jlynch
Posts by this author
October 9, 2007
I note that Minazo, Japan’s largest seal died this week. Minazo became an Internet icon:
He will be missed.
(HT to Ugly Overload)
October 8, 2007
Events
1604 - Supernova 1604, the most recent supernova to be observed in the Milky Way.
Births
1704 - Ján Andrej Segner, Slovak and German mathematician, physicist, and physician
1852 - Hermann Emil Fischer, German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
1873 - Karl Schwarzschild, German physicist and…
October 8, 2007
Seed is putting up $15,000 in matching funds for our DonorsChoose Challenge, as part of their Science Literacy Grants program. You give $20, the kids get $40. What more could you ask for?
You know what to do ...
October 7, 2007
Births
1850 - Henri Louis le Chatelier, French chemist
1883 - Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and Nobel Prize laureate
1917 - Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate
1927 - César Milstein, Argentine scientist and Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths
1647 - Christian Sø…
October 7, 2007
Apparently, some people object to this on a t-shirt. Truth hurts, I guess.
October 7, 2007
You know what to do ...
Events
1959 - Luna 3 transmits first ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.
Births
1927 - R. D. Laing, Scottish psychologist
1939 - Harold Kroto, English chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths
1911 - John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist
1926 - Emil…
October 6, 2007
And with the USC and UCLA losses (to Stanford and Notre Dame respectively), ASU finds itself halfway through the season and on top of the Pac-10 standings. Not bad for a team in its first season with a new coach.
October 6, 2007
A field goal with 55 seconds to go was enough to give ASU a 23-20 away win (their second away win in a row) against Washington State. I missed most of the game due to family commitments but what I saw wasn’t terribly impressive. Still, an away win is good, especially since we haven't had two in a…
October 6, 2007
This morning we successfully funded two further projects and are now impacting the science education of approximal 190 students in Illinois, California, and North Carolina. Many thanks to all who have donated so far.
This project (for twenty kids effected by Katrina) needs a further $381 in the…
October 6, 2007
Quote: "It’s time to start taking seriously the proposition that the American economy under the Bush administration is the best in the nation’s history." (Source.)
Some representative data:
Creating future debt does not make for the best economy ever.
Discuss.
October 6, 2007
You know what to do ...
Events
1995 - 51 Pegasi was discovered to be the first major star apart from the Sun to have a planet (and extrasolar planet) orbiting around it.
Births
1459 - Martin Behaim, German navigator and geographer (
1510 - John Caius, English physician
1803 - Heinrich Wilhelm…
October 5, 2007
Sean Hannity: "Why do we wear pins? Because our country is under attack." Apparently, the word "we" doesn’t include Hannity himself. Nice so see the idiot being hoisted on his own petard. Not that it will prevent him from mouthing off.
October 5, 2007
Dave over at Cognitive Daily has posted a comparison of traffic (upper graph) with DonorsChoose donations (lower graph) so far in the drive. This blog is the third bar in from the left.
Certainly we’re not doing too bad relative to others, however I fail to see how we can let Chad over at…
October 5, 2007
John Wilkins has an excellent essay on Paul Feyerabend up over at Evolving Thoughts. It begins:
Paul Feyerabend is famous for attempting to make science subject to democratic revision. How shall we assess this in the light of the present attacks on science? Is he naive, or is he merely wrong? Can…
October 5, 2007
Eternal Circle
I sang the song slowlyAs she stood in the shadowsShe stepped to the lightAs my silver strings spunShe called with her eyesTo the tune I’s a-playin’But the song it was longAnd I’d only begun
Through a bullet of lightHer face was reflectin’The fast fading wordsThat rolled from my…
October 4, 2007
Since PZ got it from Wilkins, I might as well chime in. I bold those I’ve read and italicize those I’ve partially read.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of…
October 4, 2007
As usual, your DonorsChoose update comes first and Today in Science is below the fold. As I mentioned earlier, yesterday we hit a milestone with our first fully funded project. We’ve currently raised $549 of our $4000 goal so we’ve still got a way to go.
Births
1879 - Francis Peyton Rous,…
October 4, 2007
Good news here. We’ve managed to fully fund our first proposal - thirty first graders in a magnet school in Chicago (one with 95% high poverty) will be benefiting from your generosity so far. On behalf of their teacher, I thank you.
Of course, we’re not done yet. As an incentive, consider these…
October 3, 2007
This is just excellent - the Bible in LOLcatese. Favorite extract - Job 1.
1. In teh land of Uz wuz a man calded Job. Teh man was goodz, afraid of teh Invisible Man and evilz.
2. Teh man hadz seven sunz and tree doters,
3. And lots of sheepz and camlez and rinoceruseses and servnts, srsly.
4.…
October 3, 2007
And again, your DonorsChoose update - $430 raised so far. Thanks to all so far, and please donate.
Your TiS follows ...
Events
1957 - Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
Births
1562 - Christian Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer
1723 - Nikolaus Poda von…
October 3, 2007
Apparently, fifty years after the ruling that Allen Ginsberg’s "Howl" cannot be held obscene, you cannot say "cock and endless balls" on public radio due to fear of the FCC fining your ass. Madness.
I had the pleasure of seeing Ginsberg perform "Howl" in Dublin in the early Nineties, I thus have…
October 3, 2007
Miniature wire-haired dachshund finds 13in, 8lb thigh section of a fossilized Southern elephant (Archidiskodon meridionalis) on English beach. Gets to look very happy about it.
[Source]
October 2, 2007
But first a DonorsChoose update ... We’re currently at $190 and seventh among the Scienceblogs challenges. We can do better!
I’m working on some prizes to give to random donors. Stay tuned.
There appears to be a slight problem in that some donations are not being attributed to this challenge. If…
October 2, 2007
Apparently Bill Doba, Washington State University football coach, is - how shall we say - "challenged." The Cougars just got whupped 48-20 by University of Arizona (unranked, 2-3) and Doba is quoted in the Tacoma News Tribune as saying:
"Arizona, I said, is the second or third best team in the…
October 1, 2007
One day in and we’re already at 4% of our target. Given that we’ve thirty days to hit it, this is clearly a good start. Many, many thanks to our donors so far. But let’s not rest on our laurels, m’kay?
I get between 600 and 1000 individuals visiting a day, so if everyone gave a $5 we’d be set. And…
October 1, 2007
Births
1832 - Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist
1852 - William Ramsay, Scottish chemist
1907 - Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
1914 - Jack Parsons, American rocket scientist
1917 - Christian de Duve, English-born biologist and Nobel Prize…
October 1, 2007
Regular readers will remember that last year we here at Scienceblogs undertook a bloggers challenge for DonorsChoose.org, an organization that helps K-12 teachers. In two weeks we raised over $34,000 for deserving teachers and their students. This blog alone raised $1,000. This year, we’re aiming…
September 30, 2007
The Ballmer Peak holds for all intellectual endeavors, not just programming.
September 30, 2007
Births
1835 - Ãdám Politzer, Austrian physician
1904 - Otto Robert Frisch, Austrian-born physicist
1910 - Fritz Köberle, Austrian-born physician
1910 - José Enrique Moyal, Australian mathematical physicist
1947 - Aaron Ciechanover, Israeli biologist and Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths
1838 -…