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.
Working for an analytic exactapproximate solution to the herding problem
So you want to be an astrophysicist?
Random info.
The Old Dynamics of Cats blog
Old Favourites:
May 31, 2007
Category: random
Lubos makes a provocative comment to my contemplation of Griffin's comments on climate change I can't resist following it up, despite its inappropriateness....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:12 PM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
It may be arrogant to make climate choices, but to not choose is the most arrogant chocie of all.
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:20 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
It is a Blue Moon tonight at 9 pm Eastern. For some of us, but not everyone, strangely enough....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 7:10 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 30, 2007
Category: astro
Interesting short opinion article in Wired...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:05 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
Why do black holes stick around in galaxies despite their violent dynamical history? A brilliant young postdoc has an answer!...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 5:18 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
Click through for high-res version From Mathias Pedersen, with permission This is excellent, even got the planets accurate and as close to scale as one might manage. Good stuff....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 5:06 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
You have got to like a book which concludes with a tale from the Edda... "Traveling at the Speed of Thought" is a new book by Daniel Kennefick on the history of the search for gravitational radiation....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:44 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 29, 2007
Category: academia
The good thing about having semi-permanent outposts in alternative jurisdiction is you get so much more freedom in personnel matters...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:18 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:49 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
28 new planets announced at the AAS summer meeting...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:27 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
Not satisfied with having conquered the 17th century canon, the Astrophysical Data System has a new (to me) feature......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 7:49 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 28, 2007
Category: science
There were three profound topics that I recall debating in my first year as a graduate student. I mean real student debates over a heterogenous assortment of alcohol and gallons of bad coffee. One was whether the Clash were sell-outs...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:06 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
if you have a fine strong piece of metal, one you can barely bend, you can still break it with a bit of patient persistence...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:23 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
So the "possibly habitable planet" probably isn't, as a number of people pointed out, but the outer planet in the system may be, given some optimistic albedo and greenhouse assumptions...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:17 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
It is good to observe Shame NASA will be losing some of this capability over the next few years. Maybe no one will notice next time....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:47 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
PulsarAstronomy.net wiki based pulsar resource. Catalogs, preprints, links to the people and institutions. Go wild....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:26 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
Y Ranter looks at current disposition and predicates...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:20 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 25, 2007
Category: random
Steve was right......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:27 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: academia
Tenure doesn't help you if you are dead - not funny, actually. Advice for junior faculty at a research university Chad started it...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:22 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
Hot Friday, and I just deleted this post by accident... Oh, mighty iPod One, the committee has reached a conclusion and filed a report. What is in store for Beyond Einstein?...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:19 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: academia
PSU and xPSU folks: FYI - heard from Joe P. last night. He is ok, his platoon took some casualties though....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:42 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
Philosophia Naturalis #10 is up at Daily Irreverence...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:31 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 22, 2007
Category: astro
There is a most curious paper out on CU Virginis...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:55 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
if you wait long enough, gods, of sorts, will spontaneously appear the wait for such godot's is very long
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:09 AM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 21, 2007
Category: astro
Do not invite me to observatories - I have the Pauli effect...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:52 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 18, 2007
Category: random
Friday flies forth And we ask the Mighty iPod One: oh, mighty iPod One, can we really achieve extremely high contrast optical astronomical imaging through negative refraction index superlenses? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:01 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 17, 2007
Category: astro
Carnival of Space up on Universe Today...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:28 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
astronomy online archives now cover 500+ years
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 7:53 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 16, 2007
Category: random
score...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 9:56 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
some principles must hold for persistence of civic society and sometimes we link because it is important to do so...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:30 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
transiting hot Neptune is discovered radius is consistent with high volatile content
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:51 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
Ringlike dark matter paper is out. But Chad explains the essence of the issue much better...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 10:42 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
The Texas HET group has discovered a couple of very interesting new planets which have not received the attention they deserve, yet. HD155358 is a 0.9 solar mass G0 main sequence star, it is about 130 light years away, it...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 8:01 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: academia
A correspondent points me to an interesting point made on rateyourstudents.blogspot.com The issue is the "students as customers" but with some interesting points......
