Category Archives: Society

Quantitative journalism with open data

Posted on March 26, 2012 by sflammia

This is the best news article I’ve seen in a while: It’s the political cure-all for high gas prices: Drill here, drill now. But more U.S. drilling has not changed how deeply the gas pump drills into your wallet, math … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Science, Science By Press Release, Society, Statistics | 8 Comments

A Federal Mandate for Open Science

Posted on February 9, 2012 by sflammia

Witness the birth of the Federal Research Public Access Act: “The Federal Research Public Access Act will encourage broader collaboration among scholars in the scientific community by permitting widespread dissemination of research findings.  Promoting greater collaboration will inevitably lead to … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Science, Politics, Science 2.0, Scientific Publishing, Society | 2 Comments

strike!

Posted on January 17, 2012 by aram

In a move that will undoubtedly bring the US Senate to its knees, the Quantum Pontiff is going dark from 8am to 8pm EST on Jan 18 to protest SOPA, PIPA, the Research Works Act and other proposed acts of … Continue reading →

Posted in Computers, General, Open Science, Scientific Publishing, Society | Leave a comment

Correcting Untruths

Posted on January 12, 2012 by sflammia

We here at the Quantum Pontiff value truth in all its forms: theorems, lemmas, statistical inference, and hard experimental data, to name just a few. So I feel compelled to highlight the following. In his column on the New York … Continue reading →

Posted in Extralusionary Intelligence, Society | 8 Comments

Missed This: New John Baez Blog

Posted on July 29, 2010 by dabacon

Hmm, I’m totally out of it as I missed that John Baez, who “blogged” before blogging was the incredibly hip thing to do (which lasted for exactly 2 seconds in 2006?) has a new blog, a new two year visiting … Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Science, Society | 4 Comments

CERN Physicist Arrested

Posted on October 9, 2009 by dabacon

A physicist at CERN has been arrested for suspicions of ties to Al Qaeda. Don’t worry I already checked www.hasthelhcdestoryedtheearth.com and www.hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com and both assured me that, so far, Al Qaeda has not managed to generate black holes that would … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Society | 4 Comments

Nobel Peace Prize

Posted on October 9, 2009 by dabacon

Barack Obama has been awarded an honorary degree from Arizona State University the Nobel Prize in Peace for “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” I recommend a bag of popcorn, a big soda, and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society | 4 Comments

Apple Pie From Scratch

Posted on October 1, 2009 by dabacon

Via physicsandcake, on some days I wish I was as dorky and as elegant as Carl Sagan: Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Society | Leave a comment

Netflix Prize Awarded

Posted on September 21, 2009 by dabacon

The Netflix prize for movie rankings has been awarded with the winner being BellKor’s Pragmatic Chaos. This is very cool, but since it’s Monday I think we need a good dose of reality. So here is the first comment on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Science, Society | 3 Comments

Worldview Manager

Posted on September 4, 2009 by dabacon

Scott Aaronson, Leonid Grinberg, and Louis Wasserman’s “Worldview Manager” is now live at http://projects.csail.mit.edu/worldview/home. It seems that I am not in much conflict over quantum computing So, damnit, I may be wrong, but at least I’m consistent (the hobgoblin of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Quantum Computing, Self: Meet Center. Center: Meet Self., Society | 4 Comments