Friday, November 28, 2008
new choral music
I just posted a bunch of new choral music from the Utah Baroque Ensemble to my website. See here:
http://www.physics.byu.edu/faculty/colton/personal/choral_music.html
http://www.physics.byu.edu/faculty/colton/personal/choral_music.html
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Leslie AMC8 math exam
Leslie has been going to a weekly "math circle" group at BYU, for middle school kids. It's great--letting the kids see the fun side to math inside of arithmetic drills. Part of what they do is to prepare for the AMC8 exam, given nationally to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. (Leslie's in 7th grade.) She took the exam a week and half ago. It's a 25 question test in 40 minutes, and typically only the advanced math kids take it. The national average is 9/25.
Leslie got a 20/25.
*proud father beaming*
Last year, only 8 kids in the state scored higher than that. (And remember, 8th graders are taking it, too.)
If you want to try your hand, you can look at past years' exams here:
http://amc.byu.edu/AMC8exams/AMC%20Exams.html
Leslie got a 20/25.
*proud father beaming*
Last year, only 8 kids in the state scored higher than that. (And remember, 8th graders are taking it, too.)
If you want to try your hand, you can look at past years' exams here:
http://amc.byu.edu/AMC8exams/AMC%20Exams.html
Hitler reacts to BYU loss
Monday, November 24, 2008
family update... + cowbells!
Pauline's been gone for 5 days, helping to take care of her dad. I guess I haven't written about that here yet, but he's been diagnosed with "Hashimoto's encephalopathy", an extremely rare condition which only about 10 people in the U.S. have.
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/hashimotos/a/encephalopathy.htm
http://thyroid.about.com/od/relatedconditions1/a/sreat.htm
The bad news is that it's severely debilitating, and has reduced his mind to the level of a two year old in just 2-3 weeks. It's also added all kinds of other "goodies", such as paranoia, auditory hallucinations, obsessive-compulsive behavior, even some Turret's type behavior. He also hasn't yet started responding to the standard treatment of oral steroids.
The good news is that if he starts responding to the steroids the prognosis is pretty good. It's one of the few serious brain disorders where the brain can return to near full functionality.
I sent this next bit out to Mellor family members earlier today, but decided it's also appropriate for this blog: Yesterday our church service was about gratitude. One of the speakers talked about a number of negative things that had happened in her life, and about how she was usually able to find "silver linings" that she could be grateful for despite the adversity. As she was speaking, I felt inspired to try to find the silver lining in Doug's situation. What I came up with was this: this experience has caused me to appreciate the Mellor family. Specifically:
I'm thankful to be part of a family where
* children are able/willing to drop everything at a moment's notice to come to the aid of a parent in need
* none of the children are estranged from the family, so that even those unable to be there are greatly concerned
* someone is able to request a family fast and know that everyone who is able will join in
If/when Doug recovers, I'm certain he will be grateful for these things, too.
...
In other news, this made me laugh! The world's first digital modeling cowbell Click on the "Click here to test drive" text in the bottom right.
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/hashimotos/a/encephalopathy.htm
http://thyroid.about.com/od/relatedconditions1/a/sreat.htm
The bad news is that it's severely debilitating, and has reduced his mind to the level of a two year old in just 2-3 weeks. It's also added all kinds of other "goodies", such as paranoia, auditory hallucinations, obsessive-compulsive behavior, even some Turret's type behavior. He also hasn't yet started responding to the standard treatment of oral steroids.
The good news is that if he starts responding to the steroids the prognosis is pretty good. It's one of the few serious brain disorders where the brain can return to near full functionality.
I sent this next bit out to Mellor family members earlier today, but decided it's also appropriate for this blog: Yesterday our church service was about gratitude. One of the speakers talked about a number of negative things that had happened in her life, and about how she was usually able to find "silver linings" that she could be grateful for despite the adversity. As she was speaking, I felt inspired to try to find the silver lining in Doug's situation. What I came up with was this: this experience has caused me to appreciate the Mellor family. Specifically:
I'm thankful to be part of a family where
* children are able/willing to drop everything at a moment's notice to come to the aid of a parent in need
* none of the children are estranged from the family, so that even those unable to be there are greatly concerned
* someone is able to request a family fast and know that everyone who is able will join in
If/when Doug recovers, I'm certain he will be grateful for these things, too.
...
In other news, this made me laugh! The world's first digital modeling cowbell Click on the "Click here to test drive" text in the bottom right.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
U.B.E.
Got my picture in the paper today, as part of an article on the Utah Baroque Ensemble.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/288450/137/
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/288450/137/
Saturday, November 08, 2008
How to talk like a pirate
Avast, me hearties and shiver me timbers! This here be a guide fer talkin' like a pirate. Harrrr!
Friday, November 07, 2008
Sick grandpas and NSF grant proposal
A quick family news update:
My dad was having some heart pain last week, so he went to the doctor to have it checked out. After doing some tests, the doctor wouldn't let him go home! Said if he had had a heart attack from the obstruction they found, he would have been dead on the spot. Surgery was needed ASAP (a couple of days), and since my dad was a "walking time bomb" before the surgery, he needed to remain in a hospital. The good news is that the triple bypass surgery was successful, and my dad is home now and seems to be recovering his strength.
The same day my own dad was released from this hospital, Pauline's dad was admitted to a different one. He had been having some neurological symptoms such as trouble thinking and disorientation (while visiting us last weekend he asked me if next Sunday was Easter), and unfortunately the symptoms kept progressing to the point where he grew incoherent. The doctors think it might be related to a thyroid condition, and are running lots of tests. We will keep him in our prayers.
