Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Bush-League Irony
Is it just me or does it seem to anyone else the height of unintentional irony that our dear President should give a speech (at The Heritage Foundation, 1 November 2007) in which he says: History teaches that underestimating the words of evil, ambitious men is a terrible mistake. The context makes it clear that […]
Knitting by LEGO
Yes, we know that virtually anything can — and sooner or later will — be built from LEGO blocks,* so this should be no surprise. But, the other night a friend pointed out this YouTube video for the LEGO knitting machine. It's a lovely film, complete with very appropriate soundtrack (Phillip Glass?) I was fascinated, […]
Relativistic Thermodynamics
While some vaguely scientific notions are passing through my head, here's a clipping from Physics News. It came as a bit of a surprise to me. I spent most of my laboratory research life doing stuff that came, in one way or another, under the general heading of "thermodynamics", and yet it never occurred to […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Recent Googlettes
Herewith a few more gogglettes, all from the same 6-hour period (of 23 October 2007), as it turns out. 1. "Will liquids freeze at the same time?" This is a perennial favorite, and I'm only too happy to have provided at least a partial answer in my posting "Not All Things Freeze". Now, there is […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
On Reading Pinker's The Stuff of Thought
Although many things diverted my attention at various times, I have finally finished reading Steven Pinker's The Stuff of Thought : Language as a Window into Human Nature (New York : Viking, 2007, 499 pages). I enjoyed it, and I found it useful and enlightening. No doubt it's not for everyone, but it's engaging and […]
Moon Names
It keeps coming up, this time because I wrote a small note about the recent "harvest" moon: what are the names of the moons throughout the year? This seems to me about as important as the list of "official" birthstones, but at least these names for the moon's manifestation in different months does seem to […]
Wind Machines
Believe it or not, for years — decades even — I have been fascinated by the use in music of the wind machine. Honestly. You may not be aware that the device even exists, but it does and it is used occasionally in orchestral music (romantic era and later) to create the very realistic sound […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, Music & Art
Schwarz on Mission Creep
From Bill Moyers' Journal, a recent episode where the topic was eavesdropping on electronic communications. I've shamelessly copied a quotation from Fritz Schwarz, and dropped with no compunction Charles Fried's contention that such eavesdropping is absolutely necessary, because the NSA is like the cop on the beat in a small town — although we note […]
Hiccups & the Gay Lifestyle
Just in passing, this little note. I was catching up on my reading at Improbable Research and saw this delightful item: "Another hiccup victim goes untreated". Tragically, young musician Christopher Sands has been hiccuping continually for the past five months (at that time, 15 July 2007) and has not eaten properly nor had adequate sleep […]
Bubbles Big and Small
Bubbles seem to be on the net's mind today. I haven't kept all the references (here's one: "Scientists map near-Earth space bubbles") but it seemed that I kept reading things involving bubbles. Now, I've long been fascinated by bubbles although, despite my being a scientist with a history of doing some hydrodynamics and a relatively […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
More Undular Bores
For those who enjoyed the pictures a few days ago of undular bores — atmospheric waves visible in clouds — here are a few more treats via NASA's Earth Observatory project. This time the waves are in the atmosphere off the west coast of Africa, in a couple of satellite photos captured by the Moderate […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Chris Dodd: Holding
Two things come to mind as a little preamble: 1) I keep saying that the likely successful Democratic candidates will be the ones who show daring leadership, not the ones who perfect middle-of-the-road triangulation; and 2) I've always liked Chris Dodd, since the days when I lived in Connecticut (c. 1980) and he was first […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
Undular Bores
Here is "Science @ NASA" again, sending me another interesting story with pretty pictures. This one — they say for shock value — is about "undular bores". What they're talking about is waves in the atmosphere that show up dramatically in cloud patterns. I have a personal interest in all things waves because they were […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Titanic Lakes
This just in from "Science @ NASA": Newly assembled radar images from the Cassini spacecraft are giving researchers their best-ever view of hydrocarbon lakes and seas on the north pole of Saturn's moon Titan, while a new radar image reveals that Titan's south pole also has lakes. Approximately 60 percent of Titan's north polar region […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
More Meteors
From SpaceWeather.com (an outreach program of NOAA, by the way), comes news of another meteor shower. Hooray! Here's the blurb: In recent nights, sky watchers have noticed meteors shooting out of the constellation Orion. This signals the beginning of the annual Orionid meteor shower caused by space dust from Halley's Comet. The shower is feeble […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
NY DP Penalty
Is it a slap in the face, salt in the wound, proportionate fees, or a bureaucratic oversight? Likely the latter as claimed, but still it seems an amusing but niggling thing: in New York City, one pays $35 to get a marriage license, but to register a domestic partnership costs $36. Fewer rights for only […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
The Poverty of Conservatism vs. Gore's Nobel Prize
Congratulations to Al Gore and the UN IPCC for winning the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Isn't it interesting to see how quickly the American Presidency has diminished by another big step. Liberal schadenfreude, of course, demands that I talk about conservative failures rather than Gore's successes. Conservatives today are galled (perhaps "gored"?) that yet another […]
In: All, Current Events, Reflections
National Coming Out Day 2007
Today, October 11, is celebrated annually by more and more people as "National Coming Out Day"; despite its name, people in many countries celebrate NCOD. First observed in 1988, NCOD marks the anniversary of the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987. The official NCOD logo (at right) was created […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Reflections
Spooky Classical Music
My big time-waster of the last couple of days was working on a Squidoo Lens* on the subject "Spooky Classical Music for Halloween". This all came about one night when we were having dinner with our friend George, whose musical tastes range from eclectic to odd. He was thinking about music from his collection that […]
My Sputnik Childhood
I nearly let pass this notable milestone: 50 years ago today the Soviet Union* launched the first artificial Earth-satellite, called Sputnik. It was a tiny thing — suitable I suppose to being the first baby of the birth of the space age — just 24 inches across and weighing only 184 pounds. It was made […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Reflections