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.
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 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.
Check out yesterday’s “PhD Comic” comparing the average salaries of University administrators, professors, grad students and football coaches.
Here’s a different graphic, focusing on the professors and coaches
(sort of my own mini cartoon-off, like between Randall Monroe and Farley Katz)
I’ve been trying to catch up ever since going to a conference a few weeks ago. Somehow, the work didn’t know to stop piling up while I was away, and I’ve been getting new things to do faster than I can finish the old things. Printers dying, tape drives dying, things inside the lab needing attention, and my cross-section for attracting work enhanced by the absence of my boss. So I haven’t had time to over my notes from the conference.
So, then, a word on conferences in general. Conferences, if any good, are work. I know there’s a notion amongst some (especially those who must authorize the travel) that conferences are like a vacation, off at an exotic location, and it’s all fun in the sun or on the slopes. And while that does happen to an extent, in my experience that behavior is in the minority of attendees. It may be different for a Moose Lodge Jamboree, but my observations are of physicists and their ilk.
First of all, the so-called exotic locations. Conferences have to be held where there are conference facilities, and that pretty much limits you to larger cities and universities or resorts off-season. And while the beancounters would love for the event to be held near to where you live, that only works if you expect local people to attend. If you want to attract scientists from around the country or around the world (depending on specifics of the conference) then somebody has to travel. And traveling, especially air travel in this day and age, is a pain. There may be some who enjoy it, but not me — it tires me out.
Conferences are held in places like Las Vegas, for example, because hotels there are relatively cheap, not because it’s a great vacation spot. They hotels/casinos do that because they hope it brings in business after the day is done, though there’s a rumor that Vegas doesn’t like physicists (and, I would assume, mathematicians) because they understand odds and many prefer to spend their free time scribbling on napkins and don’t tend to gamble so much.
OK. You’re tired from travel and any time-zone-shift issues, but that’s just the start. It takes a lot of energy to be alert and attentive for six hours of talks, and all the discussions that happen in between. Some of the best information I’ve gotten has been in the hallways by skipping a session and getting the details from someone personally. Talks and papers are limited in extent and generally skip some important details, such as all of the things that didn’t work in trying the experiment, or discussion of what’s really hard. And people don’t like to air dirty laundry so much in public, but in a (semi)private conversation they tend to be a little more forthcoming. Especially from people that you know from previous information exchanges.
Another item related to this misguided “conferences are a luxury” attitude is that it’s getting harder to justify travel. The conference list had about 110 names on it. There were 50 oral sessions and 40 posters were scheduled (a few were withdrawn, and there were a few instances of a presenter also giving a poster, but that’s still a pretty small fraction of people who were just attending. That can be a real problem for some conference organizers, who sweat out getting enough attendees at the conference hotel to fill their room block and get the discount so that the conference doesn’t lose money.
From the good old days when MTV played music videos, men were women and women were men.
Only one per artist, though, so if you want Ant Music, or even Goody Two Shoes, you’re out of luck; you get Kings of the Wild Frontier.
Hint: it’s not magic.
You probably want to use your mouse rather than your finger.
10 Most Incredible Waterfalls of Ice
BP (before physics) I used to wonder how waterfalls could freeze. But if one looks at the physics, it’s apparent that the motion of water moving in a stream, river or waterfall is small compared to the thermal motion, so this motion really has little effect.
Take a peek at picture #5, showing the frozen outer cylinder, with water still falling inside of it.