Links for 2010-05-06

"A new widely anticipated experiment underneath a mountain in Italy designed to detect a sea of dark particles that allegedly constitute a quarter of creation did not see anything during a test run last fall, scientists reported Saturday.

But, they said, the clarity with which they saw nothing spurred hopes that such experiments are approaching the rigor and sensitivity necessary to detect the elusive gravitational glue of the cosmos. The results also cast further doubt on some controversial claims that dark matter has already been seen. "

"On questions related to stress and clarity, faculty members who already have tenure tend to give their institutions and the institution of tenure better grades than do those coming up for tenure (at Christian colleges and among all institutions). But at Christian colleges, generally, the stress levels are low for those on the tenure track, with only small gender differences:

* Only 15 percent of tenure-track faculty members reported "extensive" stress (16 percent for women, 14 percent for men). And 41 percent reported that they were stressed "not at all" (38 percent for women, and 42 percent for men). For faculty members elsewhere, the share reporting extensive stress is about twice what it is at the Christian colleges.
* Asked if college policies on tenure and promotion were clear, 73 percent of faculty members either agreed or strongly agreed (74 percent for men and 73 percent for women)."

""Show me what you got, boys," Belichick said to the group from the backseat of a spotless black Range Rover. "If you want to be on this team, I'll see you in four days. And if you've been paying attention at all, you'll know exactly what to do. Oh, you can take your blindfolds off now. "

"By the way, Devin [McCourty]? I'd check that flashlight you're holding to see if it has any batteries. I might have forgotten to put them in," Belichick continued. "Not that a little thing like that should stop you. See Wes [Welker], here, the man with the honor of being my chauffeur? This resourceful bastard actually beat me home, so it's not like it can't be done."