catdynamics | March 7, 2007Talking of which, last week I put together the whackiest research proposal I have ever done.
and also one of the most fun and intellectually stimulating.
This is actually saying something, I have co-authored proposals with the phrase "high risk" in the abstract (ooooo!), and got them funded!
It will be very very interesting to see how this one does.
Hey, if it works out I might blog it in 1-3 years...
catdynamics | March 7, 2007Chad has an interesting riff on tenure and academia and the "business model" for universities.
He touches some buttons.
Several things came together today for me, one was a website that required me to pick an occupation that "best fit" what I did. I reluctantly selected teacher, because I am not an administrator, certainly not an engineer and nothing else was even close.
But I am not a teacher, although I do "teach" classes. Nor am I that abomination of a neologism, the "educator". I do interact with students, I present material in a structured manner (I like to think). I guide students in…
catdynamics | March 6, 2007Yarn theory seems like a good way to go...
I have been plowing through the comments and thought I'd do a meta-response, especially since no one is likely to be reading that far down any more.
I should note that my comments on apples and physics hirings has in some ways been taken the wrong way, in particular, I am not advocating the hiring of people who are beyond the scientific fringe and pushing theories that are "not even wrong", but I do genuinely worry that physics in particular, and academia in general is too "faddish" - there is too much chasing after the latest greatest flash in the…
catdynamics | March 5, 2007California, again.
At least it is sunny this time.
Weird and very tiring trip. Tom still has that magic touch with parties though, and sunsets over the Pacific are as beautiful as ever.
catdynamics | March 2, 2007New month, new iPod divinations...
So, oh mighty iPod, what is in store for us this month then?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Woosh.
The Covering: Going to California - Led Zeppelin
The Crossing: Jóla Jólasveinn - Ragga Gísla
The Crown: Now and Then - Arlo Guthrie
The Root: Day of the Lords - Joy Division
The Past: The Firebird: Dance of Kashchey's Retinue
The Future: The Sow Took the Measles - Burl Ives
The Questioner: Wie? Wie? Wie? - Mozart (Magic Flute)
The House: Dust My Blues - Elmore James and His Broom Dusters
The Inside: I don't Need the Pressure Ron - Billy Bragg
The Outcome: Út…
catdynamics | March 1, 2007unconfirmed AsiaTimes article claims "refueling assets" are being relocated to Diego Garcia
big US air base on Diego Garcia (leased from UK)
if one were to make active contingency plans involving large numbers of aircraft dropping stuff, then one step would be to quietly move air refueling squadrons forward a week or two earlier.
Not sure which squadrons those could be, many are ANG or reserve; some were called up for recent Red Flag exercises. No news on them.
In the meantime the 5th Fleet got a new commander, the old one moves back to Pentagon and up in rank after 16 months on the job…
catdynamics | February 27, 2007I see SEED has sold ad space for the new Discovery Channel buzz episode, the purported discovery of the family grave of Yeshua bar Yosef, aka Jesus Christ, complete with his bones, along those of his wife Mary, mother Mary, son Judah and two of his four brothers...
I wonder who Judah was named after... that had to have hurt.
Dan Brown can presumably look forward to another blip upwards in sales (ok, I confess I read the stoopid book, I needed some light reading, I felt I should know what the fuss was about, and a visitor left a hardcover with us... anyway, it had da Vinci in it, right?).
But…
catdynamics | February 27, 2007Poetic lot those ancients.
There is a total lunar eclipse this weekend, saturday at midnight in western Europe, right at sunset on the east coast of the US.
Click for full size
From NASA Headline News Feb '07
To see it in the US, hope for clear skies, and find high ground with unobstructed view to the east and look for the moon rising right at sunset.
Here are the technical details
One hour and 14 minute duration.
Total eclipse becomes visible right at the Iran-Afghan border, ironically enough, and is just visible on the east coast of the US right at sunset. Europe, Middle East and Africa…
catdynamics | February 25, 2007David Weintraub has written a really delightful little book on the Pluto controversy.
The book is written as a historical overview, starting with pre-historic observations running through classical astronomy to modern times, discussing the classification schemes and discoveries in chronological order.
The level is that of an introductory astronomy class, this book would do wonders for a first year student taking an introductory (non-mathematical) astronomy class, covering topics a typical class might spend a few weeks on at the beginning of the class.
It should also make good reading for…
catdynamics | February 22, 2007in which I triangulate on string theory and quantum gravity and ponder the "Trouble with Physics"...
which is that physicists are hired the same way we pick apples at the supermarket.
