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42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 36

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 35

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 34

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 33

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 32

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 31

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 30

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 29

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 28

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 27

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 26

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 25

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 24

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 23

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

Random Observations About Life in Germany: Brot versus Bread

tags: cultural observation, expat life, Life in Germany, Brot, bread Brot-Shop. Nordwestzentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Image: GrrlScientist, 20 March 2010 [larger view] One of the things that I cannot seem to ever get used to in Germany is the Brot (bread). Especially when compared to American-made bread, which is universally horrible and often disgusting, German Brot is simply amazing. I have spent these past few months trying to identify which type of Brot is my favorite, but they all are so wonderful that my favorite is usually the one I am eating at that very moment. All of the…

Sam Harris: Science CAN Answer Moral Questions

tags: Science CAN Answer Moral Questions, philosophy, morality, ethics, behavior, brain, neurobiology, religion, culture, well-being, human rights, human values, Sam Harris, TEDTalks, streaming video Questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can -- and should -- be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life. Adored by secularists, feared by the pious, Sam Harris' best-selling books argue that religion is ruinous and, worse, stupid -- and that questioning…

TONIGHT in NYC: SciCafe at AMNH

tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video Who: Director of the Energy Materials Center at Cornell, Héctor Abruña What: free public presentation, "Energy Through Chemistry" When: Tonight, 3 March at 700pm Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps] Cost: FREE, and there is a cash bar too! (must be 21+ with ID) Our energy future -- from powering cell phones, laptops, and cars to harnessing alternative sources like solar…

Tomorrow Night in NYC: SciCafe at AMNH

tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video Who: Director of the Energy Materials Center at Cornell, Héctor Abruña What: free public presentation, "Energy Through Chemistry" When: Wednesday, 3 March at 700pm Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps] Cost: FREE, and there is a cash bar too! (must be 21+ with ID) Our energy future -- from powering cell phones, laptops, and cars to harnessing alternative sources like solar…

One Week From Tonight in NYC: SciCafe at AMNH

tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video Who: Director of the Energy Materials Center at Cornell, Héctor Abruña What: free public presentation, "Energy Through Chemistry" When: Wednesday, 3 March at 700pm Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps] Cost: FREE, and there is a cash bar too! (must be 21+ with ID) Our energy future -- from powering cell phones, laptops, and cars to harnessing alternative sources like solar…

SciCafe at AMNH in NYC

tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video Who: Director of the Energy Materials Center at Cornell, Héctor Abruña What: free public presentation, "Energy Through Chemistry" When: Wednesday, 3 March at 700pm Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps] Cost: FREE, and there is a cash bar too! (must be 21+ with ID) Our energy future -- from powering cell phones, laptops, and cars to harnessing alternative sources like solar…

Mystery Bird: Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis

tags: Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, photographed during a snowstorm on Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Washington [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow] Image: Lee Rentz, March 2009. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes: A big fluffy gray bird in the north woods is almost certainly a Gray Jay. Even from this angle, we can see the contrasting dark cap that confirms…

I Get Books ..

I receive a fair number of books to review each month, so I thought I should do what several magazines and other publications do; list those books that have arrived in my mailbox so you know that this is the pool of books from which I will be reading and reviewing on my blog. Froth!: The Science of Beer by Mark Denny (Johns Hopkins University Press; 2009). Review Copy. Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land by Nina Burleigh (NYC: Collins; 2008). Review Copy. Evolution and Ethics by Thomas Henry Huxley (Princeton University Press; 2009). Review Copy.…

Tallinn Souvenirs

tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities Spices. Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia. Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image) One of the many items sold in the Old Town Square of Tallinn, Estonia were a variety of spices. They smelled so delicious that I almost purchased some just so I could carry them with me to sniff whenever I wished to. Handmade Blank Books. Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia. Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image) Another item that I am partial to are handmade blank books. I wanted to get one or two, but…

Free Good Books for school children

Science textbooks are expensive so one would think everyone would be happy about the free books being handed out to all students by the South Iron Elementary School in Annapolis, Missouri. Wouldn't you know it, some activist Federal judge stopped it: A federal judge ordered a small-town school to suspend a program that gives free Bibles to students, saying it improperly promotes Christianity. U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Perry also scolded school officials for continuing the program after warnings that it violated the Constitution. South Iron Elementary in Annapolis, a town of 300 in…

