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Because Nature Isn't Classical

Via the Computational Complexity (welcome back Lance), the list of accepted papers for CCC 2008 has been posted. Woot, that’s a lot of quantum inspired papers. By my count 7 of 33. Quoteth Feynman

…and I’m not happy with all the analyses that go with just the classical theory, because nature isn’t classical, dammit, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you’d better make it quantum mechanical…

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Self Cleaning Hyperbolic Tweed Clothing for Academics

Some days it seems the universe is trying to tell you something. The last few days, this has apparently been something to do with clothing:

  • Self cleaning clothes. I really need these as I am in a constant battle with mustard.
  • Via Three-Toed Sloth, A Call for Professional Attire on dressing in academia. Recently my dog ate the elbows out of a new sweater, so I now have a sweater with patched elbows, the ultimate in professorial attire, I suppose. Sadly the article doesn’t take the argument to its conclusion and require that not just profs wear fancy clothes, but that students also be required to wear uniforms of less sophistication, so that those little rats know their place in life.
  • In a related note, New York’s fashion week features tweed. So take that you scruffy enforcer of suits and ties: soon professorial tweed will be all the rage.
  • Crocheted models of hyperbolic space. Impressive, but I’m still waiting for “Crocheted models of eleven dimensional space time.” On a related note, knitting and cellular automata.
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Will the Presidential Candidates Debate Science?

The U.S. presidential candidates been invited to a debate on science. Will they come? I don’t know, but the thought of Mike Huckabee using biblical references in discussing science could lead to some very fun sentences. For example, if he wanted to get apocrypha-l, when talking about the bioethics of artificial wombs, he could bring up the Gospel of Thomas 15:

Jesus said, “When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your faces and worship. That one is your Father.”

Of course, Mike Huckabee didn’t major in math, so I worry that he won’t attend for fear that the debate might test his calculating abilities (math phobia burns wide and deep.)