This was, from the public perspective, a difficult year for evolution. I am not saying this because it was challenged by a potentially new theory of biological diversity, nor because it made predictions that were contradicted in the lab or in nature. “In fact, scientifically this has been hailed as […]
steve
1601 posts
Jodi and I are both now fighting either the flu or very severe colds. We both firmly understand that the underlying cause of the symptoms – headache, coughing fits, sinus pain and drainage, body aches, and general discomfort – are invasive germs which have evolved since the last time my […]
I will say only this on the occasion of the President’s revelation that he routinely authorized wiretaps without court authorization: Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin
The BaBar Collaboration meeting is over, and it was as exhausting and fulfilling as I had hoped. Despite the necessary shutdown to address the safety culture at SLAC (which occurred just over a year ago), we have bounced back with enthusiasm and science. The upcoming winter conferences will be a […]
Well, it is that time of year again. Actually, it’s that time of year again, again, again. This is the fourth BaBar collaboration meeting of the year, the one that most directly influences our work going into the particle physics winter conference schedule. We start on a Sunday so that […]
In a recent entry, I summarized the sentiment’s of the Royal Society’s Lord May. In his valedictory anniversary speech to the Society, he commented on the chief U.S. climate change negotiator. He said this person was a lawyer, and that the only reason the U.S. would have a lawyer in […]
An “article in the AP summarizes the underlying references in this little thought piece”:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051208/ap_on_re_us/creationism_professor;_ylt=AkmHDJC49ZEp.ORSchKdfP1vzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA–. Here’s the short of it: * religious studies professor Paul Mirecki, at the University of Kansas, organizes a course entitled “Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies”, scientists and educators silently cheer […]
Today, the SLAC colloquium was presented by Dr. Lawrence Krauss of the Case-Western Reserve University. Krauss is a popularizer of science, remembered for such books as “The Physics of Star Trek” and “Quintessence”. His topic today drew a large and varied crowd from the laboratory, and raises a vital question: […]
When I hit the 190s for the number of blog entries I’d made so far, I really had it in my mind to make some notable remarks at entry 200. However, I was so excited about the Alaska cyclotron story I totally missed 200. So, here’s to entry number 201, […]
By the title, you might think I’m talking in the same scare tactics that conservatives use to induce fear about medical procedures like abortion. I’m not. I’m talking about cyclotrons. That’s right… cyclotrons. “Not in my backyard!”, says Alaska. Don’t believe me? “Check it out”:http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,69726,00.html The best part is the […]
The Royal Society is 345 years old, as of November 30. For the world’s oldest extant scientific society, this year is not as grand or glamorous as a nice round anniversary, like 350 or 400. However, this is the last year of the Royal Society under the Presidency of Lord […]
The universe is expanding. We sit on our tiny blue world in, as Douglas Adams put it, an unfashionable Western Spiral arm of a galaxy. This galaxy drifts lonely and unregarded, pulled along by the expansion of spacetime. As we sit here and wonder, the universe in contemplation of itself, […]