toddler

Last night Julia sent me a link to a video of a Golden Eagle swooping down into a Montreal park, picking up an infant/toddler and lifting it several feet into the air before dropping it and flying off.  Since then many on the Intertubes have declared the video to be a fake while others insist it could be real, but unfortunately many of the reasons given for it being a fake or for being real are misconceptions or inaccuracies.  I'm sure the event depicted in the video is faked ... no eagle picked up a child as depicted ... but the reasons for it being a fake are not as many have suggested.  …
The subject of the "spin" of the electron comes up again and again, so as pointed out in a comment, I really ought to do a post explaining what it is and how it works. As a bonus, this gives me the opportunity to do the dorkiest thing anyone has ever done with a cute-toddler video, namely this one: (That's an early version of SteelyKid's new favorite game. I'll put a clip of the final version of the game at the end of this post.) So, electron spin. Electrons, and all other fundamental particles, have a property known as "spin." This is an intrinsic angular momentum associated with the…
Dearest Minnow, Happy Birthday! I am so proud of my "big girl" who knows her colors, can count to three, has seven word sentences, loves books to the point of memorization, solves puzzles repeatedly, pees on the potty regularly, cares for and cuddles her "baby" and stuffed puppy, sings songs spontaneously, worries about how "Nanna has a big owie," pedals her tricycle, and has words associated with most of the letters in the alphabet ("apple, baby, cat, daddy..."). I'm amazed by how much you've grown so much in just the past few months, and I look forward to being amazed by your…