I also have an NSF grant due in a few hours. The fact that I can take the time now for a blog entry is good news... I'm practically finished! Just need to do final proofreading, then I can upload it to the NSF website. I has required a lot of extra work, though: I worked all day Saturday, half day Sunday, and I've stayed at work until 8 or 9 pm every night this week. Props to Pauline for keeping the family functioning in my absence.
My dad was having some heart pain last week, so he went to the doctor to have it checked out. After doing some tests, the doctor wouldn't let him go home! Said if he had had a heart attack from the obstruction they found, he would have been dead on the spot. Surgery was needed ASAP (a couple of days), and since my dad was a "walking time bomb" before the surgery, he needed to remain in a hospital. The good news is that the triple bypass surgery was successful, and my dad is home now and seems to be recovering his strength.
The same day my own dad was released from this hospital, Pauline's dad was admitted to a different one. He had been having some neurological symptoms such as trouble thinking and disorientation (while visiting us last weekend he asked me if next Sunday was Easter), and unfortunately the symptoms kept progressing to the point where he grew incoherent. The doctors think it might be related to a thyroid condition, and are running lots of tests. We will keep him in our prayers.
I also have an NSF grant due in a few hours. The fact that I can take the time now for a blog entry is good news... I'm practically finished! Just need to do final proofreading, then I can upload it to the NSF website. I has required a lot of extra work, though: I worked all day Saturday, half day Sunday, and I've stayed at work until 8 or 9 pm every night this week. Props to Pauline for keeping the family functioning in my absence.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
"The elements are eternal"
I got into somewhat of a gospel-type discussion in my Physics 105 class yesterday, prompted by an anonymous student comment that "There are actually 5 states of matter. All spirit is matter. See D&C 131:7." I think the student was going for humor, but I decided to take the opportunity to get on my soap box a little to tell students to be careful not to put their modern interpretation of scientific terms on words used in the scriptures.
The example I used was D&C 93, where it says, "the elements are eternal".
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/93/33#33
(The following is something I typed up for another student who wanted me to clarify what I had said in class.)
Are the elements really eternal? Einstein predicted that matter can be changed into energy, and in fact during nuclear reactions matter is not only turned into energy, but one element is turned into another. Hydrogen atoms are fused together into helium atoms, for example.
Those two might seem contradictory--but only, I think, if we try to apply *our* definition of elements to the scriptural verse. I looked it up, and the first Periodic Table wasn't published until 1869, and it wasn't published in its current form until 1914. Therefore I strongly doubt Joseph Smith would have meant: hydrogen, helium, lithium, berylium, etc. by the word "element".
One thing I've found helpful from time to time is Webster's 1828 dictionary. Here's an online version:
http://www.cbtministries.org/resources/webster1828.htm
1828 is very much contemporary with Joseph Smith, and the definitions given there probably match Joseph's definitions a lot closer than our preconceived notions.
Looking up the word element, for example
http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,element
I find that chemical elements like oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc., do in fact show up. They are in Def 3--but in the context of atoms "which cannot be any farther divided" (obviously we know that now to not be true). So it's possible Joseph could have been referring to elements in that context in the scripture.
However, there are also several other definitions which might what he meant:
Def 1: "The first or constituent principle or minutest part or any thing; as the elements of earth, water, salt, or wood; the elements of the world; "
Def 2: "An ingredient; a constituent part of any composition"
Def 5: "In popular language, fire,air, earth and water, are called the four elements"
Def 9: "The matter or substances which compose the world. The elements shall melt with fervent heat. 2 Pet.3 "
Given the Bibilical quote, I myself think Def 9 might be the correct one to apply to the D&C (perhaps with "world" replaced by "spirits", given that the verses in D&C 93 are not talking about the whole world), but I'll let you make your own call. At any rate, it's fairly clear to me that the verse in section 93 is not about the chemical elements at all.
The example I used was D&C 93, where it says, "the elements are eternal".
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/93/33#33
(The following is something I typed up for another student who wanted me to clarify what I had said in class.)
Are the elements really eternal? Einstein predicted that matter can be changed into energy, and in fact during nuclear reactions matter is not only turned into energy, but one element is turned into another. Hydrogen atoms are fused together into helium atoms, for example.
Those two might seem contradictory--but only, I think, if we try to apply *our* definition of elements to the scriptural verse. I looked it up, and the first Periodic Table wasn't published until 1869, and it wasn't published in its current form until 1914. Therefore I strongly doubt Joseph Smith would have meant: hydrogen, helium, lithium, berylium, etc. by the word "element".
One thing I've found helpful from time to time is Webster's 1828 dictionary. Here's an online version:
http://www.cbtministries.org/resources/webster1828.htm
1828 is very much contemporary with Joseph Smith, and the definitions given there probably match Joseph's definitions a lot closer than our preconceived notions.
Looking up the word element, for example
http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,element
I find that chemical elements like oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc., do in fact show up. They are in Def 3--but in the context of atoms "which cannot be any farther divided" (obviously we know that now to not be true). So it's possible Joseph could have been referring to elements in that context in the scripture.
However, there are also several other definitions which might what he meant:
Def 1: "The first or constituent principle or minutest part or any thing; as the elements of earth, water, salt, or wood; the elements of the world; "
Def 2: "An ingredient; a constituent part of any composition"
Def 5: "In popular language, fire,air, earth and water, are called the four elements"
Def 9: "The matter or substances which compose the world. The elements shall melt with fervent heat. 2 Pet.3 "
Given the Bibilical quote, I myself think Def 9 might be the correct one to apply to the D&C (perhaps with "world" replaced by "spirits", given that the verses in D&C 93 are not talking about the whole world), but I'll let you make your own call. At any rate, it's fairly clear to me that the verse in section 93 is not about the chemical elements at all.
