Now on ScienceBlogs: Will Quantum Fusion Save the Day?
Bad Reporting About Women in STEM This is apparently my day to be annoyed at the reporting of pieces about gender differences in STEM, because a bunch of people are linking to this PBS NewsHour article about women in engineering, which is linked to an interview...
Tomorrow: Join us for the Woodstock of Science! The excitement is filling the air at Sneak Peek Friday today as we are gearing up for an amazing weekend! The Festival takes place Saturday from 10-6 and Sunday from 10-4 at the Walter E Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Please visit our "Plan Your Day" section on our website for important information regarding attending this FREE event. Those attending the Festival will be in for quite a treat with over 3,000 hands-on science and engineering activities and over 150 stage shows!
Santa Clause vs Alan Alda -- Religion vs Evolution There are limits to what you can safely show students in High School, but are they appropriate?
Just Two Days Until the Largest Celebration of Science & Engineering! The 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival has finally arrived! The Expo will take place this weekend at the Walter E Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. The hours are Saturday from 10-6 and Sunday from 10-4. Evening shows are also scheduled for the weekend including the Stargazing Party with Bill Nye and Featured Author Panel Discussion- Science Stories in Society & School: Using Narrative to Bridge the Gap.
So, you've learned that the Sun is going to explode... "Through that last dark cloud is a dying star... And when it explodes, it will be reborn. You will bloom... and I will live." -The Fountain I want to start off by letting you all know that I, myself, do...
Supporting Your Local Life Science Teacher Here is a way you can support the Life Science teachers in your local school. Give them a poster or a hat or a T-shirt or a book or something. I'll tell you why in a moment. First, you have to find the teachers and...
Around the Web: Even Harvard can't afford everything, The importance of physical campuses, DRM strategy and more Harvard Faculty Advisory Council Memorandum on Journal Pricing: Major Periodical Subscriptions Cannot Be Sustained "No, we can't" A proposal for the library of the future Harvard: we have a problem Harvard Library: subscriptions too costly, faculty should go open access...
Harvard Libraries join the fight for open access A few months ago, I wrote about the problems with academic publishing: These days, there's an entire industry of academic publishers that have become so fully integrated into the research system that many scientists don't realize that there's any distinction...
Don McLeroy on The Colbert Report Don McLeroy is the creationist formerly on the Texas School board who tried very hard to ruin science education both in Texas and across the United States. He is an ill informed, paranoid, mean spirited dick head. He thinks humans and dinosaurs walked the earth...
Gender Issues Start Sooner Than You Think Via Joerg Heber on Twitter, a great post on gender divisions in STEM by Athene Donald: As children try to work out their personal identities, the difference between 'boy' and 'girl' is as fundamental and omnipresent as it gets -...
A Night of Celestial Excitement: Join Us April 28 at the Stargazing Party! Under the guidance of some of the top astronomy experts in the country, explore our amazing Universe - including up close views of the Earth's moon, Jupiter and other mysterious planetary objects - at the Stargazing Party, an exciting educational collaboration between the Festival, the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum (NASM), telescope manufacturer Celestron and other partners, on Saturday, April 28 at NASM in Washington, DC.
Open Data & The Panton Principles: Thoughts on a presentation to librarians As I mentioned last week, on Tuesday, April 17 I was part of a workshop on Creative Commons our Scholarly Communications Committee put on for York library staff. My section was on open data and the Panton Principles. While not...
Louisiana Senator Embarrasses Himself in Hearing on Evolution It's almost like the guy had had nooklar meltdown right there. Hat tip: Barbara Forrest, author of Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design...
"DC Metro Mom" Shares Enthusiasm for the Festival! The 2nd Annual USA Science & Engineering Festival is a super-charged series of public events and school programs with a mission to "re-invigorate" children's interest in science, technology, engineering and math. The Festival kicked off this week with over 150 FREE events for the public and Greater Washington, DC schools leading up to the finale Expo and Book Fair at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on April 28 & 29, 2012.
Role Models in Expo's 'Meet the Scientists/Engineers' Are Ready to Inspire Your Kids! Another Amazing Opportunity for Teachers Too! Imagine the opportunity for your kids to chat one-on-one with some of the nation's top scientists, engineers and other professionals in such fields as medical research, the CIA, oceanography, microbiology, and technology intellectual property law!
