ScienceBlogs Channel : Humanities & Social Science

For whenever I start feeling sorry for myself [Respectful Insolence]

Orac none@example.com — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:00:00 -0500

I know I kvetch from time to time about the currently dismal funding situation for biomedical research and worry about whether I'll be able to keep my lab funded. However, every so often I'm reminded that cancer researchers by and large have it pretty good, at least compared to some academic disciplines:

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Etiquette Poll: Trash Day [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:13:44 -0500

Chateau Steelypips lost power this morning for unknown reasons, preventing me from putting up the post I planned to do with lots of cute toddler pictures. Thus, a quickie poll in honor of the crazy person a couple of blocks away who sometimes yells at me for dropping Emmy's bagged poop into her full trash cans while they're at the curb:

As noted a long time ago, this would be a great opening scene for an episode of CSI (Call me, CBS. We'll talk.), but beyond that, I'm kind of baffled at the yelling. Emmy doesn't get it, either, but then she doesn't understand why I pick her poop up in bags in the first place. "Humans are weird," she says, "Give me a treat."

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Award-Worthy Campaign Ad [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:59:49 -0500

The New York Times has a video highlighting particularly clever campaign commercials in the New York area, which includes this spot from my uncle John Orzel's state senate campaign:

I'm not aware of any polling regarding the race, so I have no idea how things will turn out next Tuesday. The word from my parents is that spirits are high in the campaign (read: Uncle John is enjoying the process, and the friends and relatives making up the campaign staff are as well), so that's good, at least.

Anyway, if you're in the Binghamton area, vote for my uncle next week. If not, enjoy the award-worthy ad.

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How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog in the Times [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:28:30 -0500

The Times Higher Education magazine in the UK, that is. They ran a review of my book a couple of weeks ago, which I've only just noticed:

The approach is quite entertaining. The tone of the book is chatty and contains some truly awful puns involving dogs, which, if you can stand them, make it an attractive and lively read. However, don't be fooled - Emmy is no ordinary dog. She can reason with the informed leaps one may expect from a physics undergraduate, despite peppering her conversation with "squirrel", "bunny" and "chase".

If you're in the UK, the edition the review refers to is on sale now, and apparently selling well in W.H. Smith's stores all over, and via the usual Internet sources. If you're in the US, the title is one word shorter, and has also gotten a recent nice review. It's available in hardcover right now, and the paperback version will be out in just over a month (Amazon says December 7th). It makes an excellent holiday gift for whatever holiday may be coming up that you celebrate...

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Double-False Conditionals [Aardvarchaeology]

Martin R none@example.com — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:20:51 -0500

One of my pet peeves in academic prose of the more pretentious kind is the double-false conditional statement. Here's one that I've made up.

"If the adoption of bronze casting can be seen as a sign of increasing preoccupation with eschatology, then it follows that we must be continually vigilant against any appropriation of the era's heritage by the extreme right."

What I'm doing here is first putting forward a probably false or untestable statement as a condition, and then asserting baldly that one can infer something else from it, which is in fact completely unrelated. This is quite common in some quarters. Apparently, what these writers do is take opinion A and the unrelated opinion B, and just slot them blindly into an IF A THEN B statement.

The double-false conditional. Watch for it when you read academic prose in the humanities and social sciences. Do share your findings with us here! And don't let them fool you.

Update 29 October: Here's one from David Wengrow's new book, What Makes Civilization?, p. xvi:

"If the effect of such displays and substitutions [the display of Egyptian mummies in the Louvre, which had been a royal palace during the ancien regime] is to reassure us that we have passed beyond the threshold of 'early civilization' into some more 'modern' condition, then it becomes all the more important to go beneath the surface, and examine the true nature of those societies we have come to regard as so distant from our own."

What Wengrow really says here is:

1. I think that when mummies replaced kings in the Louvre, the [intended?] effect was to reassure us that we have passed beyond the threshold of 'early civilization' into some more 'modern' condition.
2. I also think that it is important to examine the true nature [!] of ancient societies.

