Charles Day
@csrday.bsky.social
Anglo-American astrophysicist turned writer and editor who likes reading, cooking and listening to music.
Reposted by Charles Day
I had fun speaking today at the Quantum World Congress panel on Demystifying Quantum: How to Communicate Cutting Edge Science to Diverse Audiences. Alongside the fantastic moderator @csrday.bsky.social and esteemed panelists @nicoleyh11.bsky.social and Ben Stein #QWC2025
September 17, 2025 at 9:36 PM
I had fun speaking today at the Quantum World Congress panel on Demystifying Quantum: How to Communicate Cutting Edge Science to Diverse Audiences. Alongside the fantastic moderator @csrday.bsky.social and esteemed panelists @nicoleyh11.bsky.social and Ben Stein #QWC2025
According to a study by the New York Fed, physics majors had the second highest unemployment rate, 7.8%, among college graduates in 2023. What's going on? www.newyorkfed.org/research/col...
August 15, 2025 at 3:12 PM
According to a study by the New York Fed, physics majors had the second highest unemployment rate, 7.8%, among college graduates in 2023. What's going on? www.newyorkfed.org/research/col...
Are the gravitational anomalies attributed to dark matter due to WIMPs, axions, primordial black holes, modified gravity or something else? Take Physics Magazine's survey for a chance weigh in on this and other big questions.
When did the Universe begin? What makes up dark matter and dark energy? Take our survey to pick your favorite answer to these and other big physics questions.
Take the Big Mysteries in Physics Survey
Did time start at the big bang? What happens if you fall into a black hole? What explains the mysterious dark matter? Weigh in on the toughest questions facing physicists today.
physics.aps.org
July 29, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Are the gravitational anomalies attributed to dark matter due to WIMPs, axions, primordial black holes, modified gravity or something else? Take Physics Magazine's survey for a chance weigh in on this and other big questions.
I think of JWST whenever I play this card in Terraforming Mars.
June 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
I think of JWST whenever I play this card in Terraforming Mars.
Homemade garganelli pasta with chicken gizzard sauce.
May 5, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Homemade garganelli pasta with chicken gizzard sauce.
I was sorry to hear of the death of Mario Vargas Llosa. Two weeks before, I bought a copy of his 2001 novel The Feast of the Goat at my local second-hand bookshop. The book was misfiled in the cookery section. I like to think Mario would be amused.
April 17, 2025 at 12:47 AM
I was sorry to hear of the death of Mario Vargas Llosa. Two weeks before, I bought a copy of his 2001 novel The Feast of the Goat at my local second-hand bookshop. The book was misfiled in the cookery section. I like to think Mario would be amused.
My go-to brand for one of my favorite foods. Unlike anchovies canned in olive oil, the ones packed in salt need to be filleted. But the effort is worth it for the fishier flavor.
April 8, 2025 at 9:37 PM
My go-to brand for one of my favorite foods. Unlike anchovies canned in olive oil, the ones packed in salt need to be filleted. But the effort is worth it for the fishier flavor.
"This new knowledge has all to do with honor and country but it has nothing to do directly with defending our country except to help make it worth defending" - Robert Wilson explaining to Congress why the US should fund an expensive and powerful particle accelerator and, by my extension, science.
March 29, 2025 at 12:16 AM
"This new knowledge has all to do with honor and country but it has nothing to do directly with defending our country except to help make it worth defending" - Robert Wilson explaining to Congress why the US should fund an expensive and powerful particle accelerator and, by my extension, science.
The conclusions of this article hinge on a distinction between programmer and developer. But how clear is that distinction?
Column | More than a quarter of computer-programming jobs just vanished. What happened?
Learning to code was supposedly the salvation of millions of liberal art majors. But now programming jobs are plummeting. The Post’s Department of Data tries to figure out what’s going on.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 18, 2025 at 12:41 AM
The conclusions of this article hinge on a distinction between programmer and developer. But how clear is that distinction?
“If we are lucky, some new ideas will emerge that are really valid. Ponder why the successful flavors do work; use that understanding to choose new possibilities” — Giuliano Bugialli.
March 14, 2025 at 12:16 AM
“If we are lucky, some new ideas will emerge that are really valid. Ponder why the successful flavors do work; use that understanding to choose new possibilities” — Giuliano Bugialli.
"There is now a vast variety of erotica available, including cosy erotica (knitwear is torn off), Austen erotica . . . There is even erotica featuring—readers may wish to brace themselves—physicists."
Erotic writing is becoming more explicit
Gardening metaphors are out. Other things are very much in
www.economist.com
March 2, 2025 at 4:27 PM
"There is now a vast variety of erotica available, including cosy erotica (knitwear is torn off), Austen erotica . . . There is even erotica featuring—readers may wish to brace themselves—physicists."
