So, string theorists, the next time anyone asks you again whether scientists will ever be able to directly demonstrate that everything and everyone is made of string, show ’em this ! Yes, this (a surprise gift last week*) is a “Little Prince” doll, made of onecontinuouspieceofstring! -cvj (*Thanks Michelle!)
How to pass a few minutes outside on a very hot day? Do a demo in front of 90 students when you’re not sure of your equipment, of course! This was in the cause of demontrating Newton’s Laws of Motion in my Physics 100 class today. I’m actually moving backwards … Click to continue reading this post
Er… I had in mind the other sense of the word “retreat”. Although the Catholic Church does officially agree that: […] the earth is roughly four billion years old and that species changed through evolution. But then it gets a little messy after that, as you know. Although not utterly … Click to continue reading this post
It is Labor Day here (for once I use the weird spelling, in deference to geography, etc) and, as usual it is incredibly hot. Already at 92 degrees by lunchtime, and I’m in a relatively cool part of the city. Tomorrow will have lots of pictures in the newspaper of … Click to continue reading this post
I’ve been waiting for three years… another six weeks or so to go… It’s going to be great ! -cvj
At about 12000 ft up a mountain, near the supremely beautiful Willow Lake (my destination… I’ll tell you about this and why I was doing it in a little while, now that I’ve managed to get the pictures off my ailing Mingus) my faithful companions of 14 years -my Asolo … Click to continue reading this post
Saturday morning’s fig harvest. I think you’ll agree with me that this constitutes an emergency. I need to make some tasty thing or other in order to use these up. I’m thinking of something in the pie department. I have a few ideas of my own, but nothing is blowing … Click to continue reading this post
Well, we had a full house. Really full. The auditorium at Annenberg has a seat capacity of 220, and all of those were in use, with people standing at the sides and sitting on the floor. In view of the fact that I was prepared to live with the fact … Click to continue reading this post
Well, it’s the morning after. I did not wake up with that sort of cringing feeling that you get when the night before had an event you’d rather forget such as that time you said something incredibly stupid at a dinner party, or some other such thing. No, I woke … Click to continue reading this post
This is a reminder of today’s event here at the USC campus. I’ve no idea what is going to happen. Uncertain, I suppose I should say. That’s the fun of it…. we’ll just see what serendipity brings. To kick off the events, I’m going to show that lovely clip from … Click to continue reading this post
You’ve probably heard the news wherever on the planet you are. California’s legislature is commiting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels (so, by 25%) by the year 2020. I’ve got a class to prepare, and so can’t spend a huge amount of time writing a long cheerleader-type post … Click to continue reading this post
This is the lovely composite Hubble space telescope picture that is going around, showing the debris of a supernova – a star’s explosion. This is Cassiopeia A, and the explosion happened in 1680 AD, our time. See HST’s website for more on this , and discussion on the Bad Astronomy … Click to continue reading this post
[Updated, see below.] You’ll recall the news I reported about a number of members of the astronomy and planetary science community asking people to sign a petition to get the IAU to reconsider their Prague decision to accept the planetary definition that resulted in the “Pluto demotion”. See this link … Click to continue reading this post
I don’t know about you but I melt each of the (very few these days) times I receive a real letter, by post, that contains… stuff we used to put in letters. Not the endless formal letters from business, nor the fake personal ones from businesses (like the amazing fancily … Click to continue reading this post
Lovely yellow folding bike, spotted on campus outside my building. Soooo cuuuuuute! Two comments: (1) I wish they’d raise the seat on this bike, give it a bit of self respect so that it does not look like a children’s toy. (Assuming it is not… I am not familiar with … Click to continue reading this post