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The Time for Mars is Now [Life at the SETI Institute]

SETI Institute none@example.com — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:37:40 -0500

By Dr. Adrian Brown
Planetary physicist at the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, and Gail Jacobs

When most people look at photos of the Martian landscape, they see the kind of dry topography that, while attractive, shows only that at first glance Mars resembles many of the desert areas of Earth. By analyzing spectroscopic data gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, however, SETI Institute planetary scientist Dr. Adrian Brown sees clues to where liquid water might once have puddled and pooled on the Red Planet, and possibly spawned life. Adrian is interested in finding subtle hints that large bodies of water might once have flooded the northern regions of this now-dry world, hints that the Orbiter's infrared spectrometer could provide. In addition to his search for water, Adrian hunts for clues to volcanic activity in these same northern realms, because the energy provided by such eruptions could fuel microscopic life.

Adrian, pertaining to your scientific work, what motivates you?
I'm motivated by the fact that when it comes to Mars, there are always new challenges to tackle and solve every day. It's exciting knowing that each day may bring a new piece of the jigsaw puzzle. It's as if I have 50 pieces of the puzzle but there are 1,000 pieces out there, and they're not all in the same box. If I can find another 100, I can figure out this little corner of the puzzle. It's exciting to read the latest Mars Orbiter findings or to search for the most important books or papers to read and work out how to do it in an efficient way that will take me one step closer to finding another relevant piece of the puzzle.

I might come across some information that doesn't even seem like a piece of the puzzle. Then it will dawn on me that the puzzle parts can interrelate with another piece that I hadn't considered, and that's very cool. I'm continually learning about new physics, mathematics, and computer programs, and different ways to put them together to try and answer a scientific question that I thought of some time previously. I'm always motivated by finding new pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and then watching the overall picture grow over time.

Give us an overview of your research projects.
Most of my research revolves around Mars. One area I focus on is the polar regions of Mars. In spite of their extreme cold, most of the action on Mars occurs in those bitterly cold regions today. Ice is continually condensing and subliming throughout the year, so there are a lot of dynamic processes that cause Mars' atmosphere to inflate and deflate like a little ball. It's as if we can see it breathing every seasonal period. It gets so cold on Mars that the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually freezes out onto the surface. It would be like the nitrogen freezing out in our atmosphere. Can you imagine what sort of havoc that would create here on Earth? That's one reason I'm interested in studying these dynamics, which are actually quite different at the Martian North and South Poles.

Artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on the Martian landscape.
-- Image courtesy of NASA/JPL

I'm also very interested in the most ancient rocks on Mars. This area of research allows me to learn more about the many stages of development Mars has gone through. We can locate these rocks by using imaging, or infrared, spectroscopy to detect minerals on the surface. I use an instrument called the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that looks at the way light from the sun is reflected off rocks on the surface and bounces back to the satellite. We look for areas where light is absorbed in the electromagnetic spectrum. By looking for particular telltale absorptions, we can tell what minerals are on the surface. Using this technique, we can identify clays on the surface of Mars, which usually occur in the most ancient areas of the planet.

I've recently been interested in a place called Nili Fossae -- a region where we find carbonate minerals in the rocks. Carbonate is fairly common on Earth but is very rare on Mars. In these most ancient parts of Mars, we have found that running liquid water altered the original mineral structures in some of the basaltic, olivine-bearing rocks into carbonate-bearing rocks. We know this because once the rocks have changed into carbonate, their structure doesn't change again. This allows us to identify where olivine has changed into carbonate, and that's an indication of the action of heat and water in Mars' past. And very excitingly, that same heat and water might not just have altered minerals -- in the very early stages of Mars' development, they may have also provided energy for life on Mars. -- Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

What is the coolest thing about your research?
I'm driven by the fact that Mars is tangible. Since 1997, we've had at least one satellite orbiting Mars continuously. There is a deluge of information coming back from the planet. We're getting new pictures of unprecedented accuracy. We're learning incredible new things about Mars all the time. For example, at the moment there is a lot of excitement because there might be methane in Mars' atmosphere. That hasn't actually been proven to my satisfaction, but it is an exciting and tantalizing possibility that could prove to be a potential link to life and geological activity on Mars today. While our ignorance with regards to Mars is still overwhelming, it's so exciting to research a subject with such a wealth of new information.

