As my husband and I were roaming from tent to tent at Maker Faire on Sunday, we were recognized, but not for any reason that you might expect. “Hey, I know you,” a guy said as he turned around from examining a table. “You got hit in the head with that plane.” Yes, our claim…
I’m looking forward to Maker Faire NY this weekend. I’m not directly involved, but I love this concept: people coming up with new ideas, building things, sharing what they’ve learned with other people. Mark Frauenfelder, Editor-in-Chief of Make magazine (the sponsor), describes the educational value in do-it-yourself in the most recent issue of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, says…
This Beakman’s World for nanotech video, When Things Get Small, came out a few years ago, but it’s still a great, entertaining introduction to the world of nanotechnology. I reviewed the video and interviewed Ivan Schuller, one of its creators and a physics professor at UCSD, at a showing in NYC back in 2006. My story…
[slideshow] Part of the drama in any race is figuring out which team to cheer for. Looking back on the quest to reach the South Pole nearly a century ago, it’s a seesaw between two teams with different goals. On one side is the single-minded consummate planner, Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who learned about travel and…
When you spend more than 40 hours a week in a laboratory, strange creative synergy can crop up. When I was a graduate student, we had a few of those moments. The most notable was our takeoff on “The Night Before Christmas” in late 1999, as we riffed on the coming nonpocalypse of Y2K. Unfortunately,…
This Mother’s day tribute is so good that it can’t wait until next year, or even for my Saturday video feature. It’s completely fabulous– the lyrics, the delivery, the biological illustrations, and the solid science backing it up. See more on his YouTube channel. Forward it to your mother, your favorite biologist, or your favorite…
How much? It’s one of those basic journalism questions, but when it comes to many science stories, it can be a tough one to answer in meaningful way. In most of my writing and reporting, I’m trying to find analogies to describe features smaller than the eye can see. But on the macroscale– like with…
Blogging is tricky and developing a good one requires both a command of the topic and a unique and entertaining angle. That’s a tough balance, but as far as I’m concerned, each of these five science blogs get it right. Not Exactly Rocket Science: Written by British science writer Ed Yong, the majority of these…
For the remaining Saturdays in the blogathon, I’m featuring creative and fun science videos. This one made the online rounds a few years ago, but it’s still one of the best general explanations of the Large Hadron Collider that I’ve seen. And, it’s catchy, too. Check out the rapper, alpinekat, also known as Kate McAlpine.
I can’t imagine not being awed by massive air-breathing creatures that move through the water. Whales are smart creatures that live in a dark, alternative Earth-world, where sound is the dominant sense. This weekend I got a chance to see this wonderful exhibition from New Zealand— complete with two sperm whale skeletons and a life-size model…