Enduring damage

The Bush administration will leave us with another legacy: unqualified Republican ideologues receiving appointments in various institutions, including scientific organizations, as their ship of state sinks. The rats are scuttling overboard, and are being rewarded with captaincies on any available vessel. An article in the Washington post discusses the trend. I thought these were striking examples. In one recent example, Todd Harding -- a 30-year-old political appointee at the Energy Department -- applied for and won a post this month at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.…

Gorgeous neon glass skeleton by Eric Franklin [SciencePunk]

Portland artist Eric Franklin spent over 1,000 hours sweating over hot glass and noble gasses to produce Embodiment, a glass skeleton filled with glowing krypton. Speaking about the process, Eric says: Every glass seal has to be perfect, and this piece contains hundreds. Everywhere one tube joins another, or a tube terminates, glass tubes were sealed together. They have to be perfect in order to preserve the luminosity of the krypton. If one rogue molecule gets inside the void of the glass tubing it can eventually contaminate the gas and it will no longer glow. There are times when the…

In theTop 10

This year's CWTS Leiden Ranking put the Weizmann Institute at number 10 -- and number one outside of the US -- for impact. What is impact? In dry terms, it is publications in excellent journals and citations, weighted for institute size and evaluated by subject. This prestigious ranking favors the Weizmann Institute, because it compares institutes and universities solely on the basis of published research. So you can measure impact and give it a rank. But that number is, ultimately a proxy for something a bit more abstract: We really think of it as the part our scientists play in advancing…

Science Haiku 3x3

More science-themed haikus. I seem to keep writing them because we tend to put out three “mini press releases” at a time (a relic of the days when they were printed on two sides of a fold-up page and mailed). So I could pick just one to blog about, or I could try to fit all three into one post (which tends to get muddled when it is on subjects as varied as physics, neurobiology and genetics). Or else I can leave these little breadcrumbs inviting you to follow them back to our website, where the fuller explanation awaits (or, from there, you can follow the links in the releases to get to the…

Around the Web: Catastrophism fails angsty librarians, Open Accessapolooza and more

Don’t Panic: Why Catastrophism Fails Libraries Breaking Up with Libraries Resolved: All LIS students should not take that course Once a Librarian, Always a Librarian? Editorial: Libraries see opportunity in changing times Look to the present of libraries to see the future Results of the “Global Research Council” in Berlin Announced Wellcome Trust extends open access policy to include scholarly monographs and book chapters Open-access initiatives to benefit the academy Economics of scholarly communication in transition (Is there enough money in library budgets to unleash all of scholarship…

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 Could Harvard Library's "untenable situation" regarding journal costs help move scholars toward open access? Saying Costly Subscriptions 'Cannot Be Sustained,' Harvard Library Committee Urges Open Access Harvard's library can't afford journal subscriptions Harvard Library to faculty: we're going broke unless you go open…

Around the Web: The college bookstore of the future, College isn't a bubble, Future of media and more

Inventing the college store of the future Stepping up to the Genius Bar Why College Is Not A Bubble (Except For The University Of Phoenix) Why Academics Should Blog: A College of One's Own How I Talk About Searching, Discovery and Research in Courses Future of Media: Lots of Questions, But No Easy Answers Why the term "data science" is flawed but useful Library Digital Content at the Tipping Point Faulty Towers: The Crisis in Higher Education Why people don't like us (ie. universities) The cloud is currently a question, not an answer The Association between Four Citation Metrics and Peer…

Friday Fun: Professor Tweets Complaining about Student Tweets Reaches All-Time High

And perhaps student tweets complaining about professor tweets also reaches an all-time high! Anyways, here it is, 11am on a holiday Friday morning and all I really want to do is relax and read a book. But what do I have to do? Write a Friday Fun post! What a drag. So, if I want to get the dreary chore of trying to be funny over with as quickly as possible, where do I turn? The Cronk News of course! Professor Tweets Complaining about Student Tweets Reaches All-Time High Twitter has become a popular way for faculty and staff to complain about the students with immediate gratification by "…

Best Science Books 2010: The Globe and Mail 100

If The New York Times list is the big one in the US and probably over all, then the Globe list is the big one in Canada. Interestingly, it's another list that's been a bit spotty on science coverage in the past but that seems to have reformed it's ways. The Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks…

Quick Picks on ScienceBlogs, Weekend Edition

What to read when you're drinking coffee in your jammies: "Antisense Oligonucleotide Therapy for ALS patients?" Lou Gehrig suffered from ALS, as does Stephen Hawking. A new treatment promises relief for some sufferers of this intractable disease. "Mountaintop [Coal] Removal, Part II: Is a stream without fish still a stream?" Ben Cohen and Dave Ng chat about Appalachia, the march of progress, "and the questions oddly left unasked about coal, energy, and where we get it." "Friday Sprog Blogging: how the dinosaurs really went extinct." "Please pass the ketchup. I'm going to make a tar-pit on…

Bush, the Vatican & stem cells- what's really behind the policy?

