Tomorrow night, NOVA will air the next in its series of science news magazines, “ScienceNOW”. The topics will be: the importance of sleep, and the Large Hadron Collider. I’d encourage everybody to watch this, especially those in physics and most especially those working on or near the LHC. Why? Well, […]
Tonight on “Tech Nation”, Dr. Moira Gunn spoke with the Chairman and CEO of Invitrogen, Greg Lucier [1]. Mr. Lucier spent his time speaking out about the importance of public funding of science. Despite his position in a private company, he advocated that more public money needs to be spent […]
A month ago, I mentioned that our car was broken into and a number of canvas shopping bags were stolen [1]. The reason we have them is the same reason people buy canvas shopping bags: we’re more and more tired of only having the choice of paper or plastic. Neither […]
It’s been a while since I’ve jotted any thoughts on my research. Although I promised myself no physics after 5 pm on Friday’s, I figured **writing** about physics is maybe somewhat exempt from that pledge. Besides, I get thoughtful when it gets late. The Value of the RareI’ve spent the […]
In the past few years, there has been a lot of fuss about music sharing. Something that I and my friends regularly engaged in during high school and college – making mix-tapes, in this case – became so easy with the advent of the web and p2p programs that suddenly […]
Can you spot the music critic from the Hartford Courant? Bonus points: can you find my sister? (Photo from the Shag Frenzy website) (Need help spotting the Critic? Check out his blog for a likeness: http://blogs.courant.com/eric_danton_sound_check/ Powered by ScribeFire.
Last year, the sixth seal was broken and at&t rose from the ashes of the baby Bells, which in turn resulted from the sacrificial burning of AT&T. It’s in the Bible. I swear. Can’t find it? Try the Qu’ran. No? Keep looking. Anyway, a lot of people have laughed at […]
iMania over the iPhone is about to be unleashed. As many have pointed out [1], there hasn’t been this much hype ahead of something ultimately disappointing since Windows ’95. As people go nuts – N-V-T-S, NUTS! – over this hyped iPod/phone/web appliance hybrid, Microsoft has yet again advanced U.S. innovation […]
Since the big one, there have been few bangs as spectacular. In our frigid modern universe, two are still quite phenomenal. The first are gamma ray bursts, intense explosions that occur all the time and are largely believed to be the result of a massive rotating star experiencing a total […]
AIDS. It’s a great equalizer. Transmitted by body-fluid-to-body-fluid contact (by needle sharing, or sexual contact), the HIV virus can lay dormant for years before finally suppressing the human immune response and inducing AIDS. Typically, victims die from usually harmless diseases against which they have no defense. It is an entirely […]
Today, the Supreme Court ruled on a number of cases that have piled up as its current term comes to an end. One of the issues the court ruled on today was whether funding President Bush’s “faith-based programs initiative” is a constitutional use of taxpayer money. The court didn’t rule […]
I think every physicist should have rules they live by. Today, I am going to start to compile a list that applies to myself. Here is the first principle that I am going to live by from now on: Never do any physics after 5 pm on Friday Last night, […]