10 Days to the Woodstock of Science -- And You're Invited! Similar to what the legendary Woodstock Festival did in gathering and celebrating the best and the brightest in the world of rock, the 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival hosted by Lockheed Martin, the nation's largest celebration of science and engineering, has assembled some of the country's top innovators, celebrities and innovations in the realm of science and engineering to wow visitors at the Festival's upcoming Expo celebration.
The Power of Admitting "I'm Wrong" "Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it ain't so." -Mark Twain "It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment,...
Meet the Remaining Top 20 Finalists for the Kavli Video Contest! The Kavli Science Video Contest has wrapped up with over 260 entries! Now it's time for the People's Choice Vote, in advance of the awards ceremony on April 29, in Washington, DC, as part of the USA Science & Engineering Festival. Voting is easy, just view the videos on YouTube and click 'like" for your favorites. Click to view the videos.
Science on Tap 2012, Tel Aviv Explain to a pub full of beer drinkers exactly what it is you do in your lab. That's the idea behind Science on Tap, which will be taking place again this year in bars, coffee shops and restaurants in the...
Bob Madigan - WTOP's "Man About Town" Broadcasts from a Nifty Fifty Presentation! Rockville High School in Rockville, MD was visited by Dr. April Croxton, Marine Biologist from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dr. Croxton is one of the AT&T; Sponsored Nifty Fifty X 2 Speakers WTOP's "Man About Town" Bob Madigan was on hand to broadcast Dr. Croxton's presentation and even catch some student comments about this inspiring event.
"Science, Danger, and Progress" a Talk by Featured Author William Gurstelle The USA Science and Engineering Festival will really heat up when Popular Science and Make Magazine writer William Gurstelle speaks at the Family/Hands-on Science Stage on Sunday morning. Gurstelle, who wrote the bestselling DIY science book Backyard Ballistics, will be reading from his newest book, The Practical Pyromaniac. The book is a hands-on guidebook to playing with fire and narrates the story of humankind's long-coming understanding of the most important chemical reaction on the planet.
Talking about creationism We've had conversations before, here, about this topic, especially in the context of school. We've spoken about how to deal with students who are trying very hard to push creationism in the classroom, where you are the teacher. We've spoken about what a parent of...
A Brief History of Timekeeping: Final Notes Between unpleasant work stuff and the Dread Stomach Bug wiping out the better part of five days, I only got my student evaluation comments for my winter term class last week, and I'm only getting around to writing the post-mortem...
Meet the Next 5 of the Top 20 Finalists for the Kavli Video Contest! Vote for "The People's Choice Award"! The Kavli Science Video Contest has wrapped up with over 260 entries! Now it's time for the People's Choice Vote, in advance of the awards ceremony on April 29, in Washington, DC, as part of the USA Science & Engineering Festival. People's Choice Voting begins April 2 and closes April 13. Voting is easy, just view the videos on YouTube and click 'like" for your favorites. Click here to view the videos.
Explorers in Our Midst: What the James Cameron Voyage Can Tell Us In our world of high-tech bravado, I often wonder where we'd be without explorers -- those undaunted heroes and heroines of the past and of today whose achievements, like an unforgettable song or movie -- form a lasting impression in the brain over what the human spirit can accomplish with will and perseverance.
“I LOVE it when my students show up with forms and tell me where to sign, or when they give me several weeks' notice for recommendation letters, with nice neat lists of addresses and deadlines. I wish they would bug me more often about stuff, as I tend to forget what I've agreed to do and let things get buried in my inbox.” Asphericity on Ask Dr. Isis - Can I Be Bossy With My Boss?
Orac 04.13.2012
PZ Myers 06.17.2009
Orac 04.30.2012
Tim Lambert 09.12.2011
ERV 11.26.2011
Latest science stories | More at nytimes.com
Some engineers use cranes and steel to make their designs reality, but synthetic biologists engineer using tools on a different scale: DNA and the other molecular components of living cells. Synthetic biology uses cellular systems and structures to produce artificial models based on natural order. Read these posts from the ScienceBlogs archives for more:
Pharyngula May 30, 2007
The Loom January 31, 2008
Discovering Biology in a Digital World July 2, 2006