Latest Symphony of Science: “We Are Star Dust”
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Category Archives: music
Horrible Histories: Charles Darwin
If you can look past the monkey and chimp talk, this is fun…
New Symphony of Science video all about dinosaurs
It’s about time!
Happy Darwin Day!
Happy Darwin Day!
Apologies that this here blog of mine has been less and less utilized by myself as of late. Patrick and I attended CFI-Portland’s Secular Sunday School today, and while the lesson was about Valentine’s Day, I got in a bit about Darwin at the end. Talked to 20 kids or so about Darwin Day, read The Humblebee Hunter (hands down by favorite children’s book about Darwin), and passed out Darwin coloring pages. Next class later this month will be all about evolution!
We then headed to Pioneer Square in downtown Portland to, like we did last year, hand out birthday cake for passersby for Darwin Day! Thanks to CFI-Portland and Humanists of Greater Portland for setting this up. Lots of nice folks and the weather cooperated, so we had a great time. Also, played Evolve or Perish, a fun version of Chutes & Ladders, evolution-style!
Thanks Sarah for the photo!
More photos from this Darwin Day event here. I’ll leave you with these videos:
New Symphony of Science video about evolution
VIDEO: Animated evolution for Ravel’s “Bolero”
Larry Moran posted a flash mob video of Ravel’s “Bolero.” Made me think of this animated version, which shows evolution of life on the planet leading to humanity just ruining it:
VIDEO: Evolution Made Us All
New Symphony of Science about the Big Bang
Thoughts on Science Online 2011
This past weekend I attended the 5th annual Science Online conference in North Carolina (I have wanted to go for several years now but was unable, however this time I received some travel money, thanks to Bora & Anton!).
Somewhere over Texas on my way to North Carolina
[From the website: Read the posts and tweets, see the photos and watch the videos uploaded by our participants, hashtag #scio11]
Opening reception on Thursday night (Photo credit: Louis Shackleton)
I certainly felt welcomed, Bora!
For this “unconference” about communicating science on the internet, I participating in a session on the history of science with Greg Gbur, Eric Michael Johnson, Holly Tucker, and Randi Hutter Epstein. Greg, a physicist who blogs at Skulls in the Stars (@drskyskull), discussed ways in which the history of science can help scientists in their own research, while Eric Michael Johnson, a history of science PhD (Primate Diaries in Exile, @ericmjohnson) gave a quick plea for bridging the sciences and humanities. Holly (Scientia Curiosa, Wonders and Marvels, @history_geek) and Randi (website, @rhutterepstein) both discussed, essentially, the idea of presentism in history of medicine as it related to each of their books, Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution
Me in the history of science session (Photo credit: Stacy Baker)
For my part, I discussed the creationist tactic of quote-mining Darwin, gave some examples, and called for science writers to be weary of using quotes – know thy source and know thy context in which the quotee was writing. Here are my slides:
I will put up another post with the tweets about the history of science session (future link) [EDIT: click here to see a messy Word document with those tweets]. Unfortunately, my laptop got sick and since I do not own a smartphone, I was unable to be online (kind of ironic given the nature of the conference).
The best part of this conference, first and foremost for me, was the opportunity to meet in person many people whose blogs I have read for several years, chatted with, shared information online, friends on Facebook, followers on Facebook, etc. Putting IRL personalities and faces to online personas and avatars is interesting, and it felt weird being recognized and approached by people whom I have never shared physical space with before. It was a pleasure to meet, in no particular order: Brian Switek, Carl Zimmer, David Dobbs, Ed Yong, Tom Levenson (again), Hannah Waters, Krystal D’Costa, Stacy Baker and her biology students, Kevin Zelnio, Glendon Mellow, Louis Shackleton, Karen James (again), Miriam Goldstein, Jason Goldman, Minjae Ormes, Alice Bell, Carin Bondar, Carl Boettiger, Lucas Brouwers, John Hawks, Anne Jefferson, Blake Stacey, Sheril Kirshenbaum, David Orr, Joshua Rosenau, Janet Stemwedel, scicurious, Christie Wilcox, Jeremy Yoder, and Danielle Lee; and to meet some new faces: Lisa Gardiner, Kate Clancy, Holly Menninger, Brian Krueger, Brian Malow, Emily Willingham, Alexandra Levitt, and Stephanie Zvan.
