September 18, 2012
There are a bunch of physics stories that I'd sort of like to write about, but don't have time for, and politics is oscillating between "darkly hilarious" and "indescribably depressing," so that's best left alone. So, here's some cute kid pictures instead.
SteelyKid has lately taken to telling all…
September 13, 2012
For her birthday, SteelyKid got a "Butterfly Keeper" set, which is basically a big mesh cylinder maybe two feet high and a foot in diameter. It came with a coupon for free live caterpillars for "Painted Lady" butterflies, which we duly sent away for. These came in a plastic cup full of caterpillar…
September 13, 2012
Last week, in the post about fermion conduction, I left a reference hanging:
There’s nothing physically blocking the atoms from flying right through the channel– in fact, an atom that enters the channel will always exit the other side without slowing down along the way. This is termed “ballistic,”…
September 12, 2012
In which we learn about a new science communication service, some history of astronomy, a more complete definition of "one-hit wonder," and a new science award promoting basic research.
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Bowler Hat Science
Matthew Francis launches his Media Empire, offering a variety of talks (both…
September 10, 2012
In which we look at Obama's speaking style, what Bill Clinton wrote vs. what he said, and Gangnam Style.
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Obama and the Racial Politics of American English - NYTimes.com
This ended up being less interesting than it seemed it might be, but I'm not sure why.
What Bill Clinton Wrote vs.…
September 8, 2012
In which science shows the FAA is full of crap, Slate takes on the question of science grad school, NFL team logos get redesigned to make them honest, the Joint Quantum Institute invites your Nobel guesses, and experimentalists are more sought after than theorists.
Do Our Gadgets Really Threaten…
September 6, 2012
So, it's been a while, but let's see if we can't hit the ground running with a good physics post. There have been a few notable physics events since I went on hiatus, but for a return to physics ResearchBlogging, we'll go with something near and dear to my heart, ultracold atoms. Specifically, this…
September 5, 2012
Confessions of a Community College Dean: Kermit
How Kermit the Frog is the perfect model for an academic administrator.
Chester A. Arthur: Sasquatch Trainer : Filmmaking Frenzy: Commander-in-Chief
From the people who brought you "Rutherford B. Hayes, Urban Vigilante," a movie about the only Union…
September 4, 2012
So, a couple of months ago, I said I was taking some time off from the blog, and wasn't sure I would make it back. What was up with that, anyway?
Well, for one thing, I had a bunch of stuff to work on, and needed the extra time. I wrote a proposal for a third book that's being shopped around now,…
September 2, 2012
Physics after accelerators, the need for more athletic thinking, a call for more phenomenological thinking in physics, and a goofy phenomenological model for politics.
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More things in heaven than earth § Unqualified Offerings
A vision of a post-accelerator world for fundamental physics.
Fit…
September 1, 2012
I might return to physics blogging at some point, but I know what people really want from this blog. So, here's a cute kid picture.
Don't worry, Daddy, we're not up to anything
The Pip is increasingly mobile, and here we see him trying to climb into my lap, with an assist from big sister…
June 26, 2012
The title pretty much says it all.
One of the reasons I wanted to get the Ten Years Before the Blog series done was that I'm incredibly burned out on everything right now, and I need to step away from the Internet for a while. There are too many things that aren't getting done, and I just can't…
June 26, 2012
In which we reach the end of our decade-long historical recap.
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So, at long last, the recap of my decade of blogging has reached the current year. And I do have a file of pre-filtered links from the current year (well, up through early May, when it was put together), which I was going…
June 25, 2012
In which we look back on the ninth full year of this blog, and one of the most unpleasant incidents in the whole run, which nearly ruined what was otherwise a good year.
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This is probably going to be the longest of these posts, at least in terms of the number of links included-- I've…
June 25, 2012
In which we look at the history of lunch, the breathtaking inanity of the NYTimes's Style section, what kills us then and now, the latest tempest in the blogging teapot, and some of the best songs from one of my favorite bands.
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Lunch: An Urban Invention
As late as 1755, according to…
June 23, 2012
I had hoped to get the next Ten Years Before the Blog post queued up for today, but what with one thing and another, that didn't happen. It probably won't happen before Monday, either, as the weekend will be full of family-type activities-- taking SteelyKid to soccer this morning, and her summer…
June 22, 2012
In which I list some pop song lyrics for you to guess, because it's Friday and I'm tired.
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The other night, on Twitter, Patrick Nielsen Hayden posted a snippet of song lyrics with the hashtag "#greatestalbumsofalltime." I was bored and looking to kill time, so I followed up with a…
June 22, 2012
In which we review yet another good year of blogging, including the establishment of some ongoing series. And also a useful reality check.
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This great blog re-read project has been useful for a couple of reasons. First, it's reminded me that there have been long stretches of time when I…
June 21, 2012
In which celebrity culture comes to particle physics.
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It's been about six months since we had a big flurry of Higgs Boson stories, and as enjoyable as the relative quiet has been, it means we're due for another run. And, predictably enough, the usual suspects are stoking speculation…
June 21, 2012
In which we look at the failure of elites, and the international language of bad dancing.
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Why Elites Fail | The Nation
A pure functioning meritocracy would produce a society with growing inequality, but that inequality would come along with a correlated increase in social mobility. As…
June 20, 2012
In which we look at how the Brave New Publishing World makes it really hard to find something good to read.
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In a recent links dump, I included a link to this post about the current state of publishing, which is a follow-up to an earlier post about the current state of publishing.…
June 20, 2012
In which the great blog recap rolls on to probably the most important event of the last ten years: the arrival of SteelyKid. And a bunch of other bloggy stuff.
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There's really no question what should be the featured image for this recap post: Clearly, it needs to be an early photo of…
June 20, 2012
In which we look at failures of academic collegiality, the allocation of resources in the liberal arts, teaching as a big grey area, advice for new teachers, common misconceptions about education, an ambitious plan to reform jury duty, and a former member of Fred Phelps's hateful Westboro Baptist…
June 19, 2012
In which we look back at a very political, perhaps excessively political year on the blog.
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I'm picking up the pace of my recap because I'd like to get through as much as possible before the actual tenth anniversary of the blog this Friday. I won't get through every year, but I'm going…
June 19, 2012
In which we look at a slightly crazy-sounding proposal from my former boss, the experimental realization of which is getting close to completion.
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I spent more or less the entire first day of DAMOP a couple of weeks ago going to precision measurement talks. Most of these were relatively…
June 19, 2012
In which we look at an impassioned plea from a gay seminarian, a satirical video about the Singularity, and two more dispatches from the imminent death of traditional publishing.
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Letter from a gay Christian classmate « Mercy not Sacrifice
I am asking you to set aside your quiet…
June 18, 2012
In which we look back at a particularly eventful year for the blog.
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The ScienceBlogs archives aren't really set up very well for reading straight through, so as we reach this part of our historical recap, I've changed methodology. Since I have better analytics for the ScienceBlogs…
June 18, 2012
So, anyway, as of today, I'm apparently the same age as the Reverend D. Wayne Love in 1998 or thereabouts.
And the sound makes its way outta the window
Minglin' with the traffic noises outside, you know and
All of a sudden I'm overcome by a feelin' of brief mortality
'Cause I'm gettin' on in the…
June 18, 2012
In which we look at basketball analytics, complaints about ancient Rome, the latest dispatch from the imminent death of publishing, and the optics of spy satellites.
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Where the Heat and the Thunder Hit Their Shots - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com
The shooting patterns for the…
