I forgot to tell you about this. The name Eris has been officially chosen by the International Astronomical Union for the astronomical body so many wanted to be called Xena. (Keck image, left) Eris is the goddess of discord and strife, by the way. The moon of the body, that … Click to continue reading this post
Don’t miss out on the new physics blog carnival, Philosophia Naturalis, hosted at Science and Reason. Lots of good stuff to read there. -cvj
The next Categorically Not! is Sunday 24th September. I’ve posted before about the Categorically Not! series of events held at the Santa Monica Art Studios. They’re fantastic, and I strongly encourage you to come to them if you’re in the area. Have a look at the last two descriptions here … Click to continue reading this post
This is the penultimate line in an article today in the Science Times: “Sometimes how the blood is splattered on the wall tells you more about what happened than the body,†It is a quote from Harold Levison of the Southwest Research Institute, in the context of understanding the origins … Click to continue reading this post
In view of the discussion here and here, I feel I ought to remind readers of an earlier post entitled “The Rise of the Nerd” I wrote on the subject of nerds, geeks, the terminology, and the media portrayals. Somewhere in there is a serious point, which keeps getting missed … Click to continue reading this post
I’m trying hard not to think about this day, five years ago, in Manhattan. Nor the days immediately following. Those were among the worst experiences of my life, being so close (but very luckily, far away enough) to the events. But the whole thing gets replayed by the media every … Click to continue reading this post
I have this problem: I don’t really have enough hours in each day. One of the symptoms of this problem is a huge pile of unread or partially read issues of the New Yorker. Sometimes I try to catch up. This catching up is incomplete, of course, and sometimes I … Click to continue reading this post
One of my hobbies for a while when I was a young ‘un was origami. It was swiftly overtaken by other arts and crafts, and these were hobbies long before I started taking apart cameras and radios, and the like, to see how they worked, and collecting pondwater and pressing … Click to continue reading this post
I learned from New Scientist just now that various researchers working on modified gravity theories are casting doubt on the direct evidence of Dark Matter that was presented by Douglas Clowe and collaborators a few weeks ago. Recall an earlier post on it, here, and Sean Carroll’s post with more … Click to continue reading this post
Actually, it’s even better than I thought! There’s a whole collection called “The String Doll Gang”. Here are some of them (click for larger): Cute aren’t they? Yes, each apparently made of onecontinuouspieceofstring. More about them, and closeups (and prices) at this site. Now, being a responsible citizen … Click to continue reading this post
So this semester, at the request/suggestion of the people who bring USC freshmen the Freshman Seminars, KC Cole and I started a new course. Turned out we were brought in to replace another professor who was originally billed to do what looks to be an Art appreciation course. Looked good. … Click to continue reading this post
Apparently, we are hard-wired for superstition and religion. This is according to Bruce Hood, of Bristol University, in the UK. I learned this from an article in the Guardian by James Randerson, which you can read here. The good professor: suggests that magical and supernatural beliefs are hardwired into our … Click to continue reading this post
The BBC’s Radio 4 starts a new programme about astronomy tonight. Called “The Cosmic Hunters”, it sounds as though it will be rather good, so do tune in. It will be on Wednesdays at 9:00pm. It will be discussing various areas of recent research, using some of the optical telescopes … Click to continue reading this post
… since on Friday, our event of Thursday night, along with a photo of KC and myself in action, made the front page …of the campus newspaper, the Daily Trojan! This is a big deal, you see. Front page spots for faculty in the student newspaper…. and colour photos to … Click to continue reading this post
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!)
