Drake

A bit of Nick Drake for Tuesday.

Sneeze simulation

Someone sent me a cool video simulation showing the propagation of the flu virus after a sneeze. You can check the whole thing here.

Lights out

Apparently, Morrissey collapsed during a concert in Swindon, UK. He's been released from the hospital but some tour dates have been canceled.

Silly news of the week taken from real headlines

The Japanese patient simulator.

Plane misses airport.

Sleepwalking Through The Mekong

I've been busy teaching gamma-ray and cosmic-ray physics. Hence the lack of posts. A bit of Cambodia via LA to close the week.

Viernes

By request, Chicha Libre from Barbes.

Africa: A Musical Journey (7) - Namibia

Crossing the Namib desert, today's selection is Elemotho.

LHC and fate

A Higgs' article featured on the news.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0802.2991

Africa: A Musical Journey (6) - Zimbabwe

We move on to Zimbabwe and Dorothy Masuka. I didn't know she wrote Pata Pata for Miriam Makeba. And to Zimbabweans better times will come soon. Nothing can last forever.

Moon impact

NASA's LCROSS mission has impacted the moon today. The basic idea is to blow up lunar dust, fly through the plume and the check for signs of water. Press conference will start in a few minutes but the good news is that the Moon is safe for now.

Science funding

One of the latest troubling news to come out of the so called global crisis is the 15% reduction in the science budget of Spain for 2010 (You can read more here in Spanish only). Now, everyone on the government side is trying to paint the picture that the cut will not affect current plans for hiring new scientists and projects. But somehow I suspect that a 15% pinch will be felt somewhere (unless this goes to curb 15% in unjustified costs). We cannot pretend that balancing a budget with money shortfalls is an easy task, but there must be something else that can take a bite. Someone estimated that the reduction amounts to 280 million euros per year, that amounts to 4% of the money destined to the military budget, three Ronaldos, or the pension of 6 rich bankers. Fewer bombs/goals/bankers anyone?

Another Ring

Spitzer reports a new ring around Saturn. I guess we are still learning about planet/moon formation in our Solar system. Cool stuff.

CCDs

Willard Boyle and George Smith take part of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2009 for their invention of CCDs. Widely used in astronomy and everyday cameras, CCDs have become a staple of modern life. The prize also highlights how private investment (when done smartly) may help fund new ideas. Boyle and Smith are just the latest recipients to have worked at Bell Labs (8 Nobel Prizes in total). Unfortunately, most of their research division is now closed.

Africa: A Musical Journey (5) - Mozambique

Back in the mainland, Wazimbo from Mozambique.

Project Icarus

For $150 you can launch you own helium balloon (see details here). Although much of the credit should go for the slightly more expensive experiment carried out by Spanish students. I love cheap creativity. It's easy to be creative on a big budget, but some of the most interesting things come from having to build something out of nothing.