Category Archives: academia

Paul So's new project

Paul So’s new project is mentioned in today’s Washington Post Business Section. “Physics Professor Aims to Teach Art Students the Business.”

So, currently on a sabbatical, bought the building at 1353 U Street NW, next to the Republic Gardens, last year for $1.3 million. It is his dream to provide a space and program for art students so they can learn the business side of art, like how to write grants and how to market their work. Those selected would get two-year fellowships that would also include lectures and seminars by local educators, gallery owners and artists, So said. He likens his idea to getting a post-doc in art.

[read the rest of the article]

Britain's favorite scientists!

Now this is news: I was watching hurricane coverage and just saw this in the crawl at CNN: Muppets Dr Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker defeated Dr Strangelove, Dana Scully of “X Files” fame and Star Trek’s Mr Spock to be voted Britain’s favorite screen scientists on Monday.

That’s when Husband threatened to make me turn off the TV.

So I turned to the Internet to learn more. The poll was sponsored by the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the Cult TV site at BBC.com.

I liked this bit from the Reuters story:

“They are accessible, humorous and occasionally blow each other up,” said Roland Jackson, of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

and I thought I had strange problems

A blind francophone student in Canada has been barred from English immersion classes – because his guide dog only responds to commands in French.
Yvan Tessier, 39, from Quebec says it would be too confusing to retrain his black Labrador, Pavot, to respond to “stay” instead of “reste”.

But the University of New Brunswick insists English must be the only language spoken in its lessons.

[read the rest of the story on the BBC website]

is somebody making sure they dress themselves properly?

“See Astrophysicists in Captivity”. I see them in captivity every day (when I’m working), so I know that what lies behind this link could be really frightening.

It turns out that, unbeknownest to me at least, the American Museum of Natural History had an exhibit called SCIENCE LIVE: THE RACE TO DECODE THE HUBBLE ULTRA DEEP FIELD IMAGE, which they described as:

Science Live: The Race to Decode the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image offers the public an unprecedented opportunity to watch competitive space science in action, as teams of astrophysicists from the American Museum of Natural History, Columbia University, and Stony Brook University race to decode strange space objects revealed in a newly released Hubble Space Telescope image. These image and the data behind it will be released to the New York-based teams, along with the public and scientists worldwide, on Tuesday, March 9, 2004.

Surrounded by racks of computers and working against a backdrop of the spectacular new image displayed on the Museum’s 16′ x 9′ Astrobulletin, the Science Live astrophysicists will crunch numbers and debate around the clock in an attempt to be the first to publish results. Scientists will provide progress reports for the public daily throughout this weeklong event.

[more]

I think the idea is interesting and I’m sure I’d find the exhibit fascinating. And, from the pictures, it appears that everyone remembered to put on their pants and shoes so that’s a plus.

What concerns me deeply, however, is that close examination of the site photos fails to reveal the most important component needed for this kind of work: a coffee maker (preferably an espresso machine). That’s just flat-out dangerous to everyone involved.

Should we have been exposing children to potentially uncaffeinated scientists? It’s a terrifying question with chilling implications.
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EXTENDED BODY:

I’m teasing. I love astrophysicists as much as physicists. They really do throw swingin’ parties.

is this going to be on the final?

In a bit of wild miscommunication, several advisors were keeping waiting lists for my class. Lists that were different from what I considered the official waiting list, which was being kept in the Physics Dept. When I said I’d let the 1st 5 people on the waiting list into class, that became a greenlight for everyone to override the system and let in 5 more students.

My class is going to be very, very large this semester, by the time all is said and done. I’m OK with this, although my co-teacher is looking a little green. I tried scaring some of them away last night, but I seem to have failed. That’s fine, they all seem really enthusiastic. A little too enthusiastic, possibly, but that’s better than the jaded apathy act any day of the week.

With the massive storms, the buildings have been flooding. I watched my new boss lecture the other night. He managed to maintain his train of thought as the water gushed in and wrecked his shoes. The students were perched on their lab stools looking completely freaked out. When the water reached the poor guy’s ankles, I found them a new lab to meet in.

Yes, it’s the start of a new semester and many people have been without electricity or water for days thanks to these storms. Everyone is starting to smell awful and it’s not even midterms yet.