With Skyskull (Photo credit: Greg Gbur/Skyskull)
Other sessions I attended were: Technology and the Wilderness (technology, i.e. smartphone apps, should be an accessory to nature experiences and education, not a replacement; #techwild, wiki); Still Waiting for a Superhero – Science Education Needs YOU! (an opportunity to hear from Stacy Baker’s biology students); Parenting with Science Online (Carin Bondar will have resources up on the wiki soon); Science-Art: The Burgeoning Fields of Niche Artwork Aimed at Scientific Disciplines (wiki); “But It’s Just a Blog!” (science blogging newbies get advice); Blogging on the Career Path (be upfront about your blogging activities when seeking employment); Keepers of the Bullshit Filter (tell people when they are wrong, publicly; use MediaBug to report errors in the media); Communicating Science: Have You Ever Wondered, “What the Hell’s the Point?” (Science Cheerleader Darlene Cavalier spreading some sciencey cheer); and Defending Science Online: Tactics and Conflicts in Science Communication (are online methods of correcting disinformation effective?).
Looking on as Josh Rosenau discusses attacks on evolution education
Robert Krulwich, NPR science correspondent and co-host of Radio Lab was the keynote speaker, and he shared his experiences turning scientific topics into stories for the public (the key: use words/language not for scientists but for everyday people).
Robert Krulwich (of NPR and Radio Lab) was the keynote speaker
All I can say is, he had the room’s attention. He also shared this video, which is astonishing:
Kevin Zelnio sings “Wayfaring Mollusk” during the open mic session:
And Christie Wilcox does her rendition off Meridith Brooks’ “Bitch,” “Extinction’s a Bitch” (lyrics/audio):
itʼs not easy to survive / but at least youʼre still alive / and thatʼs way more than a trilobite can say!
Some other pictures:
Restaurant at Marriott, fitting for Science Online
Science Online 2011 logo
Brian Switek reads from his Written in Stone
Technology in the Wilderness session: Karen James of The HMS Beagle Project
Miss Baker's biology class
Parenting Science session: Eric Michael Johnson
Science & Art session: David Orr, Glendon Mellow, and John Hawks
Lisa Gardiner (http://www.lisagardiner.com/) enjoys a science cookie
Science books
Science Cheerleader
Science education
Defending Science Online session: Josh Rosenau of NCSE
Science Online attendees on way to airport
Miss Baker at the airport (a highlight of Science Online was Stacy coming up to me in the hotel and saying she uses my blog in her biology class!)
Sunset from plane in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina
And what about the tour of the Duke Lemur Center? I’ll share those photos in another post… [EDIT: Photos here]
The Rap Guide to Evolution Video Project
Baba Brinkman is seeking donations to complete his Rap Guide to Evolution project:
Donate here. Thanks to Davis Ng, writing for Boing Boing, for the reminder…
“History of the Earth” in C Major
Learning about geologic time on a piano, with Richard Dawkins:
Latest Symphony of Science: “A Wave of Reason”
Some links…
Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs: Vintage Dinosaur Art: The Gishosaurs
Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution
VIDEO – The Poetry of Science: Richard Dawkins and Neil deGrasse Tyson:
Sandwalk: Dispatches from the Evolution Wars
Sandwalk: The National Science Foundation Version of “Understanding Evolution”
Galapagos Live: Introducing Galapagos 2.0 & The Beagle Project Blog: In Galapagos!
