An American Mathematician (and Physicist) in Stockholm

Tomorrow I will be flying directly from WorldCon to Stockholm for my next adventure on the faculty of Nordita (the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics) and the Department of Mathematics at Stockholm University. In the latter, my title is Professor in Complex Systems.

I hardly ever write long blog posts these days, but the title of this post is an homage to my post from when I moved to Oxford in 2007.

A new adventure awaits!

Another Living Network

Here is another living network, as one can see especially prominently in the right panel.

Parasitic crustacean, Dendrogaster sp. found on the seastar, Mediaster brachiatus. Collected at depth of 300m, Kumanonada-sea, Japan. pic.twitter.com/uy2J3FD2dk

— M (@manpokenautilus) June 25, 2018

Other examples of living networks are fungal networks.

(Tip of the cap to Jessica Rosenkrantz.)

Life is Like a Video Game

This video, which explains life casually in terms of a video game (in particular, an MMO game), is a very good implementation of this analogy.

(I got this from a post on the Dragon*Con Facebook page.)

A Victory for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

This SMBC from a few years ago is a big win. (Today is the first time I saw it.) So much truth!

Also, hooray for chaotic dynamics! ;)

Summary of the Last Nine Years

Here is an executive summary of the last (almost) nine years: "American mathematician goes to Oxford. Hilarity ensues."

I moved to Oxford on 1 October 2007. I'll be moving away for my UCLA job on 21 September.

As the Napkin Turns

I think I am in the middle of a sitcom again: I put my coffee and associated napkins on the counter while washing my hands. The air from hand-dryer was pretty strong, and it blew a napkin right over the face of the person at the sink next to me. (Thankfully, he took it rather well.)

The Pace of "Modern" Life

The new xkcd is wonderful. Check out the years in which the blurbs contained therein were written.

(And, of course, I had to tweet about this just for irony.)

Number of States in Credit-Card Swiping

When I am shopping and I slide my credit card incorrectly, it is common for a store employee to tell me to swipe the card "the other way". I am very confused by this statement (and, especially, the sense of obviousness that I am apparently supposed to feel but which I fundamentally don't), as there are clearly four different ways of swiping a card based on orientation alone because one can flip the card via either the vertical or horizontal axis. And to get only four different ways, one is already assuming that swiping forwards and swiping backwards is the same and that issues like adiabaticity versus non-adiabaticity of the swiping also don't matter. (The number of states is arguably uncountably infinite if one takes the latter into account.) I am willing to make those assumptions in the count of the number of ways to swipe, but this still yields four possible orientations for the card---so I just don't understand the comment of "the" other way that I have now received from numerous people. My usual response goes something along the lines of "Which other way? There are four in total. I have no way which of the other three ways you mean." tends to be met with a look that I can only describe as a mixture of confusion and pity. I am not doing this to be a pain in the ass---I really can't tell which of the three they mean!

"It's life, Jim---but not as we know it."

There's some very exciting news from NASA today about research they funded: one form of bacteria can apparently thrive on arsenic, so the chemicals that can be used for life are broader than previously thought. One question to ask, of course, is just how broad might it be?

(I didn't check in any detail, but the following seems to be the case: The news release comes from NASA, but it appears to be the equivalent of the NSF having the news release. The article quotes a research-group member from Arizona State, and the research happens to be funded by NASA. I find the differing dynamics of mentioning "NASA-funded researcher" as opposed to "NSF-funded researchers"---a phrase that I don't remember ever seeing in such an article---to be interesting. OK, back to our main program: life with arsenic!)

(Tip of the cap to Julius Su, Meredith Alden, and Siamak Daneshvar. However, I have elected to link to the CNN article rather than the apparently very hyperbolic Gizmodo article that came out earlier.)

Didn't We Read About Such Things in Old Dystopian Novels?

