A winner and loser on the NYTimes

Denis Overbye, number one science writer for the New York Times, has to be one of my least favorite science writers. Well, let's face it, I don't know very many science writers by name, but if I come across an article about the physical sciences in the New York Times and it makes me groan, it was usually written by David Overbye. He got a lot of mileage out of the black hole LHC hysteria, and more recently, propagated unfounded rumors from a known rumor monger blogger of a Fermilab Higgs discovery. He has a penchant for sensationalism, and when he covers topics which delve into the 'mysteries of the universe' he likes to milk them for anything he can get, imagined or not.

He recently published an essay titled, "Rumors in Astrophysics Spread at Light Speed", which discusses the role of rumors in the physical sciences. It starts off pretty badly with an anecdote about an astronomer who said something at a public outreach talk that was misconstrued. Overbye calls this "2 sigma blues" which has nothing to do with the anecdote.  A 2 sigma result means something very precise, statistically, it is certainly not related to poor word choice.  What he really wants to talk about is a rumor that was started about a month ago by a physics-blogger-trouble-maker-rumor-monger, who said there might be a hint of the Higgs at FermiLab. This little rumor flared up all over the internet and generally pissed the FermiLab scientists off because they didn't want to be seen as crying wolf.  Overbye then philosophizes about why he thinks rumors like this get started.  Its certainly not his worst article, but it still makes me groan.  I just wanted to complain for a bit.

On a positive NY Times note, I found an excellent recipe for a provençal style potato and tomato gratin. I was shocked at how well it came out.  I made a few slight modifications, so I rewrote the recipe here.  You should use good tomatoes and good potatoes--preferably not the baked potato type.  I used some fingerlings and some other random variety I found at the market.

Provençal Tomato-Potato Gratin

2 garlic cloves

Olive oil

2.5 pounds tomatoes, sliced 1/2-1/4 inch thick
1.5 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 pounds potatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 tsp herbs de provence 
.5-1 cup of grated gruyère



1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut one of the garlic cloves in half, and rub a 3-quart gratin or baking dish with the cut half. Oil the dish with olive oil. Mince the remaining garlic, along with the one you used to rub the dish and toss them in with the tomatoes. Add the thyme, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
2. Make a layer of half the potato slices.  Mine were all different sizes, so it was a bit of a mess, but I tried to make it in more or less one slice thick.   Then season very generously with salt and pepper. I'm not kidding, you really want to salt it.  Sprinkle with half of the herbs de provence.  
3. Layer half the tomatoes over the potatoes.  I had them all overlap a bit.
4. Repeat the layers with the remaining potatoes and tomatoes. Make sure you salt and pepper the second layer of potatoes. Pour any juices left in the tomato bowl over the vegetables.
5. Pour 3/4 cup of hot water onto the vegetables. Bake 45 minutes.  The recipe recommends pressing the potatoes down into the liquid after 30 minutes, I didn't find this necessary. After the 45 min is up, sprinkle on the cheese. Bake another 30 to 45 minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the potatoes and the gratin is lightly browned. Or really browned, as in my case.  Serve hot or warm.