Five Tips to Get You Started as a Science Artist
Last month, my co-blogger Glendon Mellow wrote a great summary for scientists who are wondering how to go about hiring science illustrators.
"technology"
Winning two Nobel Prizes, revolutionizing genomics, turning down knighthoods: The legacy of Fred Sanger (1918-2013)
British biochemist Fred Sanger died today at 95. He’s the only person to win two Nobel Prizes in chemistry, an achievement that is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon.
A Modest Proposal: 3-D Printing of Fossils Still Trapped in Matrix, redux
In the series “A Modest Proposal,” my colleagues and I will propose inventions and projects that I think are eminently doable and would love made real.
The Fundamental Physics prize continues to be bad for physics.
The Fundamental Physics prize has again been awarded to sophisticated mathematical speculation disconnected from experimental evidence. The 2012 Fundamental Physics prize was shared among nine physicists, most of who were string theorists. String theorists continue to dominate the awardees of this year’s New Horizons and Frontiers in Physics prizes...
We Must Start Thinking Again About the Unthinkable
For those titillated by Strangelovian fantasies of nuclear apocalypse, the early 1980s were a golden age. That was the height of the Cold War, when nuclear arms and rhetoric escalated, and President Ronald Reagan envisioned a space-based anti-missile “shield”—promptly dubbed “Star Wars” by skeptics—that could thwart attacks by the “Evil Empire,” also known as the [...]..
Photoblogging: Secretary Bird
Photo taken October 11, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo with a Canon 60D and Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 telephoto zoom lens.
How a Video Game Can Help Us Understand What It’s Like to Be an Octopus [VIDEO]
You have one brain. Which controls two jointed arms. And ten jointed fingers. All of which are going to have a very hard time keeping up with the protagonist in the new video game Octodad: Dadliest Catch...
Photo Friday: Superconducting wires for long-distance electricity transmission
The superconducting wires shown in the photo above are capable of moving 5x the amount of electricity as copper wires, with lower heat and energy losses, which make it possible to more efficiently transmit electricity over long distances...
We’re Up All Night To Get Data: The Next Great Science Parody
You all must know by now that Joanne Manaster and I are suckers for excellent science music video parodies. This one, by the folks at UCSD Neuroscience, is our latest favourite.
Data centers of the future might be their own power plants
Data centers could produce their own energy by using fuel cells.
ABC Reporter, National Football League Promote Mammograms While Experts Question Benefits
On October 1, ABC reporter Amy Robach received a mammogram on “Good Morning America” to raise awareness of breast cancer, The 40-year-old reporter revealed this week that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has elected to undergo a double mastectomy...
Incredible Camera Trap Footage of the Rare African Golden Cat [Video]
The Wildlife Conservation Society released new camera trap footage of the elusive African golden cat. One important outcome of their research is a new understanding of the daily activity patterns of the species...
Vestiges of print publication in scientific journals
The first scientific journals were published in the late 17th century, and these print publications changed very little over time. Developments in printing technology, distribution and the advent of the commercial publisher all impacted the process, but the basic form was easily recognizable...
A Modest Proposal: Google Street View Time Machine
In the series “A Modest Proposal,” my colleagues and I will propose inventions and projects that I think are eminently doable and would love made real.
What Happens to Google Maps When Tectonic Plates Move?
A couple of weeks ago, I was writing up a description of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, and I thought I’d compare the warping of spacetime to the motion of Earth’s tectonic plates...
Photoblogging: Portrait of a Meerkat
Meerkats are one of the few other species in the animal kingdom that has something close to human-like teaching. Read about it in an old piece of mine at BBC Future: Pay attention… time for lessons at animal school Photo taken October 11, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo with a Canon 60D and Canon [...]..
Khalil’s Picks (8 November 2013)
You’ve been waiting the entire week for this, haven’t you? The first piece is a highly-recommended analysis of freelance science journalism salaries.
Are “Big Data” Sucking Scientific Talent into Big Business?
Over the last few years, we’ve heard a lot about how “Big Data”—which as far as I can tell is just data mining in a glossy new wrapper–are going to revolutionize science and help us create a better world.* These claims strike me as all too familiar...
Skeletons of Light
From: Tripping the Light Fantastic: Artists Paint With Light by Jennifer Ouellette at Cocktail Party Physics Source: Janne Parvianen Light painting is a 125-year-old art form where long exposure cameras capture the path of light, rending a sometimes other-worldly image...
Highspeed Video of Liquid Art
Water sculptures—a marriage of liquids, photography, and timing—are spectacular form of fluid dynamics as art. Artist Markus Reugels is a master of the form.