The time for Mars is now! Mars exploration can be likened to the old Wild West of today. We're the early settlers, wondering what is beyond the next mountain range. We've crossed the Appalachians and are heading into the plains of the expansive Midwest. We're in our infancy of understanding Mars, and that's pretty cool -- there are so many surprises waiting for us to uncover!

As with the early pioneers heading West across America, do you envision humans settling on Mars?
As humans, we're going to go to Mars -- that is if we don't destroy ourselves beforehand. We're finding out as much as we can about our nearest habitable neighbor in order to lay the groundwork for the eventual colonization of Mars. There is nothing scientifically stopping us. Lots of challenges remain and not everyone may live on Mars, but one possible scenario is that Mars could turn into a region like the sparsely populated Antarctica. It's not very comfortable there, but they have some interesting activities and research you can't do anywhere else.

In the far-distant future, anywhere from 200 to 1,000 years from today, Mars could be much more Earth-like than today. With the intervention of humankind, Mars could be turned into another Earth, or at least similar enough to Earth that we could breathe the atmosphere and live pretty much as we do today on Earth. That's certainly physically possible. So Mars holds a lot of promise for humanity. If our bodies remain in their present form, Mars is the best place for humans to create a new Earth -- and hopefully we will act with more awareness of our actions than we do now.

Would you like to walk on the Martian landscape if you had the opportunity?
Absolutely! I think humans can play a role in the exploration of Mars. Some people say robots can do it all for us. I don't think our Rovers are going to provide us with all the answers unless we get extremely lucky and land in an area that is or was burdened with biology. That hasn't happened as of today and it may not happen within the next 15 years.

Martian landscape -- Image courtesy of NASA/JPL

This 15-year period will provide the private company SpaceX with enough time to develop their rockets for human travel. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, would like to send humans to Mars. If they continue on their successful trajectory, humans could be exploring Mars within 15-20 years on the SpaceX rockets. We'll see -- a lot of things have to go right for that to happen, but the strong possibility exists that we'll see private commercial flights to Mars within our lifetimes.

As a scientist, does it worry you that Mars could become a vacation destination before scientists have the opportunity to land on Mars and fully explore the planet for evidence of life?
The scientists of our generation, and particularly the next two generations, have a window of time when they will have to answer the question of life on Mars before humankind arrives in strength. Within that period, I don't think we can change our ways and develop an ability to live side-by-side with a possibly extant Martian biosphere. I also don't think Mars will be saved for science. Humankind will likely want to utilize Mars as a second Earth. It's important for scientists of this generation to push for the answer of whether Mars has -- or had -- a biosphere. Once we're armed with that information, or at least we've tried as much as possible to find life on Mars using robotics, then perhaps the colonization of the Red Planet will begin. This is going to be a very interesting period and I hope to stay involved in it. It's a fascinating stage in our development as a species.

Is there one fact about your research that surprises most people?
I am surprised by new findings all the time! The possibility of sending humans to Mars and then terraforming Mars, or changing it so it becomes more like Earth, is something that may not cross a lot of people's minds. Also, some people are surprised that the Polar Regions are so active. There are geysers that shoot up to 20 meters and create big dust fields around them on the ice. It's a very cool environment. Of course, you wouldn't want to step on the surface because your boots would probably stick to the ice. Our Phoenix lander was crushed by the CO2 ice; so if we can't get a robot to operate there, we are going to have a lot of challenges. The polar regions of Mars will long be an exploration frontier for humans. Image at left: Mars' north polar ice cap, Olympus Mons and three accompanying volcanoes, clouds over those volcanoes and the west edge of Valles Marineris -- Image courtesy of NASA/MSSS

What do you currently consider your biggest challenge?
Funding my research would definitely be my biggest challenge at the moment. The scientific career I have is very liberating because I get to run my own projects and be my own boss. The ability to make up the projects I want to work on is exceptionally cool and it's what I'm so excited about. You're not pursuing anybody else's dreams; you get to invent the dreams that you will pursue. But it does come at a price, which is having to convince others to give you that funding in order to realize your dreams. The U.S. government supports research through NASA but that funding program is extremely competitive and scientists have to write 6-10 proposals in order to get just one funded.

