The past week was a busy one: judging at the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair (DRSEF), the Dallas “Icepocalypse” that shut down SMU for 1.5 days and led to a ridiculous amount of work getting done, meetings with my students about their “Grand Challenge Physics Problem,” SMU Research Day, […]
I thought it might be nice to use this blog to . . . you know . . . actually blog. “Blog” is derived from “Web Log,” a journal or log kept by a person but broadcast publicly on the web. So in this week’s inaugural “Anti-Steve” [1], here are […]
“Some scientists say…” “Several studies have shown…” These are weasel phrases indicative of poor science journalism, especially if the studies are not linked to, or referenced in, the story. No journalistic body is immune to this fallacy, including NPR. In a recent story about acupuncture and allergies on their blog, […]
One of my most popular posts in the last few years was a critical, scientific look at Zicam. I wanted to revisit a few things in this short update to the article, and based on information gathered by a commenter revisit the question: by how much is Zicam overcharging for […]
A hot-off-the-press study on risk of death and running is making headlines. What are the headlines? “Light Jogging May Be The Key To Long Life, Study Finds” (In-Depth–Huffington Post–Feb 3, 2015), or “When it comes to jogging, less is more, study argues” (Los Angeles Times–Feb 2, 2015). A study of […]
This semester, I am conducting what is, for me, an experiment in teaching. The seeds of this experiment were planted last semester, and prior to that by a long line of physics education research. This experiment will place an even greater burden for learning on the student, but I believe that it will […]
This is the week before classes start at SMU. It’s going to be a busy one. After a travel-heavy summer, with projects not advancing as fast as they would have in a perfect world (where everything works always at once all the time… never been to that world before but […]
Inspired by the creation of the pump.io open, federated social protocol in 2013 [1] and the need to bridge posts between a diversity of social networks (Pump.io, GNU Social [2], Diaspora [3], Twitter, and Facebook), I recently released an alpha version of a social network bridge, named NavierStokes. An homage […]
I haven’t posted in a while. The current global Ebola panic, spread mostly by social media and the media and not so much by the actual global threat of Ebola, has spurred me from complacency. Specifically, a WHO ethics panel today unanimously authorized the use of unproven, untested, experimental Ebola […]
For the second time, I will be attending the Rencontres de Blois, a yearly conference that represents a convergence (perhaps even a conversation) between cosmology, astronomy, astrophysics, and particle physics. Held in the Chateau de Blois, a castle perched above the Loire River in Blois, France, this conference will bring […]
I am Stephen Sekula, an Assistant Professor of Physics at SMU conducting research on the ATLAS Experiment. These comments will be my own, and I will try to take a broad view. Let me begin by thanking the members of the Panel for this opportunity to speak, and let me […]
Jan. 26, 2014 – 03:18 CET I am on AA50 to Heathrow. We land in about 7 hours, leaving me 2 hours to connect to my flight to Geneva. Right now I am hopimng for two things: dinner and 5 hours of sleep. Dinner is on its way. I cannot […]