Countdown to the Bachelor's Degree

I thought it might by fun to keep a tally of the major things I have left to do before I become a college graduate.

MATH SENIOR SEMINAR:

• Research paper on introduction to tensors


• Presentation based on paper

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS:

• group project 1 to be assigned


• group project 2 to be assigned

GALAXIES AND COSMOLOGY:

• Research paper on spiral galaxy rotation curves and dark matter distribution


• Project on Milky Way rotation in the Solar neighborhood

Grad School Update

UMass Amherst - Rejected
Brandeis - Rejected
MIT - Rejected
Yale - Rejected
UC Santa Barbara - Rejected
UC Irvine - Rejected
NYU - Rejected

Another Great One Gone

I have two textbooks on the shelf behind me with the name John Archibald Wheeler on them. He's the man who gave name to black holes, wormholes, and quantum foam. He worked with Einstein on relativity and a unified field theory, and did pioneering work in Quantum physics.

John Archibald Wheeler died this morning. Daniel Holz at Cosmic Variance has shared a wonderful tale of his memories as a student of Wheeler, and a poignant goodbye.

The world of science is poorer today.

Creating a Diversion

We owe these guys a big thank you. After the robot takeover, they will be the first to die.



(If you're confused, this is a parody of the Big Dog robot video that went viral recently.)

This is How the Robots Take Over

The robots have been biding their time long enough, knowing that adults would not accept their rule. Now, from Engadget via grinding.be, comes news that they're making their move. The robot ambassadors will lull the children into trusting them, and as those children grow up, they will welcome their new robot overlords. As will I, of course.

People old enough to be Jetsons fans might almost be able to detect a hint of Rosie in this:

Inhuman babysitters aren’t all that uncommon around the world, but a new creature recently placed in a Japanese department store is a godsend for shopaholics with rugrats in tow. Developed by Tmsuk, the 1.4-meter tall bot is employed at a Fukuoka retailer in order to keep watch over rambunctious youngsters that are dropped off by their overworked parents. Reportedly, said critter boasts an integrated projector and camera, a colorful yellow / white outfit and the ability to identify children by name based on a special tag that each kiddo wears while playing. Of course, the manufacturer isn’t looking to just shove one or two of these into every store in Japan — oh no, it’s hoping to create similar robots that could one day “guide customers through the aisles of a store,” fill their carts or whisper the joke of the day in a French accent into their ears.

Grad School Tally

UC Irvine - Pending
Brandeis - Pending
UMass Amherst - Pending

MIT - Rejected
Yale - Rejected
UC Santa Barbara - Rejected
NYU - Rejected

NASA TV

I'm listening to NASA TV as Endeavour has just completed its de-orbit burn. I say "listening to" because the video stream is mostly shots of a control room where nothing much is happening.

It feels like more people would be interested in space exploration if NASA had more skill with the entertainment side of things. There is plenty of interesting stuff they could be showing us right now, but instead we see people at desks. Heart-pounding.

Future Scientists

From Overheard in New York:

Little boy #1: I wish dinosaurs lived in Central Park.
Little boy #2: Dinosaurs aren't real -- they're from the TV.
Little boy #3: Dinosaurs are real, they just live on other planets.
Little boy #2: Like Pluto!
Little boy #1: Pluto isn't a planet anymore. The scientists blowed it up.

The Cult of Genius | Cosmic Variance

Julianne over at Cosmic Variance posts The Cult of Genius, and it hits pretty close to home. Everybody should go read it, but the gist is this: since very few people are Feynman-Einstein-Hawking smart, most students who grow up thinking (perhaps correctly) that they're smart will eventually hit a wall in college. Before, they could coast through anything; after, they actually have to work to pick up the material, and may still not really get it.

I say the post hits close to home because I grew up thinking I was pretty damn smart. Even after deciding on a career change and heading back to school at 35, I was sailing through the preparatory courses. Then Bam! Wall. I've spent the last two semesters adjusting my attitude, and preparing myself to admit that I may be smart, but I'm no Feynman. Hopefully, this adjustment will keep me from falling into the drop-out group mentioned in the CV post.

Last week, while defending myself against charges of being intimidated by a very intelligent, very young professor, I popped out this gem: "I don't want to be the smartest person in the room. Then there's nobody to talk to." I hope that's a sign that my adjustment is going well.

This is where I was supposed to be living by now

Via Paleo-Future comes this vision of life aboard a space station.

I believe I first saw this around the time it was made in the 70s. Back then, to a kid with a big imagination, it was a dream of the future. Now, it feels more like a broken promise. Oh well... There's still time.

Where Else

The SciExpress media empire is just getting started.

I can also be found here: http://www.myspace.com/sciexpress

Oh, and over here too: http://sciexpress.livejournal.com/

I doubt I'll do much at either of them, really, but I wanted to snag the name.

Smug Alert

Even a few months ago, I wouldn't have believed it possible.

I am now officially a Mac Person.

I can feel myself becoming insufferable already. This is my first post from my shiny new MacBook, and to borrow a phrase from Ferris Bueller, it is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

Can't post more now. Must. Keep. Tweaking.

No Accounting for Taste

How can the crabs / ice chest thing be rated the best ad by USA Today poll. It wasn't funny, wasn't touching, wasn't much of anything but a swing-and-a-miss.

My vote for top is a 3-way tie. The Bud Light Hitchhiker, the Blockbuster Mouse, and finding out Robert Goulet is a Suliban. Yes I'm a geek -- this will become painfully apparent.

First!

Interesting that Blogger doesn't let you upload a photo to use as a background. Anyway, that's why it's in this post, so I can use it there.