catdynamics | April 30, 2008
Crucio!
Ok, here is a crappy photoshop with hat...
Here is the video
Cheney mastrubation joke is around minute #5, band conduction is at the end
catdynamics | April 30, 2008Chad he says: Scientists Don't Have To Do Everything
Do as he says.
This is another episode of linking: because linking is an inherent public good.
catdynamics | April 29, 2008Gorgeous Spitzer Space Telescope Image of Ω Centauri
Martha Boyer at the University of Minnesota got Spitzer images of Omega Cen, combines with ground based imaging from the Blanco 4m.
The goal was to find dust rich red giant stars, those are the red/yellow stars in the image, with the main sequence coloured blue.
Omega Centauri, classified as a globular cluster, has been known for some time to have multiple stellar generations, which is unusual for a globular. It also is suspected to have a central intemediate mass black hole, inferred from the rising central stellar velocity dispersion…
catdynamics | April 28, 2008Physics used to be simple: the universe was eternal, static and predictable...
but there were dark clouds on the horizon.
First there was uncertainty, evidence of decay. Lack of conservation.
Then all became relative. Transmutable, interchangable, in a revolutionary way.
There was sudden change, lack of predictability.
A statistical world. Only identical mass aggregates mattered.
Some gathered collectively, others became exclusive. There were hints of underlying degeneracies.
Evidence was found that things were falling apart, despite noble attempts to maintain our world stationary.
First…
catdynamics | April 28, 2008Is APOD for the iPod.
Seriously. A neat little web accessible archive of the public subset of the APOD archive, continuosly updated, bundled for a quick iPod upload.
With an index, please.
catdynamics | April 26, 2008After the revelations about Syria's plausible secret nuclear project, destroyed by an Israeli air raid, speculation is turning back to Iran
Arms Control Wonk and Whirled View have info, and interesting discussion in comments; and Nuclear Mangos has sprung back to life, which is a worrying sign to the cognoscenti.
If you trust the provenance of the photos that have been published, then Syria was doing a poor man's nuclear weapons program: they had the smallest possibly gas cooled, graphite moderated natural uranium reactor being built.
British technology, via North Korea.
Capable of…
catdynamics | April 25, 2008The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is being reinforced.
That is not good.
It is generally true that aircraft carriers to not launch air strikes while in harbour.
I believe it has been done, probably by a UK carrier at Malta, but generally not a good idea.
So, if one were to worry that intemperate rhetoric on war is something to be taken at face value, and if one assumes that the US armed forces like to use the advantage their large and many aircraft carriers provide, then it is prudent to keep an eye on the very public deployment of these carriers.
At any given time, of the 11 currently…
catdynamics | April 25, 2008Friday, at last, and just one more week to go.
So... lets be scientific today and ask the Mighty Inscrutable iPod One: have seasonal modulation of WIMPy Cold Dark Matter really been detected, as reported?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: So Am I - Alison Moyet
The Crossing: II - Beethoven
The Crown: Peaches - Stranglers
The Root: Ch' Ella Mi Creda - Pavarotti
The Past: Three Babies - Sinead O'Connor
The Future: Complete Control - Clash
The Questioner: I'm Sick of You - Iggy Pop
The House: I Like It - Dixie Chicks
The Inside: No Meaning No - Chuck D With Fine Arts Militia…
catdynamics | April 24, 2008I was discussing the "Landscape" in string theory, as it relates to modern cosmology in class, and the students first reaction was: "what is all the fuss about"?
It seemed a bit mystifying to them that the community was having such angst over the issue.
So... I was trying to explain the metaphysical and philosophical angles, and why it got people agitated, and made the natural, if potentially ill-advised, comparison with religion.
This was one of these issues, said I, which seem terribly important at the time to the participants, but, no doubt, will seem all very silly in the future, much as…
catdynamics | April 24, 2008the mystery of the "box" in Syria that was bombed by the Israelis was claimed to be a North Korean design nuclear reactor
the LA Times originally leaked the news of the briefing, claiming there was video evidence showing the interior and the top of a Yongbyon type reactor, and presence of "Korean looking" scientists...
There's a lot of rubbish being written about this.
The Yongbyon reactor is a Plutonium production reactor.
It runs at ~ 5 MW(e), but is not very efficient.
It is a Magnox type reactor - ripoff of the old Calder Hall UK reactor.
The Magnox design works with natural uranium - no…
catdynamics | April 24, 2008Carnival of Space #51 at Astro Engine now.
Next week is the big one year anniversary edition...
catdynamics | April 24, 2008Happy first day of summer!
Today is the first day of Harpa, the first of the summer months.
Enjoy.
In other news,
two black swans were found in Iceland. Really. Click through for picture.
Economists all around the world swoon.
Icelandic birders are now looking for a pair of white ravens, for completeness...
catdynamics | April 23, 2008Someone is getting lucky and the laser is getting hot
from the Hotel Mauna Kea folks
catdynamics | April 23, 2008Another one bites the dust
Ok, this is only because I like the OINK and couldn't find "vote for we" on youtube.
Consider it a commentary on local politics.
catdynamics | April 22, 2008the blog belongs to me
and Patti Smith on the Old Grey Whistle Test, live, has embedding blocked
But Sam the Sham is there for posterity.
catdynamics | April 22, 2008people changing their votes
Question is: does this count as a political song that doesn't suck
catdynamics | April 21, 2008I was just pondering the appalling lack of interesting science news the other day, and then I got back home and found these: CSI Ambleside...
The DAMA collaboration is claiming strong evidence for WIMPy Cold Dark Matter, based on an annual modulation in their scintillator experiment.
Ah, I was wondering why Stanford had a non-detection by their CDM detector group as a lead news item last week.
Sean has rounded up a guest blogger to explain this result, or lack thereof.
There is a new class of high critical temperature superconductors.
Non-cuprates, based on FeAs - that is iron/arsenic for…
catdynamics | April 21, 2008Welcome to classical football 101.
This class will cover classical football from a historical perspective, starting with 17th century english village contests.
We will then cover the development of association football and rugby football, through to the emergence of the modern conceptualization of the game in the late 19th century, with particular emphasis on the role of the grid, the introduction of the "forward pass" and the role of equipment improvement in improving the game in the early 20th century.
We will cover the early Ivy League, in detail, and the post-World War II rise of "…
catdynamics | April 17, 2008It is a beautiful warm day in the Bay as we contemplate our flight home.
So how will we fare in this fair round?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: She Moves On - Paul Simon
The Crossing: La Glace Au Citron - Henri Des
The Crown: Girlfriend is Better (Live) - Talking Heads
The Root: Change - Melissa Etheridge
The Past: Savez-Vous Planter Les Choux - Sien Diels
The Future: Ever Fallen in Love - Buzzcocks
The Questioner: War Crime (The Crime Remains the Same) - Special A.K.A.
The House: Up the Junction - Squeeze
The Inside: Afriki - Alpha Blondy
The Outcome: Carnival of the…