The more I hear about the new security measures in US airports and related things, the more I feel like withdrawing from the world and just doing the best I can to live inside my bubble---hang out with my friends, do my mathematics and science, play games, and otherwise just pretend I am living in a better time. The world in which we actually live just sucks in so many ways. Didn't I read about such things back in the day in dystopian sci-fi novels?

I feel like the only way to show my true allegiance is not to be a citizen of any country. I just want to take my friends with me and live in my own little world. Sigh...

I wish I could just have a world citizenship passport that states 'no country affiliation'. Sigh. They all suck. I am registered to vote with no party affiliation in the US, so why not...

Beverly Hills is not my home.

I don't think that Beverly Hills has felt like "home" for several years, and it really doesn't feel that way now. This is what assaults my feelings the most whenever I am in my parents' house. I just don't belong in this city anymore, and I'm not sure that I ever did. Ah well... (Caltech feels like home and so does Oxford, and I think that's about it.)

Maybe I'll write a longer entry about this at some point, but I'm really not sure what else there is to say.

Whenever I think about the early years with my family, I always feel that I have orders of magnitude more bad memories than good ones. (I have many good memories with my friends.) Maybe I'll eventually feel differently, but I have to be honest with myself and for now let me just say that I am so thankful that other aspects of my life (my wonderful friends, my career, etc.) have done a Hell of an excellent job of making up for any deficiencies in my life. This is the holidays and although being in the house of my childhood makes some of the bad stuff from the past come to the front of my thinking a bit more than usual, I will do my best to focus instead on all of the great things in my life---which (a) far outshine the bad things nowadays and (b) make me immeasurably luckier than most people. My deepest thanks go out to the people who have played such important roles in this.

My Life According to Depeche Mode (I was tempted to choose "Modern English" in deference to a certain incident on KROQ)

I noticed an interest meme on Facebook today in a post by Vincent Kong, and I decided it would be an interesting exercise to try it out (and my food was actually still somewhat warm by the time I finished). I think a few of my answers are pretty clever, so I decided to include my post in this spot as well.

Instructions: Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to at least 15 people and include me. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Re-post as "my life according to (band name)".

MAP's additional note: I am spending way too much time trying to be clever with this. It helps that Depeche Mode (which is my favorite artist) has such a huge catalog. This would have been significantly harder had I picked Modern English or---dare I say it?---Baltimora.


Are you a male or female?
"Everything Counts"

Describe Yourself:
"I Want It All"

How do you feel?
"I Feel You" (Oh, _how_ do I feel... Sorry, I misunderstood the question.)

Describe where you currently live:
"Home"

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
"Only When I Lose Myself"

Your favorite form of transportation:
"Walking In My Shoes"

Your best friend is:
"I Feel Loved" (I had to resist the urge to put "Master and Servant" here. DM can be so convenient for some things... And my answer refers to the friendship type of love, by the way, so nobody should get any ideas.)

What's the weather like:
"Precious" (I guess I'm writing this on the one day of the year it's that way here... Oh crap, I need to use this later. How about "Enjoy the Silence", which actually makes sense if you've seen the music video.)

Favorite time of day:
"Waiting for the Night"

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
"World in My Eyes"

What is life to you:
"Black Celebration" (Just kidding!)

Your fear:
"Death's Door"

What is the best advice you have to give:
"Get the Balance Right!"

Thought for the Day:
"Precious"

How I would like to die:
"Black Celebration" (Am I allowed to use the same answer twice? If not, then I'll be honest and select "But Not Tonight" and have that refer to now and forever more. Maybe I should become a lich?)

My soul's present condition:
"Dream On"

My motto:
"Policy of Truth"

Deviating from the Norm: Valentine's Day Edition

I'm one day late on this, but Arcane Gazebo's post reminded me of a thought I've had occasionally over the last few years and this is an appropriate time to share it:

I'm just wondering, but am I the only one who thinks it's easier to tell a Nobel Laureate that he (or she) should have shared his (or her) Nobel Prize with someone else than it is to ask someone else on a date?

