Janet D. Stemwedel
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
jstemwedel
Posts by this author
August 7, 2008
First, from the Seed Overlords:
You may have noticed some pretty yellow banner ads around the site this week. They're advertising a huge reader survey that we're conducting right now. Anyone (excepting Seed employees) who fills it out can enter to win an iPod and MacBook Air.
The survey takes…
August 5, 2008
Once again, researchers who use animals in their research have been the targets of violence at the hands of animal rights activists.
As reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
In one incident, a faculty member's home on Village Circle off High Street was intentionally firebombed at about 5:40 a.m. […
August 4, 2008
A quick update on the details for the meet-up in Manhattan this coming Saturday:
Owing to the number of people who say they'll be coming (large) and the weather forecast (chance of thundershowers), we will not be meeting at the Arthur Ross Terrace at the American Museum of Natural History.
We'll be…
August 1, 2008
Because it's been one of those weeks.
*The elder Free-Ride offspring conveys heartfelt thanks to those who provided quantum mechanical book recommendations in the comments on this post -- and to Super Sally who sent three of those books as birthday presents. The elder offspring is about two…
July 31, 2008
In the July 18, 2008 issue of Science, I noticed a news item, "Old Samples Trip Up Tokyo Team":
A University of Tokyo team has retracted a published research paper because it apparently failed to obtain informed consent from tissue donors or approval from an institutional review board (IRB). Other…
July 31, 2008
For those of you who expressed an interest (even telepathically) in the meet-up of ScienceBlogs bloggers and readers in the three-dimensional world (specifically, Manhattan) next Saturday, I now have much more precise details:
UPDATE: We won't be meeting at the Arthur Ross Terrace. (…
July 31, 2008
As I was looking for a good sangria recipe some weeks ago, I came upon this article in Gourmet about how our understanding of the scientific basis for "flavor" as changed, not to mention what sorts of implications this might have for those who prepare -- and sell -- food.
One of the interesting…
July 30, 2008
You've probably already heard the news last week that a study published in Science indicates that the gender gap between girls and boys in mathematical performance may be melting faster than the polar ice caps. The study, "Gender Similarities Characterize Math Performance" by Janet S. Hyde et al…
July 28, 2008
For those of you following the chronicle of my raised garden beds, here's the first update.
I planted the seeds in the garden beds on July 20.
As of today, July 28, a bunch of the seeds I planted have sprouted.
First up, as expected, were the radishes. Those of us who get impatient should…
July 27, 2008
Reading the comments on my post and Chad's post about the different societal attitudes towards humanities and arts and math and science (especially in terms of what "basic" knowledge a well-educated person ought to have), I get the feeling that some interesting assumptions are at play. Since I don…
July 26, 2008
I have a little bit more (tentative) information on the upcoming meet-up in Manhattan on Saturday, August 9 (which is only two weeks away):
The time looks like it will fall in the 2:00-4:00 PM time slot.
The location is looking like it will be in or near Central Park.
I know that a meet-up in…
July 26, 2008
Today Chad has an interesting post about attitudes among academics toward math and science versus the humanities and arts. The general attitude Chad sees on display in his academic milieu is that a gappy knowledge of art history or music or literature is something to be embarrassed about, but when…
July 25, 2008
The other day, Chad asked about the appropriate use of someone else's published data:
There's a classic paper on the Quantum Zeno Effect that I discuss in Chapter 5 of the book. The paper does two tests of the effect, and presents the results in two bar graphs. They also provide the data in…
July 25, 2008
Go to Cosmic Variance at once to read Julianne Dalcanton's musings on why spherical jerks (not the word she uses) are preferable to the asymmetric ones:
No one is surprised when a known, calibrated asshole acts up. We all just adjust the gain on our emotional response and carry on. I've been…
July 25, 2008
Sure, we still have about a week of July left, but those days are getting shorter and soon the classrooms will be filling up again.
