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Learning about science education from the experts: Kids
By far the best panel on science education I’ve seen recently was given by a few of the most important people in the field: kids. I met them at LogiCon, an Edmonton-based science and critical thinking...
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The Moondog Coronation Ball, biological classification and Guided by Voices:...
This is an updated version of a post written as Song of the Week at The Finch & Pea on March 23, 2012. Nearly 20, 000 people were beating on the doors of a venue that could hold less than 10, 000...
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Detectives, dildos, death and more! Tom Levenson on Newton & the Counterfeiter
“It’s partly the problem of what happens when you become famous and bored.” What sounds like a description of the latest rehab-destined movie star is instead how science writer Tom Levenson introduced...
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Don’t worry so much about being the right type of science role model
What does it mean to be a good role? Am I a good role model? Playing around with kids at home or in the middle of a science classroom, adults often ask themselves these questions, especially when it...
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“A love letter to engineers and taxes”: Interviewing Scott Huler & Tim...
Curved potato rows, Hamilton, PEI On Prince Edward Island for vacation this week, this view is everywhere. Rows of potatoes maturing in the early summer sun. Those rows look pretty perfect, though. And...
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Where are the Canadian media in analysing the Death of Evidence protest?
“Canadian scientists aren’t normally among the placard-waving crowd on Parliament Hill” wrote Janet Davison for the CBC, describing plans for the funeral-themed protest by scientists the next day. Her...
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Inspiration from bassist Victor Wooten shows me a new way to deal with my...
I have a confession to make: I cringe a little every time I see a school science or science outreach program justified by saying something like, “Young children are natural scientists, truly curious...
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Autumnal Equinox Roundup 2012
Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox, marking the first push down the slippery slope into a cold, dark winter. As the days get noticeably shorter in Edmonton, I wanted to take a minute to look back on a...
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Why is it so hard to give up on hoping that facts speak for themselves?
“Helvetica emerges in that period in 1957 where there’s felt to be a need for rational typefaces which can be applied to all kinds of contemporary information whether it’s sign systems or corporate...
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On the “grandeur and scope of the largest machine ever built”: Interviewing...
Due to what is starting to feel like an overwhelming teaching schedule*, I didn’t get a chance to properly share how excited I was to chat in December with Sean Carroll about his book “The Particle at...
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Big move coming up!
So. Here I am. Once again trying to find a creative way to explain why I haven’t blogged for a while. It’s the usual business of course, plus some other stuff. But this time at least, there is an...
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When it comes to scientific words, simple is harder than it seems
[Yes, it's been a long time since I posted something new. One reason is that I've been busy preparing for a big move. You can read about it here.] After our discussion about using dry ice with 8 year...
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“The power to predict your world”: interviewing Samuel Arbesman and Mark Daley
Here’s a new one for the coincidences-leading-to-cool-ideas file: Who would have guessed that stacking up old journals in someone’s office could inspire a new field of research! For my latest...
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How do students figure out whom to trust in a scientific controversy?
Scientific literacy is a difficult idea to pin down.[i] To some people it means having a basic level of scientific understanding, though nobody fully agrees on how much understanding is needed or even...
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Adventures in Science, Creativity and Research Openness
Many times during talks about social media in science, I’ve argued that there is a lot of room for researchers to be more open about the research process. Following along with Rosie Redfield as she...
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Please don’t blindly follow PopSci’s lead and get rid of comment spaces
A tiny explosion happened in the online science communication world yesterday. Popular Science.com announced that they will be closing off opportunities to post comments on their news stories: no more...
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Call for papers: Personal stories from women in science
Diving headlong into motherhood this year has meant less blogging (obvious to anyone who subscribes here…), but it has also made me think a lot more about the scientific life that I would hope for my...
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Be careful saying “The Myth about Women in Science” is solved
When a CNN article titled “The Myth about Women in Science” came crawling across my feed, I have to admit that I wasn’t optimistic. I wondered what could possibly count as “THE Myth about Women in...
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You can’t win ’em all: My (unpublished) letter to PNAS re Hiring Bias Study
A few months ago I wrote a blog post in response to Williams and Ceci’s paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science: National hiring experiments reveal 2: 1 faculty preference for women...
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The Seven Wonderers of Beakerhead: Telling stories about science
The Seven Wonderers of Beakerhead (Photo courtesy of Raj Bhardwaj @RajBhardwajMD, used with permission) In the warm glow of vintage stage lights, with a full house packed into worn leather and velour...
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