Why should the general public care about your research?
As Mars becomes more important in the coming decades, I think the general public's interest will increase. We're about to see Virgin Galactic launch humans into space. There was a recent successful drop test of Virgin Galactic's spacecraft, and we're going to see a lot of activity in space over the next decade that will capture the public's attention much more. Costs may be prohibitive at first and wealthy people will be the ones to go into space. But prices will eventually come down, and regular people like you and me will be able to afford a pretty amazing getaway in space. The public will gradually expect to travel beyond the edge of space. They'll want to go to a space station, around or to the Moon, or destinations beyond. Over time, the capabilities of these commercial companies will increase. That will be tricky to do, but I don't think Richard Branson will stop at the edge of space as his current spacecraft do. Branson or those who follow him will want to travel beyond that, and they'll have the public watching and eagerly waiting.

Adrian Brown conducting research in Australia

People have inquisitive minds and have always been interested in planetary science and the nature of the universe. This curiosity can lead to a strong interest in subjects such as Mars and what's really going on around us in the universe. We're learning more about our solar system and beyond all the time. Astronauts will soon be visiting near-Earth asteroids and a next generation of spacecraft will hopefully be replacing the retiring shuttle in the next decade. For those who have an interest in the universe, these quests for knowledge and discovery will always be an important part of their lives.

In addition to your research projects, you organize the SETI Institute's Colloquium Series, which is taped and available to the public. Tell us about the program and its importance to you and the broader community.
I'm of the opinion there is not enough news or news sources about space and space science at the moment. We might catch a news-byte on the radio or TV about a new near-Earth asteroid that was discovered streaking toward us and missed us by two seconds. But usually that's it and you can't hear any more. If I was a member of the non-scientific general public, I'd love to see a "click here for more information" button on my radio or TV so I could learn more. That was one main motivator in creating the SETI Institute Talk series. And our viewers are showing there is a strong public interest in the content of these Talks. We have a growing audience that attends the Talks at our building in Mountain View, California. Even more so, we have a growing audience online. I encourage people to tell their friends to check out the Talks on YouTube. They're there to stay and people can watch them on their television or computer at their convenience.

I'm also seeing that YouTube is taking over as the new TV. If you buy an Apple TV, for example, a dropdown menu will take you to YouTube where you can watch our talks for free. Viewers will see very engaging videos that give them a high-quality presentation on fascinating topics by experts in their fields, and our production efforts are getting better all the time.

For whom are these talks intended?
Viewers do not need to have a strong scientific background in order to enjoy the talks. I always learn something new at every talk, which is really cool. We intend to deliver content just a bit above the Discovery channel level. The Discovery or History channels occasionally have some good programming but once you've seen it, you may have to wait another year for their next good program. Our format offers something new on a weekly basis. While you might not find each instant of every talk amazing, I think you'll be amazed at least once in every one of these talks.

The next time you're relaxing at home and find that the latest episode of your favorite TV show is a rerun, I hope you'll check out our growing list of Talks archived on a vast variety of subjects. I'm sure you'll find something of interest that's engaging, entertaining, and you just might hear something new that will amaze you.

If you could take a 6-12 month sabbatical, what would you like to learn or do?
In a typical job, you're working for somebody else and you're working on their goals. I think of a sabbatical as something you take when you need a break from your job in order to do what you really want to be working on. That is really different from my job. I don't have a need for a sabbatical. I'm working on exactly what I want to. I think I have the most fun job in the world!

Learn more about Adrian and his fascinating research in his full interview.

Watch a video of Dr. Adrian Brown giving a one-minute summary of his work. This one-minute excerpt comes from a special colloquium celebrating the 25th anniversary of the SETI Institute.

Read Adrian's "Future Direction of Martian Exploration" blog.

Learn more about Adrian by visiting his web page.

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New Guide Book to Medieval Södermanland [Aardvarchaeology]

Martin R none@example.com — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:16:39 -0500

Sweden's traditionally divided into 25 landskap provinces. They live on in people's minds despite having been superseded by a new län division in 1634. The boundaries of the landskap go way back into prehistory, and so they don't respect the country's cities much, these generally being much later in origin.

Stockholm is a case in point. Today's urban area is neatly bisected by the boundary between Uppland and Södermanland provinces. And therefore, myself and other Stockholmers only get half of our High Medieval itches scratched by a new archaeological guide book, Det medeltida Sörmland by Johan Anund and Linda Qviström.

