What We're Talking About Saturday, March 13, 2010
I Choose You, Hawaiian Bobtail Squid!
Two months ago, David Ng of The World’s Fair announced the launch of ambitious science outreach and education project dubbed “Phylomon.” Coinciding with the International Year of Biodiversity, Phylomon was conceived as an open-sourced alternative to Pokemon and its trading-card game, aimed at getting kids interested in badgers and octopi, rather than Bulbasaurs and Pikachus. Since the launch, the project has dropped the “mon” from its name (it’s just “PHYLO” now), received more than 100 pieces of potential card art, and generated an active community of designers and testers who are working on developing the game’s rules. If you’re interested in helping out, drop by Ng’s blog for a progress update, or head over to the project’s homepage, www.phylogame.org where you can find links to the Flickr pool of art submissions and the forums for discussing game mechanics.
- More news of the week on Page 3.14.
The PHYLO project (aka the artist formerly known as Phylomon) - an update
The World's FairMarch 11, 2010
“Things are humming along! We have over 100 images submitted, 30 or so queued up for card production, and over 40 folks signed up on the forum (in fact, one set of rules is arguably close to beta testing). The response has been simply wonderful, and these numbers don't even the include the numerous comments and chats culled from coffee meetings to blog posts to tweets.”
Do you kind of wish Pokemon cards had REAL creatures not FAKE creatures?
The World's FairJanuary 12, 2010
“what can we do to get kids engaged with the wonderful creatures that are all around them? They obviously have the ability and the passion to care about such things, but it appears misplaced - they'll spend a ton of resources and time tracking down fictional things, when they could easily do the same with the very wildlife around them.”
Pokemon + Phylogeny = Phylomon
BioephemeraJanuary 12, 2010
“There's nothing wrong with kids having rich fantasy worlds - far from it. But why not give them the chance to discover that real biology is also incredibly cool - not to mention complex, beautiful, and for many kids, right outside their back door?”
Community
The 2010 Pi Day Pie Bake-Off contest is in full swing! Last year's competition was a smashing success, so we're teaming up with Serious Eats and mental_floss to make this year's prizes—for bloggers and readers—even better. Check out the official announcement for the details and get cracking (and mixing, and baking, etc.)
Advertisement
In Conversation
“Maybe, perish the thought, government doesn't know how to help farmers. Or, perish two thoughts, maybe government doesn't really want to help farmers but just wants cheap food so the people can afford to buy more SUVs.”
Channel Surfing
Life Science
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
PalmenGarten Herz
This heart-shaped flower is dedicated to the one I love ..
An inside look at the "Killer Pig from Hell", Archaeotherium
I love the work that Larry Witmer and his students do at Ohio University. Not only is it...
Science proves that God created everything out of nothing.
I invite you to review this essay and comment on its veracity and validity.
The Life Science Channel RSS FeedPhysical Science
Pi: how many digits do you need?
The most basic explanation of Pi is that it is the ratio of the circumference to the diameter for a circle. That seems simple enough, but it turns out that Pi is an irrational number - so you can't just write it down. Oh, I know that you are an uber-geek and you could recite the first 80 digits of Pi. But the question is - how many digits are enough?
The Inclined Treadmill: What Would Einstein Say?
Earlier this week, I wrote about an inclined treadmill, and talked about physical work. Physically, the amount...
March Meeting Quantum Computing Schedule
The APS March meeting is next week as 10000 physicists invade Portland, Oregon. I hope Powell's bookstore has...
The Physical Science Channel RSS FeedEnvironment
The 'Plastiki' Expedition
Plastic in the oceans is probably a problem, but it is probably not the problem you think it...
Stanford Researcher: Data Show That ClimateGate Has Had Limited Impact on Public Perceptions
An innocence about social science research combined with the ideological biases of scientists and advocates accounts for the exaggerated claims about the impact of ClimateGate....
When Cheap Food Isn't Cheap
At a minimum, we need to ask ourselves this -if the food we get industrially is unaffordable in an environmental sense and unaffordable in a practical "how do we get dinner" sense, what's the case for conventional corporate ag again?
The Environment Channel RSS FeedEducation
Texas Approves Right Wing Curriculum Revisions
After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum...
Texas Textbook Controversy on Nightline
Fundamentalist Christian dentist promotes drastic curriculum change. Click here then click "Texas Textbook Controversy part way down the...
Congratulations to Frederick Franke and James Morton
I think I've mentioned before that I'm on the local committee that selects nominees for the Watson Fellowship,...
The Education Channel RSS FeedPolitics
Replacing the DSCC with the Blogosphere?
A few days back, the phone rang and I stupidly answered it. I usually don't unless I know...
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Greatest. Headline. Ever.
Stolen from here....
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Worldnutdaily and the McCain Birthers
Jerome Corsi, an endless fount of stupidity, has an incredibly dishonest article at the Worldnutdaily accusing the media...
The Politics Channel RSS FeedMedicine & Health
This Week's Top Stories (Mar. 7-13, 2010)
While we regularly post lengthy discussions on Obesity Panacea, there are many research updates, news stories, videos,...
