Bringing a little star power to Capitol Hill

post from Planetary Society Blog on 17 May 2012 07:33:26 PM. © Planetary Society Blog

On May 8, 2012, Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson brought their unique brand of motivational speaking to Capitol Hill. In a standing-room-only lunch discussion in one of the meeting rooms for the Committee on Space, Science, Technology, these two space superstars, along with planetary scientist Louise Prockter, explained to members of Congress, staffers, and media why we must continue to invest in planetary exploration.

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NCBI ROFL: Walking with coffee: Why does it spill

post from Discoblog » NCBI ROFL on 17 May 2012 07:00:06 PM. © Discoblog » NCBI ROFL

“In our busy lives, almost all of us have to walk with a cup of coffee. While often we spill the drink, this familiar phenomenon has never been explored systematically. Here we report on the results of an experimental study of the conditions under which coffee spills for various walking speeds and initial liquid levels in the cup.These observations are analyzed from the dynamical systems and fluid mechanics viewpoints as well as with the help of a model developed here. Particularities of the common cup sizes, the coffee properties, and the biomechanics of walking proved to be responsible for the spilling phenomenon. The studied problem represents an example of the interplay between the complex motion of a cup, due to the biomechanics of a walking individual, and the low-viscosity-liquid dynamics in it.”

Bonus figure from the main text:

Thanks to @seblumer for today’s ROFL!

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Of myth and wonder

post from Supernova Condensate on 17 May 2012 06:01:26 PM. © Supernova Condensate

?

Today the function of the artist is to bring imagination to science and science to imagination, where they meet,
in the myth.

(Read more ...)

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http://invaderxan.livejournal.com/153299.html

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Caption This for 05/18/12

post from CR4 - Recent Blog Entries on 17 May 2012 05:45:00 PM. © CR4 - Recent Blog Entries

This week's image:Be sure to vote for your favorite caption!

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Graduate School Burnout Quantified

post from Physics Buzz on 17 May 2012 05:16:13 PM. © Physics Buzz

For most graduate students in physics, a research focused career ranks more attractive than teaching, government work, or science outreach and writing. Most PhD physicists, however, will never attain a tenure-track position at a university. Upon entering graduate school, many students realize that the odds are against them, but they push forward regardless.

Students may not realize how their career perceptions will evolve throughout graduate school, however. A study published earlier this month has revealed that research careers become less attractive to graduate students as they progress through school.

This image shows the relative attractiveness of different careers for biology, chemistry and physics graduate students. Positive percentages represent the proportion of students who found a career more appealing over time, and negative percentages represent the proportion of students who found a career less attractive over time. Image Courtesy Henry Sauermann/Micheal Roach/PLOS One.
Surveying thousands of graduate students in biology, chemistry and physics, study authors Henry Sauermann and Michael Roach tracked career perceptions for five different levels of graduate students:

Those who have not yet passed a qualifying exam.
Students currently working on dissertation research.
Students working on non-dissertation research (e.g., as a research assistant).
Those who intend to begin actively looking for a job or post-doc position within the next year.
Students who are actively looking for a job or a post-doc position.

Moving from one to five, research careers became increasingly unattractive. In physics, the number of students who rated a research career as either "unattractive" or "extremely unattractive" doubled from 7 percent for early stage students to 14 percent of late stage students. Meanwhile, the percentage of physics students who ranked a research career as high as possible dropped from 60 percent to 53 percent.

A significant portion of graduate students are turned off by an academic career over time. But most students steadfastly pursue research careers despite the dearth of permanent positions. According to the study authors, this may be because advisers rarely counsel students on careers outside of academia.

The percentage of students who felt that their department encouraged or discouraged certain career paths. Image Courtesy Henry Sauermann/Micheal Roach/PLOS One.
Advisers don't actively discourage certain careers much more than others, at least in the minds of students. Instead, they don't discuss "alternative" careers with students, probably leading to the large neutral perception for careers outside of research. This may be because advisers rarely have extensive experience outside of academia; they can't give students reliable advice about these careers.

The authors of the study noted that universities should consider being more upfront about career prospects in research before admitting students. While this may lead to fewer students enrolling in graduate school, it will likely lead to fewer disillusioned students in the future.

Attending graduate school is a huge decision, and students should be well-informed before they take the plunge. We should give the students facts about careers after graduate school, but they ultimately have to make these life decisions themselves.

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If you want to keep up with Hyperspace, AKA Brian, you can follow him on Twitter.

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-school-burnout-quantified.html

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[mos-ak] C4P 10th MOS-AK/GSA ESSDERC/ESSCIRC
Workshop in Bordeaux, Sept. 21, 2012

post from Sedemos News on 17 May 2012 05:15:53 PM. © Sedemos News

C4P 10th MOS-AK/GSA ESSDERC/ESSCIRC Workshop in Bordeaux, Sept. 21, 2012
http://mos-ak.org/bordeaux/
Together with the Organizing Committee and Extended MOS-AK/GSA TPC Committee, we have pleasure to invite to the 10th MOS-AK/GSA Compact Modeling Workshop at the ESSDERC/ESSCIRC Conference in Bordeaux, Sept. 21, 2012.
The terms of participation, intending participants and authors should also note the following dates:

Preannouncement - April 2012
Call for Papers - May 2012
Abstract submission deadline - June 2012
Final Workshop Program - July 2012
MOS-AK/GSA Workshop - Sept. 21, 2012

Further details and updates: <http://mos-ak.org/bordeaux/>
Email contact: <workshops@mos-ak.org>
- with regards - WG (for the MOS-AK/GSA Committee) ??????????????????????????????????---------------- MIXDES Special Modeling Sesion Warsaw (PL) May 24-26, 2012COMON Tranining Course Tarragona (SP) June 28-19, 2012 MOS-AK/GSA Bordeaux (F) Sept.21, 2012 MOS-AK/GSA San Francisco, CA Q4 2012 ??????????????????????????????????----------------

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Spinning up plutonium

post from Sciencebase Science Blog on 17 May 2012 04:12:41 PM. © Sciencebase Science Blog

After a half century of trying, spectroscopists have finally pinned down the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of plutonium-239. The finding will have implications for future studies of the solid-state physics of this important nuclear fuel and might point the way to improved approaches to the long-term storage of nuclear waste as well as the [...]

Spinning up plutonium is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

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As promised: Jupiter and moons seen by SOHO

A little while back, I wrote about Jupiter appearing in an image from NASA’s SOHO Sun-observing satellite. I promised that it would soon appear in a SOHO camera that had higher magnification, and we’d be able to see its moons. I am not one to[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/XJHV7Zl_-W0/

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