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:46 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
Virginia Trimble's legendary annual survey of hot research in astrophysics is out References are kinda annoying this year, first author only and no titles! Ah well, I see at least one of my papers in there... Always a fun...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:41 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 15, 2007
Category: random
Unconfirmed report on CommonDreams that the White House wanted to put three carriers in the Persian Gulf in early April by having the Nimitz get there early. Supposedly Admiral Fallon refused to do this, which is curious and problematic in...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 9:20 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
Sitting in a hotel room, reading Generation Rx by Greg Critser, it is very disconcerting to see out of the corner of your eye the topic of the book - the ad for the "purple pill", the generic pretty...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 9:35 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 14, 2007
Category: random
Fascinating post on Scott's shtetl-optimized on logical inference, religion and the parsimony of evolutionary optimised reasoning Read the whole thing. There is always a worry that scientific rationalism is a darwinian dead-end, in that it is suboptimal for reproductive fitness,...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:00 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 13, 2007
Category: random
head and deputy of census bureau resigned few months ago claim it was to expedite hiring of partisans for careers staff positions
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:52 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: academia
The debate over the tenure process that Rob kicked up at Galactic Interactions continues with Chad worrying about senior academic complacence and the Incoherent Ponderer pondering some more...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:30 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 12, 2007
Category: astro
experimental results show strong negative refraction in the optical this could be very useful for astronomical imaging...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 2:33 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
I hear second hand rumours about the Beyond Einstein NRC review committee status...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:03 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 11, 2007
Category: random
It is windy friday and we ask the Mighty iPod One, in the spirit of the soon to be news: a ring of dark matter? Really? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:28 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
For Mother's Day: "Betty Friedan Honored With Second-Class Postage Stamp"...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 3:57 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
The Angry Physicist makes a good spot...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:00 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 10, 2007
Category: random
25 years ago I flew to the UK, after having been completely out of touch with all media for a week, and found the country was at war....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:55 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
Brad deLong explains the issue with Wolfowitz and the World Bank, succinctly...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:52 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 9, 2007
Category: science
Four Dee Fourty Two. If you read any more I will sue....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 4:53 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
Rob at Galactic Interactions has existential issues...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:20 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
F keys make better beer bottle openers
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:47 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
new deal may allow US academics to get cheaper flights to Europe
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:35 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 4, 2007
Category: random
Sunny, sunny friday at home! So, we cheerfully skip to The Mighty iPod One and ask blithely: oh, Mighty iPod, will we be seeing some interestingly habitable planets in the zone soon? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:38 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 3, 2007
Category: astro
Corot has first discovery announcement...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:20 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 2, 2007
Category: random
Stop getting details wrong on national television!
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 7:35 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
The "pet food poison' has clearly entered the human food chain. Definitely through animal feed for chickens and pigs raised for human consumption, and quite likely through direct contamination of food additives - gluten and grain/vegetable protein additives...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 5:06 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
Corot claiming sensitivity to terrestrial planets
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:56 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
The question is: who gets to choose my null hypothesis?...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:19 PM • 28 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
Pay more to unknowingly feed congealed urine to your loved ones. So large corporations can make fractionally more money. It is one of these framing issues, see. More problems with pet food. Recall expanded and clear that contaminated "protein" made...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 12:21 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: random
One One Zero Two...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:59 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
There is a new head of Research and Analysis in NASA's science directorate...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:50 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
The Astrophysical Journal is on the move!...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:35 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
ACS or STIS asks the Astro Dyke You vote....
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:14 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
I see Mathematica has announced a new release...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 11:04 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: astro
Wired has a slightly breathless short about the Terrestrial Planet Finder... to be launched in 2016!...
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson at 1:30 AM &bul