Article · Science (16)

I have a backlog of stupid Friday linkfests that should comfortably outlast civilization

This week: ideologically-biased walks through the garden of forking paths, the decline of the humanities, people who are hard to compress, Claude = Homer, tell me again what “emotional regulation” is, the most impactful forecast of all time, and more. … Continue reading →

Dynamic Ecology · EN

Saturday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to CaturSaturday, October 31, 2026: shabbos for Jewish cats, the last day of the month and Halloween! Here’s a short Tik Tok video from The Quack House featuring ducks and an appropriately carved pumpkin: It’s also Carve a Pumpkin Day, Girl Scout Founder’s Day, National Candy Apple Day, National Caramel Apple Day (watch those … Continue reading Saturday: Hili dialogue

Why Evolution Is True · EN

Caturday felid trifecta: Man adopts kitten found at O’Hare airport; a jump-scaring Sphynx cat; a scientific study of cats, toxoplasmosis, and happiness

Caturday felid is moribund, but we continue today with three items and lagniappe. First, a professor found a kitten at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, and I didn’t hear of it until a reader told me. First, the news headlines from NBC 5 (note the “cat distribution system”). Click headline to read: Here is some text, but … Continue reading Caturday felid trifecta: Man adopts kitten found at O’Hare airport; a jump-scaring Sphynx cat; a scientific study of cats, toxoplasmosis, and happiness

Why Evolution Is True · EN

Sunday: Hili dialogue

NOTE: Did you set your clocks back last night? Daylight Savings Time ended at 1 a.m., which became midnight. You either got an extra hour of sleep (as I did, thank Ceiling Cat) or you’ll get an extra hour of leisure or work. Welcome to Sunday, November 1, 2026: we are now approaching winter in … Continue reading Sunday: Hili dialogue

Why Evolution Is True · EN

Readers’ wildlife photos

UC Davis math professor Abby Thompson has sent us a batch of lovely marine invertebrate photos from California. Abby’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge her photos by clicking on them. The October low tides had some challenging features. There was a strong wind (which makes me cold and everything harder to … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos

Why Evolution Is True · EN

Movie: “Paging Hezbollah”

The movie “Paging Hezbollah” came out two days ago, and it’s a film worth noting, as Liel Leibovitz has done at the Free Press. I don’t know if it will be available on Netflix, but for sure you won’t find it at the local theater, nor will you see it reviewed in the NYT (I … Continue reading Movie: “Paging Hezbollah”

Why Evolution Is True · EN

Monday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to the first Monday of the month: it’s November 2, 2026, the last day before the Midterm Elections, and Plan Your Epitaph Day. I’m going to be incinerated, so I won’t have one, but have a look at the gravestone of Mel Blanc as shown in Wikipedia. As Wikipedia notes: [Blanc] later expanded to … Continue reading Monday: Hili dialogue

Why Evolution Is True · EN

What’s a Democrat to do?

As readers will know, I’ve been a lifelong Democrat, and though we don’t have to register by party in Illinois, I’ve always voted solidly Democratic, as I just did (it isn’t hard in Illinois). However, “liberal” Democrats like me, who are more towards the center than are “progressives” like AOC or “the squad”, are starting … Continue reading What’s a Democrat to do?

Why Evolution Is True · EN

Johns Hopkins

As far as I remember, the first time I stepped onto a university campus was in junior high school, when I visited Johns Hopkins for an awards ceremony for the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth. (I grew up in an environment that didn’t involve spending a lot of time on college campuses, generally speaking.) The […] Related Posts: Charm City Full disclosure Worldline demographics

Cosmic Variance · EN

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion

Just in case there are any blog readers out there who haven’t heard from other channels: I have a new book out! The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion is Volume One of a planned three-volume series. It grew out of the videos that I did in 2020, trying to offer short […] Related Posts: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Introduction The Biggest Ideas in the Universe | 1. Conservation The Biggest Ideas in the Universe | 5. Time

Cosmic Variance · EN

Thanksgiving

This year we give thanks for Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem. (We’ve previously given thanks for the Standard Model Lagrangian, Hubble’s Law, the Spin-Statistics Theorem, conservation of momentum, effective field theory, the error bar, gauge symmetry, Landauer’s Principle, the Fourier Transform, Riemannian Geometry, the speed of light, the Jarzynski equality, the moons of Jupiter, space, black hole […] Related Posts: Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

Cosmic Variance · EN

Proposed Closure of the Dianoia Institute at Australian Catholic University

Just a few years ago, Australian Catholic University (ACU) established a new Dianoia Institute of Philosophy. They recruited a number of researchers and made something of a splash, leading to a noticeable leap in ACU’s rankings in philosophy — all the way to second among Catholic universities in the English-speaking world, behind only Notre Dame. […] Related Posts: Full disclosure Summer Institute in Philosophy of Cosmology, Santa Cruz The Cosmologist vs. The Cardinal

Cosmic Variance · EN

Thanksgiving

This year we give thanks for a feature of nature that is frequently misunderstood: quanta. (We’ve previously given thanks for the Standard Model Lagrangian, Hubble’s Law, the Spin-Statistics Theorem, conservation of momentum, effective field theory, the error bar, gauge symmetry, Landauer’s Principle, the Fourier Transform, Riemannian Geometry, the speed of light, the Jarzynski equality, the moons of Jupiter, space, black hole entropy, electromagnetism, and Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem.) Of course quantum mechanics […] Related Posts: Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

Cosmic Variance · EN

New Course: The Many Hidden Worlds of Quantum Mechanics

In past years I’ve done several courses for The Great Courses/Wondrium (formerly The Teaching Company): Dark Matter and Dark Energy, Mysteries of Modern Physics:Time, and The Higgs Boson and Beyond. Now I’m happy to announce a new one, The Many Hidden Worlds of Quantum Mechanics. This is a series of 24 half-hour lectures, given by […] Related Posts: New Course: The Higgs Boson and Beyond Mysteries of Time: New Teaching Company Course Prof in a Box

Cosmic Variance · EN

George B. Field, 1929-2024

George Field, brilliant theoretical astrophysicist and truly great human being, passed away on the morning of July 31. He was my Ph.D. thesis advisor and one of my favorite people in the world. I often tell my own students that the two most important people in your life who you will (consensually) choose are your […] Related Posts: Fred Whipple George Carlin, 1937-2008 Are You a Cognitive Miser?

Cosmic Variance · EN

Thanksgiving

(Apologies for the ugly blog format. We had a bit of a crash, and are working to get the template back in working order.) This year we give thanks for a crucially important idea that can mean very different things to different people: information. (We’ve previously given thanks for the Standard Model Lagrangian, Hubble’s Law, the Spin-Statistics Theorem, conservation […] Related Posts: Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

Cosmic Variance · EN