All manner of human creativity on display
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.
Benjamin 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.
Trying to find your way around this place? Like most expositions, we offer a map: Map of The World's Fair
June 30, 2008
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
This cracks me up every time, and will be sure to somehow make an appearance in my talks on science literacy. I'm thinking this would make a great graphic to segue into discussions on the public perceptions of technologies,...
Posted by David Ng at 3:28 PM • 5 Comments •
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Posted by David Ng at 1:15 PM • 0 Comments •
June 27, 2008
Category: Video links (archive.org samples, for example; Youtube.com; others...)
This is actually very nicely done - a commencement speech by JK Rowling at Harvard a few weeks ago. I've embedded the movie file below the fold for convenience, but full details (as well as the transcript of the speech)...
Posted by David Ng at 10:39 AM • 2 Comments •
Category: Industrial Agriculture
With localism, the same conversations going on, over and over again. This week Salon.com joined in.
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 9:00 AM • 0 Comments •
June 26, 2008
Category: Humor stuff, and in the best of worlds, science humor stuff
When I read pieces like this one (at McSweeney's), it makes me want to make the World's Fair the place to go to at ScienceBlogs when you want to catch up on unicorn stuff. Anyway, here's the first paragraph: The...
Posted by David Ng at 10:58 AM • 0 Comments •
Category: Nature, as in parts, bits, molecular and stuff
Occasionally, I talk about this when I'm giving a talk on science literacy, and most often, I'll present the following statement asking if it's true or false: There is a human disease characterized by uncontrollably messy hair. It is...
Posted by David Ng at 9:58 AM • 15 Comments •
June 25, 2008
Category: Nature as in Earth, as in Global, as in Global Issues Generally
So, there's been much argument lately in my neck of the woods, over the BC's new carbon tax. This is coming online in a few days (July 1st), and will be responsible (amongst many other things) for what has been...
Posted by David Ng at 1:05 PM • 3 Comments •
June 24, 2008
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Posted by David Ng at 5:10 PM • 0 Comments •
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
As in popperfont.com Last week, I opened up a free wordpress blog, with the hopes of collecting my writings in one place, as well, as trying to categorize the silly "true or false" questions I use in many of my...
Posted by David Ng at 1:01 PM • 6 Comments •
June 23, 2008
Category: Nature as in Earth, as in Global, as in Global Issues Generally
I think this statement should be obvious, and for that reason alone, we've included it in the SCQ's list of truths. This, by the way, is a web experiment run by the Quarterly. The background can be found here, and...
Posted by David Ng at 2:20 PM • 4 Comments •
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Buy Gas Now. And get Ethyl for only 4 cents more per gallon. Hurry while supplies last.
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 8:00 AM • 0 Comments •
June 20, 2008
Category: About writing generally
This is straight from the minds of the young: I just had to highlight today's piece at the Science Creative Quarterly. It's a letter composed during one of our Science Creative Literary Symposia sessions, detailing a secret force of woodpeckers...
Posted by David Ng at 1:13 PM • 0 Comments •
June 19, 2008
Category: The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building
Once again, Chris Jordan with a commanding use of aesthetics. This is as remarkable as it is horrendous. Go below the fold to zoom into the image....
Posted by David Ng at 3:00 PM • 33 Comments •
Category: Author Meets Bloggers
Part 2 on Challenging the Order of Nature and Putting Biology on Trial, with Graham Burnett
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 9:00 AM • 1 Comments •
June 18, 2008
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
This is kind of neat. A web tool called www.mixwit.com that allows you to post high quality mixed tapes online. Here's a sample of a three song mix that took me 15 minutes to make. Thanks by the way for...
Posted by David Ng at 3:12 PM • 0 Comments •
Category: Author Meets Bloggers
Trying Leviathan tackles the legal battle over the taxonomic status of whales, circa 1818. Find out how, here.
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 9:00 AM • 0 Comments •
June 16, 2008
Category: Humor stuff, and in the best of worlds, science humor stuff
So... In an attempt to procrastinate some time away, I've put in the effort to collect all of the silly science humour pieces I've written over the years (as well as some of the few non-humour pieces I've written) into...
