Monthly Archives: January 2009

No Chamonix For You

Posted on January 30, 2009 by woit

In the last posting I linked to the web-site for next week’s LHC Performance workshop at Chamonix, where the state of efforts to recover from last September’s accident and plans for this year will be discussed. As in many previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental HEP News | 21 Comments

CERN: The View From Inside

Posted on January 27, 2009 by woit

Tommaso Dorigo has a new post up on Information control from CERN, where he discusses a Physics World interview by Matthew Chalmers of the head of communications at CERN, James Gillies. Gillies addresses what CERN sees as a problem: information … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental HEP News | 8 Comments

Lots of Unrelated Topics

Posted on January 27, 2009 by woit

I’m trying to finish writing up something about equivariant cohomology for the BRST project, slowed down by realizing there was something interesting about this that I didn’t understand. Soon that should be sorted out…. In the meantime, here are various … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

The Worst Jobs in Science: Theoretical Physicist

Posted on January 19, 2009 by woit

After the recent news that being a mathematician is the best job in the US, next month’s Popular Science magazine has come out with a list of the worst jobs, not overall, but in the sciences. “Theoretical Physicist” makes the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 54 Comments

Quick Posting, European Edition

Posted on January 15, 2009 by woit

It’s semester break and I’m in Paris this week, but I have a few moments to post on some topics that may be of interest: People here in Europe seem quite normal, but Lubos has just won an award for … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Science Channel Inks Deal With Physicist Michio Kaku

Posted on January 8, 2009 by woit

Fresh from his leading role in the History Channel’s Parallel Universes (if you missed it on TV, the DVD is available here), according to a press release today, Michio Kaku will now be appearing regularly on Discovery’s Science Channel: The … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 28 Comments

Dyson on Birds and Frogs

Posted on January 7, 2009 by woit

Next month’s Notices of the AMS has an essay by Freeman Dyson entitled Frogs and Birds, which was written for his planned Einstein Public Lecture. In it, he divides mathematicians up into two species: birds, who “fly high in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Best Job in the US

Posted on January 6, 2009 by woit

According to the latest JobsRated listing released today, the best job in the US is that of mathematician. Pay is good, stress is low, and you don’t have to get your hands dirty, but can sit in front of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

New Year Links

Posted on January 5, 2009 by woit

There’s a conference going on in Jerusalem now on the topic of Particle Physics in the Age of the LHC. Some slides and other talk materials are here, video may start appearing here. Not clear when the “Age of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Dis-moi qui tu aimes (je te dirai qui tu hais)

Posted on January 2, 2009 by woit

A colleague has very helpfully provided me with a copy of the murder mystery set at the IHES that I wrote about recently here, and I’ve just finished reading it. Since I’m not much of an afficionado of this genre … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 7 Comments