, 2006
Deans are not so easy to impress...
Category: academia
How do blogs blend with academia, tenure and family life?
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:25 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Contrasting views
Category: random
Pat Lang looks at the situation in Lebanon Belmont Club games the IDF plan...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:35 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 24, 2006
torn apart
Category: random
JC sends a link to an excellent version of Love Will Tear Us Apart - mellow, by Susanna and the Magical Orchestra...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:48 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Stuff you should know
Category: random
One More Way in Which Global Warming Can Kill You - Iceland shows how Wolfgang of In Search of 42 has moved to the Daily Llama - did he find 42? Or 56 maybe? Astroprof talks about Pulsar Planets...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:11 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Evolution in Action: WaPo Looks at allele drift in humans
Category: science
A decent article on small scale evolutionary changes in human populations in the Washington Post. More detail and an actual Synopsis or pointer to the papers - PLoS Bio and here in Science (subscription) would have been nice. PS as...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:03 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Criss-Cross
Category: astro
From CosmicVariance and Baez Fun, high symmetry, exact solutions of the N-body Coulomb problem. From Cris Moore's web page at the Santa Fe Institute Pretty. Everybody is doing it, might as well Google it on....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:55 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Instances of Lamarckian Evolution
Category: academia
That reminds me... The relationship between a thesis advisor and a PhD student is the best example of Lamarckian Evolution: Discuss...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:56 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Evolution in Action: Lebanon and Pakistan
Category: random
Sometimes Lamarckian evolution does operate... - click through to read Ralph Peter's article also....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:22 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 21, 2006
What if Cows Don't Fart in Space?
Category: astro
A lot of brain power has been devoted to establishing Biosignatures, as a means for remotely detecting alien life. But, what if alien cows don't fart? Can we still conceive of robust generic biosignatures that are not just slavish...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:40 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Nature Open Peer Review - Astro paper up for critique
Category: astro
Two astronomy papers are up on the Nature website for open critique, the new experiment with open peer review that Nature is conducting....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:26 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Billy Bragg podcast #3 is up
Category: random
Yay! Fabulous Friday. The third Billy Bragg podcast is online now Includes the tale of the Famous Curry Incident. Hm... I wonder if that'd work on Nature Editors?...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:21 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
astrobiology.net
Category: astro
Keith Cowing ofNASAwatch now has a potentially interesting and useful Astrobiology.net site....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:14 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
iPod iChing - Life, Jim
Category: random
It is friday, and we will be topical today. So, Oh Mighty iPod, Oh Omniescent One... Are there planets orbiting main sequence stars, within 100 parsecs of the Sun, which have abundant carbon based life producing biosignatures we can...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:53 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 20, 2006
Stephen Who?
Category: random
Spotted on Pharyngula, forwarded in case any astro/physics types are out there who don't scan PZ What to say while having sex with atheists...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:31 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Heat is On
Category: random
As the sun blazes in the sky, and the heat climbs, people strip to the bare minimum and head for the pools and beaches. This morning a number of companies announced they would close for part of the afternoon...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:45 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 19, 2006
The Golden Age of Science
Category: science
Our Master's Voice Speaks: If you could have practiced science in any time and any place throughout history, which would it be, and why?......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:22 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Angry Bloggers
Category: random
There sure are a lot of angry bloggers out there......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:12 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 18, 2006
Best PhD thesis title ever?
Category: science
The title of my Phd Thesis was: Dynamics of Neutron Stars and Binaries in Globular Clusters or, Ménages à trois: revitalizing burnt out degenerates through partner swapping...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:27 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
things you never knew, but should
Category: random
I have learned many useful things recently:...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:15 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
What music do I need?
Category: random
I am going to go on a minor iTunes spending spree. What music should I get?...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:59 AM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
First just sign here, here and here.
Category: random
Revere on Effect Measure points us to an interesting fact I did not know.... The US charges its own citizens for evacuations from war zones....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:16 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 17, 2006
Fajr's Red Glare
Category: random
astroprof has a succinct semi-technical summary on the hardware raining down on north Israel my 2c worth......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:27 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Data Mining in the Blogosphere
Category: science
Shamelessly cribbing from the CosmicVariance gang, DataMining has a fascinating blogosphere connectivity web image...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:27 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
ACS second first light
Category: astro
ACS first light images after the switch to the spare (side 2) electronics, after the failure of the side 1 power controller. Found a redshift =1.4 supernova (~ 9 billion light years away), as part of Perlmutter's (LBL) high...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:39 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Avian Flu: scaryish growth
Category: science
Just for yonks, I grabbed the WHO confirmed Avian Flu cases list and did a little plot of cumulative cases vs time......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:20 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Rumour is that...
Category: astro
Mark at CosmiVariance passes on a rumour that there is a new Astro Job Rumour Wiki...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:53 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 14, 2006
How many cubits again?
Is every species of living thing on the planet equally deserving of protection?......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:49 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
iPod iChing - CnH2n+2
Category: random
Hot friday, and I am out of touch. So we ask the Mighty iPod......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:28 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Heard it from a man who...
Category: random
That most reliable of sources, the friend of a friend of a friend, told us they know someone who works at the corporate HQ of a major petroleum retailer in the US. In short: expect ~ 20% rise in retail...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:05 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 13, 2006
NASAwatch has news
Category: astro
Couple of interesting snippets on NASAwatch SOFIA is back. SIM is slipped, which apparently saves everything. WISE, GLAST, JWST, even HST. Who knew you could do so much by slipping a $100 million item... Uh, oh, if you click...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:26 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 10, 2006
Tesla Sesquicentennial
Category: science
It is the Tesla Sesquicentennial! Happy Birthday! No, not this Tesla, that Tesla...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:32 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 9, 2006
Gravity Waves Observed by NASA
Category: astro
GSFC's Terra mission detects indisputable evdence for gravity waves....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:16 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 8, 2006
Hawking - wot a Yahoo
Category: random
Prof Hawking is stirring things up again......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:29 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Hubble: ACS up
Category: astro
Advanced Camera for Surveys has resumed science operations...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:25 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 7, 2006
iPod iChing - more of the same?
Category: random
Friday, and I went blueberry picking. So, we ask the mighty iPod......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:58 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A Convenient Lie
Category: science
I don't want to see anyone picking on Al Gore again. Apparently, Bush is "in the process of solving" the debate over whether global warming is caused by human activity...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:13 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 6, 2006
Move yer pointers!
Category: random
Yikes, Dynamics of Cats is nowhere on the Nature science blog rankings. That, dear folks, is because most of you are still pointing at ye olde catdynamics.blogspot.com, or at least I like to think so... Move those blogrolls and web...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:35 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I expect a lot of identical answers to this question!
Category: science
Ask a Science Blogger: On July 5, 1996, Dolly the sheep became the first successfully cloned mammal. Ten years on, has cloning developed the way you expected it to?......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:20 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
World Cup: Final
Category: random
France vs Italy eh, could be good, could be not good......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:31 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 5, 2006
NASA: ups and downs
Category: astro
It was NASA proposal season last month, meant to comment on it, but was so exhausted and pissed off about the whole thing that I needed some space. A typical proposals is 15 pages of main text; including biblio, bios,...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:13 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Hubble: Advanced Camera update
Category: astro
Word out of Space Telescope Institute is that the Advanced Camera has taken blanks and the spare electronics are good. Low read noise and bias, and system is stablising at operational temperature. Both cameras working. Should have first calibration...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:19 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 3, 2006
Rainer skyr randomness
Category: random
Mm, fresh Rainer cherries go very well with vanilla skyr...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:14 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks