Steinn Sigurðsson
Professor of Astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University. Science Editor at Astrophysical Journal. Icelandic. Herder of Cats.
catdynamics
Posts by this author
January 8, 2008
Sounds like the usual bustle down in Austin at the annual American Astronomical Society meeting.
Therese at "Random Thoughts of an Astro Major" is reporting for the SPS and has a good summary of the day's press releases, and links to audio of press conferences.
Phil also has his usual thorough…
January 8, 2008
Argh, Yule tide came and went and I never noticed!
Billy Bragg Podcast #9
Holy crap! Billy and Natalie Merchant did a cover of "Birthday" by the Sugarcubes... and they didn't put it on the podcast. Argh! Billy does Einar!
AND Billy Bragg Podcast #10
and he has a new album out. "Mr Love and Justice…
January 8, 2008
Wegmans supermarkets withdraws all tobacco products from sale.
Wegmans is a mediums sized, family owned, chain of upmarket supermarkets, based in New York and surrounding states.
They are perennially on the "best companies to work for" list, and go for the organic high end crowd - kinda upstate…
January 7, 2008
Therese at "Random Thoughts of an Astro Major is at AAS, and is the SPS reporter.
She will pipe the hot new press release into the blogosphere as fast as she can get 'em.
January 7, 2008
The Annual Meeting of the American Astronomical Society is underway in Texas...
...and due to UnForeseen Circumstances, I am not there.
Strangely enough I can't find the program on-line, but I gather I am there virtually, although I just realised I have no idea if I am on more than one poster at…
January 7, 2008
After thinking occasionally about it, for months, and talking to a couple of friends and neighbours, by golly, I think I've got it... It is all about the OWL levels, really.
There are three aspects to the problem of US education: the structure, the pedagogy and the content. I will pontificate on…
January 4, 2008
"Why don't they make a birth control pill for men?"
Is what the SciBlog superiors gots to know this week.
Hah!
Clinical trials were done five years ago, it is simple, it works, should make an easy tablet...
Organon and Schering were doing development and projected it on the market by 2009.
but I…
January 4, 2008
A thrilly, chilly friday across the mid-section; but a warm breeze is from the south and west is scooped up from a high straddling the south-east, to bring warmth to the northeast...
So, we ask the Mighty iPod: the Iowa caucus results - are they random vagaries or the start of the mighty movement…
January 2, 2008
Now that I have joined the call for ScienceDebate 2008, what do I think...
NB: these are my personal opinions and representative of nothing more profound than the WVU vs OU game being rather uninteresting... ;-P
US politics are bistable - the two-party system is a design feature that is hard to…
January 2, 2008
The US Presidential candidates ought to have a debate with a topic focus of Science and Technology
For me, the US Presidential primaries and elections are a spectator sport.
I live here, I am politically moderately aware and interested.
I pay taxes, lots and lots of taxes; for which I receive less…
January 2, 2008
"Go Michigan!"
I don't know which bothers me more, that my children sat there yelling "Go Michigan" at the television yesterday, or that I actually, for a moment, cared.
And all because I made some disparaging comment about Florida.
Ah well, at least we should have slightly fewer comments about…
January 2, 2008
Hrmph.
My Terribly Useful Collection of Assorted and Divers Rubber Bands Of Various Sizes and Colours has completely disintegrated.
This is what happens when one tries to implement vague new year's resolution type thingies.
In all those years, I don't think I used a single one of those rubber…
January 2, 2008
"Four times they came for more money and four times we told them 'no,'"
Interesting NYT story on Science Missions Director taking a stern view of cost overruns
If they can stick to their guns, this will be good in the long run.
Might hurt a bit in strange places in the next year or three, though.…
December 28, 2007
Congratulations!
Dr Mandell, Dr Micic and Dr Smith
Just remember, everybody now:
"It ain't what you do, it is the way that you do it..."
Fun Boy Three, indeed.
bloomin' Top o' the Pops.
er, this is a better version...
or we can go live!
While we're on the topic...
December 28, 2007
Final friday of lucky ol' seven.
So, we approach the Mighty iPod and ask with intrepidation: what is in store for '08?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Long Time Gone - Dixie Chicks
The Crossing: The Miller's Dance - Julian Bream
The Crown: Love WIll Tear Us Apart - Albert…
December 26, 2007
Miracles Do Still Happen.
It all began with the Incident of the Broken Leg.
No, not mine, and No, it was not That Sort of Miracle.
The problem was that I was now the family taxi driver. Doc visits, school, doc visits, pre-school, doc visits, playdates doc visits, grocery shopping, doc visits...
I…
December 24, 2007
Kertasníkir - it is down to the wire, the last elf is in town, he'll try to swipe the candles from the kids hands (which might leave them vulnerable to the Christmas Cat!).
As he comes, his oldest brother, Stekkjastaur, gets ready to leave as the brothers celebrate the 12 days of christmas in town.
December 23, 2007
Ketkrókur is another hungry wee lad. He'll hook the meat from the rafters and run off with your dinner.
Good thing he doesn't like skate!
December 22, 2007
It turns out that parallel parking is surprisingly simple.
In theory.
I first encountered this as a homework problem in general relativity. Graduate level.
Since I believe it is still assigned as a homework problem, I will merely highlight the key points, and not provide the solution.
Consider the…
December 22, 2007
Happy Feast of Saint Thorlacius.
I hope everyone got some "cured" skate!
It is the reason for the season, the excuse for all Manly Men, and Women, to go somewhere suitable (like the garage, your uncle's house, or a restaurant desperate enough to put up with the smell and serve the stuff) and eat…
December 22, 2007
Gáttaþefur has a masochistic streak, he just stand by the door and sniffs, and sniffs.
If you're not good, he might sniff up all the good smells from the christmas meal.
December 21, 2007
Friday?
Aaargh!
We welcome the return of the Sun, Newtonian dynamics never cease to amaze.
And we ask the Mighty iPod, what is in store for us this festive Yule season?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: We Wish You a Merry Christmas
The Crossing: No Compassion - Talking Heads
The…
December 21, 2007
Gluggagægir- sneaky little elf, likes to peep in the windows to see if he can see something "nice"...
Nice!
Happy winter solstice!
Remember, you need an evergreen, and a flame.
Do it right, or winter might never end...
December 20, 2007
in theory there is no difference between theory and practice
a theorist can derive the Lie algebra for the non-commuting differential operators that describe the two axle parallel parking problem, and derive the constraint equations that determine the smallest space that can be parallel parked in…
December 20, 2007
CoRoT, the French stellar photometry satellite, had a press announcement at 1 pm (Paris time) today
They announced the discovery of CoRoT Exo-2b their second extrasolar planet.
3.5 Jupiter masses, 1.4 Jupiter radii with an orbital period of 1.743 days around a K0V star, 12th magnitude.
UPDATE: ESA…
December 19, 2007
Stanford claims Lithium battery breakthrough
Li-ion battery using Si nanowires with order of magnitude improvement in capacity
If practical to fabricate, this would do wonders for laptops and cellphones.
If mass producable, it could be interesting for rechargable mass energy storage and for high…
December 19, 2007
Bjúgnakrækir - hold on to your sausages.
The hungry elves are back, and this one will hook the sausages from the rafters and snarf them.
"Bjúgu" are a particular Icelandic delicacy, large, very fatty. Good winter food.