The Red Notebook: People want to see the Beagle
Two interviews with Laelaps’ Brian Switek, author of the soon-to-be-released Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature
Clips from the new documentary First Life from David Attenborough, plus:
History of geology: Dragons and Geology
BBC Audio Slideshow: Jurassic woman (Mary Anning)
History of Science Centre’s blog: A note on transactions and Ubi Crookes Ibi Lux
The Bubble Chamber: Can History and Philosophy of Science be Applied in Socially Relevant Ways? and Planet Earth through Disney’s Lens
From the Hands of Quacks: For the Maker of the Stars: The Cultural Reception of Print
Whewell’s Ghost: Mr. X
History of science blog: Evocative objects
Darwin and Gender: The Blog: The Reluctant Bride Groom?
Darwin Correspondence Project: Alison Pearn to discuss ‘Darwin’s Women’ at Wesleyan University
Charlie’s Playhouse blog: Irresistible contest entry
Natural History @ 100: The Smithsonian/Roosevelt African Expedition 1909-1910
Ptak Science Books: Phantom in the Opera: Questions about Darwin and Einstein and Music
Robert Kohler reviews Steven Shapin’s Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as if It Was Produced by People with Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority
Melanie Keene reviews Peter Bowler’s Science for All: The Popularization of Science in Early Twentieth-Century Britain
L I N K S
When was the last time I put up a photo of the whole family?
Links:
History of geology: Darwin’s rat: a first geological view on mammalian evolution & Geology History in Caricatures: Exploring and Educating Geohistory
Panda’s Thumb: Don’t Make a Monkey out of Me
Why Evolution Is True: The late Ernst Mayr speaks
The Renaissance Mathematicus: Where the pictures came from
Smithsonian: America’s True History of Religious Tolerance
Philadelphia Inquirer: Uncovering Edgar Allan Poe – the science buff
The Quackometer: The Curious Case of Oxford University Press, Homeopathy and Charles Darwin
Whewell’s Ghost: Representing astronomers: absent-minded or drunk?
Skulls in the Stars: Benjamin Franklin shocks the world! (1752)
Dealing with clowns
VIDEO: Hello Darwin My Old Friend
Whether you’ve seen it through Greg, Bora, Larry, or at Why Evolution Is True, this video has been floating around:
Jimmy Eat World on evolution vs. creationism?
A track from their newest album, “My Best Theory” (lyrics):
Worth reading…
La ilustración procede del tomo IV (voz «Primates») de la Enciclopedia de Ciencias Naturales de 4 Tomos que publicó Bruguera en Barcelona en 1967.
East Lothian Courier: ‘Darwin’ property and the science of house-selling
OSQUALITUDE (@jfderry): Lies, lies, lies (about Darwin, Emma Darwin, and the influence of her music)
Darwin and Gender: The Blog: Talking to Naturalists
Time Tree: The Timescale of Life (a new resource, like evogeneao.com)
Whewell’s Ghost (@beckyfh): Good, popular history of science II
I linked to the Danish Darwin Archive a few days ago, and just saw this new article in Annals of Science: Danes commemorating Darwin: apes and evolution at the 1909 anniversary
John Farrell on Huffington Post: Bad Faith (in Science): Darwin as All-Purpose Boogey Man?
Please be patient, I am evolving as fast as I can!: The Discovery Institute’s Continued Persecution of Darwin
Biodiversity Heritage Library: Book of the Week: Darwin for Children
At the Royal Society in London
Evolve
Symphony of Science #6: ‘The Case for Mars’
Elements Song
I hadn’t heard this song until last year – it accompanies a display about the periodic table of elements at the Royal Institution in London. You can hear it from the archives. After three afternoons in the reading room, the song became very annoying.
Via LoLscience.
Off That (Rationalist Anthem) – Baba Brinkman
Lyrics are NSFW.
Symphony of Science #5: The Poetry of Reality
For the first four, click here.
DarwinTunes
DarwinTunes is:
a test-bed for the evolution of music, the oldest and most widespread form of culture; and, thanks to your participation, these questions will soon be answered.