The book's not covering Uppland isn't exactly a major complaint here. It offers many cool sites to visit and lots of high-quality supplementary information on the period c. 1100-1550. I read the book from one end to the other and enjoyed it greatly. The illustrations are very good too. But I have a few suggestions for how a second edition could easily be made more useful as a guide book you consult on specific points, which is after all what it says on the cover.

A table of contents that covers subheadings as well, not just the top-level chapter headings.
Individual page headers identifying tersely what each page is about.
GPS coordinates for the recommended sites .

To anyone in Södermanland who likes the Middle Ages, or indeed anyone with such interests who drives regularly through the province e.g. from Norrköping to Stockholm, I highly recommend this fine guide book.

[More about archaeology, middleages, medieval, books; medeltiden böcker arkeologi.]

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Conceptual Physics Costumes for Halloween [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:23:36 -0500

It's late October, which means that the thoughts of small children and adults who have never quite grown up turn to selecting appropriate costumes for Halloween. In the spirit of these literary suggestions and these abstract concept suggestions, I thought it would be useful to offer some suggestions for physics-themed costumes, for those who want to dress as something from the greatest science.

Of course, there are some really obvious choices for physics-themed costumes (Einstein: rumpled clothes, white hair, distracted manner, German accent; Feynman: black pants, white shirt, brushed-back hair, bongo drums. Both of these are accentuated by shamelessly hitting on every woman at the party.), but here are a few ideas for costumes that might not be so obvious, to add a physics flavor to your Halloween party:

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: As soon as you arrive, hide in a secluded place and remain perfectly still. If anybody sees you, run really fast in a random direction.

The Pauli Exclusion Principle (Requires two people): Dress in identical outfits, and refuse to be in the same room with one another. If circumstances force you to be close together, one of you must stand on your head.

Schrödinger's Cat: Wear an ordinary cat costume, but when you get to the party, go hide in a closet. When somebody opens the door to check on you, flip a coin, and if it comes up heads, pretend to be dead.

The Higgs Boson: Stand in a narrow hallway, and impede the motion of anybody who tries to get past you.

Isaac Newton, Alchemist: Wear a long silver wig, and babble to people about the transmutation of elements and the nature of God. For the Method-actor version of this, drink a bunch of mercury a week before the party, and then just be yourself.

P. A. M. Dirac: Dark suit, thin mustache. Don't say anything.

Suggestions are welcome in the comments.

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It's All About the Offensive Line [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 11:24:39 -0500

Last night's Giants-Cowboys game was not one of the finer displays of football you're ever see-- the score makes it seem like a close game, but the Giants turned the ball over five times and gave up a punt return for a touchdown, basically handing the Cowboys 28 points. Other than that, you know, they played really well.

This morning, the sports-radio people are all wondering why the Cowboys are so much worse than expected, and the Giants are looking better than expects. The answer to this is really simple: The offensive line. It's probably the least glamorous position on the field, but the most important to the outcome of a game.

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Poll: Halloween Books [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:58:48 -0500

I almost forgot something that I need to do today, so no lengthy and detailed blogging this morning. Instead, a quick poll regarding Neil Gaiman's suggestion of giving kids scary books for Halloween:

Halloween is a classic holiday, which means you're bound by classical rules, and can only choose one item, not a quantum superposition of multiple options.

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Fornvännen's Spring Issue On-Line [Aardvarchaeology]

Martin R none@example.com — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:20:08 -0500

Fornvännen's spring issue (2010:1) is now on-line and available to anyone who wants to read it. Check it out!

