Having now shepherded two little clowns through elementary and middle school, a lot of teachers have crossed my path. It has been rare to come across one with a passion for science. I have come across teachers who apologize for how hard … Continue reading →

In case the embed doesn’t work: Feynman on Beauty

I’ve always assumed that humans were the only animals to laugh and that the cute noises that dolphins and chimps and friends make are just coincidentally similar to human laughter. I might be wrong, if this finding, described at Animal … Continue reading →

I’ve been following John Walker’s Hacker’s Diet for about nine months now. I love the simplicity of it. “Anyone can control their weight. It’s a simple matter of balancing calories.” – John Walker Mr Walker’s book is a fun, simple … Continue reading →

I’m a huge fan of Radiolab. The episode that got me hooked was the one where they decoded the languages of prairie dogs and Diana monkeys. Everyone knows by now, about the Diana monkeys who have different alarms calls for … Continue reading →

After working much too late last night, I sat out on my newly-laid patio in my new Adirondack made from freshly-chopped-down, endangered, rain-forest hardwood wrapped in a scarcely-needed blanket with my daughter on my lap sipping rum and milk respectively. … Continue reading →

[Clearing out my drafts folder while I wait for my meeting to start and discovered this. Dunno if it’s any good or why I wrote it.] Splendid wrap up of the Darwin Anniversary last year in the London Review of … Continue reading →

I’ve wanted to write a physics engine for years and messing with Squeak made me want to try it in Flex. It wasn’t quite as easy as Squeak but it wasn’t too hard. (It probably needs flash 10 to work) … Continue reading →

Took the kids to the Exploratorium today. It’s currently my favourite museum. Better even than OMSI (although they don’t serve beer at The Exploratorium. How come that hasn’t caught on outside Portland?)  I wish San Jose had a decent museum. … Continue reading →

John Derbyshire’s cuts to the chase in his commentary on D’Souza’s new book. To judge from the extracts — and of course, if this is the kind of thing that interests you, you should read the whole book — D’Souza seems to … Continue reading →