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Category archives for random
β male
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on August 16, 2012 Bain Capital: “all β and no α”
linkedy links IV
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on August 16, 2012 Mining the Astronomical Literature – yes, just ADS not the Asteroids, yet. Shamelessly cribbed from a thread on the fb Astronomers group In defence of string theory – rather good post by Matt Strassler Claim that founding node of networks can be efficiently localized by sparse sampling Don’t Confuse Technology With College Teaching – from…
linkedy links III
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on August 14, 2012 Choose what the VLT observes – public vote on a science target one night this autumn Ralph Cicerone Public Lecture – Contemporary Climate Change as Seen through Data – video of Ralph Cicerone lecture on Climate Change at the Aspen Center for Physics this summer Cliff at Asymptotia summarises the “Future of Physics” public symposium…
linkedy links II
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on August 8, 2012 More random topics that crossed my path: bureaucratic entropy: “…In 1987, except at private research universities, where administrators outnumbered tenure-track faculty, colleges had approximately as many tenure-track faculty as full-time administrators. By 2008 there were more than twice as many administrators as tenure-track faculty at all types of institutions.” Cuts loom for US science. Wise…
look at the resolution of that thing
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on July 24, 2012 This week I was treated to an impressive illustration of the power of modern security technology. I was passing through Reagan National Airport, having been deflected from my previous schedule (which had originally included a stay at the hotel complex in Aurora, CO last thursday night – serendipitously I had cancelled the reservation and then…
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…
The Ten Commandments
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on July 8, 2012 In which we remind people of the Ten Commandments of the God Particle. Now with added footnotes. I I am the Higgs. Thou shalt have no other Higgs before me.1 II Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in…
iPod iChing: Wow
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on June 29, 2012 It is another hot and sultry friday, and that means it is time for the iPod iChing! Oh, Mighty iPod One, what may come in the near term of our endless quest to seek Extraterrestrial Intelligence? Woosh goes the randomizer. Woosh. The Covering: Peter and Wolf: The Story Begins – Prokoviev The Crossing: Take It…
Existence
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on June 24, 2012 David Brin has a new novel out, Existence Brin is on a book tour at independent book stores on the west coast and was in the Bay Area saturday, where he spoke at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, having stopped by at SETIcon II earlier. The book is nice and chunky, and is a medium…
Romulan Ale
Posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on June 23, 2012 Seen in the exihibition room at SETIcon Yes, that is what you think it is: Romulan Ale from Rocket Fizz From Real Art