August 11, 2010
Crowd Sourcing Loses Steam - Newsweek
"There's no shortage of theories on why Wikipedia has stalled. One holds that the site is virtually complete. Another suggests that aggressive editors and a tangle of anti-vandalism rules have scared off casual users. But such explanations overlook a far…
August 10, 2010
SteelyKid had her two-year checkup this morning, which means we got new weight and length measurements for her. It's been a while since I did anything really dorky with her data, so here are a couple of graphs tracking her growth:
(Yes, they're in English units, not SI. Deal with it.)
Using the…
August 10, 2010
A reader emails to ask about a new-to-me theory of physics, called "Quantum Space Theory" being promoted by a fellow named Thad Roberts. I wouldn't usually bother with this, but Roberts was one of the speakers at TEDx Boulder. this is disappointing, to put it mildly-- TED is a respected…
August 10, 2010
Why Public Employees Are The New Welfare Queens | The New Republic
"To what extent is the problem that the retirement benefits for unionized public sector workers have become too generous? And to what extent is the problem that retirement benefits for everybody else have become too stingy?
I…
August 9, 2010
As seen in yesterday's post, SteelyKid got a grill this weekend:
This led to one of the cutest toddler anecdotes to date, which I'll put below the fold for the sake of those heartless souls who don't like cute kids.
SteelyKid was running around with an ice cube in a paper cup, because ice is…
August 9, 2010
So, last week, I talked about how superconductors work, and I have in the past talked about the idea of making cold atoms look like electrons. And obvious question, then, whould be:
Do cold atoms systems allow us to learn anything about superconductivity? The answer here is, unfortunately, "Yes and…
August 9, 2010
the hot topic in mathematical sciences at the moment is the draft proof that P≠NP (warning: PDF). This is one of the biggest issues in computer science, and one of the Clay Mathematics Institute's Millennium Problems, so a proof would be Big News in math/CS, and earn the prover a cool $1,000,000.…
August 9, 2010
Young Engineer Uses Webcam, Laser to Build Budget 3-D Scanner | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
"Using little more than a webcam and a laser, a young engineer has built a cheap 3D scanner that dovetails perfectly with the Makerbot and other desktop fabricators. It could be used as part of a copying system…
August 8, 2010
SteelyKid was down in Boston at her grandmother's for a few days, which was a nice break, but it's always good to get home to Chateau SteelyKid:
Notice the spiffy new grill in the right corner of the patio, Of course, when you're out of town for a few days, all sorts of work piles up in your…
August 7, 2010
Happy second birthday, SteelyKid! That wasn't taken on her birthday, but it's one of my favorite early pictures of her. Now, of course, she looks like this:
That is, when she'll hold still long enough to be photographed...
August 6, 2010
In comments to yesterday's post about my favorite Many-Worlds story, a couple of people mention "All the Myriad Ways," a Larry Niven short story. I don't think I've ever actually read the story, but it gets brought up all the time, so I'm familiar with the concept. It's an angle on Many-Worlds that…
August 6, 2010
I was going to write something serious about physics, but it's my student's last day, so we're taking him to lunch. So here's a silly poll to entertain you until I get back:
If I suspected I might be living in a dream, but couldn't be sure, I would:survey software
You can only choose one answer…
August 6, 2010
We haven't yet gotten to the point where we're comfortable leaving SteelyKid with a babysitter, so seeing the movie everybody's talking about took a while. Since she's off at Gammy's, though, we got a rare night to ourselves and went to the movies.
My immediate reaction is that it's great to see a…
August 6, 2010
Turn or go straight? Quick! : Dot Physics
This is a classic problem. You are in a car heading straight towards a wall. Should you try to stop or should you try to turn to avoid the wall? Bonus question: what if the wall is not really wide so you don't have to turn 90 degrees?
