catdynamics | January 15, 2008Iain M. Banks "Matter" - a Culture Novel: Feb 2008 Orbit Books.
h/t Brad
catdynamics | January 14, 2008Therese at "Random Thoughts of an Astro Major" scores a short interview with AAS President Craig Wheeler
catdynamics | January 14, 2008The universe is very big.
It is also cold, old and empty.
On a cold monday morning it also feels capricious, as it did to most of our ancestors most of the time.
Yet, one of the most amazing things about the universe is that it actually appears to be amenable to reason.
If we knew why that is, we might understand a lot more.
catdynamics | January 14, 2008ScienceDebate 2008 is a an idea whose time has come.
But, it may not happen.
So, maybe we can make our own debate.
via NASAwatch
There is a pair of primary debates coming up - Jan 30/31 for the republicans and democrats respectively.
It is sponsored by CNN, politico.com and the LA Times.
Politico is soliciting on-line for questions to the candidates.
Keith over at NASAwatch suggested his reader swamp it with NASA policy questions to try to get one into the actual debate. Scienceblog readers could do the samesomething similar - send in a lot of good, coherent, concise question on general or…
catdynamics | January 11, 2008Penn State Professor: "...an academic who blogs is contributing to the demise of Western culture"
Darn tootin'.
Er, any Deans reading this...?
Just remember that man is a most Dangeral Professor.
catdynamics | January 11, 2008Cold rainy friday, as winter returns.
So, we ask the iPod - what is in store for us this spring semester?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Are We The Waiting - Green Day
The Crossing: Old Dan Tucker - Bruce Springsteen
The Crown: Ch'Ella Mi Creda - Pavarotti
The Root: Peter & the Wolf: The Processionto the Zoo - Prokoviev
The Past: No More Heroes - Stranglers
The Future: The Muffin Man
The Questioner: Song Of Encouragement For The Orme Ascent - Half Man Half Biscuit
The House: Ihr eingeweihten Diener der grossen Gotter - Mozart
The Inside: Stalin Malone - Elvis…
catdynamics | January 9, 2008As the 211th meeting of the American Astronomical Society powers on in Texas, us homebodies bring you the 36th Carnival of Space, for your reading pleasure...
Fraser, at Universe Today is streaming a steady flow of space and astro related news from the AAS meeting, as is Therese at Random Thoughts of an Astro Major and the Bad Astronomer.
Hey, they had a blogger party?! Bummer.
So, what goodies do we have this week?
Advanced Nanotechnology tells us about low mass density high temperature high current density superconductors based on cuttlefish bones. There are space applications.
Pradeep at…
catdynamics | January 9, 2008Mars Gets Women, but he does not get the New Improved Process for Recommendation Letters for Students
...and, may I say, to the graduate program administrators around the country; the commercial on-line application services universally suck
my current experience is that one of the online service providers is ok, the one used by Caltech and Harvard astro.
I've also had the browser incompatibility and mystery crash issue (no, it is NOT my responsibility to get a current version of IE so that another university can subcontract their letter processing to the lowest bidder).
One service asks for…
catdynamics | January 9, 2008Chad speaks out on the upcoming, devastating, cuts in science and takes on Gordon over where the blame lies.
You may be surprised. Either way you ought to read it.
Here is my take on the issue, when the news came out last month...
The root cause of these cuts is with the White House - the budget process was stymied by their veto threats and by the "silent filibustering" of the individual budget bills in the Senate (where the Republicans threaten to withold "unanimous consent" for bringing the bill to a vote if they don't like it - which is a bluff to filibuster - and for some reason the…
catdynamics | January 8, 2008Sounds like the usual bustle down in Austin at the annual American Astronomical Society meeting.
Therese at "Random Thoughts of an Astro Major" is reporting for the SPS and has a good summary of the day's press releases, and links to audio of press conferences.
Phil also has his usual thorough summary of the highlights and pretty pictures.
My correspondent tells me Griffin's talk was interesting. Sounds like SIM was on the chopping block, and was saved by a Congressional earmark line. Something will give elsewhere, the word "scalpel" apparently was used.
