drorzel | May 18, 2008We're very happy with Chateau Steelypips, and we especially enjoy our back yard:
Of course, it's not without its problems, as you can see in that picture (and another that I'll put below the fold). The yard is pleasantly private and shady, thanks to a row of maples along the right side, and an enormous oak tree in the back left corner (you can see the trunk at the left edge of that picture-- the tree is probably 50-60 feet high, and almost perfectly round). The problem is, it's damnably difficult to get grass to grow, as you can tell from the large bare patches of dirt.
So, here's a question…
drorzel | May 18, 2008Continuing the morning's theme of "crushingly depressing stories from the New York Times," there's also a downer article about cities where there are more deaths than births:
What demographers call a natural decrease has been occurring for years in tiny rural towns and in some retirement meccas in the South. But the phenomenon is relatively new in metropolitan areas in the Northeast, the Rust Belt of the Middle West and Appalachia.
Hospitals are closing obstetrics wards and converting them to acute care. Local governments and other social service providers are adjusting to the emergence of…
drorzel | May 18, 2008Some cheery Sunday morning reading from the Times, showing the perils of short-term thinking when it comes to staying ahead of agricultural pests:
The damage to rice crops, occurring at a time of scarcity and high prices, could have been prevented. Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute [in the Phillippines] say that they know how to create rice varieties resistant to the [brown rice hopper] but that budget cuts have prevented them from doing so.
This is a stark example of the many problems that are coming to light in the world's agricultural system. Experts say that during…
drorzel | May 17, 2008
California's gay-marriage decision reflects the difference between judicial activism and, um judging. - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine
"Even though the majority did what it was supposed to do and offered up a rigorous close reading of state law and precedent, it will be defended and also criticized solely in terms of judicial elitism and overreaching."
(tags: law marriage politics US)
Off the Kuff: Diet Coke and Mentos: The sequel
Coke, Mentos, and way too much free time.
(tags: silly video science food toys chemistry)
The Little Professor: Hazards of Academic Regalia: A Serious…
drorzel | May 17, 2008
"What the hell is this?"
"We're remodeling the garage into a family room."
"Oooh! That's a good idea!"
"Thanks. We're so glad you approve."
"So, where are you going to put the bunny hutch?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"For me to keep my bunnies in!"
"You don't have any bunnies."
"Not yet, I don't, but now that we'll have room, you can buy me some. I can play with them in here, or out in my yard..."
"Ah, no. I don't think so. We won't be buying you any bunnies."
"Then why did you buy the bunny hutch?"
"The what?"
"The hutch. The thing with the hard mattress surrounded by bars, upstairs. It's for…
drorzel | May 17, 2008Behold, an ordinary garage:
Now, watch as it is transformed:
Obviously, there's a good deal of work yet to do, but it's really remarkable how much difference sheet rock makes-- between Day 8 and Day 9, it goes from looking like a construction site to looking like a room that just needs a little finishing. I have pictures from other corners, but this is the only complete set (it's taken from the door from the kitchen into the garage), as there were a few days when there was so much stuff piled in one of the corners that I couldn't get there to take a picture.
The background here…
drorzel | May 16, 2008
World Science Festival Blog
Of course they have a blog-- it's 2008, for God's sake...
(tags: blogs science society culture education theater television movies art physics biology chemistry environment)
Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, Information for Assessing Risk » Home
"The database provides information on prescribed amounts, levels detected in aquatic environments, chemical structure, molecular weight, octanol-water partition coefficients, water solubility, environmental persistence, general toxicity information and sp
(tags: science environment chemistry medicine drugs)…
drorzel | May 16, 2008I've had recurring problems with hives for a couple of years now. I have, at times, jokingly attributed this to an allergic reaction to George W. Bush continuing to be President, but I really have no idea what, exactly, is causing the problem. My allergist says that it's most likely an autoimmune thing, and thus there isn't any cause to find, and I'll just drive myself crazy chasing false correlations.
I can tell you, though, that the whole thing has given me some sympathy for people who seek solutions for their health problems in "alternative medicine." Because, really, if somebody told me…
drorzel | May 16, 2008Matthew Yglesias's first book arrives burdened with one of the longest subtitles in memory ("How the Republicans Screw Up Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Screws Up the Democrats"), which is a little off-putting. Of course, it also features a back-cover blurb from Ezra Klein calling it "A very serious, thoughtful argument that has never been made in such detail or with such care." So there's a little in-jokey blog reference to lighten the mood.
I'm not a big reader of political books-- I don't even care for excessively political SF novels-- but I enjoy Matt's blog a good deal, and met him…
drorzel | May 16, 2008Over at Cocktail Party Physics, Jennifer Ouellette offers her Top Ten events at the upcoming World Science Festival in New York City the week after next. The full program is at the festival site, and it looks like there's even something for the stamp collectors. Probably to keep the cool physics-themed events from being overcrowded.
I would be all over this-- NYC is just a few hours away, after all-- were it not directly opposite DAMOP. Which offers its own comprehensive slate of physics programming, albeit with fewer celebrities.
