catdynamics | September 13, 2010Later this month, the National Research Council will, finally, release the much awaited and much anticipated Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs.
Every 10 years, roughly, the NRC publishes graduate program rankings, the last having been come out in 1995...
The rankings will be released tuesday 28th September 2010.
Today the participating universities will be told how to get embargoed prior access to the data for their own institutions, so they can prepare for the public release, next week the actual embargoed data will be released to each institution.
4838 graduate program…
catdynamics | August 30, 2010Virginia County Circuit Judge Peatross set aside a subpoena by Cuccinelli, Virginia's Attorney General, seeking the record of Prof. Michael Mann while he worked at the University of Virginia.
The ruling said the AG had failed state what was suspected to be false or fraudulent, but leaves the option for Cuccinelli to refile a new supoena.
UVa likes
Cuccinelli apperntly intends to refile the subpoena as soon as he can think of something suitable fishy to randomly allege.
h/t kos
NYT story
WaPo story
catdynamics | August 27, 2010Extraordinarily good video visualizing the last three decades of asteroid discovery
It is a bit slow to start with, but really picks up in the last minute.
Worth the wait.
Nice one.
And not done yet.
About time to do a similar visualization of the Kuiper belt objects and outer asteroids.
h/t Bulent via fb
catdynamics | August 26, 2010Kepler has a new discovery, coming out in Science tomorrow.
Press conference is currently underway.
Discovery is 2 Saturn size planets in 2:1 resonance in 19 and 38 day orbits.
In addition there is a third signal suggesting 1.5 Earth radii planet in 1.6 day orbital period.
Star is "sun like" [sic]. Paper comes out tonight.
- Physical plant wants to put in my desk now, and my desktop is down and I have to clear out in a minute - - done, that was fast. No desktop till tomorrow tough.
Transit Timing Variation should give the planetary masses soon, and few more orbits should confirm the third…
catdynamics | August 24, 2010so, er, anyone hear of any new exciting results?
y'know: loads o'planets, measurements of dark energy EOS, burpy black holes?
and wtf will Kepler announce on thursday, eh?
- or, y'know, be considerate and stop publishing exciting new stuff when the rest of us are trying to get term started!
oh, and the NRC rankings of grad programs come out in 5 weeks...
catdynamics | August 13, 2010
"The priority science objectives chosen by the survey committee for the decade 2012-2021 are searching for the first stars, galaxies, and black holes; seeking nearby habitable planets; and advancing understanding of the fundamental physics of the universe."
Ok, but the recommended priority mission to fulfill the goal is to piggyback exoplanet microlensing on a dark energy wide field imaging mission.
That is neat mission concept with interesting discovery space and will leverage our understanding of low mass planets in longer period orbits.
But, "nearby"? - sweet spot is several kpc away!
I…
catdynamics | August 13, 2010Decadal eTownhall meeting is about to start, and apparently some astronomy departments "forgot" to sign up for a webcast slot, so, like modern finance, those of us with the millisecond time advantage will leverage the advantage.
For the rest, here is the liveblog of the webcast, or find a tweet with no delay
(Derek is tweeting).
First question, no doubt, will be: "Roger, WHO chose the Muzak for the people waiting on hold...?"
and we're off...
apparently proceeds of the popcorn sales at the webcast sites will fund the new projects... hah!
Oh, that was not a joke.
We start off by emphasizing…
catdynamics | August 10, 2010Something Wicked This Way Comes
Friday, August 13th the Astronomy Decadal Survey Report is released...
Good thing we're not superstitious, eh?
The Decadal Survey is a clever thing, that Astronomy invented.
Every 10 years, natch, a panel of astronomers, and sub-panels, and sub-sub-panels, and ad-hoc-sub-sub-sub-panels, get together under the leadership of a senior and unimpeachable scientist, and prioritize US national efforts for the field for the next decade.
Last year was a decadal year, and Roger Blandford (Stanford) chaired it.
The panel is run by the National Research Council and…
catdynamics | July 22, 2010Where do you rank in the constellation of stellar astronomers?
The Astronomy Blog is inspired!
This is brilliant.
Brilliant, but a little bit scary.
The Astronomy Blogger ranked astronomers on a H-R diagram:
that is log(google Hits) vs log(refereed Research papers)
Below I shamelessly plagiarize copy fair use an edited version of the key figure.
click to embiggen
Yes, I cruelly edited out the Really Interesting Names at the top and left - you'll just have to click through to the Astronomy Blog to read them, won't you...
That is Me! in blue... just under 100 papers, and google says "…
catdynamics | July 22, 2010but they don't know it yet
feeling a bit bolshie today:
freedom is just another word
for nothing left to sell!
how dare they buy our products
and still they don't respect us!
mood music for the afternoon
catdynamics | July 20, 2010ok, hiatus over, while negotiations take place
I long for the morning,
when they realise...
like shortest walkout ever, brothers and sisters
bummernickels, that means I got to think of, like, content, and science, and shit
again
catdynamics | July 20, 2010never cross a picket line
PZ on strike
see also Chad
1/4 of the blogs on Sb have shut down and several are on strike or hiatus waiting to see what happens.
catdynamics | July 19, 2010More Sb departures...
Coturnix leaves, with a most elocutory epilogue
whose ball is it?
catdynamics | July 15, 2010Apparently I write like David Foster Wallace...
Say what?
Oh, that David Foster Wallace.
Er.
Cool.
Now you go play with "I write like"
h/t Chad - who apparently has dissociative writing disorder or something...
catdynamics | July 15, 2010quick: how do you pronounce "unionized"?
well?
is it: Uhn-Eye-On-EyeZed or You-Njuhn-Ized?
catdynamics | July 7, 2010I just had an ice cold Pepsi this afternoon.
It was 35+C (ok, in the mid-nineties), I had just come back from a long hot walk through the kidfest day at the Artfest and I just had to have it.
It was so refreshing, and cool, and invigorating. Why it was exhilarating.
Don't know about the "Aids Digestion" bit - 'course it was Diet... not the same, eh?
It will, probably, be the only pepsi I have this month.
So, us physical science bloggers can be like total sluts, what with Pepsico having bought a blog on scienceblogs.com and many of the other bloggers quitting or suspending operations.
Not.…
catdynamics | July 1, 2010The office of the Vice President for Research at the Pennsylvania State University has released the conclusions of its inquiry into the "climategate" allegations against Prof. Michael Mann.
After a cracker broke into the e-mail archives at the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University, a prolonged and creative controversy broke out across the media and the blogosphere.
After substantial, and in some cases highly inappropriate, external pressure, Penn State promptly reviewed the issue. The VP for Research synthesized the claimed allegations into four formal charges of possible…
catdynamics | June 28, 2010This is what can be done when the political will to do so is there
Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope
100x110m fully steerable, off-axis, active surface radio telescope.
Very nice, very productive.