Michael Neiss analyses the intricate animal interlace on a weird new 8th century decorative mount. It looks like it might be Scandinavia's earliest book-cover fitting! Did it adorn the cover of a manuscript of the gospels or of the Elder Edda - or of something I shudder to even think about?
Ylva Sjöstrand finds thought-out structure among the innumerable elks carved on rocks at Nämforsen during the Neolithic.
Henrik Klackenberg and Magnus Olsson discuss a papal lead seal found in Scania and suggests an explanation for how it ended up there.
Evert Baudou tells the story of the first lectures in archaeology at what would become the University of Stockholm and puts them in their context during archaeology's early period of social establishment.
Christian Lovén rounds off the debate about Romanesque chancel apses.
Carl Löfving challenges the consensus dating of the runic door-ring from Forsa.
Torbjörn Brorsson joins the ranks of field archaeologists warning us about the consequences of the currently heightened cost competition in Swedish contract archaeology.
Elisabeth Iregren and Helena Schramm Hedelin call for clearer and more explicit rules for the repatriation and reburial of human remains. As osteologists, they don't like reburial. And I agree: reburying archaeological bones is like reburying silver hoards, copper-alloy jewellery or pottery. The only reasons to do so are non-scientific and the outcomes are anti-scientific.
Thorsten Lemm presents the place-name milieu around the world's southernmost Husby hamlet, once a royal manor, this one in Schleswig-Holstein.
Frans-Arne Stylegar reports on the find of a portable altar stone, a piece of repurposed green Roman wall tile, in Vest-Agder, Norway.
Jan Peder Lamm announces the publication of inter-war Swedish-Lithuanian collaborative fieldwork at the hillfort of Apuole.

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The Problem With Innate Differences [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:48:00 -0500

In yesterday's post about the experience of science, I mentioned that I had both a specific complaint about the article by Alexandra Jellicoe (which I explained in the post) and a general complaint about the class in which the article falls. I want to attempt to explain the latter problem, partly because I think it will be useful, but mostly because it's stuck in my head, and I need to at least type out the explanation before I can move on to other things.

The article in question doesn't contain all of the elements I'll mention below, but I think it clearly falls into a class of articles that I find troublesome. A slightly snarky summary of the class would be: "Women are innately more cooperative and intuitive than men, and how dare you suggest they're bad at math!" The problem with these articles is that they're trying to walk a difficult line, and they're often not clear about what it is that they're doing, to bad effect.

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For Your Commute: Science Studies Podcast [Oscillator]

Christina Agapakis none@example.com — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 14:12:07 -0500

Nick pointed me to a fabulous podcast series by CBC radio called "How To Think About Science." Each episode is a long and fascinating interview with a prominent scholar of science--scientists, philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, and historians who explore how science is done, how scientists work, and how scientific ideas and facts are communicated. Check it out!

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How to Teach Physics to Your Dog Around the World [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 09:31:29 -0500

Between my long-ago high-school French and Google Translate, I can tell that this is a good review of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. It does note, though, that reading the book requires knowledge of English to understand it, which is a problem. And, as far as I know, French translation rights haven't been sold yet... French publishers, je vous regarde.

In other foreign-edition news, we've sold German and Turkish rights, so there will be editions in those languages eventually. Emmy was very happy to hear that the book will be published in Turkey, though that was mostly a case of preposition confusion. She originally thought that it was going to be published on turkey, and she's always wanted an edible edition.

Regarding editions that are out, word from the UK is that the UK edition is selling very nicely. The vanity search keeps turning it up in a sidebar widget listing top sellers in the Guardian Bookshop, which is a kick. British leftists love talking dogs and physics.

Progress on the next book is not exactly linear. Chapter 4 turned out to be a little too dense, and has spawned off a new Chapter 6, while Chapter 5 currently consists of only dog dialogue. I know how it's all going to fit together in the end, but finding the time to fit it together is a little difficult.

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Short Story Club: "The Cage," by A. M. Dellamonica [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:42:39 -0500

This week's Short Story Club entry is a Tor.com story, "The Cage" by A. M. Dellamonica. This is a story about a general contractor and the Most Adorable Werewolf Pupppy Ever.

In the world of the story, supernatural monsters are "out," known to the general public (though I don't think it mentions anything other than werewolves directly), with varying reactions-- mostly hostile in the US, more ambivalent in Canada. The story is set in Vancouver, where a woman whose werewolf sister was shot by an American fortune-hunter hires the narrator to build her a soundproof and indestructible room on the eve of the killer's trial.

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Musical Poll: Remix This! [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:35:32 -0500

On the way in to work, I heard yet another example of the deplorable trend of taking the vocal tracks of slow songs-- in this case, "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" by Vampire Weekend-- and replacing the musical backing with a 120 beats-per-minute dance beat that sounds like it was generated by a high-end Casio keyboard. These turn up over and over, and every time it happens, it annoys me to no end.

