In this episode, we talk to wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas about combining science and art in her series of books with stories and images about the life of animal families on the African Savanna, as well as her keen interest in conservation and lending her support to small conservation groups doing big jobs around the world.
In this RS! episode we talked with famed moon-walker and space visionary, Buzz Aldrin, about his book, “Mission to Mars”, and his vision for establishing a permanent human presence on Mars. Later in the episode we were joined by Leonard David, Buzz’s co-author on the book, to talk some about their experiences with spreading the idea and engaging the public with the excitement of space exploration.
We teamed up with award-winning filmmaker — and secret evolutionary biologist — Lucy Cooke, for a high-energy discussion about sloths, and frogs, and many other down-trodden and unloved species of animals; making films that entertain and educate; and all sorts of other stuff, including some insider talk about Richard Dawkins & David Attenborough. We also were briefly reminded of the limits of technology and laptop battery lives.
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.
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!
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.
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!
I originally posted this article at Scientific American on July 13, 2011.
The above Pecha Kucha talk was presented at the Staerkel Planetarium in November 2011.
Imagine a dark haired little girl of not quite four years old, playing outside in a cotton dress in the warm dusk of July 30, 1969, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Me and my little sister, Geri, in New Mexico, where I recall being called in to witness man’s first steps on the moon. Photo: Joanne Manaster
Read Science! Episode 8: Biotech Revolution Edition
Today’s conversation was all about biotechnology, clones, research ethics, and mad scientists. What didn’t we talk about!
Our guests were Emily Anthes, author of “Frankenstein’s Cat”, and Terry Johnson and Kyle Kurpinski, authors of “How To Defeat Your Own Clone”.
11 years ago Read Science!, Video • Tags: Emily Anthes, Frankenstein's Cat, How to Defeat Your Own Clone, Jeff Shaumeyer, Joanne Manaster, Kyle Kurpinski, Read Science!, Terry D. Johnson, video