Which means that it's a pretty good time for public school teachers (in the U.S.*) to start thinking about what they'd like to accomplish in those classrooms, and…
July 25, 2008
The Free-Ride offspring end up listening to a lot of public radio in the car; they can't control the radio tuner from the back seat. Since this listening includes Car Talk, both sprogs already think of cars as systems to trouble-shoot, even though the eldest is still seven years away (at least)…
July 24, 2008
PhysioProf tagged me using his Feministe guest blogger bully-pulpit. The idea is to identify the five most embarrassing tracks on your iPod. (Since I use the iTunes library on my iBook more than my iPod, that's what I used.)
This was harder than it might have been. It turns out, when it comes to…
July 23, 2008
Connected to my last post (and anticipated by my razor-sharp commenters), in this post I want to look at the pros and cons of routine screening mammography in women under age 50, drawing on the discussion of this subject in the multi-page "patient instructions" document I received from my primary…
July 22, 2008
At the urging of my colleague Abel, who liveblogged his own vasectomy, I'm documenting my first mammogram. Given that I had pretty much no idea what to expect going into this, I'm hopeful that this post will demystify the experience a little for those who know they probably should get mammograms…
July 21, 2008
Longtime readers may remember that last August saw a semi-spontaneous confluence of ScienceBlogs bloggers in New York City.
Apparently, we are nothing if not creatures of habit. This August, we are as salmon swimming upstream to return to our spawning grounds. (Well, except that most of us are…
July 20, 2008
... sometimes require hard work, at least when the experimental digs are raised garden beds. Seriously, when was the last time you moved 14.5 cubic yards of topsoil and compost? (Not that I did it all myself, of course. My better half did quite a bit of it, and the Free-Ride offspring even…
July 19, 2008
[Pardon the delay!]
Watching the fish tank in the pediatrician's waiting room:
Younger offspring: Those fish are playing tag!
Dr. Free-Ride: It kind of looks like tag, doesn't it?
Younger offspring: Except since they don't have hands to touch each other, I think they're using their mouths.
Dr. Free…
July 18, 2008
In the aftermath of Sizzle Tuesday, Orac wrote a post posing a challenge to the science communicators:
How would you deal with antivaccinationism? What "frames" would you use to combat the likes of Jenny McCarthy?
In the comments on Orac's post, Matthew C. Nisbet turned up:
The anti-vaccine…
July 18, 2008
... is postponed until Saturday. I have to get final grades for my summer seminar computed and posted by midnight.
With luck, I'll have this week's conversation up by Saturday morning. It'll be like Saturday morning cartoons, but with fewer commercials for Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs (or…
July 17, 2008
There's a question I've been thinking about intermittently (over the course of several years) that I thought I'd lay out here, on the theory that you all have a track record of sharing smart and insightful things (including related questions of your own) in the comments.
One of the things that…
July 15, 2008
I'm on sabbatical for academic year 2008-2009. This being summer, you'd think I'd consider the sabbatical officially begun.
Not quite. But I'm getting closer. All that remains:
Grading the papers from the graduate seminar that I was persuaded to team-teach.
Calculating final grades for the…
July 15, 2008
I have misgivings about wading into Crackergate -- indeed, even about dipping my toe into the edge of the pool (which is all I'm promising here) -- but here goes.
First, let me commend the thoughtful posts by Mark Chu-Carroll and John Wilkins on the issue. If you haven't read them yet, read them…
July 14, 2008
Randy Olson's newest film, Sizzle, bears the subtitle, "a global warming comedy". To my mind, it delivered neither the laughs nor the engagement with the issue of global warming that it promised. Maybe this is just a sign that I fall outside the bounds of Olson's intended audience, but perhaps…
July 11, 2008
Because the three-dimensional world has had me in a headlock (and a heat-wave), I'm tardy in passing on the news that ScienceBlogs is hosting a new blog, Next Generation Energy, that is slated to run from July 9 to October 9. On this blog, Seed editors, ScienceBlogs bloggers, and outside experts…
July 11, 2008
The Free-Ride offspring are currently engrossed in a "creative dramatics" workshop, wherein they are learning all sorts of things about acting, characterization, costuming, and related matters in order to write, rehearse, stage, and perform a play. My kids are show people! Except that somehow,…