So happy to be reading again one of my favorite novelists of my teens and twenties: Honoré de Balzac. The pic is from the cover of Lost Illusions (1837-43).
February 16, 2025 at 1:16 AM
So happy to be reading again one of my favorite novelists of my teens and twenties: Honoré de Balzac. The pic is from the cover of Lost Illusions (1837-43).
Favorite clue in today’s FT Xword: Knight crossing an eastern river (6). Knight, DUB, crosses an, AN, to give DANUB followed by eastern, E.
January 28, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Favorite clue in today’s FT Xword: Knight crossing an eastern river (6). Knight, DUB, crosses an, AN, to give DANUB followed by eastern, E.
The track that closes side 1 of David Bowie's album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a cover. I've finally sought and listened to the original version, and it's good.
Ron Davies - It Ain't Easy (1970)
YouTube video by vertigo60
www.youtube.com
January 18, 2025 at 1:26 AM
The track that closes side 1 of David Bowie's album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a cover. I've finally sought and listened to the original version, and it's good.
Christopher Priest's 1998 novel The Extremes is like one long creepy and riveting episode of Black Mirror.
January 16, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Christopher Priest's 1998 novel The Extremes is like one long creepy and riveting episode of Black Mirror.
Reposted by Charles Day
Useful perspective, clearly written and well-reasoned.
arxiv.org/abs/2501.05694
arxiv.org/abs/2501.05694
Myths around quantum computation before full fault tolerance: What no-go theorems rule out and what they don't
In this perspective article, we revisit and critically evaluate prevailing viewpoints on the capabilities and limitations of near-term quantum computing and its potential transition toward fully fault...
arxiv.org
January 14, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Useful perspective, clearly written and well-reasoned.
arxiv.org/abs/2501.05694
arxiv.org/abs/2501.05694
For yesterday's dinner I made offelle alla triestine. They're like ravioli but with potato gnocchi dough as the pasta covering. These are stuffed with mushroom, tomato and cheese.
January 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
For yesterday's dinner I made offelle alla triestine. They're like ravioli but with potato gnocchi dough as the pasta covering. These are stuffed with mushroom, tomato and cheese.
'Tis the year's midnight and time for my annual reading of John Donne's poem about deep grief.
A Nocturnal upon St. Lucy's Day
'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's, Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks; The sun is spent, and now his flasks Send forth light squibs, no constant rays; The world's whole sap is ...
www.poetryfoundation.org
December 22, 2024 at 5:04 PM
'Tis the year's midnight and time for my annual reading of John Donne's poem about deep grief.
My favorite pasta dish combines two of my favorite ingredients: onions and anchovies.
Bigoli in salsa - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 19, 2024 at 12:31 AM
My favorite pasta dish combines two of my favorite ingredients: onions and anchovies.
This wine from Whole Foods is classified as Vin de France, so I checked out the label to get a sense of where it's from and what's in it. The bottler (see under the QR code) is LCDM -- evidently, someone who favors the prevailing cosmological model.
December 16, 2024 at 11:38 PM
This wine from Whole Foods is classified as Vin de France, so I checked out the label to get a sense of where it's from and what's in it. The bottler (see under the QR code) is LCDM -- evidently, someone who favors the prevailing cosmological model.
I'm relieved to be resupplied with one of my favorite ingredients.
December 14, 2024 at 10:17 PM
I'm relieved to be resupplied with one of my favorite ingredients.
My Airedale terrier Allie in a limb configuration I haven't seen before.
December 13, 2024 at 1:59 PM
My Airedale terrier Allie in a limb configuration I haven't seen before.
This week's issue of Science magazine includes a review of six of the 70 exhibits that make up "Art & Science Collide."
The two cultures meet again
www.science.org
December 12, 2024 at 7:20 PM
This week's issue of Science magazine includes a review of six of the 70 exhibits that make up "Art & Science Collide."
When I was out walking my dog this morning, I spotted this flag flying outside a house in DC's Capitol Hill neighborhood. It's the flag of the Canton of Geneva.
December 7, 2024 at 5:34 PM
When I was out walking my dog this morning, I spotted this flag flying outside a house in DC's Capitol Hill neighborhood. It's the flag of the Canton of Geneva.
Today I picked up the most surprising book I've ever found in a little free library in my Capitol Hill neighborhood: Saunders Lewis's 1930 novel Monica in the original Welsh.
December 7, 2024 at 1:01 AM
Today I picked up the most surprising book I've ever found in a little free library in my Capitol Hill neighborhood: Saunders Lewis's 1930 novel Monica in the original Welsh.