Corruption in textbook selection
A copy of the chapter in Richard Feyman’s Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman in which he serves on a textbook selection committee, and some followup commentary.
Monthly Archives: October 2008
Superman Already Knew This
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have shown that simply peeling ordinary sticky tape in a vacuum can generate enough X-rays to take an image — of one of the scientists’ own fingers
Only when you do it in a vacuum, though. Not clear (the concept, not the tape) if that is because the atmosphere degrades the charge buildup on the tape or if the occasional x-rays just scatter in the atmosphere, or some third option or a combination. I’ve seen bluish light when I’ve peeled adhesives before, so the mechanoluminescent properties aren’t a surprise, but the energy of them is.
He's Very PC
A brief digression on lost time: John Hodgman on TED.com
Hodgman explains his hypothesis behind his contention that Enrico Fermi was an alien, and explains why he ended up eating alone. Plus all sorts of other stuff.
We Are Not Amused
But we are fascinated. The Life of the Queen Bee: Superb Macrophotography
No Need To Add This to My Xmas Wish List
Hover-Q mini IR Hovercraft.
OMGICGMWOFE
(Omigod, I can’t get my wallet out fast enough)
Hear Here
Ran across this while Googling for something else. NPR interviewed some of my colleagues about the master clock a while back. This aired in January 2007.
The Atomic Secrets of Accurate Time Keeping
I keep forgetting to use the bell ringing analogy when I explain how clocks work. (oh, and when the interviewer says “and his colleagues” near the end, she’s referring, in part, to me. Better than lackey or minion, I suppose.)
They Don't Know the Words
The Incredible Beauty of Hummingbirds in Flight
OK, Pedantic man says they are stills, and hummingbirds hover, so they’re not really showing flight.
Here’s one I took a few years ago. Not quite as high resolution, because didn’t (don’t) have a zoom lens that zooms in very much, so this is just a cropped portion of the photo.
The Politics of Physics. Or is it The Physics of Politics?
McCain’s Cosmological Breakthrough: Unreality Is Expanding
Gov. Sarah Palin, campaigning, she said, in “real America,” which apparently includes part of North Carolina, Rep. Michelle Bachmann, calling for a media investigation to determine whether Americans are real or not, and today, McCain all-around best surrogate Nancy Pfotenhauer (pronounced — Foe-Ten-How-er, like proton power), said that parts of the state of Virginia, heretofore universally assumed to be in America, were not, in fact, in the country.
Extra dimensions can apparently account for the “unreal America”
I find this especially interesting, because, according to the article, I live in the place that is “real America” but is in danger of becoming “unreal” when we collapse the wave function in November.
If you think that’s special, then think about this. Pfotenhauer said that she lives in a place called Oakton, Va. Oakton is located in Fairfax County. Pfotenhauer implied that the country was part of “real America” because it was open to the possibility of electing John McCain. Here’s the problem: Fairfax County, like its neighbors, are in the process of turning colors. (We can detect this with a special version of a mass spectrometer called a “ballot box.”)
Heh. Oakton’s about 8 miles away. I’ve never noticed any changes when I’ve driven in that direction.
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Since we’re on the topic of politics anyway, check out Ian’s Lessons from the Cold War: understanding ideologies over at Quantum Moxie.
I believe the hatred that has slowly taken the place of respectful disagreement between the “left” and “right” has its origins in the inability of either side to comprehend the other side’s motivation. Some might say it is an unwillingness rather than an inability and the truth is likely a mixture of both. But, quite clearly, there are times when there is simply an inability, for whatever reason, to grasp a motivating principle if it is so entirely foreign to us.
I certainly have observed people from both sides that simply hate the other side, no matter what. Which is really dangerous, because then nobody will listen to each other, but is also self-defeating, because you become a hypocrite for decrying behavior when the opponent does it, but not when your friend does.
I ran across an example just today, in what was an otherwise much more reasonable discussion about why an electrical transmission project in California is a bad idea, and an entreaty to do something about it if you live there.
You can also, if you choose, point out that Arnold has a good record on environmental issues (which, I am pained to report, he really does, for a Republican) and that he has a chance to keep that record intact here.
Why does it pain you to report this? It’s almost as if the poster wants to hate him, and is upset that this is preventing him from doing so. This is part of the problem outlined above.
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And finally, a few tidbits
This resonated with me in the recent endorsements of Obama by the Chicago Tribune
We know first-hand that Obama seeks out and listens carefully and respectfully to people who disagree with him.
This would be a welcome change from the current administration.
And, finally, Yes
The To-Do List
The Big To-Do List–Scientific Challenges Facing the Next President
This month marks the 50th anniversary of NASA, which was launched a year after the Soviet Union lofted Sputnik into orbit, a feat that threatened to accelerate the communist rival’s lead over the U.S. in spaceflight technology. It’s probably fair to ask whether any U.S. president might once again be in a position to respond to such a huge scientific and technological challenge.