Politics
Category archives for Politics
Siding Spring Observatory Fire
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on January 13, 2013 astropixie has running update on the Siding Spring Observatory Fire in Warrumbungle National Park in Australia. PS: Day After the Fire update from astropixie – telescopes mostly ok, astronomy facilities not so much #ClimateChange
JW$T – tensions bubble up at #AAS221
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on January 10, 2013 The James Webb Space Telescope is large, overbudget and in a category of its own. Literally. And now stirring over some controversy as the reality of science funding starts smacking scientists in the face. Last year, as I’m, sure you remember, the JWST funding line was take out of the Astrophysics Division and segregated in…
Holy Schrödinger’s Cat!
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on October 31, 2012 Schrödinger’s Qu’ran – a 2012 thought experiment – in The Conversation, Matthew Bailes updates a classic paradox… “…a physicist could extend this thought experiment to write a php script that would randomly download one of the Bible, Qur’an or even a classical quantum mechanics textbook to the iPad…” On the Dispositive Null in the Literature…
NSF AST: we hear ya, bro
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on September 1, 2012 Anyone want to buy some telescopes? Heavily used. Free to a good home. The NSF has issued a preliminary response to the NSF Astronomy Portfolio Review. Game on. NSF MPS/AST Response to Portfolio Review Report (pdf) This is a 4 page response from NSF Astronomy Division Director Ulvestad to the Portfolio Review, from August 31st…
β male
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on August 16, 2012 Bain Capital: “all β and no α”
linkedy links I
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on July 9, 2012 time for all new linkedy links here at the new digs Quantum Frontiers – a new blog from the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, with kickoff by John Preskill hisself. Question of the day: explain quantum mechanics in five words My attempt: Probability Amplitudes, Observables don’t Commute Good to know John still does khakis…
NASA: the penny drops
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on May 24, 2012 The word came out last night that the GEMS Small Explorer Class Mission has been cancelled. GEMS is an x-ray polarimetry mission, using new detector technology, and the rumours (from the “Astronomers” group on fb) are that an Independent Cost Estimate showed the mission blowing its budget. The mission passed a design review earlier this…
ESA makes a big choice
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on April 18, 2012 The European Space Agency has made its selection for the next Large Mission to be flown by ESA, with a launch window in about 2022
Must Read
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on February 14, 2012 for astronomers: Discovery and Depth “…the current situation calls for bold leadership and tough decisions and not merely the proverbial rearrangement of the chairs in the dining hall of the Costa Concordia as it approached the Isola del Giglio.”14 Kulkarni (2011)
UDI?
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on February 11, 2012 Something missing…