An epidemiologist and daylight savings time
Just another opportunity to do science.
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
Scientia Pro Publica Needs Your Writing!
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a blog carnival devoted to sharing the best science, medical, environment and nature blog writing with the public, and it is seeking submissions and hosts!
The Medicine & Health Channel RSS FeedBrain & Behavior
Brain scans read memories
A neuroimaging study by UCL researchers shows that individual memory traces can be decoded and distinguished from one another
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
This is Why Futbol (Soccer) Players Desperately Need Acting Lessons
I love futbol, but OMG, these boyz are such crybabies and drama queens! These soccer/futbol players demonstrate the reasons why I think they all are in desperate need of acting lessons: their ridiculous overblown theatrics.
ScienceOnline2010 - Trust and Critical Thinking (video), Part 6
Saturday, January 16 at 4:40 - 5:45pm C. Trust and Critical Thinking - Stephanie Zvan, PZ Myers,...
The Brain & Behavior Channel RSS FeedTechnology
Texting for Anglers at ScienceOnline2010 (video) - Part 1
North Carolina Sea Grant fisheries specialist Scott Baker talks about "RECTEXT" -- a system that lets tournament...
The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction
In his seminal 1991 essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction," the video...
Mystery of graveyard pictures solved!
A few weeks ago I was given a vintage camera that turned out to have a film hidden...
The Technology Channel RSS FeedInformation Science
Science Journalism/Communication week in review
Lots of interesting stuff this week, so I decided to put everything in a single post - makes...
The evidence is: status, communication training, and intrinsic rewards are positively associated with scientists communicating with the media
Myths abound about how scientists do not talk with the media or communicate with the public and...
We got cartooned!!!
ROFL! Can you recognize your favourite sciencebloggers in this comic strip by Joseph Hewitt? To see larger...
The Information Science Channel RSS FeedJobs
On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess
Ask Dr. Isis - The Industrial Grass Looks Greener...
If you've been following the Twitter, you've seen that viruses and bacteria continue to colonize the Isis house....
Quantum Computing Postdoc at LPS
A theoretical condensed matter postdoc of interest to the quantum computing folks:Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Theoretical Condensed Matter...
Your Grant in Review: The outlier proves I need to appeal!!!!
"...it seems one negative reviewer carried the day, and convinced others to pull down the score."
The Jobs Channel RSS FeedAdvertisement
ScienceBlogs Super Photos
Top Lists
- 1Gender-Bending Chickens: Mixed, Not Scrambled : Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
- 2The little-known subgenre of Talpanas tribute art : Tetrapod Zoology
- 3New science journalism ecosystem: new inter-species interactions, new niches : A Blog Around The Clock
- 4"The Madam Curie Complex" Sample Chapter: Part One : Thus Spake Zuska
- 5"The Myth of Black Disingenuity": Exploring the Intersection of African American History and the History of Technology : Thus Spake Zuska
- 1Episode XXXVIII: Distracted in Oz
PZ Myers 03.12.2010
- 2Uh-oh…we aren't being nice and respectful of the faithful
PZ Myers 03.12.2010
- 3Texas BOE Removes Jefferson From History Standard
Ed Brayton 03.12.2010
- 4Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Poul Thorsen: The fine art of distraction from inconvenient facts
Orac 03.12.2010
- 5Increasing signs of activity at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland
Erik Klemetti 03.04.2010
- 1
The PHYLO project (aka the artist formerly known as Phylomon) - an update
The World's Fair 03.11.2010
- 2
Genetically Modified for the People
Oscillator 03.11.2010
- 3
Marijuana and Divergent Thinking
The Frontal Cortex 03.10.2010
- 4
Disease hunting with whole genome sequences: the good news, and the bad news
Genetic Future 03.10.2010
- 5
Stealth in Space
Built on Facts 03.10.2010
From NYTimes.com
Latest science stories | More at nytimes.com
Latest posts from the GE Collective Imagination blog
More on the Collective Imagination blog
- 1Your daily healthy imagination question: Is your ability to practice healthy habits limited by your home or work environment?
- 2Which makes kids fatter: TV or Computers?
- 3Your daily healthy imagination question: How can messages about healthy practices be communicated better?
- 4Your daily healthy imagination question: What letter grade would you assign to your personal health?
- 5Your daily healthy imagination question: What one thing could you do today to improve your personal health?
SB Basics
Synthetic Biology
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
“Playing God”
The Loom January 31, 2008
"Frankenstein Was Here": Synthetic Biology as Graffiti
Discovering Biology in a Digital World July 2, 2006
Build your own virus
Humanities & Soc. Sciences
Gene Expression
The great productivity transient
This comment from Chris is interesting: I would speculate that the the massive productivity gains were due to...
Gene Expression
Private interest + Government Cheese = for-profit education racket
In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt: At institutions that train students for careers in areas...
Adventures in Ethics and Science
Pi Day bake-off 2010: Chocolate Almond Cherry (Tofu) Pie.
Just in time for Pi Day, a rich pie with three flavors that play well together, but no eggs, cream cheese, butter, or milk.
The Social Sciences Channel RSS Feed