Friday, August 31, 2018

The Winning Game and a Potentially Interesting Dodger Factoid

In franchise history, the Dodgers have never had a season in which none of their pitchers has won 10+ games.

This year, our win leader is Ross Stripling (with 8 wins), who is currently on the disabled list.

We have a good chance to make the playoffs, and there is an even better chance that none of our pitchers will get double digits in wins. "Accomplishing" both of these things in the same season is not easy.

(I found this out from Charley Steiner on tonight's broadcast.)

Thursday, August 30, 2018

"Do Complex-Systems Scientists Dream of Emergent Sheep?"

I came up with this title earlier today, and I need to write an article (or book or something) with this title.


Update: And, to complete the picture, note that there is also an old game called Netrunner.

Carpeting Dragon*Con

The old carpet at the Atlanta Marriott — which unfortunately was replaced with something much more boring — has become a big part of the legend of Dragon*Con. (It also appeals to me mathematically, of course.)

Many Dragon*Con costumes and related things still invoke the old carpet.

Here is an article (to which I can't get full access) that appears to be about carpet-related costumes more generally (though the front picture is one from Dragon*Con).

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Scientific Journals are for Kids!

The journal Frontiers for Young Minds is very cool!

It is "an open-access scientific journal written by scientists and reviewed by a board of kids and teens."

Here is some text from their online blurb:

That is why distinguished scientists are invited to write about their cutting-edge discoveries in a language that is accessible for young readers, and it is then up to the kids themselves – with the help of a science mentor – to provide feedback and explain to the authors how to best improve the articles before publication.

As a result, Frontiers for Young Minds provides a collection of freely available scientific articles by distinguished scientists that are shaped for younger audiences by the input of their own young peers.


I approve!

(Tip of the cap to Petter Holme.)

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Advice to Students: "Think for Yourself."

This statement gives excellent advice! In fact, it's the main thing that I try to convey to students.

"We are scholars and teachers at Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and other institutions who have some thoughts to share and advice to offer students across the country. Our advice can be distilled to three words:

Think for yourself."

The full statement, which I signed, is worth reading.

Monday, August 27, 2018

The Karate Club Will Long Live in Network-Science Infamy

Especially with the new Karate Club lore that has made it into the 2nd edition of Mark Newman's textbook.

(However, Mark misspelled "awesome" as "dubious", for some reason.)

P.S. You can see the history of the ZKCC at this website and buy ZKC memorabilia at The Power Law Shop.

Friday, August 17, 2018

Infinite Loop


(Tip of the cap to Manlio De Domenico.)

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

What Happens at WorldCon 76 Stays at WorldCon 76

I am at the airport — experiencing a lovely 2.5-hour delay in my flight — and will be flying to San Jose, California to attend this year's WorldCon. Several of my friends will be there, so it should be lots of fun.

I am looking forward to geeking out!

(I am also looking forward to getting out of this crowded, shitty airport. LAX is awful.)

Monday, August 13, 2018

A Wassermanian–Faustian Bargain


Friday, August 10, 2018

"Network Analysis of Particles and Grains"

Our review article on granular and particulate networks, which appeared in advanced access a few months ago, is now out in final form (with its page numbers and other coordinates). Here are some details.

Title: Network Analysis of Particles and Grains

Authors: Lia Papadopoulos, Mason A. Porter, Karen E. Daniels, and Danielle S. Bassett

Abstract: The arrangements of particles and forces in granular materials have a complex organization on multiple spatial scales that range from local structures to mesoscale and system-wide ones. This multiscale organization can affect how a material responds or reconfigures when exposed to external perturbations or loading. The theoretical study of particle-level, force-chain, domain and bulk properties requires the development and application of appropriate physical, mathematical, statistical and computational frameworks. Traditionally, granular materials have been investigated using particulate or continuum models, each of which tends to be implicitly agnostic to multiscale organization. Recently, tools from network science have emerged as powerful approaches for probing and characterizing heterogeneous architectures across different scales in complex systems, and a diverse set of methods have yielded fascinating insights into granular materials. In this article, we review work on network-based approaches to studying granular matter and explore the potential of such frameworks to provide a useful description of these systems and to enhance understanding of their underlying physics. We also outline a few open questions and highlight particularly promising future directions in the analysis and design of granular matter and other kinds of material networks.