NASA education funding is…
catdynamics | January 8, 2008Argh, Yule tide came and went and I never noticed!
Billy Bragg Podcast #9
Holy crap! Billy and Natalie Merchant did a cover of "Birthday" by the Sugarcubes... and they didn't put it on the podcast. Argh! Billy does Einar!
AND Billy Bragg Podcast #10
and he has a new album out. "Mr Love and Justice" indeed.
Oh, and may I say, "Old Clash Fan Fight Song" off the Johnny Clash EP is absolutely brilliant. Can be heard on Billy's MySpace - wait, they let geezers onto MySpace?
catdynamics | January 8, 2008Wegmans supermarkets withdraws all tobacco products from sale.
Wegmans is a mediums sized, family owned, chain of upmarket supermarkets, based in New York and surrounding states.
They are perennially on the "best companies to work for" list, and go for the organic high end crowd - kinda upstate Whole Foods, but with bit broader product base.
They are stopping tobacco sales at all stores, at their own initiative
Wegmans to Stop Selling Cigarettes
For Release: 01-04-2008
Contact Information:
Jo Natale, director of media relations 585-429-3627
Rochester, NY - It was announced today that…
catdynamics | January 7, 2008Therese at "Random Thoughts of an Astro Major is at AAS, and is the SPS reporter.
She will pipe the hot new press release into the blogosphere as fast as she can get 'em.
catdynamics | January 7, 2008The Annual Meeting of the American Astronomical Society is underway in Texas...
...and due to UnForeseen Circumstances, I am not there.
Strangely enough I can't find the program on-line, but I gather I am there virtually, although I just realised I have no idea if I am on more than one poster at the AAS.
But dozens of press releases are, so I start with one of the most interesting, which strangely enough did not come out with the AAS meeting, but came out last week.
Astronomers at the Carnegie Institution have found the first indications of highly complex organic molecules in the disk of red…
catdynamics | January 7, 2008After thinking occasionally about it, for months, and talking to a couple of friends and neighbours, by golly, I think I've got it... It is all about the OWL levels, really.
There are three aspects to the problem of US education: the structure, the pedagogy and the content. I will pontificate on some and touch upon all.
Now UPDATED - I concede a major point... - I rather naughtily moved the date up. This originally came out on Jan 4 at 8 am. I want it higher on my page now that SciBlogs frontpaged it.
First of all, the "No Child Left Behind" act must be abolished.
Last time I read it, my…
catdynamics | January 4, 2008"Why don't they make a birth control pill for men?"
Is what the SciBlog superiors gots to know this week.
Hah!
Clinical trials were done five years ago, it is simple, it works, should make an easy tablet...
Organon and Schering were doing development and projected it on the market by 2009.
but I don't see anything on their current Phase I/II/III trials lists, the product was supposed to be in Phase II in 2004.
Sounds like they gave up on the delivery method in 2006 and abandoned product development. Proof of concept though.
The real problem, however, is not on the technical side, which is…
catdynamics | January 4, 2008A thrilly, chilly friday across the mid-section; but a warm breeze is from the south and west is scooped up from a high straddling the south-east, to bring warmth to the northeast...
So, we ask the Mighty iPod: the Iowa caucus results - are they random vagaries or the start of the mighty movement?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Carnival of the Animals: Royal March of the Lion
The Crossing: Ég á lítinn Skrýtinn Skugga
The Crown:John Peel Tribute - podcast
The Root: Bewahret euch vor Weibertücken - Mozart
The Past: Orgasm Addict - Buzzcocks
The Future: State Troopers (…
catdynamics | January 2, 2008Now that I have joined the call for ScienceDebate 2008, what do I think...
NB: these are my personal opinions and representative of nothing more profound than the WVU vs OU game being rather uninteresting... ;-P
US politics are bistable - the two-party system is a design feature that is hard to break and is disturbingly entrenched in the infrastructure. Ok, it beats the one-party system by a large margin, but I still have an affinity for more general n-party problems...
Party annihilation/creation operations are rare, roughly once-per-century tunneling events. Typically political…