For this discussion of “Poop & Pipes” (as guest Scott Huler put it) we were joined by Rose George, whose most recent book is “The Big Necessity : The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why it Matters”, and Scott Huler, whose book is “On the Grid : A Plot of Land, an Average Neighborhood, and the Systems that Make our World Work”. I’ll avoid all puns involving the word “sh*t” and merely say: Who knew sewers & sanitation could be so interesting!
I first put this post up at Scientific American on May 12, 2013
Colonel Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut, a former mission specialist on STS-74 who also performed multiple EVAs on STS-100, and, for a few hours longer, the well-loved commander of the International Space Station mission 35.
He has been a great inspiration for space travel via every type of social media (with the assistance of his son, Evan), giving those of us down on Earth some of the best peeks at what it is like to live and work in space, plus has entertained us with his guitar playing as well! He tweets constantly, sharing photos of his view from above and has made nearly 70 informative videos to quench our curiosity about day to day space living. He has captured our imagination for space travel again!
Our very first Read Science! episode featured Mary Roach, author of the books “Stiff”, “Spook”, “Bonk”, “Packing for Mars” and her latest, “Gulp”. We conversed about how she writes her science to engage the audience. We discovered that she is “a gateway drug to science” and enjoys the idea of limiting yourself to one idea or concept and seeing how far you can take that topic in writing.
In our second conversation on “Read Science!”, we talked dinosaurs with Brian Switek, whose recent book is “My Beloved Brontosaurus”, and Daniel Loxton, whose recent book is for children, called “Pterosaur Trouble”.
I will be leaving in just a matter of days to go to India with the International Reporting Project as a New Media Journalist to examine the issues of child survival. We will be in Mumbai, Nagpur, and New Delhi with visits to rural and slum areas. The IRP has a full schedule for the ten of us chosen to share our findings with our audiences within social media and blogs.
I made a video explaining why I’m going and what I plan to do to further the understanding of STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) during this trip in relation to child survival issues.
Many of the issues surrounding child survival in India; malnutrition, maternal and fetal care, sanitation, infectious diseases, and vaccinations, can be viewed as social issues, ones that stem from the difficulties of being a developing nation with a tremendously large population, and many of them living below the poverty levels and without education. Segments of India are thriving and growing and on the cutting edge of technology, with some of the most highly educated people in the world, making India a land of disparities.
This article was originally posted at my Scientific American blog.
This enthusiastic movie line, lifted from the kids film, “Despicable Me“, about an evil villian whose heart is warmed by a trio of young girls who come into his life, is a very appropriate introduction to a movie that animal lovers simply must take time out to see . If you are along the west coast, the informative and stirring movie “Otter 501″ is debuting in theaters tomorrow! A list of screenings can be seen here.
I originally posted this at my Scientific American blog.
I was recently in Alaska as an invitee of GoPro cameras in support of a pretty cool science experiment by Project Aether. Briefly, I was there to assist as they launched weather balloons with GoPro cameras attached in order to collect intra-auroral images. After the weather balloons dropped, the GPS tagged cameras were then retrieved, by several means and with several people. As I receive footage and information, I will be sharing more about this here on this blog.
The people who brought us “Kitten Wars” also have a side project called “Cats in Sinks“. As curious as ever, Joanne wonders how many cats can fit in her large lab sink and how one might figure this out without allowing a melee amongst confused cats breaking out and disrupting the lab!
Read Science! Episode 4: “Scientists are Human” Edition
They physicists gang up on Joanne, when we’re joined by Mario Livio, whose most recent book is “Brilliant Blunders : From Darwin to Einstein – Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe”, and Michael Brooks, whose most recent book is “Free Radicals : The Secret Anarchy of Science”, as we discuss the audacious idea that scientists are actually people, too, and that science is a human enterprise and mistakes regularly happen.
12 years ago Read Science!, Video • Tags: Brilliant Blunders, Free Radicals, Jeff Shaumeyer, Joanne Manaster, Mario Livio, Michael Brooks, Read Science!, video