The second law of thermodynamics can be framed as the desire for the universe for disorder. Things, left to their own devices, will get messier. Sorted stacks of papers gradually get scrambled. Ice melts. Socks become unpaired. There were a weeks’s worth of socks, 8 pairs, in the laundry. What did I get back? Ten socks total - only 2 pairs. Where did the rest go? Great question. Entropy rules ..read more

In some sense it always Advent, even now in Lent. We are pilgrims, ever leaning into the future. To quote Walter Burghardt, SJ, “every tomorrow has it’s own tomorrow”. We are always waiting. Yet. Yet we are living now, in this precise moment. It is all we have. The past has slipped through our fingers, the future is for the moment unknowable. It can feel like we are merely marking time, or enduring the storms that rage. Yet. Yet we can live, not wrapped in our own thoughts, but awake to the needs that present themselves now, awake to each other, awake to God… Walter Burghardt, SJ in an Advent ..read more

  Shout Shout Let it all out These are the things I can do without Come on I'm talking to you Come on In violent times You shouldn't have to sell your soul... Forty years ago Tears for Fears released "Shout". I hadn't thought of the track in years but today as scientists and others gather to rally for science in the face of the cuts proposed by the current administration's unelected minions I find it running through my mind. Can we shout, make ourselves heard above the maelstrom that we are living through? I am committed in the current moment to being noisy where I can. Like a great w ..read more

  I love cut flowers, they feel like such a luxury. Right now there are sunflowers on the dining room table, and another vase of them on the passthrough by the kitchen sink. Roses from Math Man have just made their way to the compost, circling back to...tomatoes or basil. Much as I love fresh flowers, I am fascinated with watching them age. These lilies were in my study at home, fading and drying, in their own way as beautiful as they were fresh cut. The colors intensify as the petals dry. Curves and ridges appear, reflecting the late afternoon light. And at the last there is a barely au ..read more

"Though we might conceive of scientific language as objective, rather than sensual or poetic, in fact phonesthemic considerations play an important role. We know a science word when we hear it, even if we don't know what it means." Nature Chemistry 3, 417–418 (2011) About 15 years ago I wrote an essay for Nature Chemistry titled "Neolexia," about how new science words get birthed. What should they sound like, what languages should they draw from, should there be humor. (You can read the whole essay here.) In it, I noted that zoologist Lancelot Hogben (Lancelot?!) had very firm idea ..read more

A delightful colleague and writer spoke last week about the different types of writing she does. Scholarly writing, long and deep, layered and expertly crafted. Like slow food from a Michelin chef. Then there are the journalistic pieces, like my op-eds, quickly written for a place and time. Fast food!  But it is her description of the third space she writes in that I enjoyed. (For her it is long form fiction, for me, my essays and reflections.) It's like a cookbook that you bought to look at the recipes. You cook only one or two of them. But it gives you ideas that simmer. And one day yo ..read more

  Pope Francis is very ill and he has asked for our prayers. I am praying for him, for his consolation and his recovery, but I’ve also wondered if we also should be praying for him, that is, for all those he prays for. To take on some of the burden of caring for those on the margins so that he might rest. So I pray… For Pope Francis For all those struggling to breathe For those who cannot afford medical care For those laboring in brutal conditions For those who are starving For those without access to clean water For those exhausted by caregiving For those who have lost their jobs For ..read more

There are times when the second half of the Eucharistic Prayer just pours over my head, cascading off the altar, flowing down the aisle. Sometimes it murmurs in my ear, soothing, calming, a burbling fountain in a hidden courtyard. Other times, I regret to say, the grocery list starts jittering. Remember to get eggs and lettuce at Acme after Mass. Then there are the moments when I really hear the words, battering at my defenses, badgering me long after we have been sent out the door. Ite, missa est. The Mass may be ended, but not this prayer. Last weekend, the pastor used one of the Eucha ..read more

I’ve been writing weighty stuff of late. A piece for Nature Chemistry about the literal stardust that sprinkles the earth every year (10 million kilograms of it). An op-ed on metaphorically weighty matters, what gutting NIH funding might mean for people’s health, from my perspective of a patient who has benefited from fundamental research begun at the NIH.  It’s 1.5 ounces of mass that’s been almost as much a miracle as the medication I take. A hexagonal weight that slides onto a $0.79 Bic pen. And with it, like magic, I can write a grocery list, scribble a thought down on a sticky not ..read more

Elon Musk posted a table on X claiming that 83% of social security payments are being made fraudulently. That seemed...excessive. I teach my students Enrico Fermi's technique for getting quick estimates, good enough numbers to help direct you toward a more accurate solution. Also great for detecting bullshit. Let's see how it works for Elon's claim! One way to estimate roughly the number of social security recipients is to say everyone in the US over 65 collects it.  (Not true, but Fermi's approach says look at the big effects.)  In 2023 that was 59.2 million people. The Social Secu ..read more