The Daily Telegraph today reported that "Scientists who carry out embryonic stem cell research and politicians who pass laws permitting the practice will be excommunicated." Does this policy make rational sense, even on religion's own terms? Here's more from the article: Scientists who carry out embryonic stem cell research and politicians who pass laws permitting the practice will be excommunicated, the Vatican said yesterday. "Destroying human embryos is equivalent to an abortion. It is the same thing," said Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family. "…

ScienceBlogs' Very First Podcast

Drumroll, please. ScienceBlogs can now be enjoyed on the go, in podcast form. In our first podcast, Sb editors talk with Janet Stemwedel of 'Adventures in Ethics and Science,' who presents her views on plagiarism in the sciences: why it matters, who it hurts, and what, just maybe, can be done about it. The program can be found for downloading and listening in the podcast area of Seedmagazine.com, where it is described thusly: The Worst Thing A Scientist Can Do ScienceBlogs' Janet Stemwedel discusses scientists' cheating ways. Lie, cheat, steal: Scientists have been known to do all three on…

Around the Web: Science Policy!

Science Advice: Cultivating the necessary functions in Canada A rough guide to science advice Principles and politics of scientific advice What do policymakers want from academics? Tips for Academics Who Want to Engage Policymakers Top 20 things scientists need to know about policy-making Top 20 things politicians need to know about science 12 things policy-makers and scientists should know about the public Science in an Age of Scrutiny: How Scientists Can Respond to Criticism and Personal Attacks The Tragedy of the Risk-Perception Commons: Culture Conflict, Rationality Conflict, and Climate…

At Last: Our New Web Site

The day has finally come. In our very first post, back in June, we wrote that the launch of the new website was slated for later in the summer. In fact, by then we had already been at it for months, and if we had known how much longer it was going to take, we might have thrown up our collective hands on the spot. So we are quite pleased to say that our new website is now on line, and it even seems to work most of the time. There are, of course, some new articles to read - a new wrinkle in insulin production, why fish scales shine, molecular Frisbee, and more - as well as press releases and…

Fool Me Twice

My review of Shawn Otto's new book, Fool Me Twice Fighting the Assault on Science in America, is up over at the relatively new sustainability-oriented blog/resource site, Planet 3.0. Here's how I start: Shawn Otto is a big name in the campaign to restore science to its rightful place as a major player in the public sphere. He spearheaded the first "Science Debate" effort in 2008 to get the presidential candidates to address scientific issues, and has been working, tirelessly but not entirely successfully, it would seem, since then to keep the home fires burning. The frustration that comes…

Carbon dioxide emissions hit new record

From Long-term trend in global CO2 emissions, published by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, comes some good news: Even including the USA whose emissions in 2008-2010 are 11 percent more than in 1990, the industrialised countries have on average reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 7.5 percent in the period 2008-2010, compared with 1990. Together they are well on course to achieve the [Kyoto] protocol, target of a collective average decrease in greenhouse gas emissions of 5.2 percent between 2008 and 2012 compared to the…

The last word (for now) on shale gas

Debating the merits and dangers of fracking shale gas has become a major obession of those who worry about energy and the climate. Yale's e360's latest contribution comes in the form a forum that includes a wide variety of perspectives pro and con. For me, the wisest observation, and the one that really trumps all others, comes from Kevin Anderson, who directs the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research's energy program: ... the only responsible action with regard to shale gas, or any "new" unconventional fossil fuel, is to keep it in the ground -- at least until there is a meaningful…

The stick sets the beat

The title of this post won't mean much until you read this contribution to The Conversation, a new and laudable attempt by climatologists to get out the message that time's a wastin,' folks. Here's a taste: We're only a few decades away from a major tipping point, plus or minus only about a decade. The rate at which the ice sheets would melt is fairly uncertain, but not the result that says we are very close to a tipping point committing to such melt and breakdown. ... Is it irresponsible or "alarmist" of climatologists to point this out? The science brief for policy is not to prescribe…