But why should pop music be the only genre to get this treatment? Thus, a poll suggesting some other slow songs that ought(?) to receive this treatment:

Feel free to nominate your own favorites.

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What is the most important human adaptation? [Greg Laden's Blog]

Greg Laden none@example.com — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:30:20 -0500

Human infants require more care than they should, if we form our expectations based on closely related species (apes, and more generally, Old World simian primates). It has been said that humans are born three months early. This is not accurate. It was thought that our body size predicted a 12 month gestation, and some suggested that Neanderthals would have had such, but this research conclusion has been set aside based on new analysis. But it is still true that developmentally, human children do not reach a stage of development that allows some degree of self care for a very long time compared to apes. The actual sequence of development is not directly comparable: It is not the case that after a certain amount of time humans reach a specific stage reached earlier in the lifecycle by Chimpanzees, as the differences are more complicated than that. For the present purposes, we can characterize the human condition for early development like this: Human babies are more helpless in more ways and for longer than comparable ape babies.

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DonorsChoose Reminder: Tuckerize Your Pets, and Program This Blog [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:26:31 -0500

I haven't been flogging the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge as hard this year as in past year, but I do want to post a reminder that the challenge is ongoing. If you donate, the money will go to help deserving school kids; if that's not enough, it can also earn you cool stuff like:

The largest individual donor will get a signed copy of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, and the chance to have their pet appear in the sequel. Want to read about your companion animal moving at relativistic speeds? Make a big donation (current leader is just over $370), and you can get it.
Too cash-strapped to buy your way in. Never fear-- one randomly selected donor will get the same package: signed book, and an animal in the next book named after your favorite pet. Any size donation qualifies you for a chance in the drawing.
Prefer immediate gratification? For a donation of $20, I will write a blog post on a topic you suggest, within 48 hours or receiving the email with the donation receipt. (Limit imposed arbitrarily to force me not to proccrastinate...)

To qualify for any of these offers, just forward the donation confirmation email to the address in the Contact tab at the top of this page. I'm also open to suggestions of monkey dance/ puppet show type "big incentives" should we manage to pass some arbitrary threshold to be determined later-- leave suggestions in the comments.

Many thanks to those who have already donated-- we've already raised more than $1000. If you haven't contributed yet, and have some spare money, please donate to one of the many science-themed projects seeking funding this year.

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Poll: The Peter Threshold [Uncertain Principles]

Chad Orzel none@example.com — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:53:54 -0500

As a sort of follow-up to yesterday's post asking about incompetent teachers, a poll on what you might call the "Peter Threshold," after the Peter Principle. Exactly how many incompetent members can an organization tolerate?

This was prompted by one commenter's estimate that 30% of business managers are incompetent, which seems awfully high to be acceptable, particularly in the business world where, we're told, incompetents are regularly fired without ceremony. And by the fact that I have two lectures to prep today, and can't spare the time for more substantive blogging.

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Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia [citation needed] [Greg Laden's Blog]

Greg Laden none@example.com — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:28:08 -0500

I like Wikipedia, I really do. But there are also some serious, very serious problems with it. I just read the entries on the Battle of Rorke's Drift, a few related historical entries, and the entry on the movie Zulu, which is about the Battle of Rorke's drift.

My interest here is in looking at how things African are depicted in movies and other aspects of popular culture, especially historical events and "traditional" cultures. (I am not an expert on modern African studies.)

I will write about that at another time: Suffice it to say that at this point it is obvious that the overall pattern of divergences from historical (probable) fact in the movie can be best understood in reference to the by then well developed African in Western Eyes trope. One of the more blatant divergences is the invention of a person who simply was not present at the event (interestingly, there seems to be only one significant example of this in the movie) and it is "the young white woman" without which no Western movie about Africa would be complete.

Anyway, in reviewing these Wikipedia entries, I noticed that the Wikipedia process has it's own pattern, including a preponderance of (amateur?) military historians at the keyboard who are unable to leave a single fact unturned no matter how insignificant, and a nearly complete lack of proportion so that very important facts get glossed. In addition, if you are Black or African, don't expect your dead to be honored like the white dead will be. Shame.

And so, this all inspired me to make fun of Wikipedia with the following parody:

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