A New Look into the Whirlpool

A New Look into the WhirlpoolGalaxy M51 was discovered by Charles Messier in 1773, but its outstanding spiral structure was first perceived by William Parsons (Earl of Rosse) in 1845, using his huge reflecting telescope, the Leviathan of Parsonstown....

Selected readings 7/25/10

Interesting reading and news items.Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include more articles of a similar nature in the futureThese...

Hyper Mellow Break Time

Not long ago I had dinner with some friends who have known me for ~30 years.At one point, late in the evening, after we'd been talking for a long time, one of my friends said to me "You're so mellow. You've always been a really mellow person."Another...

Telling It Like It Is?

If you are an adviser of graduate students. and if prospective students contact you to ask you about your research and research program:1. Do you encourage prospective students to contact your current or recent graduate students for a student-eye-view...

And the bottom falls out of the Science Blogging Universe

I love soda. That should be no such a big surprise if you saw my previous post where I admitted to loving junk food. I love science. And you know I loves Science Blogging. But if I had known my little affair of junk food and science...

Assorted Infants

Not long ago, a colleague at another university asked me for advice about being the parent of an infant. He is about to become the parent of an infant. I am the parent of a teenager who was an infant about a thousand years ago. My first reaction was...

All in the Family

Sometimes, as graduate advisers, we work with students or postdocs who previously worked with friends and colleagues of ours or who came from the same academic institutions we attended in our younger days. Sometimes, as teachers and advisers of undergraduate...

My class is like the melodie that's sweetly play'd in tune

A colleague of mine recently got an e-mail from a student with a question about the Science Class For Non-Scientists that he will be teaching in the fall. The student wondered:"what is your class like?"I am sure that my colleague wrote back (or will...

Quasars in the very early universe

Quasars are powered by the gravitational (potential) energy of their central supermassive black holes. However, their distinctive features – their extremely high luminosity in particular – are very dependent on characteristics of matter close to the...

Friday Oppressed Men Poll

From a comment yesterday:..Since I was male nobody spoke up for me. I imagine that if FSP were in my department, she would have been so immersed in the troubles of women, to realize that there are suffering males too.I hope this goes a bit towards appeasing...

Personal Growth Experience for Sexist Jerks, reprise

A few years ago, I posed the question:What do you do if someone you know to be a long-time sexist jerk is selected for a position of responsibility in a professional organization that directly impacts the lives of women academics, their funding, and...

Selected readings 7/13/10

Interesting reading and news items.Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include more articles of a similar nature in the futureThese...

Despite Our Natural Inclinations

One thing that interests me about the recent Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education study is how certain media outlets have summarized the results.According to the study, there may be differences in job satisfaction among untenured faculty...

Starburst Cluster Shows Celestial Fireworks

Starburst Cluster Shows Celestial Fireworks (7/6/10)Like a July 4 fireworks display, a young, glittering collection of stars looks like an aerial burst. The cluster is surrounded by clouds of interstellar gas and dust—the raw material for new star formation....

Shiny Happy Professors

News flash:Physical science professors are happier than professors in other disciplines.This professorial happiness index was calculated by considering "teaching hours, university expectations for tenure, ability to balance work and home responsibilities...

Being There, Postdoctoral Edition

How much do you work? More than you want to? As much as you want to? Whatever your answer, do you get to decide or do you feel you have no choice, either because someone else is determining how much you work or because you are trying to meet certain...

In Which I am Thanked for not Being Biased Against Men

An alternative title for this post is:Now I've Seen Everything (in a review)To explain:One possible example of a broader impact that can be mentioned in an NSF proposal is the extent to which the proposed research activities broaden the participation...

But We Pay a Lot of Money

A few years ago, a certain blogger referred to me as a curmudgeon. This is a great word, but I am not sure it applies to me all that well, at least not most of the time, but today I have decided to try to live up to the word.I was an undergraduate at...

Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313

Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313 (5/24/10)The starburst galaxy NGC 1313 is a stellar incubator delivering stars on a scale rarely seen in a single galaxy of its size. Now a striking new Gemini Observatory image reveals the multitudes of glowing gas clouds...

Check Your Cynical Level

Let's consider scenarios similar to those posed by Alex in a comment to yesterday's post:Assistant Professor #1 at a major research university does pretty good but not outstanding research (however that is defined by the norms of AP#1's field/department/university),...

Infantilized

Recently I was reading some online discussions about student opinions re. recent cuts in instructional staff owing to budget woes at various major research universities in the US. I read complaints from students who were upset at the loss of beloved...

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