Things that I am

I have several affiliations during my life, so let's see what labels some of these things have given me.

Hawthorne School: At some level, this makes me a "Viking". However, I don't think the school had a nickname when I was there, so on most levels I am not one. Naturally, I was often referred to back then simply as "nerd".

Beverly Hills High School: This makes me a "Norman".

Caltech: I am a "Techer" by virtue of being a student there and a "Lloydie" by virtue of being a member of Lloyd House. As a Caltech student, I am also a "Beaver". I was "Lord of Kaos" (UCC of Kaos alley) during two terms of my senior year, so while it was mostly my minions ("Ready, normal people?!?") who were called "Kaons", one could also add that label here at some level. Let's not worry about positions I held (such as "Tech Editor"), as that's a different kind of label. As a postdoc at Tech, I was the mascot for the women's table tennis team. There has to be a label associated with that, right?

Cornell: I am a "Cornellian" by virtue of being a student at Cornell. Also, being a member of the Center for Applied Mathematics (CAM) makes me a "CAMster". (Yes, that's really the label that was used. I don't know if it's still in use, but this particular label is "awesome" and may well have mecifully fallen into disuse as a result.)

Georgia Tech: Because of Georgia Tech's mascot, I am a "Yellowjacket" (which I believe is not technically a hornet but is close enough to explain certain... um... 'experiences' I've had with hornets in recent years).

MSRI: I don't think I had any labels there, but I figured I should point out that the facetious pronciation of MSRI is "misery".

Oxford: I am an "Oxonian" by virtue of being affiliated with the University and a "Somervillian" by virtue of being a member of Somerville College. I don't know of any labels I get from being in OCIAM. Perhaps we should come up with one? Does anybody have any suggestions?

Professionally: On the scientific end, I am a "mathematician", "applied mathematician", "physicist", "dynamicist", "complexity scientist", and (as Frank Moon once annoyingly called people who study nonlinear dynamics) "chaotian". In terms of my job, I am a "University Lecturer" (our name for 'assistant professor'), "Tutor" (or "Tutorial Fellow"), "teacher", "mentor", "advisor", "researcher", and "scientist". In more literary areas, I am a "journalist" (from my days with The California Tech, "writer" (I have published a non-scientific book, after all), "satirist", "expositor", and "blogger".

Personally: Hmmm... I don't really think we should really get into that here. :) I'm sure the peanut gallery will have contributions to make.

Caltech imitiates Mel Brooks and Douglas Adams

This doesn't actually affect me (my office is in a different building), but because I am on the Daraio group mailing list, I received the following message earlier today (I removed parts of it; all emphasis is mine):

"Beginning Monday, August 6 through Friday, September 7, the air conditioning system will be restored throughout the entire Firestone building. In consequence, the building's air vents will be shut down. The basement and subbasement occupants will receive the worst of the air shortage. Please have patience while were all dealing with the reconstruction. If you need anything to make this situation a little easier, please let me know and I'll try to help. Sorry for the short notice and inconvenience."

Anybody for Perrier Air? Not to mention interstellar bypasses...

Scary thought

I was just pondering about how much worse I am at dealing with certain types of emotions than others. For example, I can't really read other people well and in general am not so good at certain emotional things because I seem to look at things so differently from everybody else and I am unable to figure out what they're thinking, yet I am much better at knowing reasonable and logical ways to react when somebody else threatens violence.

So here comes the scary part: My next thought was that the reason I can react to threats of violence in a much more calm, collected, logical fashion is because of just how much experience I was forced to have doing that while growing up. It was always just there and a part of me is simply inured to things like that. (At some level, this makes me want to weep a bit for myself for having been brought up in a manner that did this to me, but those are the cards I was dealt.) I always had to just go and keep myself occupied amidst the turmoil around --- whether that meant schoolwork, novels, baseball, video games, or whatever. I also think that part of my constant need to always be doing something stems partially from that.

Anyway, this is today's look inside my head.