If you're within range of either of these fine events, check…
drorzel | May 16, 2008We had a colloquium talk yesterday from the very energetic Jessica Clark of the American Physical Society's outreach office who talked about the many things that the APS does to bring positive physics experiences to a wide audience. It was a terrific talk, and brought to my attention a couple of programs I hadn't heard about before, aimed at introducing physics to a younger audience.
One of these, aimed at middle-school students and teachers is the "Physics Quest" puzzle activities:
PhysicsQuest is a middle school competition that consists of four physical science experiments centered on a…
drorzel | May 15, 2008
Learning Curves: Verizon Wireless Reminds You to Silence Your Cell Phone During Class
"I'm willing to put corporate logos on my PowerPoint slides if the Math Department gets to keep a decent share of the ad revenue. "
(tags: academia education economics math silly)
Pre-K students benefit when teachers are supportive
Today's news from the Journal of Well, Duh.
(tags: academia education psychology news society culture)
Adolescents' values can serve as a buffer against behaving violently at school
Another shocker.
(tags: academia education psychology news science social-science society…
drorzel | May 15, 2008Over at Swans on Tea, Tom has a great story of his Frankenstein Moment, that moment in science when the lightning flashes, and it's immediately clear that everything just worked, and you have successfully reanimated your creation, or split the atom, or discovered high-temperature superconductivity, or whatever.
As he says, these are rare. My own career has been lacking in real, definitive laughing-maniacally-during-the-thunderclap Frankenstein Moments. It's not that I haven't had experimental successes-- I've done some things that I like to think are pretty cool-- but most of them have been…
drorzel | May 15, 2008I'm giving an exam this morning (magnetic fields, circuits, magnetic forces on charges), which is always a carnival of boredom-- happily, I have papers to grade during the test, which will keep me busy. Sadly, this is not a final exam, as Female Science Professor and others are making or grading right now-- we still have three more weeks of class. Joy.
Anyway, this seems like a good time and topic for a Dorky Poll. So, bouncing off the FSP post, let me ask:
What's your favorite trick question from an exam?
This could be an exam you've taken, or one you've given. All that's required is that…
drorzel | May 15, 2008I have to go to work unpleasantly early to give an exam, and then I'll be occupied for most of the day with a visiting speaker. Here's something cute and fuzzy to compensate:
That's the plush triceratops I bought Tuesday at the Natural History museum shop, as an advance gift for FutureBaby. We're developing a sort of reptilian theme in baby decor-- we registered for a ridiculously cute dino-themed set of linens, and Kate's cross-stitching some baby dragons to hang on the walls.
I'm not sure what this says about us. But the next time somebody asks how we're decorating the nursery (which…
drorzel | May 14, 2008
Fafblog! the whole world's only source for Fafblog.
That's that no-nonsense down-to-business style I like about you, Hillary Clinton! You don't just talk about change. You talk about how much you don't just talk about change!
(tags: politics US silly blogs society)
How to Turn Your Vacuum Cleaner into a Bazooka : Environmental News Blog | Environmental Graffiti
Because sometimes, you just need a bazooka
(tags: science toys physics education)
Daily Kos: State of the Nation
"[Hillary Clinton's] biggest wins--the places where she beat Obama by margins of 2 to 1 or better--have come almost…
drorzel | May 14, 2008I feel a little bad about posting a long ranty thing about stupid and annoying art at the Met, because every time I go there, I find something new and really impressive. For example, the renovations underway in the museum forced me to cut through the European Decorative Arts section, where I never go, because who wants to look at a bunch of over-decorated bedrooms? But in passing through there, I stumbled across a couple of Italian rooms that were really cool-- this trompe l'oeil studio, and a neighboring reconstructed chapel with strange Escher-like geometric figures done in wood inlay on…
drorzel | May 14, 2008Having done a whirlwind and somewhat disappointing swing through the Museum of Natural History, I strolled across Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to get me some culture. I guessed correctly that it was less likely to be choked with middle-school kids, and I never fail to find something interesting to look at.
Of course, art being art, I always find some crap, too, so let's get that out of the way first. Also, it's easier to blog snidely about art I didn't care for than to explain the wonders of the stuff I did like.
We'll start off easy, though, with the Gustave Courbet…
drorzel | May 14, 2008Some colleagues organized a bus trip to New York yesterday, which I went on, on the grounds that a) it was cheap, and b) in a few months, we won't be doing much traveling at all for a while. This required me to get up at an ungodly hour to catch the bus on campus, and the trip itself reminded me of why I don't take public transit, but on the whole, it was a good day. And, of course, blog fodder.
The purpose of the trip was to take students from the intro Astronomy classes to the American Museum of Natural History to see the planetarium show (cue Fountains of Wayne). As this show takes less…
drorzel | May 13, 2008
Shtetl-Optimized » Blog Archive » The bullet-swallowers
"Some connections are obvious: libertarianism and MWI are both are grand philosophical theories that start from premises that almost all educated people accept (quantum mechanics in the one case, Econ 101 in the other), and claim to reach conclusions that
(tags: blogs politics quantum science physics silly economics)
The Quantum Pontiff : Political Interpretations of Quantum Theory
"So if many worlders are the libertarians of interpretations of quantum theory, what political parties do the other interpretations of quantum theory…