carlyo | June 21, 2013By Festival Nifty Fifty Speaker Dr. Joe Schwarcz PhD
Living is a wasteful business. Just think of all the stuff we dispose of down are drains and toilets. Pharmaceuticals, oils, cosmetics, hair, condoms, glues, paints, nail polish removers, soap, urine, feces, food remnants, toilet paper, pesticides, dyes, cleaning agents, blood and even vomit. And there are plenty of bacteria and viruses that go down as well. The original answer to this onslaught to nature was that the “solution to pollution is dilution.” Basically that meant the mess would be diluted enough in natural water systems so that…
carlyo | June 17, 2013As 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…
carlyo | June 14, 2013ENGINEERING.COM, with its mission to inform, inspire and entertain the world's engineers -- and future engineers -- is returning as a key sponsor of the USA Science & Engineering Festival and Expo in 2014.
Widely known for having its fingers directly on the pulse of the fascinating, ever-evolving realm of engineering innovation, ENGINEERING.COM will help expand the scope and reach of Festival excitement, education and inspiration by serving once again as the event's official videographer, which will include capturing the bevy of high-profile activity taking place during Expo finale…
carlyo | June 12, 2013Today's guest blog post is by Featured Science Author Dr. Fred Bortz
Tune in Thursday, June 13th on our Facebook page at 10 am EST to discuss this post with Dr. Bortz!
More than ten years after it was posted at the "Ask Dr. Fred" page "Why Isn't Pluto a Planet Anymore?" remains by far the most popular page at "Dr. Fred's Place" on the web, getting anywhere between 50 and 100 hits on a typical day.
That's a lot of interest in an icy world that is smaller than the moon and so far away that sunlight takes at least 4 hours to reach it! What could possibly be so fascinating?
The reason, of…
carlyo | June 6, 2013Karin Muraszko – Pediatric Neurosurgeon
--The first and only female to head an academic neurosurgery department in the U.S.
--Successfully handles her demanding surgical schedule despite having spina bifida (curvature of the spine)
Of the approximately 4,920 neurosurgeons in the United States today, only about 5.6 percent – or 277 – are women. Discover one of the female pioneers in this field and her work as a leading pediatric neurosurgeon to treat children suffering from disorders and injuries to the brain and spinal cord. Moreover, learn how she herself has dealt with a spinal…
carlyo | May 30, 2013Popular Science, one of the leading sources of news in technology, science, gadgets, space, green tech and more, is returning as a key Americium Media Partner with the Festival!
In doing so, Popular Science joins a growing list of other top science media leaders who will be serving as Festival sponsors, including Scientific American, American Scientist, Sigma Xi, ENGINEERING.com, Forbes Wolfe, and PBS Kids, among many others.
Popular Science has been a major source of science and technology news since its award-winning magazine was founded back in 1872. Its online version, PopSci.com, was…
carlyo | May 28, 2013Celebrating Role Models in STEM!
Read more about the life of educator and mathematician Edith Luchins here
carlyo | May 16, 2013Heroes should never be forgotten, but unfortunately too many of them in the field of science go missing from our classroom textbooks. Equally disturbing is that a disproportionate number of these heroes overlooked are women and minorities.
While the average American young person will likely have no trouble detailing the latest antics of such stars as Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, or Kanye & Kim, most, sadly, would be hard-pressed to tell you who the following trailblazers in science were:
-- Molecular biologist Rosiland Franklin, who was responsible for much of the research and discovery…
carlyo | May 6, 2013
By USA Science & Engineering Festival Founder Larry Bock
The answers to some of the biggest challenges facing us this century lie waiting to be discovered in the laboratories and institutions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. But we must remember, scientists do not operate in a vacuum in such endeavors.
