Science in the air

I spent most of a plane flight yesterday reading the 12/23/05 issue of Science. Generally I do not take the time to sit down and read the magazines that come poring into my house every month, so as a captive audience of sorts, I was determined to read the whole damn thing. I didn't read every word, but I was pretty thorough. There were some interesting things in there.
Having gotten my PhD in experimental particle physics and then chosen to enter industry rather than stay in academia, I felt somewhat vindicated upon seeing Adrian Cho's article on U.S. Particle Physics as the "Breakdown of the Year." It seems that physicists have once again run up against the "wisdom" of government budgets that invest in the first half of a project and then cut and run. I'm...I'm getting flashbacks to...to 1993...when Congress decided to axe the Superconducting Super Collider after investing...HOW MUCH?? I was shocked to learn that BTeV had been cancelled - I thought anything Fermilab touched was golden. If you want the complete story of why this was a stupid decision stupidly made, check out this statement issued by the (former) collaboration. How heartbreaking to have joined a new collaboration/experiment because the funding for your old collaboration/experiment got cut, and then see the new collaboration/experiment get its funding cut! I don't know for sure, but I think that happened to some of the BTeV scientists.

Don't get me wrong - I want nothing but large budgets and success for those still in the field, but sometimes it's hard to stomach feeling like a second-class citizen of the APS. Most of the society's activities are geared towards academia. They couldn't even maintain publication of The Industrial Physicist, a monthly magazine that made me feel less like a nobody in the physics community. I don't think I made the wrong decision, but seeing the woes of U.S. particle physicists makes me a little happier with the route I chose.

Woo hoo!

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

This was fun, but, hello, "What's the electric charge of a neuron?"!

Why We Do It, by Niles Eldredge

No, this isn't a book review. I picked up this book at the airport yesterday and made it through a good bit before I succumbed to sleep on the plane. This quote, from a section titled "Physics Envy," stuck in my head:

And later evolutionary biologists, such as Earnst Mayr, have occasionally wondered aloud why physicists can't seem to grasp the concept of natural selection. Inasmuch as physicists are not a uniformly stupid lot, that many of them don't seem to "get" core evolutionary concepts like natural selection is actually very interesting.

I have to say that as a physicist, and hopefully not a stupid one, I have never, my whole life, had trouble understanding natural selection. I don't imagine that most of the other physicists I know would have trouble with the concept, although I have not actually discussed it with them. One wonders of whom the author is speaking. Perhaps he thinks physicists can only understand things as equations? I've run in to that attitude before. Maybe I know an unusually broad-minded group of physicists.

In any event, the following sentence stands as an intriguing challenge: "A true physics of genetic information remains to be developed." I'm not quite sure what he means by that yet. He alludes to "some interesting early attempts" but doesn't give specifics.

What? You have more to say?

Howdy, and welcome to my new blog. Apparently my dance blog stirred the writing juices, because now I feel compelled to put pen to paper (figuratively) and record my thoughts on science. Mostly this will be an attempt to organize my thoughts on a wide range of scientific topics as well as make note of recent discoveries that I find interesting. I might review a few books, but don't get your hopes up.