Look! Shiny! Big! Red!
Finally, I finished Smolin's "Trouble with Physics". Hopefully in time for the paperback coming out...
It is very good, in parts. Well worth reading, and will amuse some, interest others and infuriate the occasional technician.
Fortunately I am not the first to review the book and I will lay no claim to being comprehensive nor unbiased.
I had a brief and early fling with string theory…
catdynamics | February 22, 2007Wow, friday again... we'll be delocally topical and ask: Oh mighty iPod, is the very space-time metric upon which we calculate our oh so effective theories really an emergent phenomenon of a more dynamic and fundamental planckian structure?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Michael Caine - Madness
The Crossing: Little Jack Horner
The Crown: Rat Race - Specials
The Root: Isolation - Joy Division
The Past: I'm So Worried - Monty Python
The Future: Jaded - Green Day
The Questioner: Four Ruffles and Flourishes, General's March
The House: Money Song - Monty Python
The Inside:…
catdynamics | February 22, 2007Brutally blunt ScienceCareers article on this year's NASA funding
Article summarises the current situation well, focusing on a couple of hard hit fields like astrobio and Earth observations.
If you want to see the future, go admire the new ROSES call for proposals - as promised, Long Term Space Astrophysics is gone, but so has the Beyond Einstein Foundation Science program and the Terrestrial Planet Finder Foundation Science.
BEFS was subsumed in the Astrophysics Theory Program, but the total budget for that is much less than the combined budget of the two programs used to be - classic "…
catdynamics | February 22, 2007WaPo has the IAEA report to the UN on Iran's compliance or lack thereof (PDF)
Good stuff on Verification blog
Interesting stuff.
IAEA full story is here (it helpfully explains they won't release the restricted distribution report that the WaPo printed...)
The Iranians have made a bunch (~ 100 tons) of natural uranium hexafluoride, suitable to enrichment in their centrifuge cascade, and have two 164 centrifuge cascades in place with two more to be up by the end of the month, and they are being prepped for a run through.
They did a 50kg batch test run, enriching to 4.2% (compared to 0.7%…
catdynamics | February 22, 2007Rob of Galactic Interactions has finally joined the SciBling collective
All shall be assimilated.
catdynamics | February 21, 2007the US navy right now has two expeditionary strike groups and two carrier strike groups in the Arabian Sea.
PS: Armada vs Iran - curious set of stories in the Telegraph.
Something is being telegraphed.
that is a lot of ships... and there is another carrier group and elements of two more expeditionary groups in the western pacific, by the looks of it
but, that is not all: China is sending a couple of frigates to the Arabian Sea to exercse with Pakistan; exercise will include US, UK, France, Turkey and Bangladesh ships!
but, that is not all: the Indian navy has concentrated in the Arabian Sea…
catdynamics | February 19, 2007O frabjous day!
Billy Bragg Podcast #7 - walls come tumbling down and Internationale comes out.
Great stuff.
catdynamics | February 19, 2007So, what are the intractable problems in science?
Which scientific open issues or problems are we limited in making further progress in, right now, because the problem is technically too hard?
Where we simply do not know what to do, or how to make further progress, through lack of technical ability in actually approaching the problem and its solution; as distinct from resource limited problems which we could solve if we had bigger telescopes or accelerators, or more grad students or faster computers, or simply more money over more time?
catdynamics | February 19, 2007I am not at the AAAS meeting in San Francisco, even though I am only about 30 minutes from where it is held...
So I was interested to see Larry Page addressed the meeting and admonished scientists for their failings
AAAS podcast here
Apparently science needs to be more entrepreneurial, needs better marketing, and has some problems to solve.
Now, I actually agree with science's need to be more entrepreneurial, even though I come from one of the more abstract and useless of the sciences. Science is too conservative, and too many scientists don't think about how their research might be of use…
catdynamics | February 18, 2007Finally; an mp3 version of Gaudeamus Igitur that doesn't quite sound like a damn hymn. (University of Stuttgart choir).
Pereat Diabolus!
catdynamics | February 18, 2007emusic.com has Clint Eastwood and General Saint.
Specifically they have the classic "Stop that Train" including the all time favourite "Vote for We"
iTunes: you have let me down.
But who will have The Fall?
Oops, emusic has The Fall!
Theme from Sparta FC #2!
Live in Reykjavík!
Elves!
and they do free 30sec mp3 samples.
this could get very expensive...
But no Half Man Half Biscuit.
Could do better...