Swans on Tea

‘Most unfortunate names’ revealed
Justin Case, Barb Dwyer and Stan Still.
It sounds like a bad joke, but a study has revealed that there really are unfortunate people with those names in the UK.
Joining them on the list are Terry Bull, Paige Turner, Mary Christmas and Anna Sasin.
And just imagine having to introduce yourself to a crowd [...]

Magnetic self-assembly in slow motion
90 1/8″ small magnets arranged in a 9×10 matrix with a larger magnet brought close. Beautiful self-assembly occurs
Slower and slower motion, so you can see what’s happening.

Stray Thoughts on 1962
Questions about the connection between gaudy stats and helping your team to win aside, a look at a comparison between the insane stats posted in 1962 and what’s going on today, in terms of the pacing of the game, then vs now.
Okay, so you’ve all seen Wilt and Oscar’s numbers from 1962… [...]

Mathematical Tools for Physics
via

Tiger Woods’ game after surgery may be pure physics
Woods’ swing has been the envy of golfers around the world ever since he burst onto the professional scene in 1996.
His action is pure efficiency, combining hip, shoulder and wrist motion to exert the greatest possible force on the ball.
Pure efficiency? Does that make him the [...]

Check out the comments for Nuclear Grade 48-Millimeter-by-54.8-Meter Duct Tape, Slate Blue
When we found cracks in the containment structure, we used to have to shut the whole plant down; then there was a lot of hassle with the nuclear regulatory agency about structural integrity and environmental contamination. With this quality duct tape, that’s all in [...]

Just got my copy of Physics Today, and noticed that the cover looked familiar. It’s a drawing from a photo, depicting Simon Newcomb at the USNO’s 26″ telescope, and the article inside, Simon Newcomb, America’s first great astronomer, was co-written by a colleague. And it’s one of the free stories.
A complete account of [...]

Zapperz has stumbled across the ideal gift for that geek who loves to play prime-number-card stud, or superconducting supercollider hold ‘em, or even CP-symmetry-not-conserved (e.g. deuces wild) games.
Physicist playing cards at the AIP store. “Historic” deck and “modern” deck.
I already have the Periodic Table playing card decks.

One of our HP printers is broken, and I’ve wasted several hours the past few weeks trying to arrange to get it fixed. Waiting on hold and wading through phone trees, and at the end of it all, the promised support technician never calls to arrange a visit, and the contact number I have [...]

Entitled, which points to an article in the NY Times
I have an inbox filled with student email saying “I studied really hard for the quiz..” (so why didn’t I get an A?).
This post might sound cynical, but I must not be completely cynical because this surprised me:
Nearly two-thirds of the students surveyed said that if [...]

The Godfather Wars
A story about the making of The Godfather.
[A] number of priceless ad-libs by actors that turned what was supposed to have been a low-budget movie into a masterpiece.
Examples: “Leave the gun,” Richard Castellano, as Clemenza, orders his henchman after they take out the traitorous Paulie Gatto in a parked car. “Take the cannoli,” [...]

I ran across Tierney’s latest post in the NY Times, Politics in the Guise of Pure Science and, as it too often does, it left a bad taste.
Why, since President Obama promised to “restore science to its rightful place” in Washington, do some things feel not quite right?
First there was Steven Chu, the [...]