kcollins
Posts by this author
September 19, 2011
WE.NEED.YOUR.HELP!!!
Constellation Energy is running a "tweet" promotion of the USA Science Festival and the Constellation E2 Grants program from now until Monday, September 26. For each twitter user's "re-tweet" Constellation Energy will donate $10 to the USA Science Festival (up to $10,000). And…
September 16, 2011
Even as a child Terence Boylan was a dreamer with big ideas. Collaborating in 1957 with his friend, nine-year old Terence made plans to build a rocket that could carry a mouse into the sky and bring it back safely. But Terence did not have the money to buy the aluminum they needed so he asked his…
September 12, 2011
In his prolific career of more than 30 years as an author of science books for children, Seymour Simon has penned more than 250 children's books, taking young readers on exciting, unforgettable journeys across the breadth of the scientific landscape -- from exploring outer space, its planets,…
September 9, 2011
Jeff Goldstein is a renowned astrophysicist and director of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education in Washington DC. But he is equally known as a first-rate science educator with a knack for creating and implementing approaches in teaching that truly engage students in STEM (…
September 6, 2011
When biomedical engineering scientist Erin Lavik received the prestigious New Innovator Award last year from the National Institutes of Health for her work in advancing the development of synthetic (artificial) blood platelets, she was already becoming known in biomedical circles as a rising…
September 2, 2011
To hook kids on the excitement of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) you must not only engage them via meaningful hands-on classroom experiences, but engage them early and often, says noted outreach expert and engineering educator Elizabeth Parry.
With more than 15 years…
August 29, 2011
At AT&T, research scientist Alicia Abella is known as a "change agent," an innovator who is keeping her corporation on the cutting edge of developing new and better ways to help people and companies communicate with each other -- including through innovations in teleconferencing, Web-based…
August 26, 2011
When was the last time you saw a science special in prime time on one of the major networks? Better yet, when was the last time you heard rock stars speaking passionately and convincingly about the value of science, engineering and technology? If you had to think long and hard before answering, you…
August 22, 2011
What is your impression of these jobs?
--Mechanic
--Welder
--Electrician
--Air Conditioning Technician
Despite the consummate skill and training that these and similar maintenance professions require today, they often still bear the unfortunate stigma in the public's eye of being menial "grease…
August 19, 2011
Joy Hakim is trying to change the way we deliver information in our schools. She says stories are the way to go; they not only charge the mind, they provide a base for remembering. So she has tackled the traditional subjects--history and science--and put their information in narrative clothing.…
August 15, 2011
If there is a piece of advice that Kathie Olsen would give students, it would be this: "Be aware that you're most likely going to be changing your directions and your careers throughout your entire life and you need to be open to it and look forward to the opportunities."
She should know, because…
August 12, 2011
Insects make up the largest and most diverse group of organisms on the planet, with the over 1 million described and 4-30 estimated species all playing a crucial role in biodiversity of the ecosystem. They are also critical for a wide variety of science and technology fields including agriculture,…
August 8, 2011
The USA Science and Engineering Festival's Volunteer Outreach Team is planning a special Back to School Blast Off Meeting Sunday, August 28th in Washington, DC from 3-5pm as a launching pad to spread the word about the Festival for the 2011/2012 school year. From 2-3pm, we will have a special Youth…
August 5, 2011
CALORIE COUNTS AREN'T TELLING THE FULL STORY
By Joe Schwarcz, Freelance
July 30, 2011
There are undoubtedly all sorts of terrorists out there hatching intricate plans aimed at destroying the western world. They needn't bother. All they have to do is wait and westerners will eat themselves into…
August 1, 2011
Dr. Kit Nast, a psychology instructor at Bishop State Community College in Mobile, AL, is putting together a website filled with videos related to careers and college degree programs. He is looking for volunteers to help develop more Career Videos and College Program Videos related to the sciences…
July 29, 2011
AT&T sponsored Nifty Fifty program speaker and widely acclaimed science writer Carl Zimmer just published this very interesting New York Times piece on "...a small but growing number of field biologists who study urban evolution -- not the rise and fall of skyscrapers and neighborhoods, but the…
July 25, 2011
While this image may look like a creature from a science fiction movie, it's actually a hydrothermal worm marine organism viewed on an electron microscope from festival sponsor FEI Company, a world leader in the production and distribution of electron microscopes, including scanning electron…
July 22, 2011
Fed by the news media, our fascination and reverence for celebrities has reached shameless heights.
But when you add the element of royalty to the mix, celebrity worship can take off into the stratosphere, triggered even by an item as seemingly mundane as a dress.
This leaves me wondering -- and…
July 18, 2011
+Meet Brian Malow, a science comedian scheduled to perform at the USA Science and Engineering Finale Expo. He will also perform at the Night of Science Comedy before the Expo with two other comedians, Norman Goldblatt and Pete Ludovice.
Based in San Francisco, Brian has performed for NASA, JPL (…
July 15, 2011
He's known to his students and fans simply as "Dr. Joe," but then Joe Schwarcz, professor of chemistry, has always kept things light, uncomplicated and a little magical, especially when pursuing his challenging goal: demystifying science for young learners and the public.
Joe has created a multi-…
July 11, 2011
Lifting off with the Expedition 14 mission crew on September 18, 2006, American businesswoman Anousheh Ansari made headlines around the world as the first female private space explorer. In doing so, Anousheh, an engineer by training, also earned a place in history as the fourth private explorer to…
July 8, 2011
Electrical engineer and neurosciences researcher Charles Higgins sees a time in the future when scientists will design robots that have the powerful vision of a moth or dragonfly, or even have such insects built in them directly to carry out phenomenal tasks involving sight and motion detection.…
July 5, 2011
Born in the Eastern European province of Transylvania (known as the birthplace of Count Dracula), microbiologist Dana Perkins was raised in the former communist country of Romania and humorously describes herself as an "American by choice and vampire by birth." She chose microbiology as a field of…
July 1, 2011
We've all heard the news: U.S. students aren't pursuing engineering careers in sufficient numbers to keep pace with the technical demands that our global markets will require for the future. So where do we start in turning this situation around? The answer is really quite basic, according to…
June 27, 2011
Karen Panetta sometimes has to laugh at the way engineers are portrayed in drawings by young students at the schools she visits. The children's crayoned pictures usually depict boorish, geeky male stick figures wearing glasses; some of them have buck teeth and pimples, "and they're most always…
June 24, 2011
As deputy administrator of NASA, Lori Garver is NASA's second in command. She works closely with its administrator to provide leadership, planning, and policy direction for the agency. Together they represent NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of government agencies,…
June 20, 2011
Metals have often been overlooked as a viable field for innovation, but materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez is helping to change that. Her groundbreaking research has resulted in new ways to control and shape metals into materials that can be put to practical everyday use - from producing stronger…
June 17, 2011
Overseeing the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - the country's largest water, earth and biological scientific and civilian mapping agency -- seems a natural fit for Marcia McNutt. She's a Navy Seals-trained underwater demolition and explosives expert, earthquake scientist, avid lover of the ocean…
June 13, 2011
A new age is dawning in U.S. space exploration: Entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos, are working to open up human spaceflight, once the domain only of governments, to the private sector and the public. Soon, anyone will be able to go to space just by purchasing a…
June 9, 2011
In her laboratory, scientist Elizabeth "Liz" Cottrell uses sophisticated equipment to simulate the extreme conditions found deep below volcanoes - creating pressures equivalent to the center of the Earth and temperatures hotter than the sun. Her experiments at the micron scale are shedding light…