Steinn Sigurðsson
Professor of Astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University. Science Editor at Astrophysical Journal. Icelandic. Herder of Cats.
catdynamics
Posts by this author
April 15, 2008
It is April 15th, and today the fate of many will be known.
Sean exposes the inner dialogue.
Don't worry, though, whichever choice you make, you can't really go wrong.
Eh?
April 15, 2008
After a brief hiatus last year, the annual Astrobiology Science Conference is back, and 650+ assorted scientists of various flavours are gathered in sunny Santa Clara where the SETI Institute is hosting.
The meeting just started, and I'll liveblog random snippets and news, as and when I get the…
April 14, 2008
Holz at Cosmic Variance comments
I only met Wheeler once that I recall.
Interesting man.
Many years ago, I was in Japan and needed some assistance from the US embassy.
The INS officer looked at my papers, looked up and said: "you're a physicist? Do you know John Wheeler?"
Fortunately, I had then…
April 11, 2008
"Why should we spend money on space exploration where there are so many problems here on Earth?"
asks Fraser at Universe Today
Because: we look out, and wonder, and explore;
and we do what little we can on the margin of our busy lives to explore the bigger universe, today;
and that is one of the…
April 11, 2008
Friday again, and it is not raining, here, yet.
So we skip over to the Omniscient iPod One, and ask, most humbly: Whence The Frontier, of Physics, natch?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: If Not Now... - Tracy Chapman
The Crossing: I Allegro: Eine Kleine Nachtmusic - Mozart
The…
April 10, 2008
deep insight into the human condition
sometimes we just link because linking is good
April 9, 2008
Krugman blogs crazy conspiracy stuff...
Original FT story here
Did I mention that you really do not want to piss my cousins off?
If it comes to my cousins vs my ex-classmates - no contest.
Sorry guys.
On a more serious note, this is not a game for Flamers from NY to be playing. Sovereign nations…
April 8, 2008
The high tech of the modern financial quant never ceases to amaze me...
"These internet originators have been a problem too...it's unbelievable to me they are back already. When I go on my AOL account over the weekend I'm seeing no-doc, low-doc, 'bankruptcy okay,' a $200,000 loan for $800 a month…
April 7, 2008
one of the "fun" things about academia is that no matter what one actually plans on doing with the precious few spare hours that may appear, reality will cheerfully ignore such plans and provide a surprise
I am so overdue for some karmic restitution
1 1 1 1
April 4, 2008
B-2 ready to fly, says Air Force Link, despite safety pause....
Huh?
Oh. Dear.
Spirit of Kansas crashes at Andersen AFB Guam back in Feb '08.
Right after take-off. Crew ejected. Missed that one, what was I doing late Feb...? Ah.
Apparently still do not know what caused the crash.
Apparently a B-1…
April 4, 2008
Rainy, rainy friday, again.
So, we have consulted and met, and we ask the iPod: you know what we ask, what should we do?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz - Three Tenors
The Crossing: Walk of Life - Dire Straits
The Crown: A New England - Billy Bragg
The…
April 1, 2008
What would you do about Yoo at UC?
Brad deLong contemplates a moral issue - can a colleague's tenure be challenged for his actions outside academia, and if so in what circumstances.
At issue is Prof Yoo's long classified memo from the Department of Justice offering legal rationale for torture based…
April 1, 2008
All of these are true:
Iceland is being attacked by bankrupt bears
This is why you do not want to do that
Economists actually use the "percentage" buttons on calculators
April 1, 2008
stumble on the step
slug flies high, I lose my zen
sad inner eye cries
I must go to California ASAP and confront my materialism
April 1, 2008
it is a busy news day, with a number of breakthroughs reported in different fields, and a lot of changes here at ScienceBlogs
I'll try to update as more reports come in
The Quantum Pontiff reports a potential breakthrough in quantum computing using bleeding edge fusion technology.
Virgle, a new…
March 31, 2008
NASA announced this morning that the upgraded USS Enterprise successfully launched from Edwards AFB, mounting a new retrofitted main engine system.
USS Enterprise OV-101b coming in for landing from its surprise morning mission.
The Enterprise has been secretly refurbished with a new main engine…
March 31, 2008
The essence of a good prank is to know when to stop
The incident of the Hula skirt was mildly amusing, although not really in the rank of Great Pranks of All Time, or even Great Pranks I Have Personally Experienced.
It was also mildly irritating, because it so happened my class quiz was out on my…
March 30, 2008
The Chaos Computer Club, in an inspired hack to draw attention to some of the idiocies of biometric IDs, lifted the fingerprint of the German Interior Minister
they then published it, in their newsletter, on a plastic film for use as fake biometric on an ID scanner.
With instruction on how to do…
March 30, 2008
Obama giving a stump speech on the lawn just down from my office.
Good turnout, good weather, good speech.
Had to bail before the end, very intense crowd - Sen Casey, the PSU quarterback and Jay and Sue Paterno in attendance.
Standard speech, but he really does give amazingly good speeches, easily…
March 28, 2008
Did I mention that our undergraduate students are really awesome!
Well, it is raining.
March 28, 2008
Rainy friday. Wot? No Snow? Must be spring already.
So we bounce over to the Mighty iPod and ask, most chirpily: WTF was going on down at HQ?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Money - Pink Floyd
The Crossing: Introduction - The Lilac Fairy: Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky
The Crown:Fun,…
March 26, 2008
space.com interview with Weiler
he is, necessarily, non-committal on policy changes - sounds like the Mars folks have some tension over early sample return vs multiple medium sized flight ops
scary bit is the comment on university R&A - sounds like the individual PI grants are going to take a…
March 26, 2008
Quintessence - Obama
Cosmological Constant - Clinton
We don't need no steenkin' dark energy - McCain
Discuss.
March 26, 2008
Stern out as SMD head.
Weiler in.
"NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin issued the following statement Wednesday regarding the announcement that Dr. S. Alan Stern, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, has decided to leave the agency.
"Alan has rendered invaluable…
March 25, 2008
it has been yonks since I randomly rambled about middle eastern muddles, so why not now...
apparently some interesting things have happened: al-Sadr's Mahdi army has ended its truce and is fighting the Iraqi government and US troops - this could get confusing if the Iranians are backing both…
March 25, 2008
hm, so there is this country, facing a declining currency, rising inflation, turmoil in the stock market with large fluctuations in key indices on short terms, real estate market bubble that looks like it might be popping, and concern that risk perception is leading to an acute credit crunch
so...…
March 24, 2008
would the person who left the flowery hula skirt in my office this weekend please come and collect it...
an explanation for how it got there would also be useful.
March 23, 2008
Happy Holidays!
May his Noodly Appendages tickle you on this most festive of days.
Pagans often fail to understand the traditions of Pastafarianism.
As with all the other major faiths, the CoFSM has its traditions, its holy days.
Some have, admittedly, been compromised from their pure origin to…