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Oprah at Stanford
Oprah Winfrey delivered a commencement speech at Stanford University to a 30,000 person audience that included the graduating class of 2008 dressed up in their "Wacky" wardrobe. Oprah Winfrey delivered a commencement speech at Stanford University to a 30,000 person audience that included the graduating class of... more
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The Value of a Human Life: $129,000
"That's the international standard most private and government-run health insurance plans worldwide use to determine whether to cover a new medical procedure. More simply, insurance companies calculate that to make a treatment worth its cost, it must guarantee one year of "quality life" for $50,000 or less. New research, however, would argue that that figure is far too low.
Stanford economists have demonstrated that the average value of a year of quality human life is actually closer to about $129,000. To get to that number, Stefanos Zenios and his colleagues at Stanford Graduate School of Business used kidney dialysis as a benchmark. Every year dialysis saves the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans who would otherwise die of renal failure while waiting for an organ transplant." "That's the international standard most private and government-run health insurance plans worldwide use to determine whether to cover ... more -
Top 20 Most Beautiful University and College Campuses [Pics]
Salute to the Countries 20 most Beautiful University and College Campuses. The list of prestigious architects is endless. The sheer paradise that several students enjoy is unmatched on these campuses. Salute to the Countries 20 most Beautiful University and College Campuses. The list of prestigious architects is endless. The sheer pa... more
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The power of spin
Many of nature's deepest mysteries come in threes. Why does space have three spatial dimensions (ones that we can see, anyway)? Why are there three fundamental dimensions in physics (mass M, length L and time T)? Why three fundamental constants in nature (Newton's gravitational constant G, the speed of light c and Planck's constant h)? Why three generations of fundamental particles in the standard model (e.g. the up/down, charm/strange and top/bottom quarks)? Why do black holes have only three properties—mass, charge and spin? Nobody knows the answers to these questions, nor how or whether they may be connected. But some have sought for clues in the last-named of these properties: spin.
Gravity Probe B is not just as another test of general relativity, but a source of new insights about spacetime itself. Nobel laureate C.N. Yang wrote in a letter to NASA Administrator James M. Beggs in 1983 that general relativity, "though profoundly beautiful, is likely to be amended ... whatever [the] new geometrical symmetry will be, it is likely to entangle with spin and rotation, which are related to a deep geometrical concept called torsion ... The proposed Stanford experiment [Gravity Probe B] is especially interesting since it focuses on the spin. I would not be surprised at all if it gives a result in disagreement with Einstein's theory."
In general situations, space and time are so inextricably bound together in general relativity that they are hard to separate. In special cases, however, it becomes feasible to perform a "3+1 split" and decompose the metric of four-dimensional spacetime into a scalar time-time component, a vector time-space component and a tensor "space-space" component
General relativity has brought us nearer to an understanding of the observational fact that the local inertial compass is fixed relative to the most distant cosmic objects, but there is surely desire for still deeper understanding." Thus does direct detection of frame-dragging by Gravity Probe B gain new importance: it will shine experimental light on what has heretofore been a theoretical mystery, namely the origin of inertia. For some, this is perhaps the most beautiful and profound manifestation of spin in Einstein's spacetime: it binds us here to the universe out there, in such a way that you, standing at night under the stars on a planet known as earth, cannot turn so much as around without feeling a tug from the rest of the universe. Many of nature's deepest mysteries come in threes. Why does space have three spatial dimensions (ones that we can see, anyway)? Why ar... more -
Think Positive, and You Will Get Smarter
Turns out learning new things can strengthen your brain - especially when you believe that you can learn new things. A group of Stanford Psychologists compared a group with "growth-mindsets" and more "fixed" mindsets and found that those with growth mindsets exhibited increased cognitive performance.
Do you seek challenges ... or would you rather stay comfortable? Turns out learning new things can strengthen your brain - especially when you believe that you can learn new things. A group of Stanf... more -
Stanford Cool Product Expo 2008
If you're up north this Wednesday, it would be cool checking this out. Admission is free and exhibits will include BMW's hydrogen 7, the Tesla Roadster, and a 3D immersive vest that the public can try out. If you're up north this Wednesday, it would be cool checking this out. Admission is free and exhibits will include BMW's hydrogen 7, t... more
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From Keggers to Kosher
Back in college, Aaron was your average frat boy. Then he went to Israel to find himself -- and he found... a wife.