Thursday, August 09, 2018

A Touching Song about a Matrix Entry that is not Well-Defined

This is a touching song about a matrix entry that is very sad because it is not well-defined.

Monday, August 06, 2018

Workshop on Evidence-Based Diversity Initiatives

I hope that some of my mathematics, networks, and complex-systems peeps attend this workshop! It looks good.

(P.S. Jess Wade has been doing amazing things in her prolific writing of Wikipedia entries.)

Saturday, August 04, 2018

What Happens in San José (Costa Rica) Stays in San José (Costa Rica)

I am heading off to Costa Rica for a visit related to an epidemiology project related to combatting Dengue Fever, Zika, and Chikungunya using mathematical modeling and network analysis.

Thursday, August 02, 2018

An Author Named "Tapas Bar"

The first author of this new paper is named "Tapas Bar".

Suddenly, I feel hungry.

Our Physics Today Obituary of Norman Zabusky

David Campbell, Alan Newell, and I wrote an obituary of Norman Zabusky for Physics Today. It just came out.

Previously, we wrote an obituary of Zabusky for DSWeb.

Wednesday, August 01, 2018

2018 Fields Medals

The 2018 Fields Medals in mathematics have been announced!

You can also read short prize citations for the four Fields Medalists and the Nevanlinna Prize (in theoretical computer science).

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

"Topological Data Analysis of Continuum Percolation with Disks"

One of my papers came out in final form today. Here are some details and a story.

Title: Topological Data Analysis of Continuum Percolation with Disks

Authors: Leo Speidel, Heather A. Harrington, S. Jonathan Chapman, and Mason A. Porter

Abstract: We study continuum percolation with disks, a variant of continuum percolation in two-dimensional Euclidean space, by applying tools from topological data analysis. We interpret each realization of continuum percolation with disks as a topological subspace of [0,1]^2 and investigate its topological features across many realizations. Specifically, we apply persistent homology to investigate topological changes as we vary the number and radius of disks, and we observe evidence that the longest persisting invariant is born at or near the percolation transition.


And to give a story, or at least the hint of the interesting relationship that I sometimes have with typesetters and editors, here is a note that I received from them while we were working on the galley proofs.


Update (8/05/18): A nice way of phrasing things is that we're in a nonassociative situation, and hyphens are a great tool to indicate exactly (and tersely) where the parentheses should be to group terms in a way that renders their meaning unambiguous. (And, naturally, if somebody makes a change in my text that I don't like, my immediate desire is to change it back.)

Monday, July 30, 2018

A Cartoon Depiction of Deep Learning Versus Traditional Machine Learning

So true. :)

(Tip of the cap to Michael Stumpf.)

The Paradox of PLOS One and Scientific Reports

Whenever I see somebody bragging about getting a paper published by a trashy journal like PLOS One or Scientific Reports, I inevitably wonder whether they're being serious (but naive) or whether they're trolling people. Seriously, I can't tell.

Also, remember the mantra: FIPO (= "Fuck it. PLOS One.")

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Tales from the ArXiv: "Blueberry Earth"

I am amused. :)

(However, I do wish that the author had used the subjunctive in the 'what if' question.)


Update: Here is the first paragraph of the Summary: So, to sum up, to a person standing on the surface of the Earth when it turns into blueberries, the first effect would be a drastic reduction of gravity. Standing on the blueberries might be possible in theory, except that almost immediately they begin to compress rapidly and air starts erupting everywhere. The effect is basically the worst earthquake ever, and it keeps on going until everything has fallen 715 km. While this is going on everything heats up drastically until the entire environment is boiling jam and steam. The end result is a world that has a steam atmosphere covering an ocean of jam on top of warm blueberry granita.