Posted by David Ng at 4:49 PM • 0 Comments •
June 13, 2008
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Stunning news out of Washington. John Boehner, that congress guy, you know who I mean, laid down a devastating critique yesterday by claiming that politicians in congress are "playing politics." He reports that in the Senate "it's been about politics...
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 9:20 AM • 2 Comments •
June 11, 2008
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
I usually make a music mix about 4 times a year, with the culmination of those mixes becoming a more focused annual mix. This is something I've done since 2002, and it's always great to go back in time and...
Posted by David Ng at 2:22 PM • 4 Comments •
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Right now, I'm reading a gem of a book called Mortification, writers' stories of their public shame. It essentially has 70 or so mini-pieces from a wide variety of writers, at various stages of their careers. These pieces share humiliating...
Posted by David Ng at 12:15 PM • 9 Comments •
Category: NatureLand: What They Used to Call the Environment
Where citizenship and consumerism collide. "If everyone were satisfied, no one would buy the new thing because no one would want it."
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 9:45 AM • 6 Comments •
June 10, 2008
Category: Ethics Palace: Where ethical questions go to live or die
Part of the reason for this post is just to say that I've finally been able to put up the Richard Dawkins' talk at the terry.ubc.ca site. This is essentially his "God Delusion" speech, and it happens to be available...
Posted by David Ng at 7:58 AM • 2 Comments •
June 9, 2008
Category: Ethics Palace: Where ethical questions go to live or die
Circa 1976, an editorial cartoon from Bill Mauldin. File this under "everything old is new again"?...
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 9:00 AM • 16 Comments •
June 6, 2008
Category: Humor stuff, and in the best of worlds, science humor stuff
I quite enjoyed this Shouts and Murmur piece (reprinted below in full). It's called My Nature Documentary (by Jack Handey) - - - "Show monkey in a tree. Narrator says, "The monkey, proud and smart, in his native habitat. But...
Posted by David Ng at 11:57 PM • 1 Comments •
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Lately, my kids have really gotten into the whole Star Wars thing, which, of course, brings me great pleasure. It also brings to mind a silly question: that is whether affinity for all things Star Wars is at all related...
Posted by David Ng at 12:15 PM • 8 Comments •
Category: Nature, as in parts, bits, molecular and stuff
So it would seem my last post on pinatas needs to be corrected on two fronts. Firstly, my piece at McSweeney's and its marriage of science and pinatas is not such a unique concept, and secondly, after doing a bit...
Posted by David Ng at 12:05 PM • 0 Comments •
June 5, 2008
Category: Humor stuff, and in the best of worlds, science humor stuff
Ben just alerted me of one of my humour pieces going up today at McSweeney's. Like the post title suggests, it's about science and pinatas. The key question, of course, is why did I categorize this post in the "humanities...
Posted by David Ng at 4:04 PM • 1 Comments •
Category: Nature as in Earth, as in Global, as in Global Issues Generally
Having just returned from a visit to the magic kingdom, the above was a question that continually haunted my consciousness. Disneyland was remarkably pristine in that cookie cutter, artificial, yet aesthetically pleasing way, but it must be a major...
Posted by David Ng at 6:57 AM • 19 Comments •
June 4, 2008
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Light streaks show how an efficient housewife makes a bed. Thank you, 1946.
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 3:20 PM • 7 Comments •
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Quoth neuropsychologist Katherine P. Rankin: "I bet Jon Stewart has a huge right frontal lobe." Sure. Why not....
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 1:30 PM • 0 Comments •
Category: NatureLand: What They Used to Call the Environment
Do you eat food? If so, this might be of interest to you.
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 1:25 PM • 0 Comments •
June 3, 2008
Category: The STS Compages
Blah NANO blah blah blah ASBESTOS blah PATHOGEN blah blah
Posted by Benjamin Cohen at 8:00 AM • 4 Comments •
June 2, 2008
Category: Humor stuff, and in the best of worlds, science humor stuff
Part of the joy of running a website, is being able to recycle old pieces. Up on the SCQ today, "Stem cell Barbie."...
Posted by David Ng at 3:04 PM • 0 Comments •
Category: Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
Well, maybe the post title is a little on the hyperbole side of things. Anyway, many apologies for being more or less absent from this blog for the last couple of weeks. As usual, the end of term chaos is...
Posted by David Ng at 1:21 PM • 0 Comments •
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