Our future robot overlords never looked so squishy. A team of Harvard University scientists has built an entirely soft robot — one that’s inspired by an octopus. The octobot, described this week in the journal Nature, could pave the way toward more effective soft robots that could be used in search and rescue, exploration and…
Similar:A Word About Group ProjectsOkay, students… who loves group projec…AcademiaPrime Stage presents ‘Twelfth Night’ as season-ending productionLooking forward to seeing this! Set in …CultureThe Visitor #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 3) Old Jake Reflects on the life-cha…Rewatching ST:DS9 On a dark and storm…BooksOpinion: Don't link video games with mass shootingsContrary to Dr. Bushman’s suggestion, vi…AcademiaThe…
This short film documents an early attempt to use hypertext to help students study poetry. A fascinating early collaboration between computer science and the humanities. Similar:I was part of a nerve-racking, thrilling attempt to break a world record I drove the girl and myself to the Pal…AestheticsVandal scratches Poe phrase into car at dealershipLanguage nerds…
Similar:That's it my boy, throw the clickbait into the water, cast it wide.AmusingOpt Out of Pre-approved Credit Mailings Requires SSN and DoB? Not So Fast!I was horrified to see that, in order to…BusinessPICT Classic Theatre presents a gritty version of Charles Dickens’ classicPost-Gazette.com – Homer, Shakespeare, C…BooksMy Memories of "Joseph…" [an original cast member reflects…
If movies about space have taught us anything, it’s that no one can hear you scream. If you get lost in space, nobody’s going to find you. Unless you’re a spacecraft with a direct link to NASA. Then, there is hope for you yet. STEREO-B, from the Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission, went missing on…
Today my son asked me to take him shopping for his favorite foods. He’s tired of fast-food take-out. I told him I was busy today running the spotlight for and videotaping yet another one of Carolyn’s performances (this time her voice teacher’s summer revue).
The poor boy has been left at home a lot while the rest of us did so much theater over the summer. He competed in a chess tournament last week. I fell asleep in the next room. He came in second place. (I have no pictures. I’m a bad father.)
While secondary schools pour their resources into helping students get into a good university, and adults rush to teach teens how to behave well socially, no one’s covering what kids need to know for, you know, the actual classes. I have a clear picture of what’s missing from their preparation. Here’s what to tell your…
AFTER A 14-YEAR run, Gawker.com is shutting down next week. Gawker Media’s new owner, US Spanish-language TV network Univision, made the decision to shut down the site after bidding $135 million for the web publisher’s seven-site portfolio in a bankruptcy auction earlier this week. (A bankruptcy judge is set to approve the final sale later…
Helen Keller, rendered blind and deaf after an infection as a toddler, learned the gift of language from her patient and determined teacher, Annie Sullivan. Their story is told in the play The Miracle Worker (and my daughter plays Helen in three more shows this weekend at Latrobe’s Cabaret Theatre). As a young woman Helen Keller…
Similar:Yesterday my stack of unmarked assignments was about 120, so this is not bad.Nothing in this stack is pressing, but t…AcademiaThe Duolingo owl has been judging my German every day for the last year.EducationMore #Blender3D practice. Making many objects to liven up a #steampunk environment.PersonalMy current Zoom backdrop. #blender3d #partylikeaprofAestheticsThoroughly enjoying Collaborators at Quantum Theatre.PersonalSet…
Business Insider calls this article an “anecdote… provided by linguist and cross-culture studies expert Richard Lewis.” The article provides several direct links to other works by Lewis, including an Amazon link for his book and an advertisement for the services he offers to businesses. The article makes many unsourced claims, and assumes that all Americans…
Similar:Scrooge Is My BrotherMy daughter delivered the opening “Marle…CultureLooking forward to more live local theater. (Support the arts!)PersonalClues (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 14) Data's faslehoods nonpluss and Pic…Rewatching ST:TNG After the crew blac…EmpathyMe waiting for students to drop by during office hours. Academiai trained an ai chatbot on my childhood journal entries -…
Similar:Inside the utopian, brick-loving world of LEGO's adult fandomI used to enjoy buying my kids a $4 set …AestheticsMy Daughter's Synesthesia: "S" Is Always Red, and "T" Is Lime GreenAccording to a color-picking test at syn…Aesthetics"I’d never heard of this play before now, but I love it." — World Drama studentA gifted graphic design major…
Similar:Three different sized buildings. Still working on variations for the biggest one. #blender…Three different sized buildings. Still w…AestheticsAlike (2015)This short film reminds us why art matte…AestheticsMy students were awesome. So many thoughtful final projects. So much growth. A stressful, …PersonalDon't call it "social distancing" or you just might get a polite correction from the admin…Academia"I…
Similar:Keeping things in the proper perspective at 4Cs: Praise for my delivery of a line from Sta…Already met a lot of good people and fou…AcademiaWatching a National Guard helicopter lift off after an EMS displayJust spending an August evening with the…PersonalModular components to mix and match. The upper storeys are next. #blender3d #medievalyork …Modular components…
Trump offers plenty of opportunities for his detractors to criticize him. In the case of BabyGate, it does appear that the media were quick to spread an unflattering story without confirming some key facts. From a reporter seated one row behind the crying baby: “Mom and baby, very much not kicked out, came back to their seat a bit later. The baby was sucking a pacifier, silent.” There’s a little more to the story than the transcript and video suggest.
Kinetic Theatre‘s production was full of great twists that honor the source material while also smashing the fourth wall. (Carolyn has worked with all three cast members in PICT’s Great Expectations and/or Oliver Twist.) Similar:Inmates in a Brazil prison shorten their sentences by writing book reviewsAn amazing story of hope and dignity. T…BooksAs CRT Supplies Vanish the…
I’d rather blog about prepping my fall classes than actually start prepping my classes, so here you go. I don’t spend much time on the syllabus on the first day, though I do show students where key topics are, and I do assign a take-home syllabus quiz. (“If Gus Griffin tells you he’s worried about…
We spent Sunday afternoon at the Sadecky’s Puppets studio/workshop in Tarentum, Pa. Carolyn recorded an audio track for a musical adaptation of “Heidi,” to be synced with performances of live puppeteers touring across 9 states during the coming school year. Mr. Sadecky, who has been performing with his puppets since the early 80s, was charming…
Americans are more worried than enthusiastic about using gene editing, brain chip implants and synthetic blood to change human capabilities. Majorities of U.S. adults say they would be “very” or “somewhat” worried about gene editing (68%), brain chips (69%) and synthetic blood (63%), while no more than half say they would be enthusiastic about each…