Select Page

A Schooner
of Science

Science sculptures – art by Steve Tobin

I recently stumbled upon these stunning sculptures by Steve Tobin. Drawing inspiration from nature, it’s a brilliant example of the intersection between art and science.

Waterglass

Waterglass - A frozen waterfall made from thousands of strands glass fibres.

Syntax

Syntax - Bronze letters and numbers welded together.

Syntax Zoom

In fact there are several spheres nested inside each other, each separated by a four inch gap.

Bones

Bones - A wall of bronze bones which reaches up like the crest of a wave.

Steel Roots

Steel Roots

Visit Steve Tobin’s online gallery.

Video game addiction – why I can never have an iPhone

Before writing this post, I played Fruit Ninja for an hour. It’s a cute app on my partner’s iPhone where you slice fruit in half and try to get the highest score possible in a minute. My high score? 599.

This is why I can never have an iPhone – because I would play ridiculously repetitive games like this (and Runway, landing airplanes) all day and achieve nothing but a high score. Quite simply, I’m addicted.

Why is Fruit Ninja so addictive?

Bright colours, fun noises, extra points for hitting combos, it’s basically the pokies. A game of chance, the high score mostly depends on which fruit come up when. My mad skillz help, but it’s really just a gamble. And if I don’t get good fruit in one game, there’s always the next one, and the next one. One day, I’ll hit the jackpot (a frenzy and a freeze banana.)

When we’re talking gambling (or gaming) addiction, we’re talking dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to rewards. You caught a fish? Have some dopamine! That felt nice, didn’t it, keep on fishing. With fruit ninja, the reward is a high score, or in the early days, a new blade or background unlocked. Ice blade, fire blade, shadow blade, butterfly blade, I’ve got all but one…

Dopamine LOVES random rewards. If every time you throw in a hook you get a fish, it get’s less exciting. But if you only get one sometimes, it’s much better. It’s like the dopamine is saying – WOAH! You randomly caught a fish! What did you do? Do it again! Same with Fruit Ninja. Wait, that was a high score? How? Hell, I have to do that again, whatever I did. Random rewards from a repetitive task increases dopamine levels.

Dopamine also loves near misses. Oh, man, you almost caught a fish – so close, keep trying and you’ll get it next time for sure. While that might work when you’re fishing or hunting or in anyway being skilled – it’s nothing but a CRUEL TRICK. Woah, that was SO CLOSE to a high score, you’ll get it next time! Doubtful. It’s worse for the pokies, where there really is no skill. Almost winning does not increase the chance of really winning, but it still boosts the dopamine.

Do games know their addictive nature?

This Cracked article talks 5 creepy ways video games are trying to get you addicted, mostly talks about online mulitplayer games like WoW. There’s no question to me that it’s an addictive game. I’ve never played it myself (I don’t touch the hard stuff), but I know people who spend at least 20 hours a week, every week, leveling up and planning the next quest.

So, dear readers, I’m making a commitment to you now. I’m gonna give it up! No more iPhone games, I’m done, I’m out. No dopamine for you, brain.

Top ten science tricks for parties

Having a party over the Easter break? Add some science with these party tricks. Sure to astound and amaze! My favourite is combining vinegar and bicarb, and pouring the resultant carbon dioxide over candles to extinguish them. I’m doing THAT at my next birthday party for sure, then reigniting candles with the smoke. Oh yes. It’s going to happen.

Sex and mosquitoes – transmitting the Zika virus

Senegal. Image by Mathieu Dammon

When Brian Foy returned home to America from a field trip in Senegal, Africa, he didn’t know he was infected with the mosquito spread Zika virus.

But just a few days later he was sick with extreme fatigue and joint pain, and so was his wife Chilson. A new study coauthored by the pair and colleagues suggests that this is the first documented case of an insect-borne disease being transmitted sexually.

Though the paper lists the patients as Anonymous, in an interview to Science Brian revealed he was patient 1, and his wife was patient 3.

The lucky person who was patient 2 was Brian’s PhD student Kevin Kobylinski, who had been collecting mosquitoes with him as part of his malaria research. Being bitten came with the job, so they were vaccinated against some of the major disease, including Dengue fever.

The symptoms, when they arrived, seemed to suggest they had nonetheless caught Dengue fever. Headaches, torso rashes and fatigue all round lasting for a week, then muscle pains which lingered longer. They sent blood samples to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who ran a number of antibody tests. The tests showed that all three had antibodies against Zika virus, which infects monkeys and humans in Africa and Asia.

But Brian’s wife, Chilson, has never travelled to Africa or Asia. The cool climate of Colorado supports different mosquito species to those tropical varieties which spread Zika. In fact, Zika had never been recorded in the Western Hemisphere.

They concluded that Zika had been transmitted human to human, and probably sexually, as their four children didn’t get the disease.

If Zika virus can be spread by sexual transmission, it could change the way the disease is prevented. Zika is considered an emerging pathogen, having infected about 70% of the people on Yap Island in the Pacific during 2007.

ResearchBlogging.orgFoy, B. (2011). Probable Non–Vector-borne Transmission of Zika Virus, Colorado, USA Emerging Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.3201/eid1705.101939 (pdf)

Science and social media: #IAconf

Finally, the one I’d been waiting for, science and social media. Kristin Alford from Bridge 8 moderated the discussion, but let the discussion grow naturally. To set the scene, there were 30 of us in a small carpeted room with no wifi (/cry) sitting on chairs in a circle.

After a succinct rant about how social media is NOT just for kids, we brainstormed what it IS. This was more complex than expected.

Social media is – dynamic, conversation, real-time, large-scale yet individual, niche networking, meeting people, being transparent, identity-forming, and provides access to experts.

Twitter is particularly good for connecting scientists directly to other people. Through daily updates made late in the lab, people connect to the (often tedious) process of discovery. It also highlights the passion people feel for their field. The audience is respected, and equal with experts. At it’s best, Twitter becomes a two-way dialogue between two real people who share an interest.

You often hear that Twitter is only about sharing what you had for lunch. When I first started, I promised myself I would NEVER talk about food. I have broken that promise on several occasions, and felt guilty about it. But actually, it’s okay. Having trivial conversations can forge a personal connection, bonding over bean sprouts. Scientists are human, after all. It’s okay to say what you’ve had for breakfast.

For companies interested in making the first foray into social media, there are risks in being involved and risks in not being involved. Instead of being averse to the risk and simply avoiding it, Kristin suggested creating processes to manage that risk.

The Australian Museum is a social media extraordinaire, with Facebook pages for Mr Blobby the blobfish, and a stack of blogs. They have a process for creating new facebook pages, Twitter accounts, blogs etc. First they define goals, then the plan and finally the exit strategy – a process which lasts half an hour. Then they act on it.

After some discussion, we talked about policy recommendations to take back to the conference.

Recommendations:

1. Support scientists to get on social media. Companies to integrate processes into current communications strategies.
3. Help people use social media by showcasing best practice examples, such as on websites like the new Scicommunity.
4. See science communicators as enabler for scientists to talk for themselves.
5. Change the perception that Twitter is just for kids and unimportant.

Most of all, I think social media should be a creative, connective endeavour. We can’t force people to do it if they don’t want to, but if someone has a flair for online comms, we should encourage and support them.

This was a REALLY good workshop, and it was great just to meet and chat with some science tweeps. My peeps. My online cyber friends. This ol’ salt is getting mushy.

Science IS Inspiring: Day Two at #IAconf

Last night there was a swanky dinner at the Melbourne Museum, but I unfortunately wasn’t there. Instead, I had dinner with a good friend in her bohemian sharehouse with giant spiders and friendly neighbours.

Everyone was looking a little bleary-eyed at 9am, when day two started.

Thomas Barlow, author of “The Australian Miracle: An innovative nation revisted” took the stage. He spoke economics, and said in the past twenty years we’ve heard nothing but doom and gloom about the investment in innovation.

But in that same period, the amount spent on R&D in Australia mirrors that of Asia, and outstrips Europe, based on our GDP. And if you’re not an economist, basically that means we’re heaps good. That’s what I got out of it!

Australia has roughly four researchers per 1000 population, Sweden has about five.

Something amazing has happened over the past 20 years, and now is the best time ever to be a scientist or engineer in Australia. But who’s aware of it? There’s a deficit of knowledge in the opportunities for research careers right now, he said.

AbbyA panel discussion followed, led by the thought-provoking and film-obsessed Bobby Cerini from the ANU. She’s a PhD student working on a thesis about science heroes, like the brilliant Abby from NCIS.

She interviewed about a hundred of awesome scientists worldwide, including Nobel Laureates and David Attenborough. Jealous!

She found a large number of people collected stuff as a kid. Some were encouraged in science early on by a family member. Others read books about real life explorers.

Science in Australia is inspirational and there’s a lot to be proud of.

Telling good science stories – #IAconf

Here are some notes gathered at the Inspiring Australia conference on how to write good science stories. This is all about public relations and writing a good media release. There wasn’t much about creating a narrative, or fact-based fiction work, or creative non-fiction. If anyone can recommend a good source for that stuff I’d love to hear it (leave a comment.

Books

Image by Ian Britton

– What’s the impact. Find an analogy – don’t say megawatts, say how many homes you can power. People get that.

– Modern western media is about conflict modelling. For example, with climate change there really is no scientific debate that it is happening, but an editor will say “that sounds great, find me someone who disagrees.”

– Use drama if possible. Don’t exaggerate it, but if something is truly exciting or dangerous, recognise it. You can tell a story, but still be credible.

– Ask yourself: What is the story and why am I telling it? Who will hear the story? What are the tools I have to tell the story and how will I use them?

– You need a GREAT story if you’re going to tell it, then you need to work out how to connect it to the audience. We’ve all been to very good factual presentations that bored us to death. You have to get entertainment in somehow.

– Science communicators are very verbose, and sometimes over-explain things. Use more silence and reflection time.

Getting started in science blogging

Today at the conference I ran a “birds of a feather” networking session on starting a science blog.

If you’ve ever thought about blogging, my recommendation is DO IT! And do it for YOU, not for an agenda. It’s a big time commitment, and usually unpaid (at least at first.) If you’re not doing something you love, you’ll stop doing it.

I love me Schooner. It’s changed since I first started blogging, but now I don’t worry about pleasing people and getting readers (though I do love me dear readers.)

I figure, if I’m interested, excited, and think something is worth sharing, chances are people out there like me will like it too. I write for me, and in doing so, write for you. If that makes sense.

Once you’ve found a passion and something you can maintain excitement about for a while, start a free account with WordPress or Blogger.

Here are my tips on Science blogging tips (pdf.)

Oh, and if you’re writing about peer reviewed stuff, I recommend Research Blogging a news aggregator for cited published work. If you’re writing for a business, try to make it personal and casual. Save the stuffy for a news page, move the fun to blogs.

I’d love to connect with other Australian science bloggers. If you’re just starting out, e-mail me a link to your new blog at [email protected] or tweet me @CaptainSkellett. Leave a comment below if you have a science blog and live in Australia.

Inspiring Australia Conference – Day One

Today was day one of the Inspiring Australia Conference. An unfortunate technology problem left us with no wifi this morning, so twitter (#IAconf) was sadly silent. Not only did my dongle have no juice, but we were in a bit of a dead zone for phone reception. All was quiet on the eastern front.

Luckily I wrote the best of it down.

Jane Lomax Smith, government representative and director of RiAus, opened the conference breifly and succinctly. Today is not about listening, it’s about collaborating. Our goal is to workshop, create a plan, have a say.

Last year, about this time, in fact, the Australian Science Communicators had a conference in Canberra and presented Inspiring Australia, a report about the national priorities of science communication. You can download it here (pdf).

Graham Durant, director of Questacon, spoke next. He said Inspiring Australia was going to be actioned from July. “It’s a national strategy that has a couple of years to run and make a difference.” To prove we are a worthwhile industry, we need to work together.

Then followed a panel discussion. Here’s what the panelists said (paraphrased.)

Cathy Foley – Some people are afraid of science, and when you say you’re a physicist, they look for the closest escape. Though they are engaged with science, like technology and medicine, they might not understand it. It’s hard because there are so many many different bits of information out there. How do we know what to believe? As science communicators we need to co-ordinate our messages.

Tanya Monro – The perception that science is hard is one of our biggest obstacles. That obstacle is mostly artificial. The secret is sharing your joy and enthusiasm. There’s no kid that isn’t at heart a scientist, asking “but why? How?” We should take the chance to embrace social media to inform people about the process of science. We can give people tools so they can interpret media reports themselves.

Sue Stocklmayer
– Is interested in communication of science through art, theater and perhaps even music. With those medias, we can surprise and appeal to people. There’s a problem of definition when we say “are the public engaged?” We need to define what we mean, and be clear about what we want to achieve.

John Shine – Even with medical research, though there is interest, it has to be explained in ways people can understand. Analogies can help. And – best quote of the day – he talked about anti-GM propaganda that says “Don’t touch GM food it’s got DNA in it.” Love it.

Funding was brought up, in fact, it was a major focus. Should the government be allocating more funds, can we get other partners, where do we get money from? I thought that was a shame. I think we should figure out what works and just do THAT. If it’s the right thing to do, we’ll get funding from somewhere. Doing something for the sake of getting funding sounds counter productive. Our time would be better spent on clarifying the problem and finding solutions. Funding should be secondary.

Thoughts?

DeforestACTION Orangutan Outreach

I’d like to draw your attention to an exciting global action project against deforestation and saving orangutan habitats.

DeforestACTION are sending ten young adults to Borneo to raise awareness about habitat destruction. They will be living in the jungle for five months, saving apes, replanting trees, basically making a phenomenal difference to a struggling ecosystem. Then they’re making a 3D movie about it, I hope it’s as cool as Avatar.

My friend Amelia is applying for the job, and I wanted to share her video with you. I just love the music and animation.

She is the perfect person for the job. I studied Science Communication with her last year, as we traveled around Australia performing science outreach shows for school kids. Like me, she’s done interactive video conferencing with schools. While I was grooving as Anna Tomy, a model skeleton with a Russian accent, she was a savvy crime-solving forensic detective. I lived with her for a month on the road, until we were pretty much the same person. So if you vote for her, you’re really voting for me. Thanks buddy!

She’s even been to Borneo before to help at an orangutan sanctuary. I remember her describing one morning, running with her arms full of bananas while the apes followed, swinging behind and above. When she deposited the food on the platform, trying to minimize human interaction, one of the little ones walked up and put his hand in hers. I swear, she’s like an earth spirit.

View all the applicants here, scroll down to the login section and vote for your fav. It’s a good year for it, 2011 being the International Year of Forests and all. Here’s your chance to make a difference (by voting for Amelia Swan.)

Introducing Open Lab 2010

Open Lab 2010Containing the best of science writing on the web, Open Lab 2010 has been published and printed. Inside are 50 blog posts, 6 poems and a cartoon – including my very own blog post How Aqua Regia Saved Nobel Prizes from the Nazis. The book was edited by the thoughtful animal, Jason Goldman.

You can buy it as a file download or as a real, old-fashioned paperback. A known aphrodisiac, having this book on your bedside table WILL increase your attractiveness and intelligence. The cool nerdy goodness spirals out of it and is soaked up through your pores by osmosis. It’s guaranteed to be delightful for reading, displaying, or simply cuddling.

I’m beyond excited to be included in the anthology. Although I’m published online, in magazines, in newspapers, in zines, this is my first time with a real book. Strike me down with a feather, I feel like a proper writer!

May Open Lab 2010 be the first of many books with my words inside.

Buy a copy of this highly intellectually arousing book here.

The secret science behind movie stunts and special effects

Movie stuntsSteve Wolf sent me his book on the science of movie stunts and special effects for review last month, by Saddleback Educational Publishing.

Full of glossy pictures, this book is written for aspiring young scientists (not for adults or film makers.) Particularly kids who are a little off the rails, wild experimenters who need guidance without curbing enthusiasm. I think the author himself fell into that category.

One of the best things about the book was a message that science isn’t just about reports and measuring things. It’s about creating, trying, testing and doing cool stuff. That’s a good message.

When he’s not writing, Steve Wolf does science shows in schools. I bet they’re a blast. He’s worked in the film industry for years creating special effects and in the first page of the book admits “he has the best job in the world.” I got the feeling that he gets a real kick out of exploding stuff.

That brings me to the other good message – safety. From smoke detectors to seatbelts, he covers not only safety in special effects, but also just every day. It even talked about life lessons like doing what you love and eating healthy food. Although these are good things for kids to learn, I did wonder if this book was the right avenue for that. Safety messages are important, but talking about politeness, teamwork and professionalism seemed like a little much for a kid excited by science.

burnt toast

People are like toast. You can't unburn them.

But back to blowing stuff up, that was cool. Did you know that complete combustion of propane creates a blue flame, but incomplete combustion makes an orange flame because the heat excites carbon atoms? I didn’t.

Oh, and it showed someone covered with Zel Jel, fire insulating goo used by stunts performers which looks like marmalade. To quote the book “remember, people are like toast. You can’t unburn them.”

Diagrams also splatter the pages, which is awesome. I love a good diagram. They showed atomic states of matter, electrical circuitry (both series and parallel) and even chemical reactions. Clear explanations were delivered with a dose of movie stunt applications, like making mist, or arming explosives.

Teachers could build science classes around the book, as it covers important concepts and putting them in a cool context. It would be suitable for Years Five to Eight as a short introduction to complicated topics including atomic theory, chemical reactions and electric circuits, though none were discussed in huge depth. Sometimes I wasn’t sure which audience the book was talking to – young children or teenagers? But it could be used to spark classroom discussions.

At the end of the book Steve describes how it all comes together on set, from rolling cameras to checking all the explosions have detonated correctly after the stunt. It was a good insight into the film industry, but this is a book aimed at the science, not at movie making. Aspiring film producers won’t get a lot out of the book, certainly not how to make their own stunts. That’s not the purpose of the book. It’s about inspiring kids to do science using movie stunts as a draw card.

The Secret Science Behind Movie Stunts & Special Effectsis a nice book, and would make a good addition to a school library. It has potential as an alternative or addition to science textbooks. And if you know a kid (8-12) who does science experiments at home and loves movies, it would make a good present. Not for adults or film makers.

Super cute kittens conceived by science

african black-footed kitten

African black-footed kitten conceived by IVF

This little kitty is a rare African black-footed cat conceived through IVF in an attempt to keep the species alive.

About 40 of these cats live in zoos worldwide, while a few wild cats live in South Africa where they are protected, but sometimes poisoned and killed by farmers.

How could you poison these little kittens, they’re so CUTE!!! Ahem. So, I have been visiting Zooborns again, it’s a serious habit.

Let’s pretend this post is about something more than just cute pictures of cats, and talk about the science that conceived them.

Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species aim to protect seriously endangered species by creating a “frozen zoo”, banking genetic material such as eggs, sperm, embryos and tissue samples. Frozen, thawed sperm and IVF technology sparked the life of these kittens, which were really conceived six years ago and frozen as embryos.

The embryos were thawed and implanted into the surrogate mother Bijou in December last year.

african black-footed cat

Man, what did I DO last night?

It must be a bizarre experience for the mother, although I’ve heard tomcats have a barbed penis so perhaps she’s lucky to have skipped the usual event.

The frozen zoo contains frozen semen from the gorilla, Sumatran tiger, jaguar, Jabiru stork, and caracal. Other cell samples cover the African and Asian elephants, Baird’s tapir, colobus monkey, roan antelope, and black bear.

“The next step for us will be to clone the black-footed cat and transfer the embryo to a domestic cat surrogate,” said Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species Senior Scientist Dr. C. Earle Pope in the media release.

Cloning endangered species, is that a good idea or not? I can’t tell.

Gummi bear explosion (and other experiments)

Enjoy what happens when a gummi bear is dropped into potassium chlorate.

Cool. Why did I never do this in chem class when potassium chlorate was available to me?

How does it work, I hear you ask? (And where can I get this stuff?) Potassium chlorate is KClO3, and contains one potassium, one chlorine and three oxygen. It comes as a solid salt, but can be melted by a Bunsen burner.

At high temperatures it decomposes to potassium chloride (KCl) and oxygen gas (O2). No bigger. Until the sacrificial gummi bear.

A gummi bear is full of sweet, delicious sucrose, a source of carbon and energy. Add it in and BAM! The trifectar – fuel, oxygen and heat – the ingredients for fire. The reaction is hugely exothermic, producing MORE heat which produces MORE oxygen which drives the gummi bear into complete annihilation.

For more gummi bear destruction try drowning them, stabbing them shortly after hatching, or decapitating them with a laser.

Curiously, it’s always the red gummi bear that gets it. That’s discrimination.

The Stupid Species – a science comedy

I just got home from seeing Daniel Keogh (from ABC’s the Hungry Beast, aka Professor Funk) performing in the 18+ science comedy show The Stupid Species – Why Everyone (except you) is an Idiot.

It. Was. Awesome.

From the complex and perplexing placebo effect to the Asch Conformity Test, it was a playful romp through the psychology of stupidity. Why is love risky (or whisky) business? How can different colours cure the sick? Why are expensive things deemed better than the cheap, but free things are the absolute best?

I could tell you, but not with as much pizazz as Professor Funk.

Go for the science. Stay for the hair (or the epic pants and jokes.)

I awarded major bonus points for starting the show with Venn Diagrams and Pie Graphs. Plus the video on the placebo effect was simply mind-blowing. Also there’s free wine testing *hell yeah!*

The show toured during last years National Science week, and is now in Adelaide on Saturday and Sunday night at the RiAus. Tickets are still available for Sunday at a tiny $10, or $8 for students (book here) and are worth double that. Take your friends, they’ll appreciate your confidence and good taste in comedy.

“We all like to think we’re special. In fact on average everyone thinks they’re above-average. Although we think we’re pretty smart our tendency towards irrational behaviour is what unites us all as humans – the stupid species,” says Daniel Keogh. Follow him @ProfessorFunk.

So many baby octopuses

One of my guilty pleasures is my RSS subscription to Zooborns, a blog all about baby animals. When I check Google Reader, I read sensible, serious blog posts about science until I finally cave and look at the cuteness.

Amongst the treasure trove of nursing giraffes and clinging baby apes was a clutch of baby octopuses! Perhaps clutch isn’t the right word… a handful? An armful! An armful of baby octopuses. Check it out.

Baby octopus at California Academy of Sciences

Baby octopus at California Academy of Sciences

Conception occurs when a male octopus inserts a modified sperm-containing arm into the female’s oviduct, though sometimes he removes his arm and she stores it in her mantel for later. Each egg, as it is laid, contains a long thread which the octopus uses to hold them all together like a bunch of grapes. A thoughtful mother, she protects them from predators and blows water currents across them for cleaning.

Biologist Richard Ross caught the hatching of the eggs on video, and described it as a waterfall flowing upwards towards the surface.

It’s an exciting event, but unfortunately a mother octopus stops eating to care for the eggs and dies which is a total bummer. With millions of tiny planktonic octopus young born, some should survive, though they are hard to feed and raise.

On a lighter note, Zooborns recently posted pictures of a Snow Leopard cub born in Chattanooga Zoo. Snow Leopards happen to be my favourite animal and the cub is so exceedingly cute I might die. A less attractive addition in Australia is the first palm cockatoo zoo bred in 40 years which has passed through the awkward teenage stage and is starting to fly.

Damn I want to work at a zoo.

ChemWiki, free textbook for University students

This week, thousands of Australians went back to Uni starting a new semester of study. For some, science is their bag and they’re picking up a chemistry class or two. I’ve been there, and they’ve got a big year ahead.

There’s nothing quite like studying chem. Is it the nerdiness? The lab work? The elegant complexity and simplicity of laws? Perhaps its the joy of pushing electrons, pure love of a benzene ring, cherished conjugated systems or perfectly balancing equations.

But it takes a while to get to that state of love, like dating an attractive person with a terribly annoying habit. Don’t drop out, seek counseling at the ChemWiki.

An open access textbook, ChemWiki is a collaborative approach towards chemistry education. Students and faculty members write and rewrite sections to make it accurate and easy to understand. It’s been in development for two and a half years, and over 2000 people have contributed.

I first heard about it when it was still an infant wiki in swaddling clothes from Kyle Finchsigmate at The Chem Blog, which is now sadly shut down. Kyle is the reason I started blogging, being the first blog I subscribed to after his Nacho Average Cheesecake post changed my life.

Since those small beginnings, $2000 and a handful of uni classes spreading the news, it has grown pretty huge. It’s at the stage where it could replace paper textbooks for Uni chem courses, which is a saving of at least $150 per student. It’s ideal for Universities who are embracing new technologies in the classroom, like the University of Adelaide who gave a free iPad to every new student this year.

Unlike paper textbooks (and most hypertextbooks too,) the ChemWiki is designed in a non-linear way. You can jump from topic to topic with hyperlinks, so knowledge is constructed to suit the student. For me, chemistry only really came together in third year when the separate subjects wove together like a tapestry. It suddenly ALL made sense. But with non-linear learning, its easier to see patterns and connections and build up a frame of understanding as you go. I’m a fan.

I can’t recommend the ChemWiki enough. It covers coursework about analytical, biological, organic and inorganic topics, and is perfect for Chemistry students at Uni. Get involved and spread the word!

Filming the invisible world – 3D documentaries

We are at a very disturbing point in film production, where we assume the audience has no imagination and no intelligence. Stories are spoon fed and wrapped up with explosions and effects to sell the same tired old plot.

Such is the opinion of Douglas Trumball, who has spent his career in science fiction animation and visual effects. He spoke on Sunday afternoon at the RiAus about the problems with the film industry and how science can save it.

What’s really lacking is immersion, a story that draws people in and the technology to make it hyperreal.

The technology is certainly improving, there’s no doubt about that. Take the infamous Avatar, which I was completely entranced by. The 3D was so subtle and authentic I honestly felt like I was there, and clapped like an idiot when it finished (much to the chagrin of my friends.)

But apparently, that’s nothing compared to what’s coming. Douglas is experimenting with cameras that capture at 120 frames per second (rather than the 30 they do now), and a projector that displays it at the same rate. For the audience he says it’s like opening a window to a different world. It’s a whole different feeling.

He envisions a cinema with a screen that curves around beyond 120 degrees, so it extends past the corners of your eyes.

And what does he want to do with this set up? Explore space. Vast, infinite and complex, space lends itself to immersive film like nothing else. It quite simply matches big content with big delivery. It needs a story to go with it too, something that captures the imagination of the audience, where they can fill in the blanks and have their own “ah ha” moment of discovery.

Truth is stranger than fiction, and science has some pretty cool stories of its own. Tim Baier is a stereographer who worked on feature films like King Kong and Lord of the Rings, and spoke on the panel about his recent work making science documentaries. I watched a preview of his work “Standing in Amazement” on Sunday, and it was breathtaking.

Image by Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary

In 3D, he captured still pictures and stop-motion of Arkaroola and the Flinders Ranges.

The sun rose on mountain tops encrusted with quartzite. Macroscopic photographs showed the indentations on a snakes head which sense heat, and the pads on gecko feet which let them hang upside down on glass.

It wasn’t just a film, it was a presentation. During the movie, Tim talked about the geology of the Ranges and how the mountains had formed.

He described the van der Waals forces that work on gecko feet. It was visually breathtaking AND intellectually stimulating. The full film lasts for 90 minutes, and is playing at the RiAus this week, Tuesday to Saturday. Session times here.

He thinks there is a lot of untapped potential in 3D science documentaries. I’d agree, particularly in talking about geology. I’m thinking right now about David Attenborough’s Cave episode on Planet Earth, and combining it with Sanctum 3D.

Sunday night I watched a doco with Sir Attenborough (he is EVERYWHERE!) and they showed a stadium-sized machine that could see inside fossilized embryos in 3D. Now that’s my kinda movie!

Brontomerus mcintoshi – the dinosaur with thunder thighs

Brontomerus. Image by Francisco Gascó

Across my twitter feed today we welcomed a new dinosaur. Brontomerus mcintoshi was named for it’s “thunder-thighs” and as honour to retired physicist and avocational paleontologist “Jack” McIntosh.

I hope Jack has no hang-ups about his thighs, as I can assure you if someone called a dinosaur “Thunder-thighs skelletti” I would whap them with my peg leg.

But I’m sure Jack is pleased to hand his name to this butt-kicking dinosaur. With huge thigh muscles, as shown by bone fragments, Brontomerus may have kicked his way out of hairy situations.

The authors of the paper suggest kicking could have been used by males fighting over females (or indeed, females fighting over males, which I put forward as an equally possible alternative.) If capable of delivering crippling kicks, they probably used their legs against predators as well.

Another suggestion is that Brontomerus used the thighs as a kind of “dinosaur four-wheel drive,” according to co author Matt Wedel, which helped them climb rough and hilly terrain.

The paper is based on a healthy smattering of bone samples from two individuals, a juvenile (a few years old) and an adult. The samples represent about 10% of the total skeleton, not much, but people work with less. With an incomplete skeleton, caution has been advised in describing its behaviour and good-looks. But I say, if you want to go ahead and imagine the dino as Xena trained in kickboxing, why the hell not?

Authors with fossils. Image by Linda Coldwell

Brontomerus is a sauropod, one of the long-necks, as are the familiar members Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus (my personal favourite. It’s fun to say!) It was found in Utah, North America, and lived about 110 million years ago.

Until recently, the Early Cretaceous Period was a bit of a black hole for fossils. After the stegosaurus, but before T-rex and duckbills, there was a gap. Now paleontologists are looking at rocks from that period, they’re uncovering more about that mysterious time.

It seems to me like there have been a LOT of new dinosaurs found lately. Three found in Queensland, Australia, plus Mojoceratops and Linheraptor Exquisitus.

According to Mike Taylor’s fact sheet on Brontomerus, “although the first dinosaurs were named almost 200 years ago, more than half of all known dinosaurs have been discovered in the last 30 years.” At least it’s not just me.

Check out their blog or read the paper (warning: PDF)

ResearchBlogging.orgMichael P. Taylor, Mathew J. Wedel, and Richard L. Cifelli (2011). A new sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 56 (1), 75-98 : DOI: 10.4202/app.2010.0073

Solar flare stops satellites in China

Solar Flare

Recent Solar Flare. Image by NASA

A solar flare the size of Jupiter erupted a few days ago and is now causing radio and satellite signals to drop out in China.

On Valentine’s Day, the sun had a coronal mass ejection associated with a flare, a burst of solar wind that speeds through space.

The ejected material is usually plasma and electrons, though sometimes helium and oxygen are also expelled. It was an X-class, the highest of all classes.

Let’s just enjoy for a moment the phrases Valentine’s Day, coronal mass ejection and X-class.

Anyway, the flare headed to Earth at 900 km per second, and the shockwave of it hitting us has caused a geomagnetic storm that messes with magnets.

It can also cause stunning auroral colours, like the Northern Lights, which have already been seen further south than usual. NASA is warning the flares will keep coming for a couple of days.

Long-lasting solar storms can cause electricity grids to stop working, causing black outs. Much of our technology is dependent on magnets – phones, credit cards, even hard discs when in use. One of my pet apocalypse theories is that a solar flare, or other strong magnetic space event, will wipe out computers and take with them electricity, water and money.

But clearly if your reading this, that hasn’t happened. So just continue to enjoy the phrase coronal mass ejection. Lolz.

Changing Waters Art Exhibition

These amazing sculptures are the creation of Nathalie Miebach, a visual exploration of scientific data collected at the Gulf of Maine.

Here’s a quote from her website: “Changing Waters” looks at the meteorological and oceanic interactions within the Gulf of Maine. Using data from NOAA and GOMOSS buoys within the Gulf of Maine, as well as weather stations along the coast, I am translating data that explores the seasonal variations of marine life by looking at the interactions of atmospheric and marine data…

…Elements of the rich New England fishing history are also included. This large-scale installation consists of a large wall installation (33 feet wide) that plots information through the geographic anchors of a map of the Gulf of Maine, as well as a series of large, hanging structures (10 feet high) that look at more specific biological, chemical or geophysical relationships between marine ecosystems and weather patterns.

The Changing Waters Exhibition is open from January 15th till September 25th 2011 at the Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, USA.

Hat tip from SaCrit

Inspiring Australia and the barcode of life, conferences

Couple of interesting conferences coming up this year. The first one is Inspiring Australia in Melbourne from March 28-29. ‘Tis a science communication conference, tackling topics like social media, politics, and a whole bunch of exciting sci-comm stuff. Registration opens today, and it will be good.

The second conference is the Consortium for the Barcode of Life which will be hosted in bonny old Adelaide in November this year. Adelaide Uni scored the gig after competition with 19 applicants from around the globe. Previously the event has been hosted in Mexico City, Taipai and London.

DNA code is a bit like a barcode to begin with: Information hidden in a mysterious pattern that only a computer can analyse. The barcode of life refers to specifically to a certain small section of DNA which can be used to compare species. The section changes between species, but stays the same within members of the same species, and is accurate for most mammals and bees.

The consortium is to discuss and co-ordinate how to take DNA samples from all the animals IN THE WORLD, and have them on a giant database. Then when future scientists find a weird animal, they can take a sample, scan it in and *beep*, one lemur for $9.99. It’s a neat idea, and totally exciting that Adelaide is hosting this International event.

A night of chocolate at the RiAus

Chocolate Truffle

Image by Digital Sextant

Love chocolate? Tonight at Adelaide’s RiAus the spotlight is on gluttony and chocolate addictions.

It’s sold out, but you can watch the livestream here from 6:00 Adelaide time and have your own chocolate tastings at home.

Brendan Somerville from Haighs will talk about what makes chocolate so good. Chocolate has been around since the Aztec’s were big, originating some 3000 years ago in South America. Back then it was a bitter tasting drink, and nowhere near the delight we enjoy today.

Last year the cacao tree genome was sequenced, creating a blueprint of the source of chocolate. With it trees could be altered to become resistant to disease and to produce higher quality chocolate.

As well as using science to improve chocolate, we use it to justify eating just one more piece. Like red wine, chocolate in the right doses can be good for you. The medicinal powers ascribed to the “food of the gods” include:

Chocolate can suppress coughing.
Chocolate can lower blood pressure
Chocolate reduces stress

But there’s a downside, namely sugar and fat and a potential for addiction. The best chocolate to eat is small quantities of very dark chocolate, low in the bad stuff but high in the good stuff. Fortunately this is my favourite.

In the world of Food Porn Daily and Not So Humble Pie, any one of us can become a weapon of mass chocolate consumption. Cravings and addictions aren’t just limited to chocolate, I know for a fact they extend to Banana Caramel Cream Pie, particularly the one at Café Paparizzi in Malvern. So far I’ve managed to resist, but it’s only a matter of time.

Or is it? Dr Robyn Vale is also speaking tonight about how to resist temptation and avoid food cravings.

But purely for medicinal purposes, I think you should have a bit of chocolate while you watch the livestream.

So what are you craving right now?

Death of a hive, a science story

Apis bee in honeycomb

Image by By Richard Bartz

It was late afternoon, and Aethina could smell a hive in danger.

Heavy with eggs she felt compelled to investigate. The scent wafted softly though the hot and hazy air, so faint it was barely discernible.

Driven by survival, she flew as fast as she could. Weak as the smell was it was hard to tell which direction to go. Through trial and error she travelled across small hills covered with brown grass, wilting seedlings, and huge angular mounds of dirt.

Finally she reached an ocean of bright yellow flowers heads pointed towards the sun. Interspersed between the identical tall and bristled stems were smaller flowers in purples and whites.

Like islands in the sea, these were safe havens for bees, providing a delicious variety to an otherwise blandly repetitive diet. But Aethina wasn’t hungry for nectar. The hive was close, she could smell it.

As a larva, Aethina had heard stories of her ancestors. Generations upon generations ago they had moved across an ocean too. Their land was dry like this, but filled with foreign flowers. They had travelled, said the stories, inside sweet melons.

Suddenly Aethina could see it, the hive. The smell radiated from it, a beacon of hope and danger.

She alighted and walked through the entrance.

At once the guards sprang upon her. Stinking of bee, they buzzed angrily and tried to push her outside. Her own smell must have set them off. To fend off the aggressive attack, Aethina turtled her head and legs under her hard shell. The guards could find no purchase on her smooth surface, and their suicidal stinging could not penetrate her armor.

With small steps, Aethina sneaked deeper into the hive, avoiding the cracks that riddled the tunnels. Below she could hear the cry of her kin, trapped below. As she watched, hunched under her shell, an apparently very stupid bee dripped honey down the crack, feeding her kind as though they were bee grubs.

One step at a time, slowly, slowly, Aethina forced her way though the tunnels. The attacks continued as she inched her way along, turning this way and that along the chambers.

Suddenly the attacks stopped. Poking out one antennae, and then two, she investigated her surroundings. The bees seemed to be gone, perhaps called on another mission.

There was no time to lose. Silently Aethina laid her eggs as quickly as possible, hiding them near the honey-filled pots that rose like ornamental ponds in mosaic. When they hatched, her larvae would have plenty of food nearby. It would be enough for them to molt into adulthood and find their own hives.

Unless removed by the bees, her children had a good chance of surviving. Eating, growing fat on sweet sugar and proteins, they would gradually destroy the hive. No place lasted long after becoming a Small Hive Beetle Nursery. It was only fair. After all, bees had killed her mother, and would kill her in a heartbeat.

Bees were nasty insects, particularly in this melon-founded land. There were other species of bees, natives with a barbaric tendency to catch her kind and mummify them alive. Armed with balls of sticky resin during the day, they created a lacy resin curtain every night that was impossible to get through. The old saying came back to her “Always lay near Apis, never Austroplebeia.”

For good measure, she dusted spores from her six legs. Yeast. It would consume the honey to produce more of the attractive alarm scent that guided her to the hive. Soon there would be even more beetles, and as the larva fed, the yeast would eventual turning the hive from it’s well-ordered structure into a slimy mess. It would seal the fate of this hive.

Served the bitches right, thought Aethina viciously, as she crawled into a crack to take advantage of idiot-bee hospitality.

This story is based on scientific fact. Since their accidental introduction in 2002, African Small Hive Beetles (Aethina tumida) have been decimating Australian hives of honey bees (Apis mellifera). Their larva consume the hives, while the yeast they bring in converts hives to slime. But the native bee (Austroplebeia australis) destroy the beetles with resin balls and build resin curtains.

Further reading
Stingless bees entomb beetle invaders by Anne Dolin at Aussie Bee.
Beetle and yeast team up against bees by Not Exactly Rocket Science.
Ellis, J., Hepburn, H., Ellis, A., & Elzen, P. (2003). Social encapsulation of the small hive beetle ( Aethina tumida Murray) by European honeybees ( Apis mellifera L.) Insectes Sociaux, 50 (3), 286-291 DOI: 10.1007/s00040-003-0671-7