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The World's Fair

All manner of human creativity on display

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profile.gif David Ng is Director of the Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory at the University of British Columbia - this is a just a fancier way of calling himself a science teacher.

profile.gifBenjamin Cohen is an Asst. Professor of Science, Tech., and Society at the University of Virginia. He studies the place of S & T in environmental history, policy, and ethics. He also writes other stuff.

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June 30, 2006

My first piece

Category: About writing generally

O.K. it looks like I'm going to use this site as a repository of my various science writings. In truth, I still consider myself a bit of a neophyte in this matter, but nevertheless, I've been lucky enough to publish...

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June 29, 2006

Procastination Science Reading (June 29/2006)

Category: The Book Building

Since thursday is no longer must see TV, here is a round up of some interesting pieces that relate (although sometimes weakly) to the sciences....

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The scientist as mad artist - an example using DNA for musical composition

Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

A few days ago, Ben put up an interesting article about Natalie Jeremijenko, regarding artistry as it relates to various scientific nuances - an essay that showed one of many many cracks in the "Two Culture" ideals that sprang...

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June 28, 2006

Africa is out: World Cup and the World in general - an update.

Category: Ethics Palace: Where ethical questions go to live or die

Yesterday, Ghana, the last remaining African team in contention, was eliminated from the World Cup. This was after a entertaining match against the heavy favourites Brazil, that ended predictably where Brazil powered over with a 3-0 victory. This followed the...

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June 27, 2006

Back drop to the Nude Mouse story

Category: About writing generally

(Actually posted this a little earlier, but we're learning the ins and outs of blogging, choosing categories etc). This is in regards to the Nude Mouse piece, shown earlier today......

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Homosexuality, philosophically speaking...with some Foucault for good measure

Category: Ethics Palace: Where ethical questions go to live or die

Janet, as seems to be the norm, has another interesting thread going on at Adventures in Science and Ethics, about searching for biological bases for homosexuality. I did an interview for The Believer recently with a historian and philosopher of...

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XXX Nudity! Rodents! Science ! XXX

Category: Ethics Palace: Where ethical questions go to live or die

This is a tell-all from one of the mice in the trenches. It in fact stands as a historical document, the first published piece co-written by Ng and Cohen (back in the Spring). And it's a pin-up, for your own...

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June 26, 2006

Listen people: You're looking at our DonorsChoose challenge all wrong.

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

Our unpaid interns have alerted us of our less than enthusiastic showing at the Scienceblogger's DonorsChoose challenge. For those, who missed the first announcement, we had offer guaranteed publication of a Haiku of your writing at the Science Creative Quarterly,...

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Ask a Scienceblogger, sort of: Batman question round-up

Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

Previously... (Image via Jay Pinkerton) "My question to the audience: what kind of scientist is Batman?" (Ben Cohen) Scienceblogger responses below:...

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June 24, 2006

Being a teacher, continued. Presumably you'll need one of these for tenure.

Category: Ethics Palace: Where ethical questions go to live or die

Maybe this will also help with this week's "Ask a Sciencebloggers question." Most institutions will likely ask for a teaching philosophy, especially when an academic is up for tenure promotion. Although mine was written in 2003, and my interests have...

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Being a teacher

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

People often ask me what it is exactly I do, and in technical terms, I have a somewhat unque Faculty position at the University of British Columbia, with no clear Department that I can call my home. This means that...

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June 23, 2006

Ethics is for losers, and other fun misconceptions.

Category: Ethics Palace: Where ethical questions go to live or die

I posted a reply to a reply over at Janet's Adventures in Ethics and Science, but it had typos and I guess I'm supposed to traffic these things back to the home base here anyway. So, here's the non-typoed version...

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"The artist as mad scientist"

Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

If ever there was an art-science piece on the web, this would be it: environmental angle, artistic production, scientific context, you get it all. This is, courtesy of our friend Cletus, a piece at Salon about "Activist, environmentalist and former...

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Analyses of the Six Degrees of Separation of Bacons other than Kevin Bacon

Category: Humor stuff, and in the best of worlds, science humor stuff

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June 22, 2006

So this is what scientists are suppose to look like

Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

Last Friday, I had a photo shoot in my lab, where a firm called Corbis spent the day taking a variety of stock "sciency" photos. It was quite the machine in place, with a crew of about half a dozen,...

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June 21, 2006

"Batman's a Scientist": A Legitimate Academic Problem

Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

Obviously any course that addresses issues of science, technology, and society uses the 4th Season Simpsons masterpiece, Marge v. the Monorail (unfortunately, this episode capsule doesn't have the full transcript). It is hallowed as a pitch perfect take on the...

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June 20, 2006

You're More Hardwired than you Think: A List of Traits Affected by your Genetics - Part I

Category: Nature, as in parts, bits, molecular and stuff

In one of my talks, I sometimes put up an ad which suggests that one day, there will be the astrological-type divination of fate via genetics - instead of a horoscope, a geneticscope if you will. The ad reads: But...

