Dynamics of Cats

Joy of Science

Category: astro

Sometimes one is reminded of why doing science is really rather enjoyable......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 7:56 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Idle morning thoughts...

Category: random

Just caught Bush's American Legion speech on CNN. He just gave Iran an ultimatum. His Sept 19th speech to the UN will be interesting. I am seriously concerned that the US is likely to make a unilateral pre-emptive strike on...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:35 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

New Rules

Category: astro

Bill Maher - new rules: min 2:51 on "It is time for the United States to severe its ties with science..." Defence of Planet Act! Now! Call your congresscritters. You are either with us, or you are with the...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:58 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Wake Island Wipeout

Category: science

Looks like Ioke is going to do bad things to poor little Wake Island. That island has had a hard history, it may end tonight. Bad Ioke on Wake....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:19 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Hooray for Avian 'Flu

Category: random

"I read this article in the NRO, and the author actually made some interesting arguments. 'Basically,' he said, 'I am questioning the premise that [you know what] is a problem rather than an opportunity.' Does he have a point?..." Absolutely....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 5:27 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Slouch

Category: random

another Katrina revisit - this from six months ago...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:23 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Is your toothbrush loaded?

Category: random

So, Santa Cruz is as lovely as ever. Damn. I'll have to browse a real estate brochure to get a sense of perspective back. Interesting thing on the plane out of DC......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:12 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

there ain't no such thing as a free lunch

Category: science

So, somnilista asked I comment on the Steorn claimed over-unity device....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:23 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

one year ago today...

Category: science

August 29th 2005 I was at a meeting in Chicago, I was up late flicking between the Weather Channel and CNN while catching up on some work and preparing to chair a session......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:27 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Pope to embrace intelligent design?

Category: science

Grauniad article reports... Unfortunate Dr Coyne will not be available to lend his perspective on the meeting of the scholar's circle....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:19 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Welcome Frosh

Category: academia

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 6:02 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

They Demoted Pluto

Category: astro

Jimmy and the Keyz sing out now they've done it, the folk singers have risen... seen on livescienceblogs...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:51 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Herr, Doktor, Professor, Sir

Category: academia

Janet asks... Or, was it Sir, Professor, Doktor, Herr... I forget. No I don't. This was a real question for a friend of mine visiting Germany a few years ago......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:27 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Two interesting NASA items

Category: astro

From NASAwatch: SOFIA taken from Ames and moved to Dryden Research Facility at Edwards Science Mission Directorate turmoil - who is leaving next? These are not unrelated. I do wish certain people in Very Senior Positions would do their job...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:48 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

iPod iChing - in the dark

Category: random

Friday, and I need to pack up this computer and move in the next 4 hours. So, oh mighty iPod one, we ask the The Serious Astronomy Question of the Week, having presciently disposed of Pluto last week... So, iPod,...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:21 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

and if one little planet should accidentally fall

Category: astro

there'd be eight little planets sitting on the wall I am so very sorry; despite being a dynamicist with a natural affinity for Resolutions 5A and 6A, demoting Pluto was still bloody foolish....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:14 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

George Coyne firedreplaced as Vatican Observatory Director

Category: astro

The Pope has fired the Vatican Observatory director, the highly respected Dr George Coyne , and replaced him with Dr Jose Gabriel Funes. Well, now we know. Seen on Pharyngula...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:14 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

NASA Advisory Committee

Category: astro

ScienceNow has more on the NAC firings: NASA Chief Blasts Advisors Now, you can read this two ways: on the one hand the NAC has a purpose, set by NASA, and its members should stick to their function; on...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:09 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Pluto: A Modest Proposal

Category: astro

Ok, time to stop the madness. I propose consistent, competing definitons of planets; one leave Pluto in, the other not. Up or down vote. The IAU now has a competing resolution that looks likely to delete Pluto as a planet,...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:42 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Must Read SF

