The old home church tries to make it look good while mulling over if and when to re-open: The Episcopal Church approaches these decisions with great care and bases changes in our practices on solid, scientific data. I never thought the Episcopal Church was particularly "scientific." In fact, looking in the rear-view mirror one thing …
My Laboratory Course Introduction, Including Some of My Philosophy of Teaching
https://youtu.be/AoRHtlabC5s COVID-19 has forced many of us in academia to go online (or at least hybrid/blended) in our teaching. This includes the lab course I teach, and this is the first in a series of videos for that course. In the process of introducing students to the course, I make some comments on my philosophy …
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A Challenging Coronavirus Take from an Iraqi Muslim
Dr. Manal Hadi Kanaan is a lecturer of microbiology and anatomy in the Technical Institute of Suwaira/Middle Technical University in Iraq. She recently posted this on Researchgate, which means in front of her peers, about COVID-19. Her English is not the best but her idea is clear (emphasis mine): In light of the circumstances in …
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When Social Distancing from the Plague Pays Off
It sure did for Sir Isaac Newton, this from The World of Mathematics: Newton took his degree from Cambridge early in 1665. In the autumn of that year the great plague, which was raging in London, caused the University to close, and Newton went back to live at the isolated little house at Woolsthorpe where …
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I’m Kristen Karman-Shoemake and This Is How I Mesh — Another Fine Mesh
I was born in Arlington, TX and spent most of my childhood in and around the Fort Worth area. When I was in high school, my family moved to Chattanooga, TN. I then went on to UTK for my undergraduate degree. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life and ended […] …
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Remembering the Anti-Moon Luddites — Chet Aero Marine
https://www.youtube.com/embed/0QLCX-vVWok?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent Today, of course, is the fiftieth anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon–“one giant leap for mankind,” to be sure. It was a great accomplishment and deserves to be remembered. It’s easy to forget, however, that at the time there were many–especially on the left–who believed that the whole enterprise was a …
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YouTube Closes in on the Cover Artists
ICYMI, I've migrated the music that's been on this site to YouTube. That took some time and effort but I think it's worth it. The central reason for that is that it gives the artists (and their record companies) the opportunity to earn some revenue off of the music, even though most of them are …
Science Still Lives Somewhere
Recently I posted a piece entitled The Day Science Died where I lamented the fall of a real scientific/technological urge in our society after we landed men on the moon in 1969. Evidently that urge is still out there, in this case Israel: A dramatic nighttime launch from Cape Canaveral sent Israel’s privately funded lunar …
The Day Science Died
This week's post comes on my companion website, Chet Aero Marine, and is entitled The Day Science Died. But the other thing that came in reading this book was an ache–an ache for a time when we were literally reaching for the stars (or at least the moon.) The passing of that time–something that basically lost …
The War on–and for–Coal is a Waste of Time
Some think we're on a downturn with coal: Across Europe and the U.S., the decline in coal output recently has averaged close to 5 percent a year. If the world as a whole can reach 7 percent a year, it would be on track to meet the IPCC's 2030 target. The conventional wisdom is that …
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Positive Infinity 