Stories by Kalliopi Monoyios

Commercial travel on supersonic jets never took off because of the sonic boom these aircraft make as they rip through the atmosphere. But NASA's success visualizing the shock waves could lead to advances in jet design that make these ultra-fast aircraft quieter and ultimately commercially viable.

Most art is destined for the walls of a gallery where it would be frowned upon (to say the least) if you, say, decided to add a few thoughtful sharpie marks to a painting or two. But this artist invites collaboration by installing his sculptures on the bottom of the ocean and letting the sea creatures have their way with them.

Being buried at sea generally involves the unfortunate act of dying, but science artist Jason deCaires Taylor has figured out a way around it as he constructs the Atlantic Ocean's first underwater museum

Sure, you've experienced Eastern time, Pacific time and Greenwich Mean Time, but what's it like to live on Martian time?

If you don’t already love amphibians, you should. Amphibians are useful fellows. Before the FDA approved at-home pregnancy tests in 1976 and they became widely available in 1978, women relied on their doctors to confirm they were pregnant.

From the Department of Convoluted University Bureaucracies and the Havoc They Wreak, I bring you an example of why Certified Medical Illustrators are worth every penny you spend on them: If you opened up The New York Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post, or The Boston Globe this week you might have seen a [...]

Our recent effort to galvanize people around great #sciart on Twitter was a raging success, proving to us that science art is growing by leaps and bounds.

The #sciart tweetstorm was huge success – bigger and more exciting than any of us could have imagined. Though we sent out an alert to fewer than 100 people before the launch, on the first day we racked up more than 4000 tweets!

Credit: Illustration by Glendon Mellow Source: Help Us Start a SciArt Tweet Storm by Glendon Mellow on Symbiartic This week, Glendon Mellow at Symbiartic has initiated a #sciart tweetstorm, and the sheer quantity of scienceart being shared is spectacular.

Here on Symbiartic we are embarking upon an exciting new experiment. We are taking a science theme every couple of months and presenting you with one new original piece of science art from each of us – a fine artist (Glendon Mellow), a science comic (Katie McKissick), and a scientific illustrator (yours truly).

Artists have long used odd things in their work – Marcel Duchamp’s urinal on a pedestal comes to mind – but even when unusual ingredients are less obvious, they can be present.

This July, Symbiartic will celebrate its 4th birthday along with the entire Scientific American Blog Network. To date, we have featured more than 230 science artists in over 460 posts as the field continues to expand and come into its own.

On January 31, 1961, a brave 3-year-old chimpanzee was strapped into a capsule inside the Mercury Redstone rocket and launched 160 miles above the earth.

Source: from Virtual Dissection Method Could Reinvigorate Zoology by Adrian Giordani on the Guest Blog Credit: Image courtesy of Alexander Ziegler Whether you dissected an earthworm, frog, cat or fetal pig in a science class during your childhood, you probably remember the stuffy smell of formalin that hovered around your classroom and tagged along with [...]

One of the most inspired design studios working at the intersection of science, art, and technology today is Nervous System, a Massachusetts-based team led by Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg.

The number of exhibits combining science and art in some capacity has grown steadily since I began blogging about them in 2011. With exhibits in galleries and museums across the country, there’s something for everyone.

Though it’s tempting to think you must spend thousands of dollars on equipment to take great photographs, Joshua White is helping prove that the best camera is the one you have on you when the inspiration strikes.

Credit: An 1862 painting of a Formosan clouded leopard by Joseph Wolf, image in the public domain Source: from Could Extinct Clouded Leopards Be Reintroduced in Taiwan?

In my efforts to make the most original sciart gift guide I could muster earlier this month I overlooked some fantastic books that I want to plug today in case you’re doing any last minute shopping at bookstores.

Image: A mussel shell engraved by Homo erectus between 540,000 and 430,000 years ago Credit: Wim Lustenhouwer, VU University Amsterdam Source: Kate Wong’s World’s Oldest Engraving Upends Theory of Homo sapiens Uniqueness on Observations These scratches may not look like much but they predate the existence of our species, Homo sapiens, and upend any claim [...]

It’s time again for me to offer up a few quirky gift ideas for the science enthusiasts in your life. I guarantee these will be the most original gifts under the tree!

When a revered research institution reaches out to a fine artist to create its first ever artist-in-residency program, we should all sit up and take notice.

December 1st is the deadline to participate in an exciting annual exhibit at the Art.Science.Gallery in Austin, TX. For years, artists have created small trading cards to exchange amongst themselves at conferences and gatherings, but according to the rules of exchange, these cards must never be bought or sold.

Credit: Maia Weinstock Source: Oceanographer Sylvia Earle is a Glamour Woman of the Year by Maia Weinstock on Voices In her post about oceanographer Sylvia Earle getting recognized this month by Glamour magazine for her contributions to science and society, Maia Weinstock included this picture of a custom Lego figurine of Dr.