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June 19, 2006

UNPAID INTERNS WANTED: A Job Posting

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

Re: Blogging is for Chumps, first off. This is a call for outstanding candidates to apply for two intern positions within the context of producing relevant material for The World's Fair. The successful applicant is expected to work in areas...

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June 18, 2006

Blogging is for Chumps, first off.

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

We don't deign to actually do it. We're all about Unpaid Interns. They just looked up "deign" for us, in case you were wondering. The system works. This, we say, because Sciencebloggers have been asked: How is it that all...

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June 16, 2006

Our DonorsChoose Challenge and the Haiku Phylogeny Project

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

As a Director of a science teaching facility, who sees maybe close to 2000 high schoolers in my lab each year, I'm hoping we can have a good showing in this great DonorsChoose challenge that Janet set up. There's certainly...

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Query and First Edit for Grimace Speaks to a Geneticist

Category: About writing generally

(This is an old slide I used for one of my genetics classes - the general idea about what Grimace is exactly was pilfered from a graphic design school advertisement I saw where several presumably student's works were showcased....

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June 15, 2006

A Different Kind of Al Gore Movie

Category: The Film Building

Hello, those of you from boingboing.net. Please take a moment to peruse the site. In a nutshell, this is a site that is all about looking at things from both the humanist and scientific perspectives. The World's Fair is run...

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The World's Fair and the Science Creative Quarterly, together, in the most exceptional, illustrious, splendiferous challenge of the second half of June.

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

This is what happens when an individual is comfortable with the sciences... Einstein's EEG The World's Fair, in collaboration, with the Science Creative Quarterly is pleased to participate in The ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose raise-money-to-help-science-classrooms-a-thon!. In our case, donations $10 and above via...

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June 14, 2006

Ann Coulter and the Creationist Science Textbook Revisited

Category: Humor stuff, and in the best of worlds, science humor stuff

Oh dear, there is certainly a lot of discussion over Ann Coulter's new book - in particular, her breathtaking views on evolutionary theory. Hmmm, when I wrote Chapter Titles From My Creationist Textbook, I had no idea that it already...

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New Annals of Science -- Ooh, Trains, and Space, and Time

Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

There's a new Annals of Science at McSweeneys, which is actually about technology -- internets, trains -- and as such as much about history and philosophy of science and technology as just science straight-up. Although, I'm of the mind that...

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Reviews of Rejection Letters. Vol I: The New Yorker

Category: About writing generally

Because I am lucky enough to be in a position where my living is not dependant on writing, I've always taken the attitude of aiming high since the worst that can happen is that you get rejected from a place...

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June 13, 2006

Map of The World's Fair

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

What we have here is success, to communicate. Dave and I want to map out the site, and use a map to do it, and so a map it is. It's not just a metaphor, people. It's also an image....

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Alberto, Al, and what a neuron from George W might have said after Katrina

Category: NatureLand: What They Used to Call the Environment

Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Dennis, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harvey, Irene, Jose, Katrina, Lee, Maria, Nate, Ophelia, Phillippe, Rita, Stan, Tammy, Vince, Wilma, Alpha, Beta, Delta, Epsilon, Gamma, Zeta... Not exactly the makings of another Children's Alphabet Picture Book. Rather, these are...

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Examples of important persons dissing other important persons

Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

Last semester I was fortunate enough to be involved with a UBC project (called Terry) that looks at global issues from a multidisciplinary angle. One of the things in my charge was arranging a kind of high profile speaker series,...

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June 12, 2006

Procastination Science Reading (June 12/2006)

Category: The Book Building

I thought it would be kind of interesting to try and showcase a few links from the types of journals and publications that take less than academic stabs at science writing. It's the sort of stuff that interests me to...

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See, I'm Going More for a Thomas Dolby Angle Here

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

"Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why?" Hands down, I'd want to explore whatever science the women Thomas Dolby was talking about...

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All Things Considered, I'd Like to be a Rock Star

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

"Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why?" Well, being a molecular biologist with a pretty tight feed into the proteomics and genomics...

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SAYING HELLO: PART III

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

continued from part II | from the beginning DN: ... or how's about Jake and Elwood? (maybe, we should get Fedoras after all). You know, we do both dabble in the science writing game. BRC: This is true, though there...

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June 10, 2006

SAYING HELLO: PART II

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

continued from part I BRC: I saw a guy wearing a fedora the other day. I think he was serious. Anyway, I'm a conflicted soul always, almost by design, I'm starting to think. But not in a bad way. Which...

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June 9, 2006

SAYING HELLO: PART I

Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive

DN: Hey, my name is Dave Ng. BRC: I'm Benjamin Cohen. Dave, what's your story? You're Canadian right? So that's this whole other thing, I take it. DN: Yes, I am Canadian, living in Vancouver actually and based at the...

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June 7, 2006

Galileo Galilei, Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari... (Rome, 1613), p.25.

Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

(via Edward R. Tufte's "Envisioning Information")...

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June 6, 2006

Cohen's Clip List

Category: About writing generally

Here is a selection of my writings on-line, many, but not all, of which are about science and technology - Ben...

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Ng's Clip List

Category: About writing generally

Here is a selection of some of the writing I've done - Dave....

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