Increasingly, policy makers -- often working in the highest seats of government -- are playing an important role in the research discovery scenario, including deciding which projects to fund, and assuring that scientific discoveries and their resulting impacts are sound…
carlyo | April 29, 2013By USA Science & Engineering Festival Founder Larry Bock
In what started out as a hopeful trickle more than four years ago has seemingly evolved into a full-blown trend: Suddenly it's cool and hip to be a scientist in Hollywood. Ranging from such blockbuster films as The Amazing Spiderman, Battleship, The Avengers, and Iron Man 2 to TV hits including House, Fringe, Criminal Minds, and Breaking Bad, an increasing number of Hollywood productions are using real-life scientists as advisors to not only boost the technical accuracy of scripts and video content but to also create more exciting…
carlyo | April 26, 2013Save the date: the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo is just one year away! We are so excited to bring you the largest celebration of science & engineering for the 3rd time! Leading up to the Expo we will have affiliate events, the return of the Nifty Fifty (x3), contests, and school programs! The Festival week will kick off with the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference, the launch of X-STEM Extreme STEM Symposium (Thursday, April 24) and Sneak Peek Friday (April 25)! The free and open to the public finale Expo will be the weekend of April 26-27, 2014!
The spotlight on STEM (…
carlyo | April 24, 2013Guest Blogger USA Science & Engineering Festival Nifty Fifty Speaker Joe Schwarcz PhD
I had my tonsils out in 1954. In those days a few bouts of tonsillitis, and out they came. I remember being plied with chloroform before the operation and with ice cream after. I also remember being given a special gum, “imported from America” to chew. It was probably some version of “Aspergum” which contained aspirin and was supposed to relieve the sore throat. The idea of using the gum after a tonsillectomy was introduced in the 1940s by Lawrence Craven, a California physician, who made an interesting…
carlyo | April 18, 2013Celebrating another Role Model in Science & Engineering Achievement!
Rock and roll as we know it today would not exist without his invention --the solid body electric guitar. Little wonder legends like Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and Eddie Van Halen consider him an icon. Throughout his life, Les remained an innovator as a guitar player and sound engineering pioneer.
Read the full biography of Les Paul here.
carlyo | April 17, 2013Celebrating another role model in science & engineering achievement! Bonnie Dunbar played a key role in building the Space Shuttle craft and developing its thermal protection system. A veteran of five Space Shuttle flights, she today serves as a role model to thousands in STEM education and careers
To read the full biography of Bonnie Dunbar click here.
carlyo | April 11, 2013Celebrating another Role Model in Science & Engineering Achievement!
Noted Materials Science Researcher Swati Vilas Pol is creating a new green technology that converts plastic bags and plastic bottles into carbon waste material for a wide range of uses -- from water purification to powering electronic devices. Awesome!
To read her full biography click here
carlyo | April 4, 2013Celebrating Role Models in Science & Engineering Achievement!
Ali Javan's important work is a major component of what you are doing right now- using the internet. To read his full biography and the profiles of all our STEM Role Models click here.
carlyo | April 3, 2013We are excited to announce that Dr. Mary Cleave will be serving as a Nifty Fifty Speaker for the Festival!
Long considered a role model in science and space exploration for her achievements, Mary is the recipient of various honors, including being the recipient of the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award (1989); NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal (1994), and being profiled with Sally Ride, Anna Fisher and other U.S. women astronauts in the Women In Space DVD, and The Women's Adventures in Science book series.
Our Nifty Fifty Program has tripled in size and will return to…
carlyo | April 2, 2013Celebrating Role Models in Science & Achievement!
Biochemist and molecular biologist Severo Ochoa is best known for sharing the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with American biochemist Arthur Kornberg for discovering a bacterial enzyme that enabled him to synthesize RNA (ribonucleic acid).
To read his full biography and other STEM Role Models click here.
carlyo | March 28, 2013Celebrating Women's History Month with another STEM Role Model!
Dr. Anita Roberts was one of the most cited scientists in history and she served as an inspiration to many cancer patients when journaled details of her own battle with cancer- a disease she spent 25 years researching.
Read the full biography of Dr. Roberts here.
carlyo | March 27, 2013Celebrating Women's History Month with another STEM Role Model! In today’s blog we feature Nanomaterials Physicist Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky.
We are excited to announce that Dr. Leslie-Pelecky will be serving as a Nifty Fifty Speaker for the Festival!
She has appeared on television for ESPN, H2 and VOOM channels, and in print for publications such as TIME and Sporting News magazines, and professional society publications such as C&EN and the Materials Research Society Bulletin. She appears periodically on the SiriusXM Speedway satellite radio program where she uses science to dispel…