Celebrating African American History Month with Role Models In STEM: Dr. James West

USA Science & Engineering Festival Speaker, Dr. James West, an Acoustical Scientist from Johns Hopkins University turned his childhood curiosity into a career of invention! Looking back on his childhood days in Prince Edward County, Virginia, acoustical scientist James Edward West, says curiosity ruled his life. "If I had a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, anything that could be opened was in danger," remembers James with a laugh. That curiosity soon evolved into a keen interest in the mysteries of electricity, he says. "I became fascinated by electricity, just completely fascinated. I…

Bring Inspiring STEM Presentations into the Classroom!

Teachers- the USASEF Team is thrilled to announce the launch of our video resource library featuring presentations from our 2014 X-STEM Symposium! The 2014 X-STEM Extreme STEM Symposium- presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune- featured interactive presentations and workshops by an exclusive group of visionaries who aimed to empower and inspire elementary through high school students about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Now, you can bring these STEM Professionals into your classroom with our FREE  library of 15-20 minute videos covering a…

YEC comedy show coming to the Big City

One of my students picked up this flyer in Minneapolis this weekend. It looks like the creationists are visiting the University of Minnesota this Wednesday and Friday! They do love to book that auditorium in the Physics building — don't be fooled, though. None of the science departments on campus endorse this nonsense, and I know from talking to some of them that the faculty cringe at this use of their facilities…and you know the creationists do this for the faux-sciencey illusion that they're actually presenting their work in the heart of academia. This talk is being presented by Dave…

2013 U.S. News STEM Solutions National Conference Begins Today!

As announced earlier, the Festival has joined forces with U.S. News & World Report to host the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference at the Festival Expo during the week of April 21, 2014 in Washington, DC -- bringing together the largest K-12 STEM outreach event and leading advocates of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from the Solutions Conference. Today marks the start of the 2013 U.S. News STEM Solutions National Conference in Austin, Texas! The 2013 conference, titled "Teach. Inspire. Hire., will feature some of the country's most prominent change agents in…

Role Models in Science & Engineering Achievement: William A. Hinton – Physician and Bacteriologist

--Known for developing the first highly accurate standardized test for the sexually transmitted infection, syphilis --First black professor appointed at Harvard Medical School Academically talented, William Hinton from the start wanted to be recognized for his achievements instead of his race. As a high school senior in 1909, he was offered a scholarship reserved for African American students, but instead of accepting it, he chose to compete for a scholarship that was open to all students. William ended up winning that scholarship two years in a row. He would go on to Harvard Medical School…

Festival Featured Author Sean Connolly Shares his Excitement for the Festival!

By Sean Connolly Festival Featured Author What a difference a digit makes! There I was preoccupied with making my own eggnog, checking page proofs, and It's a Wonderful Life on television. Then along comes January 1, and with it that odometer switch from "1" to "2" at the end. Suddenly 2012 is this year. And this year means a trip to DC in late April for the USA Science and Engineering Festival. A festival appearance gets us authors out of our garrets, blinking as we meet the real people out there. And it's those real people--particularly the young ones--who make it all so much fun. I can…

Not Nearly as Simple as Black and White

Racists often cite IQ as a genetically determined trait, attempting to justify and promote their supremacist attitudes. Even if IQ tests do not favor specific cultural or educational standards, is intelligence coded in our genes, or related to the color of our skin? Greg Laden answers an emphatic "no," explaining that although intelligence may be heritable--that is, passed from generation to generation like a language--there is no evidence that it is specifically inherited, or genetically determined. On Gene Expression, Razib Khan parses data on African-American ancestry, revealing a…

Virus Season

As we shiver in the northern hemisphere, holiday cheer isn't the only thing in the air—there are also flu, cold, and other contenders just waiting to hit a mucous membrane. Revere questions H1N1 terminology on Effect Measure, citing "10,000 deaths, 47 million infections and over 200,000 hospitalizations" caused by the virus, with the "heart of flu season" still to come. On The White Coat Underground, PalMD reports more CDC data, revealing a "death rate from influenza in American Indians/Native Alaskans" that is almost four times the rate of other ethnicities. Rhinovira are also out in…