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Macbook and Earthquake Detection
Elizabeth Cochran and Stanford seismologist Jesse Lawrence have made use of the sensors built into many new laptops that sense when the computer is being dropped, and turned them into earthquake monitors. They hope to sign up thousands of users to act like a grid of detectors that can sense an earthquake before it does too much damage. Elizabeth Cochran and Stanford seismologist Jesse Lawrence have made use of the sensors built into many new laptops that sense when th... more
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Low-income students feel left out at Stanford
Carrie Sturrock, Chronicle Staff Writer
Jason Scott, shown in his dormitory room at Stanford, hel... Students have their pictures pinned on their hometowns on...
Jason Scott had just finished his first year at Stanford and had nowhere to live.
Financial aid didn't cover the dorms for the summer. He had $50 in his wallet, and so until paychecks arrived from his on-campus summer jobs, he needed to be resourceful.
For two weeks, he lived in his Jeep parked around Stanford's grassy Oval, with its grand view of the campus' sandstone arcades. He showered in the gym. He ate peanut butter sandwiches.
During the day, he worked in the registrar's office microfilming Stanford students' applications, the contents of which justified a nagging sense that most of his classmates came from a different world. Some referenced exotic travel, unusual sports such as water polo, and boarding schools with names like Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul's School.
"Who are these people?" he remembers asking himself.
Stanford says it admits the brightest students regardless of their ability to pay. Yet only 12 percent of Stanford's 6,759 undergraduates receive Pell Grants, a yardstick used to measure how many low-income students such as Scott are enrolled. The number hasn't budged despite Stanford's generous financial aid incentives in recent years. At UC Berkeley, meanwhile, 31 percent of undergraduates get the federal grants that are typically awarded to students from families earning less than $40,000 a year.
Scott, now a senior, and his college friends who also grew up poor entered a new universe at Stanford. For the first time, they clearly understood the advantages of money - knowledge that shaped their Stanford experience.
As much as money matters, Scott said, it matters most before students ever try to enroll. Kids who grow up with money attend good high schools. They understand the importance of mastering the violin or excelling at soccer. They have SAT preparation and sometimes professional college application consultants. Those advantages help smooth the way at the most prestigious of the West Coast's major private universities. Carrie Sturrock, Chronicle Staff Writer ... more -
Rumsfeld Returns
Fresh from wherever he's been hiding, Donald Rumsfeld is back. He's lecturing at Stanford, attending conferences, founding a public service-oriented institution, and perhaps writing a book (though he denies it).
Explain to me why this man has any credibility. Shouldn't be taking classes at Stanford, not teaching them??? Fresh from wherever he's been hiding, Donald Rumsfeld is back. He's lecturing at Stanford, attending conferences, founding a public s... more -
Once-mighty Cal falls to lowly Stanford in 110th annual 'Big Game'
looks like no Emerald Bowl for the Bears this year after the 20-13 defeat...
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Condi?s Party Starter
At the age of twenty-five, Henry Kissinger was a war-delayed sophomore at Harvard, Madeleine Albright had just begun her Ph.D., James Baker was in law school, and Condoleezza Rice was a graduate student at the University of Denver. One of Rice?s recent hires, however, seems to be in a big hurry to get on with the diplomacy. A year ago, Jared Cohen, who was born in 1981, joined the State Department?s Policy Planning Staff as its youngest member. At the age of twenty-five, Henry Kissinger was a war-delayed sophomore at Harvard, Madeleine Albright had just begun her Ph.D., James ... more
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This Almost Makes the End of the Cal-Stanford Game Look Boring
Bill Harris of the excellent Dubious Quality could not have said it any better.
"I never thought I'd see something crazier than The Play, but I think the last play of the Trinity-Millsaps game yesterday finally topped it. I counted fifteen laterals, and they were all legal."
http://dubiousquality.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-almost-...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAxu9Rfm77M Bill Harris of the excellent Dubious Quality could not have said it any better. ... more -
The Stanford Daily
Independent newspaper of Stanford University.
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University of Stupid exCuses
The previously #2 Trojans lost to The Tree. At home. So of course there must be something to blame it other than being an overrated bunch of man children. Congrats $tanfurd. Go Bears. The previously #2 Trojans lost to The Tree. At home. So of course there must be something to blame it other than being an overrated ... more
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Stanford Students and Professors Protest Rumsfeld's Appointment to the Hoover Inst...
What is he doing with his hands in this picture?
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Heeeeeeeere's Rummy!
Donald Rumsfeld is coming to the Bay Area.
President Bush's former defense secretary, who resigned in 2006 amid escalating criticism over the war in Iraq, has been appointed to a one-year stint as a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, joining fellow conservatives George Shultz and Newt Gingrich. Donald Rumsfeld is coming to the Bay Area. ... more
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