Steinn Sigurðsson
Professor of Astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University. Science Editor at Astrophysical Journal. Icelandic. Herder of Cats.
catdynamics
Posts by this author
September 13, 2010
Later this month, the National Research Council will, finally, release the much awaited and much anticipated Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs.
Every 10 years, roughly, the NRC publishes graduate program rankings, the last having been come out in 1995...
The rankings will be…
August 30, 2010
Virginia County Circuit Judge Peatross set aside a subpoena by Cuccinelli, Virginia's Attorney General, seeking the record of Prof. Michael Mann while he worked at the University of Virginia.
The ruling said the AG had failed state what was suspected to be false or fraudulent, but leaves the…
August 27, 2010
Extraordinarily good video visualizing the last three decades of asteroid discovery
It is a bit slow to start with, but really picks up in the last minute.
Worth the wait.
Nice one.
And not done yet.
About time to do a similar visualization of the Kuiper belt objects and outer asteroids.
h/t…
August 26, 2010
Kepler has a new discovery, coming out in Science tomorrow.
Press conference is currently underway.
Discovery is 2 Saturn size planets in 2:1 resonance in 19 and 38 day orbits.
In addition there is a third signal suggesting 1.5 Earth radii planet in 1.6 day orbital period.
Star is "sun like" [sic…
August 24, 2010
so, er, anyone hear of any new exciting results?
y'know: loads o'planets, measurements of dark energy EOS, burpy black holes?
and wtf will Kepler announce on thursday, eh?
- or, y'know, be considerate and stop publishing exciting new stuff when the rest of us are trying to get term started!
oh…
August 13, 2010
"The priority science objectives chosen by the survey committee for the decade 2012-2021 are searching for the first stars, galaxies, and black holes; seeking nearby habitable planets; and advancing understanding of the fundamental physics of the universe."
Ok, but the recommended priority…
August 13, 2010
Decadal eTownhall meeting is about to start, and apparently some astronomy departments "forgot" to sign up for a webcast slot, so, like modern finance, those of us with the millisecond time advantage will leverage the advantage.
For the rest, here is the liveblog of the webcast, or find a tweet…
August 10, 2010
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Friday, August 13th the Astronomy Decadal Survey Report is released...
Good thing we're not superstitious, eh?
The Decadal Survey is a clever thing, that Astronomy invented.
Every 10 years, natch, a panel of astronomers, and sub-panels, and sub-sub-panels, and ad-…
July 22, 2010
Where do you rank in the constellation of stellar astronomers?
The Astronomy Blog is inspired!
This is brilliant.
Brilliant, but a little bit scary.
The Astronomy Blogger ranked astronomers on a H-R diagram:
that is log(google Hits) vs log(refereed Research papers)
Below I shamelessly plagiarize…
July 22, 2010
but they don't know it yet
feeling a bit bolshie today:
freedom is just another word
for nothing left to sell!
how dare they buy our products
and still they don't respect us!
mood music for the afternoon
July 20, 2010
ok, hiatus over, while negotiations take place
I long for the morning,
when they realise...
like shortest walkout ever, brothers and sisters
bummernickels, that means I got to think of, like, content, and science, and shit
again
July 20, 2010
never cross a picket line
PZ on strike
see also Chad
1/4 of the blogs on Sb have shut down and several are on strike or hiatus waiting to see what happens.
July 19, 2010
More Sb departures...
Coturnix leaves, with a most elocutory epilogue
whose ball is it?
July 15, 2010
Apparently I write like David Foster Wallace...
Say what?
Oh, that David Foster Wallace.
Er.
Cool.
Now you go play with "I write like"
h/t Chad - who apparently has dissociative writing disorder or something...
July 15, 2010
quick: how do you pronounce "unionized"?
well?
is it: Uhn-Eye-On-EyeZed or You-Njuhn-Ized?
July 7, 2010
I just had an ice cold Pepsi this afternoon.
It was 35+C (ok, in the mid-nineties), I had just come back from a long hot walk through the kidfest day at the Artfest and I just had to have it.
It was so refreshing, and cool, and invigorating. Why it was exhilarating.
Don't know about the "Aids…
July 1, 2010
The office of the Vice President for Research at the Pennsylvania State University has released the conclusions of its inquiry into the "climategate" allegations against Prof. Michael Mann.
After a cracker broke into the e-mail archives at the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University, a…
June 28, 2010
This is what can be done when the political will to do so is there
Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope
100x110m fully steerable, off-axis, active surface radio telescope.
Very nice, very productive.
June 22, 2010
So, it appears that Le Bleus were ill-starred in the World Cup.
There may have been some lions in defence, but not enough water carriers and too many goats...
Yes, Domenech, the french coach, uses astrology to select the team...
"...few took Domenech seriously. It was discovered that he consulted…
June 19, 2010
Sean at CV is going on hiatus, pressure is on for the co-bloggers at CV.
In the meantime, here is an appropriate send off, hope the Caltech Glee Club used an appropriate arrangement...
it is not a hymn, dammit
June 16, 2010
there have been some speculative stories out there on catastrophic consequences of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, up to and including Florida being swallowed
can't happen
the ecological consequences are going to be bad enough, along with damage to economy and tourism
the leak has now been…
June 15, 2010
Kepler released most of the first little bit of data today.
306 new candidate exoplanets, with 5 multiple transiting systems - ie stars with more than one planet transiting them.
The really interesting systems though are the 400 objects that the Kepler team got permission to withhold, and the data…
June 8, 2010
Who is Responsible?
found on facebook
- I gather the fb site is either being pranked or couldn't handle the love
so link is to a blog that hijakced it first posted it - turns out it is from Rachel Maddow blog.
read it and weep
June 4, 2010
The Falcon 9 launch was successful!!!
Video below.
Damn cool stage separation!
The Falcon 9 - heavy expendable launch vehicle developed privately by SpaceX launched successfully from Cape Canaveral today!
This is BIG news.
June 3, 2010
A pair of papers just out show a mysterious absence of acetylene on Saturn's moon Titan.
Combined with a net flux of molecular hydrogen to the surface, this provides a tantalizing hint that there might be biochemistry taking place, with methane as the working fluid and hydrogen and acetylene as the…
June 3, 2010
Bad Astronomer reports another possible Jupiter impact
Get on it if you're on a mountain tonight.
Bad Astronomer reports another possible Jupiter impact
Phil has details and links.
Get on it if you're on a mountain tonight.
if confirmed, that is one heck of an impact rate.
YouTube video is up.
June 3, 2010
Inspired by Iceland wants you to know Iceland is bursting with energy!
Yes, it really is, and often in a good way.
Today is a social networking blitz to promote Iceland as a destination, since all ya scaredy cat potential tourists are suddenly deciding not to go there so much any more...
What, you…
June 2, 2010
Carleton College, MN is one of the very good Small Liberal Arts Colleges in the US.
It houses the Goodsell Observatory and has produced many excellent astronomers, some of whom retain the famous Carleton sense of humour, still.
Goodsell Observatory then
This week, the Observatory got dressed…