December 17, 2009
Quantum physics can sometimes seem so arcane that even humans don't need to worry about it, let alone dogs. It's actually tremendously important to our modern world. In fact, if you're reading this on a computer (and how else would you be getting it?), you have quantum physics to thank for it.…
December 17, 2009
Checking in to see whether the Amazon page for How to Teach Physics to Your Dog has been updated (it had an older version of the cover copy yesterday morning, but that's been fixed), I see that the "Buy Together" box has been updated. It now says:
Customers buy this book with The God Engines by…
December 17, 2009
Yesterday's reason to love quantum was the CCD sensor, which relies on the photoelectric effect to take digital pictures. Sticking with the photoelectric theme, today's first quantum-enabled technology is the photovoltaic cell, the basis for solar panels.
Photovoltaic cells convert light into…
December 17, 2009
slacktivist: Preferring nightmares
"What I don't get is the kind of deliberate delusion in which a person chooses to pretend the world is more horrifying and filled with more and more-monstrous monsters. Why would anyone prefer such a place to the real world? Why would anyone wish for a world…
December 16, 2009
I've been writing a bunch of publicity copy for the book the last few weeks, and one of those things is a list of reasons why every dog should know about quantum physics. I've been planning to chop that up into a bunch of individual blog posts in the run-up to the book, but the Washington Post beat…
December 16, 2009
While I'm thrilled to see How to Teach Physics to Your Dog listed on Amazon, I am distressed to see it offered as a pair with something called The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggart. I'm not linking to the Amazon page for that book, because it's a giant pile of crap, and I wouldn't want anyone…
December 16, 2009
"Edward Gorey's "The Trouble with Tribbles"" By Shaenon K. Garrity
"By morning, the mass of mewling fluff had become quite suffocating"
(tags: comics television sf silly literature)
Dave Foley | Film | Random Roles | The A.V. Club
"With his boyish good looks and wry delivery, Dave Foley was…
December 15, 2009
I'm spending today doing some Christmas shopping, god help me. So here's a seasonally-appropriate poll for you all:
The worst part of going to a mall in December is:(polls)
Please choose only one. No returns or exchanges.
December 15, 2009
It's exactly one week to the release date for How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, and to celebrate, I'm setting off on an expedition to the local mall(s) in search of Christmas presents. May God have mercy on my soul...
Anyway, I wouldn't want you to be without entertainment while I'm off helping the…
December 15, 2009
slacktivist: "Yes we can"
"Evidence is of no consequence to Medina and Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck and the rest of the terrified angry mob calling itself a Tea Party because they're not acting based on evidence, or reason, or reality, or honesty. They're acting based on fear -- blind, howling,…
December 14, 2009
The overlap between my readership and SF fandom is not as high as one might like, but I thought I would throw this out there anyway:
What were the best science fiction and/or fantasy stories of 2009?
("Stories" here can mean anything from short stories to novels to feature films. We're all about…
December 14, 2009
In response to my post about Amazon sales-rank tracking, Matthew Beckler created just such a tracker:
That's the last few days' worth of hourly rankings of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, as of 10am Eastern. Enormous dork that I am, I find this really fascinating, and not just in an absolute-…
December 14, 2009
Like every other media outlet, Slate has a Best Books of 2009 list, in this case featuring one book chosen by each of their 22 editors. Editor in chief Jacob Weisberg chose Richard Holmes's The Age of Wonder, and writes:
If, like me, you didn't study much science after high school, this absorbing…
December 14, 2009
Blog U.: 'With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them' - Mama PhD - Inside Higher Ed
"According to the report, the US has now slipped to tenth place in international college completion rates. I don't think it's coincidental that we are one of the few developed countries in which subsidized day care is…
December 13, 2009
SteelyKid is a great big baby. By which I mean, she's large for her age. We keep running into other parents whose kids are about the same size as her, but a year or more older.