(tags: physics…
August 5, 2010
I meant to take a picture of SteelyKid yesterday, before she left for Grammy's, so we would have a Toddler Blogging shot for the week. Alas, I am a dope, so you will have to make do with this out-take from last week's shots, in which SteelyKid shares her opinion of her father's dodgy memory:
She's…
August 5, 2010
Today, Tor.com has posted the complete story "Divided by Infinity" by Robert Charles Wilson. This remains probably the best science fiction story ever using the Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum physics (though it doesn't call it that explicitly), and also the creepiest:
In the year after…
August 5, 2010
A reader emailed me with a few questions regarding How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, one of which is too good not to turn into a blog post:
What is a photon from an experimental perspective?... Could you perhaps provide me with a reference that discusses some experiments and these definitional…
August 5, 2010
This Slate story on the number of Americans who can't swim was kind of surprising to me:
In a 1994 CDC study, 37 percent of American adults said they couldn't swim 24 yards, the length of a typical gymnasium lap pool. A 2008 study conducted by researchers at the University of Memphis found that…
August 5, 2010
Judge Walker's decision to overturn Prop 8 is factual, well-reasoned, and powerful. - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine
"It's hard to read Judge Walker's opinion without sensing that what really won out today was science, methodology, and hard work. Had the proponents of Prop 8 made even a…
August 4, 2010
On the reader request thread, commenter Brad had several questions; one led to yesterday's post about superconductors, another is a critical issue in pedagogy:
Finally, why did all of my stat[istical] mech[anics] courses suck?
Statistical Mechanics is the branch of physics that deals with…
August 4, 2010
I had the tab open and everything, and still somehow forgot to include a link to John Baez's blog post reporting on a talk by Tony Leggett which directly addresses some of the questions asked about yesterday's superconductivity post. It's about a talk called "Cuprate superconductivity: the current…
August 4, 2010
The Virtuosi: Steak Dinner
"I recently got a new digital meat thermometer. My plan was to slowly cook the steak until the internal temperature got to be about 140 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven at 200 degrees, take it out, wrap in tin foil, crank the oven to 500 degrees, stick it back in, and…
August 3, 2010
SteelyKid's second birthday is Saturday, so we're getting her a few things. Given the recent video I posted, one of her presents was really obvious:
As you can tell, she's inherited her father's skillset. If the dunk picture doesn't convince you, this picture of her ace ball-handling ought to:…
August 3, 2010
There's a great post at NeuroDojo on the Heffernan business this weekend, and what the take-away ought to be:
Yeah, let's criticize that she didn't get past the first impression of science blogs. We should expect Heffernan to look before leaping - she writes for the Times, after all, which still…
August 3, 2010
In the reader request thread, Brad asks about superconductors:
Why is a room temperature superconductor so hard? Why do things have to be cold for there to be no resistance (I can guess, but my knowledge of super conductors consists of the words "Cooper pairs" which does not get me very far.)…
August 3, 2010
Scientopia
A new non-profit science blog collective, including several people who left ScienceBlogs in Sodamageddon.
(tags: science blogs internet academia)
Experimental Error: Don't Try This at Home - Science Careers - Biotech, Pharmaceutical, Faculty, Postdoc jobs on Science Careers
"So if…
August 2, 2010
Thoreau at Unqualified Offerings gets credit for inspiring two posts today with his proposed Murphy's Law experiment and this one, about an unrelated issue in quantum measurement. This is an analogy suggested by a colleague a couple of years ago, comparing the projection of a quantum wavefunction…
August 2, 2010
Over at Unqualified Offerings, Thoreau proposes an an experimental test of Murphy's Law using the lottery. While amusing, it's ultimately flawed-- Murphy's Law is something of the form:
Anything that can go wrong, will.
Accordingly, it can only properly be applied to situations in which there is a…
August 2, 2010
Avi Steiner emailed me with a set of questions that are too good not to turn into a blog post:
Being a math/science major at a small liberal arts college, I unfortunately never get the "full" experience of a math/science talk. Since I do plan on eventually attending grad school, I thought it might…
August 2, 2010
Busted Explanations for Karate Breaking | Rennie's Last Nerve
"Martial arts are my hobby and explaining science is my job, so the recent appearance of "How karate chops break concrete blocks" on io9.com naturally caught my eye. Unfortunately, not only did it fall far short of my hopes of offering…
