The Hubble Fellows are — forgive me — young stars: young PhD astronomers granted the money to go to whatever astronomy-doing place they want to go to and do whatever astronomy they want to do. And once a year, the Hubble Fellows give public talks about what they’re up to, so any astronomy writer with […]
March 2 – 6, 2015 “Maybe I’m wrong, maybe hidden in laboratories and in front of chalkboards around the world there are scores of undiscovered hot, charismatic scientists hiding from the spotlight,” says Erik. “We need these people. Because God knows the pseudoscience nut jobs will take them if we don’t.” Abstruse Goose gets snippy […]
I’ve just been through several bouts of technical assistance and I have to say that 1) the ESL problem still exists but is much better than it used to be; and 2) a new sentence in their checklist is “Why yes, we can fix that;” 3) the last one thanked me for being such a […]
February 23 – 27, 2015 One time my mom did something with the innards of a chicken that made me rethink my bad attitude. The Bad Science Poet reminds us once again: the science isn’t bad but the poetry sure as hell is. Digging out an American camel in the back of a cave, Craig […]
I grew up on a small farm and among other creatures, we raised chickens. Every day they had to be fed and watered and their eggs, warm from their bodies, had to be gathered. When the chickens got old enough to stop laying regularly, we’d turn them into stew: we’d kill them and dress them, […]
February 16 – 20 Helen: “Why, 18 degrees isn’t bad, I thought to myself. All you need is…I did some math in my head and realized I was wearing about $350 worth of specialized clothing, while occasionally passing some poor soul hunched down in a hooded sweatshirt.” Cameron reduxed, updated: “I must confess now that, […]
Charles Hard Townes died a week ago, aged 99. He was a physicist at Berkeley who came up with the principle of the laser; at age 98, he’d stopped coming into the office every day. His obituaries are thorough and their praise is justified. I’d met him for reasons the obituaries don’t mention. He helped […]
I’d add Astronomy: Planetary System Formation to the shelf at around the 2-18 months mark. Anybody else? __________ http://abstrusegoose.com/531
