Steinn Sigurðsson
Professor of Astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University. Science Editor at Astrophysical Journal. Icelandic. Herder of Cats.
catdynamics
Posts by this author
August 27, 2008
the NAI CAN-5 selections were supposed to be announced last week, at the latest
I am out of sources - what is the word on selections, time of announcement or reasons for delay?
I gots to know
August 27, 2008
Two new physics blogs have been assimilated by the ScienceBlog conglomerate...
Blake at Science after Sunclipse
and Matt at Built on Facts
Matt is currently contemplating the classic paradox of the free-falling electron...
Anyone care to wander over and explain Rindler Acceleration and the Unruh…
August 27, 2008
In case you missed the announcement: NASA is contemplating concepts for the next generation optical/ultra-violet space telescope
At Last - ATLAS
Marc Postman and Ken Sembach are leading the concept study teams, looking at 16m telescope, for launch on the Ares heavy to L2.
Optimised for blue…
August 27, 2008
GLAST has a sky map, first results, pretty pictures and movies, and a new name.
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Gamma-ray sky (click for annotated hi-res version).
Lots of fun stuff at the NASA press release site, go browse.
h/t GLAST blog
August 26, 2008
I don't know which is more impressive, that it scans, or that it is still substantially correct.
Anyway, welcome freshers.
August 26, 2008
It is the season, and there is a hurricane heading for the gulf with another 1-3 in the pipeline from Africa
Master's Wunderblog is the place for news
but the models used for forecasting are on the web.
Here is the GFDL current 5 day forecast, showing Hurricane Gustav hitting Lousisiana as category…
August 26, 2008
Hindustan Times is reporting a mystery epidemic in Kanpur, India.
160 dead in two weeks, "thousands sick" in 350 villages.
Times reports it was initially diagnosed as "viral fever" (duh), then malarial.
Now apparently malaria is ruled out but 'cause is not known. Waiting for blood tests from New…
August 26, 2008
You are at university.
Do you like stars, and stuff?
Another rehashed blast from the past
Should you do astronomy as an undergrad? (the following is in part shamelessly cribbed from a colleague's previous freshman seminar for our majors):
Do you like stars and stuff?
If not, you probably should…
August 25, 2008
in which I roar, and pounce... and float away.
The American Physical Society News Zero Gravity column is particularly good this month (member login maybe required), he says modestly.
I must be grateful though, at least they didn't cast me as Lockhart or Slughorn... Mad-Eye Moody'd have been kinda…
August 24, 2008
Or so says Steen Landsy, director of the Kosmos Center.
You see, the Kosmos Center, which in the last 30 years has educated over 6,000 psychics is upset at the proliferation of "psychic educational institutions" in Denmark. There are now 25 such, up from just one a decade ago.
The problem, you see…
August 23, 2008
California about to lose its AmEx card...
California currently is not refunding its workers for any travel expenses they incur using their state credit cards (SacBee story)
"...AmEx is carrying $10.4 million in unpaid charges on its books that were incurred by state workers and agencies since the…
August 22, 2008
Still friday? It is in some timezone.
Playing with our reduced travel set iPod, we ask the Mighty iPod one: how, oh how will the lads do sunday morning?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: In Love - The Datsuns
The Crossing: I had a little nut-tree
The Crown: The Army Goes Rolling…
August 22, 2008
Iceland's handball team beats Spain 36-30 and makes the Olympic final.
More astonishingly, team handball makes it into US media!
Clearly, this is because of the elves, because they are magic, you know.
And the team captain is an existentialist. I think this is to be recommended for team sports in…
August 21, 2008
What do you think of when I say:
"Hey, we just found a Super-Earth"!
Seriously.
We gotsta know.
I am back in Colorado, I am happy to say, at the "Super-Earth workshop", which is jolly good fun, but we did spend an inordinate amount of time at one point pondering whether "Super-Earth" is in fact…
August 21, 2008
Andy Lawrence is blogging?
Andy Lawrence is blogging!
From California.
And his peeps are commenting.
August 20, 2008
The prevalent US system of offering a year of high school physics, late in high school, with some schools offering a second year of "advanced" physics, is disastrous.
Some commenters in the "So, you want to be an astrophysicist? Part 0" thread felt I was too harsh in saying a year of High School…
August 20, 2008
What should a high school student do to get on a track to become an astrophysicist?
Reworked from an oldie.
So, you're in high school wondering what to do with yourself, and you think: "hey, I could be an astrophysicist!"
So, what should YOU do, wanting to get into a good university and an astro/…
August 19, 2008
Why do people worry about being scooped, how do scoops happen, how can there be rumours of discoveries and why isn't the whole process made transparent?
Asked a commenter a few weeks ago during the speculation about Greg Laughlin's teasing anagram hint about a pending discovery or new result.
Why…
August 18, 2008
there we were, at breakfast, when the Littler Munchkin found it.
A rice krispie of an astounding configuration
It was shaped, just exactly, like a Thor's Hammer.
I kid you not. It was uncanny.
(No, silly, not the USS Thor's Hammer, rice krispies can't do that).
We deliberated for a while, and…
August 18, 2008
There are all too few roman a clefs for life in modern academia
Changing Places, of course, and its sequels by Lodge; Smiley's Moo; and the classic, if dated, History Man by Bradbury.
(I'm tempted to add in the Rachel Papers by Amis but I won't.)
Now the legendary pseudonymous Female Science…
August 15, 2008
Mars haz dust.
Phoenix get atom force microscopy images of individual dust grains
I'm happy.
Hope you're happy too.
more cat pictures
August 15, 2008
Frantic friday as summer fares further.
We skip to the Mighty iPod, and curiously query: how will IXO, the surprise hybrid of Con-X and XEUS fare?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
iPod divination for newbies - believe it!
The Covering: The Flight of the Bumble-bee
The Crossing: Young Person's…
August 14, 2008
Krugman notes headline price inflation, 5.6% for the year, with an instantaneous rate of over 10%.
But, we are not to panic.
Because wages are declining, and the inflation is only commodity driven price inflation, not a wage inflation spiral.
Yeah, that will work.
So, anyone care to bet whether…
August 13, 2008
Cassini did a flyby, piccies are here
Cassini main page
Raw images are online - all 500 or so
August 13, 2008
This has been pointed to by many blogs, but just in case you didn't see it...
The ever popular Large Hadron Rap.
It is actually quite good.
Take a peek if you haven't come across it before.
August 13, 2008
"...and the guiding is easy"
Yes, the Photomixers have a new video out!
Not as funny as Hotel Mauna Kea, but perfect for a moments distraction late at night at the computertelescope while waiting those five minutes for some autmagic task to complete.
Nice visuals.
August 13, 2008
Ever? or Lately?
Julianne over at Cosmic Variance is doing a review of scientific impact of Hubble.
Julianne knows galaxies and stuff.
She wants input on what you feel Hubble has done, big time.
Especially if it involves actual stars and other bits found in galaxies, that make up galaxies or…
August 12, 2008
The astrodyke found some neat astro stuff
Movie of the variability of the x-ray sky from RXTE
and
Hubble Kaleidoscope from the Onion
August 12, 2008
I am really bad about participating in the ScienceBlog collective initiatives, backchatter and other social initiatives
mostly this is because I am too busy or have an overinflated sense of selfimportance, I guess
so, this is a feeble attempt at a remedy:
1) Big Think is doing a Donor Choose…