Category: random

Bora passes on (and supplements) a request for must read SF here are some they missed...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:10 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

curious

Category:

lot of blog buzz about Iran, its rejection of the UN nuclear enrichment curtailment, attack on Romanian oil platform (?) and arabist doom'n'gloom about August 22nd being some symbolic date......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:43 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Psychic Parasite

Category: science

I hate scum sucking psychics - Angry Professor is really angry. With good cause. Watch the Tube. Be ready to be angry. Bloody rip-off parasites praying on people who are at their most vulnerable....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:43 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

The Usual Suspects

Category: random

I travel a lot, mostly by air. More than I would like, actually. But less than I should....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:46 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Change is gonna come

Category: science

Remember in the early '90s, when people were all up at arms about the destruction of the rainforest? I haven't heard or read anything about it in the longest time. Are the rainforesets still being destroyed wholesale? Are they all...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:54 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Pay To Work Hard at Science Camp

Category: science

Chad asks if we could charge grown-ups for fantasy science camps... I suppose idle millionaire trips to the International Space Station don't count, because, er, they don't actually do any science up there... but, as always astronomy leads the way:...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:26 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

snake on a plane

Category: random

and so it begins... clearly this was a test run for the herpian fiends...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:23 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

1E 0657-56

Category: astro

As predicted, the NASA telecon on Chandra results was on followup studies of the "bullet cluster". Press release is here. Lots of pretty pictures....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:29 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Random Words Blog Tag

Category: random

Janes tags, I obey......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:23 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Told You So... Next They Ban Implants!

Category: random

The TSA is saying tonight if you wear a gel bar for prosthetic purposes they will be allowed through security and on planes, but if you were them for cosmetic reasons you'll have to pack them in a checked...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:03 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

iPod iChing - what is planet?

Category: random

Yikes, friday again and I am behind. So we go for the obvious: oh, mighty iPod, whose wisdom exceeds that of the most cleverly appointed ad hoc committee ever assembled, what is a good criterion for what is planet?...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:38 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

I demand a recount...

Category: astro

Just when you thought it was safe to come up with a new pneumonic for the new 812 planets, the Astronomers strike again......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:23 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

NASA: "we all resign..."

Category: astro

CNN story on NAC Wes Huntress, Charles Kennel and Eugene Levy are off the NASA Advisory Council science committee. Kennel resigned, Griffin fires Huntress and Levy. NASAwatch has little more....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:11 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Astronomy: What it is good for!

Category: astro

James asks: Astronomy: What is it good for?...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:41 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Colbert Report Planet Pluto Smackdown

Category: astro

Oo, yeah. Stephen Colbert brings back Neil deGrasse Tyson and does an IAU smackdown. Charon, Ceres and Xena get it. Wait for the YouTube, someone will have it for us by morning I'm sure. He was very good. Stephen was...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:42 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Pluto: round and round

Category: astro

So... the ad hoc sub-subcommittee of the standing subcommittee for the Naming of Names has reported out: the Federation of People Who Believe No Really Important Discoveries are Made West of the Mississippi are reeling in defeat, while the Alliance...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:04 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

The Grave of Hringur of Hringsdal?

Category: science

News from Bíldudalur that a pair of viking era graves have been found with well preserved weapons and other items. From local news in Bíldudal...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:50 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Is it Leia's fault?

Category: science

No_Nym, guestblogging on Bitch PhD suggests that Princess Leia is to blame for the dearth of women in science and engineering......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 4:32 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

It was 25 years ago today...

Category: science

To what extent do you worry about AIDS, either with respect to yourself, your children, or the world at large?... In this business, you tend to accumulate a lot of paper, and eventually you learn to cull it, ruthlessly-ish. But...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:31 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Pluto: STFU already!

