One of my favorite sources of local news, cvillenews.com, delivered this little gem of a story from our local CBS station: Cupcake Helps Overdue Moms Deliver Babies. Now, there is no doubt that cupcakes are a magical delivery device for…
Tag: Charlottesville
I do not think “Free speech” means what you think it means…
This story on cvillenews.com showcases a whole lot of fail. City Manager Orders Censorship of Chalkboard For those of you who don’t live in the fair town of Charlottesville, the chalkboard in question is a monument to the freedom of…
Help us help kids with just a few clicks!
If you know me in person, you’ve probably heard me talk on and on about Dark Skies, Bright Kids, aka DSBK. This is an astronomy club for elementary school kids in Albemarle County, run by volunteers from the Astronomy Department…
Winter Wonderland
If you are my friend on Twitter, you’ve probably been oversaturated with this already… but it FREAKIN SNOWED here in Charlottesville! We unofficially measured 20 inches outside of my apartment, and some people in the area measured even more. A…
My very first Letter to the Editor
In response to a post on the Hook news blog, “Pelt Michaels? Climategate includes swipe at Pat.” I hope I don’t sound like a total goober… I’d like to briefly respond to the Hook news blog post by Lisa Provence…
Updates on anti-vax, woo, and flying cars…
I have updates on some of what I’ve been writing about lately. So listen up! In my H1N1 post, I mentioned the “backwards walking cheerleader.” Via Skepchick, please read this entire post by Orac summing up the aftermath. In summary,…
Unicorns and Starry Nights
This semester, a number of astronomers at UVa are participating in a project called Dark Skies, Bright Kids. Each week, a group head out to a local elementary school and do astronomy-related project with the third, fourth, and fifth graders…
Astronomers Fighting Multiple Sclerosis Need Your Help!
A few of our athletically inclined graduate students in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Virginia are going to participate in a bike ride to raise money for multiple sclerosis at an event called Best of the Blue…
In Charlottesville, Boobies Gain (Limited) Acceptance
All kinds of chitter-chatter has been erupting in Charlottesville in reaction to the Hook publishing an article* on successful UVa alumni that posed for Playboy while in college. The article itself is not the issue, but some object the tiny…
Grassroots Skeptics launches today!
Edit 9/7: Link fixed! Wow, I suck at typing… Go visit it now, seriously. Today is the first day of Dragon*Con, and thus the first day of the Skeptrack (watch it here!). You can celebrate skeptically one more way by…