Every now and then, though, she does something to remind us that she's still got a lot of growing to do, such as trying on…
December 13, 2009
I mostly try to avoid stupid celebrity gossip stories, but the last two weeks, it's been impossible to escape the sordid Tiger Woods thing. I still don't care about his personal life, but there's one thing that keeps coming up in the media coverage that's annoying me even beyond the stupidity of…
December 13, 2009
7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable | Cracked.com
"[H]ow did we wind up with a more negative view of the world than our parents? Or grandparents? Back then, people didn't live as long and babies died more often. Diseases were more common. In those days, if your buddy moved away the…
December 12, 2009
Dr Peter Watts, Canadian science fiction writer, beaten and arrested at US border Boing Boing
With information on how to donate to his legal defense.
(tags: canada sf law blogs crime US stupid)
The Good and Bad of the New Hubble Image : Starts With A Bang
Earlier this week, I showcased the…
December 11, 2009
I was sitting in my office on campus, working on some computer stuff, when I noticed a bunch of guys from Facilities out in the hall, bustling around doing something. A few minutes later, one of them stopped right outside my door, and called into the main Facilities office on his cell phone.
"We're…
December 11, 2009
One of the things I forgot to mention in yesterday's post about why I like AMO physics is that AMO systems have proven to be outstanding tools for solving problems from other fields of physics. In particular, ultra-cold atoms have proven to be a fantastic venue for studying problems from condensed…
December 11, 2009
You know, if somebody were to put together an application that would periodically check the Amazon sales rank of a given book and generate a Google Analytics style time series graph, and charge authors $5/book to see the output, I bet they'd make a bunch of money.
Granted, it would put that person…
December 11, 2009
Everybody in academia has a story about the worst teaching evaluations they've ever received. None of them will ever be able to top James Marchbanks of UC Davis, though:
Two documents obtained by The Bee on Wednesday illustrate vastly different interpretations of what happened in a UC Davis acting…
December 11, 2009
Blu-ray Review: "Living Fireplace Volume 2" | Popdose
"Yes, I've written a review of a Blu-ray disc that features little more than a burning fireplace. I know it's a little weird. Here's something even weirder: Everyone has their favorite television holiday special, right? Mine is the Yule Log…
December 10, 2009
SteelyKid was kind of overtired today, so she needed a little nap around dinnertime. This provided a nice opportunity to get a sleepy-baby picture for this week's Baby Blogging:
Bonus Kate for extra "OMG! Huuuuuge Baby!!!1!" effect.
She's wearing a way-cool roaring dinosaur shirt (purchased from…
December 10, 2009
A purely hypothetical situation for today's poll. Purely.
You have agreed to read and review six grant proposals by Sunday. Today is Thursday, and you have not read them yet. What do you do?(poll)
If anybody needs me, I'll be in an undisclosed location not responding to email.
December 10, 2009
Months ago, during the DonorsChoose fundraiser, I offered to answer questions from people who donated to the Challenge. I then promptly forgot to respond to the questions sent in. Mea maxima culpa. Here's a way-too-late response to a good question from "tcmJOE":
I've spent the past few years trying…
December 10, 2009
The Elusive Open Mind: Ten Years of
"EVERYONE THINKS they are open-minded. Scientists in particular like to think they have open minds, but we know from psychology that this is just one of those attributes that people like to apply to themselves. We shouldn't perhaps have to worry about it at all…
December 9, 2009
Harry Brighouse at Crooked Timber has a very good post about schools that appear to "beat the odds", getting good results with populations that don't typically do well in school. It does an excellent job of laying out the problems with the vast majority of attempts to determine which schools are "…
December 9, 2009
I just finished shoveling six-plus inches of snow off our cars and driveway (the forecast called for something like 3-5", but we've got more than that, with no slowing in the fall). In honor of the first significant snowfall of the year, a poll:
It's snowing:(survey)
This one has ticky-boxes,…
December 9, 2009
Physics Buzz: When chemistry dunces bake
"Shirley Corriher, a former research biochemist at Vanderbilt University, got her start in the kitchen burning scrambled eggs beyond all recognition. Later, when she ruined recipes while taking a cooking class, she impressed her teacher by being able to…
