Chad Orzel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College in Schenectady, NY. He blogs about physics, life in academia, ephemeral pop culture, and anything else that catches his fancy.
I spent a whole bunch of time running around between talks on Thursday, and at one point was grumbling to myself about the way the organizers had scheduled all the good stuff at one time. Only later did I realize that it really wasn't their fault-- it's all good stuff, and there are only a few…
If you're reading this shortly after it's posted, you may notice ads for this book popping up in the sidebar and on top of the page. This is probably not entirely a happy coincidence-- I was offered a review copy in email from the author and his publisher, and I suspect that they had ScienceBlogs…
A very quick run-down of physics topics at DAMOP, before I go to bed:
I skipped the prize session at 8am, so I started my day with Bill Phillips's talk in the recent developments in optical lattices session. Oddly, his talk really didn't have much to do with lattices, but it's always a pleasure to…
I made it to Happy Valley without incident, though it is Orange Cone Season in Pennsylvania, and I spent a lot of time dodging construction. Happily, there really wasn't anything important at the meeting last night.
So I skipped out on the welcome reception to have dinner and a few beers with Kevin…
A little while back, Matthew Hughes offered a free copy of his forthcoming novel Template to online reviewers via his web site. I wasn't able to read it fast enough to get in on James Nicoll's review-a-thon, but I finished it a few days ago.
Template is set in the same basic world as Majestrum, a…
Confessions of a Community College Dean: Academe and Parenting
"Part of the problem, I think, is the potentially infinite demands of the job. How much time does it take, per week, to prep and grade a typical class?"
(tags: academia kid-stuff society culture education)
The Traveling Taps Brigade…
I did a few of these a while back, and then, as usual, sort of stopped posting on the subject. There are a limited number of articles on science, religion, and culture wars that actually catch and hold my interest, so it's hard to populate a regular links dump.
Of course, I could always just mirror…
I'm off to the 39th meeting of DAMOP, the division of the American Physical Society for people who do the really cool stuff involving whole atoms and lasers. I've queued up a few things so that the site won't go dark, and the hotel web page promises high-speed Internet, so I may even do a bit of on…
A Misunderstood Monument - WSJ.com
"French worked hard to make his huge Lincoln a man and not a god. This is one rumpled icon. The imperfections are hard to miss. His hair is uncombed. His tie is askew. His hands betray a fidgety disposition, and his eyes aren't quite symmetrical."
(tags: history…
Most of my reaction to this weekend's Emily Gould article in the Times was "Gosh, who knew that writing for Gawker might have a corrosive effect on your personal life...," but there were some interesting bits. She did a nice job explaining how blogging can be sort of addictive, and also had some…
Today is Memorial Day in the US, the official holiday for remembering the men and women killed in our various wars. It's also the traditional start of the summer season, which means that it's always an odd collision of the solemn and the raucous. Growing up, there was always a parade in town, which…
So, the Martians go and helpfully draw a box on the ground as a target for the Phoenix landing, and what do they do? They land next to it, not in it. Way to go, NASA.
I bet if they hadn't screwed up the unit conversions, they would've hit it...
(The square pattern on the ground is really something…
New tests of the Copernican Principle proposed - physicsworld.com
""I would bet my house now that the results will come out null so the Copernican Principle is valid on the scales we observe," says Paul Steinhardt a cosmologist at Princeton University, "But I think the experiments should be done…
Every now and then, I look at the huge list of blogs and news sources in my RSS feeds, and say to myself "You really need to thin these out..." How can I make any progress, though, when there are always great new blogs being created?
The latest new blog to ctach my interest and increment my…
Via Lara, a "meme" calling for the posting of random quotes. Because why not?
"We are an impossibility in an impossible universe. "
Ray Bradbury (1920 - )
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. "
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894)
"Progress isn't…
Mark Batty Publisher/ Books/ Description
Bedtime reading for future font geeks.
(tags: books silly language publishing)
Where to Watch Phoenix' Landing - The Planetary Society Blog | The Planetary Society
"There are a bazillion sources of information on what's up with Phoenix as its landing…
For the first time since I don't know when, Kate and I have gone to see movies in a theater on two consecutive weekends. I'm pretty sure this hasn't happened in at least two years.
Anyway, before my general (spoiler-free) movie comments, some trailers:
You Don't Mess With the Zohan. Seriously, this…
A colleague in Biology had his Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy class make videos explaining something they studied in class. He's posted the results to YouTube and Facebook, so the students can see them, but thanks to the magic of the Internet, you, too, can learn about the bite force of bats from a…
Easily Distracted » Blog Archive » In My Day...
"[I]t would help, if you want to complain about the declining quality of the humanities, to not be a historical dunderhead on a fantastic scale, to demonstrate some degree of erudition."
(tags: academia humanities history society culture education…
A few years ago, my father retired from public school teaching, and decided to get a dog to keep him company. He purchased a yellow Labrador Retreiver puppy, who was dubbed "RD" for "Ron's Dog." He started out small, but quickly grew into a barrel-chested lunkhead, who panted like a freight train…
Thoughts from Kansas : Hurray for the primaries!
"Good Lord, they've all gone crazy. It isn't just Lanny Davis any more."
(tags: US politics video youtube silly)
Astronomers watch as star dies - physicsworld.com
"The source, now identified as SN 2008D, marks the first time a star has been…
The pinhead filling in for Colin Cowherd (himself a pinhead of epic proportions) yesterday on ESPN radio was unduly proud of himself for coming up with the following hypothetical (paraphrased from memory):
Suppose that you had a choice between having your favorite candidate win the presidential…
Kate's doctor called back after the ultrasound Tuesday, and this time the news was all good-- FutureBaby appears very healthy, and everything is as it should be.
There was one interesting little quirk, though, having to do with the weight. Kate mentioned last night that FutureBaby's estimated…
Izzle! Izzle pfaff!
"In the Name of the King is neither good nor bad, and yet it is both at once. In the Name of the King is the Schrodinger's Cat of garbage movies; until watched, it remains in a state of quantum superposition, and then when it is watched, the waveform coll
(tags: movies review…
The Female Science Professor is musing about thank-yous at thesis defenses:
When I was in grad school, a prominent faculty member (who was department chair near the end of my grad years) made it known that he hated the "thank you" part of the thesis defense and strongly discouraged students from…
Fred Clark of Slacktivist points to the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and specifically their Banners Across America project:
NRCAT is making June the month for Banners Across America! We are asking congregations of all sizes, from every state, and all faiths, to join in a public…
FemaleScienceProfessor: The Five Stages of Proposal Writing
Six, if you live in a trailer park.
(tags: academia science economics)
slacktivist: Bacchanal
"I haven't seen Prince Caspian yet, but since it was the "No. 1 Movie" this weekend, let's revisit what that wonderful little book was about…