Category: astro

So... is Pluto really a Planet? IAU Press Release 01/99 February 3, 1999 Recent news reports have given much attention to what was believed to be an initiative by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to change the status of...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:54 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Scientist Future Markets Spike on UK News

Category: science

Grauniad reports Britain is in danger of running out of scientists: commoditity markets in Europe spiked sharply on the news, with the ten year future contract on physicists rising 20% in early morning trading; spot markets also rose sharply,...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:25 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

meta-plagiarism

Category: academia

Penn State has a contract with an on-line plagiarism service - Turnitin.com - which allows faculty to check whether papers etc were plagiarised from other sources; it compares text with an impressive range of other sources....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:09 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Naked Travel is Not Enough

Category: random

Next step: we travel naked, and ban breast implants, they too can hide liquid explosives.

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 4:13 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

iPod iChing - I knew you were going to ask that now

Category: random

Hot frantic friday, and we ask the iPod. Oh, mighty one - are we classically deterministic automata, predictable by any Turing machine, or do we have that most insidious of concepts, a true Free Will? Whoosh goes the randomizer... Whoosh....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:19 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

terribly sensible folks we are...

Category: science

I wasn't going to mention it, but Tara made me......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 9:50 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

2006 Perseids - this weekend

Category: astro

The Perseid meteor shower in mid August is one of the more reliable and bright meteor showers seen in the northern hemisphere. This year they'll be back this weekend, viewing will be mediocre, especially from North America......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:34 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Abusive Astronomy: XKCD

Category: astro

Good thing I'm not doing Astro 1 this semester...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 4:37 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

van Allen RIP

Category: astro

James van Allen died, age 91...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:47 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

I Wish I Might

Category: science

Non Sequitur - Math...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:56 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

This is strangely familiar

Category: random

Bitch, PhD, is on form What is it with people who either shower with their swimsuit on, or worse still, don't shower at all before or after swimming... it can't because they're afraid of getting wet?...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:46 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Found: Top 10 iTunes in Connecticut

Category: random

The iTunes selection of two random strangers in Connecticut this morning......

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:12 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

an assortment

Category: science

Random interesting snippets... Grauniad has a sudden burst of interesting science articles and features! Blogger are busy as always....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 9:46 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

thoughts of war...

Category: random

Apparently the USAF 494th figher squadron, which is a "ready to deploy" F-15E "Strike Eagle" squadron currently based at RAF Lakenheath, is deploying soon to "southwest Asia"; but first they got the new improved GBU-39 bombs - smaller GPS...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:55 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Has anyone been updated recently?

Category: astro

So, for various obscure reasons I was browsing the NASA select schedule, and I noticed there are no scheduled SSUs - Space Science Updates from NASA HQ. Thinking about it, I didn't recall any recent SSUs on anything I had...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:06 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Do as he says, not as we do...

Category: science

PP brings up the infamous Katz letter, and Chad furthers the discussion. It is topical, although the source is quite dated. Check out the discussion at Chad's place, I am too jaded to pontificate right now. PS: Is anyone...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:56 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

dyslexic deism

Category: random

Dr Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, has a book out: "The Language of God". It is about his conversion to evangelical christianity and he tries to lay out a case for religion in no conflict with...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:05 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

XKCD

Category: science

XKCD - comics They're funny, they're science, and everyone is blogging them. For a good reason. Pile in, and link....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:10 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Does the government know what it wants?

Category: astro

From NASAwatch: "How do we motivate students to study astrobiology if this science is not favored in the budget?" asked a teacher. "If they want to work for government money, they must look at what the government wants -...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:41 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Apocalypse Now

Category: random

WaPo's Froomkin is scary today. Short version: White House aides have regular study groups, on Biblical Revelations, the Imminence of the Apocalypse, "Left Behind" trash literature, and Intelligent Design. Read it all the way through... I suppose this makes...

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 4:31 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

iPod iChing - bursting binary blackholes

Category: random

Friday, and I'm late. Oh mighty iPod, we gots to know, will OJ 287 go into outburst this autumn as predicted by one of the main binary black hole models? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh....

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Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:28 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks