Citizen science online is catching on these days. Not just for your screensaver anymore, these projects let you get your hands dirty, metaphorically speaking. You can classify galaxies or fold proteins.
I am really happy to share this project which is now in beta and building a community for astronomical research: CosmoQuest.
Categories: astronomy · education · outreach · science
Tagged: citizen science, cosmoquest
It’s Friday, not Monday, which means I’m going to load up part 1 of the “stuff that interests me” from the past few weeks. Since I… I missed a couple of Mondays there.
Obviously, big news in the tech world… Steve Jobs has died. Amanda Bauer’s blog brought his 2005 Stanford speech to my attention, and it’s worth a good read, if you haven’t seen it already.
Categories: astronomy · general · outreach
Tagged: events, jobs, news, personal
… says Derek Colanduno, director of the massive sci-fi/fantasy/geek convention’s Skeptic Track.
“It’s other people’s Halloween,” quips biologist and evolution defender Eugenie Scott.
Frankly, it’s a little bit of both. Not enough candy, mind you, unless you really enjoy Tuaca (which tastes like Christmas in your mouth). But there are costumes… costumes galore! From Storm Troopers and Star Trek officers to Cookie Monster and “Macho Man” Randy Savage, thousands fly their geek/freak flag for one massive party in Atlanta.
"Oooooooh yeeeeeeeeeaah!" Photo by Tim LeGower
As it is, I’ve recovered from the epic weekend, gotten nearly enough sleep, and seem to have avoided the dreaded “con crud.” Dragon*Con is not just excellent because I get to geek out over my favorite sci-fi shows and books, though that helps. (Geeking out over James Marsters geeking out over Apollo 11 was pretty cool.) D*C is also a great place to reconnect with some of the smartest, funniest, most creative people I know: astronomers, authors, musicians, designers, bloggers, and real-life superheroes. The Skeptic, Science, Space, and Podcasting tracks were full of them. George Hrab sang, Scott Sigler read, Phil Plait proposed a way to save the Earth, and Sara Mayhew entertained through her art. Superheroes like Maria Walters and Jamie Bernstein raised thousands of dollars for cancer research and treatment while vaccinating over 200 people against harmful diseases. I even got to bring a little bit of the universe down to Earth with model meteors and comets. And those are just the tip of the iceberg!
Discussing world-ending catastrophes with Scott Sigler, Pamela Gay, and John Cmar
So, what is it that I’m trying to say? Well, if you missed out, come next year! Tim and I have already secured a room in the Hilton, home of the “reality” tracks, for Labor Day 2012. I’ll be there once again to help spread the love of science, have a great time with some of my favorite people, and, oh yeah, be a fangirl.
It's like this. Every night. (By Bruce Press. With 3 bald skeptics, a physics teacher, two Skepchicks, and tiny double trouble.)
Categories: fun · outreach · skeptic
Tagged: Atlanta, costumes, Dragon*Con, travel
Hello, dear astronomy enthusiasts and friends and followers and encirclers…
This month has been heavy on GET STUFF DONE, but I’m taking a much needed break this weekend for Dragon*Con in Atlanta. This is the East Coast’s biggest sci-fi, fantasy, geek, nerd, etc. convention. I hope you are coming as well!
My only official event this year is the pre-Dragon*Con Star Party, put on by the Atlanta Skeptics in honor of Jeff Medkeff, a brilliant and active astronomer who succumbed to cancer a few years ago. So, we’ll be celebrating the night sky, the universe, and raising money to kick cancer’s butt. (Metaphorically speaking.) If you have a ticket, then I look forward to seeing you there! Unless you cannot come, in which case, get in touch with the organizers so that someone on the very long wait list can make it. There will be telescopes, green lasers, a singing Geo, astronomers, and some special activities that I have planned. You’ll just have to wait and see!
For the rest of the Con, I get to play geeky nerd fangirl. I’ll probably be spending time around the Skeptic, Science, Space, and Podcasting tracks, as well as exploring some of my favorite sci-fi goodness with Tim. I can say that we’ll be at the live showing of Doctor Who on Saturday night dressed as different incarnations of the Doctor. I’m also hoping to finish an astronomy-pun-themed Tron costume, so look out for that as well.
I’ll be updating Twitter and Google+ as I go along, in case you want to find me there or live vicariously through my tweets if you cannot make it. (I feel your pain. I had to sit out last year!)
Categories: outreach · science · skeptic
Tagged: Atlanta, costumes, dragon con, Dragon*Con, star party, travel
The Cassini mission to Saturn. Nine Inch Nails. And a video composition by Chris Abbas.
This. Is. Art.
CASSINI MISSION from cabbas on Vimeo.
Love it so much.
(via Discovery News)
Categories: astronomy · outreach · science
Tagged: art, awesome, cassini, music, nin, video
We have more University of Virginia Astronomy tweeters! A few I’ve had to pester, most came here on their own. They all have such lovely stories to tell, and I’d recommend following them to anyone! They are all listed at UVa-Astro.
We have my officemate, @demessieres, a sweet, lovely geek who is just about at the finish line for her thesis and currently looking for a job relating to science communication. (Hint: She’s brilliant at it.) I used to share an office with @privong, who is always tweeting from his exciting travels, and @astroknots, a kick-ass radio astronomer who also knits like a fiend. Then there is the unstoppable @rareflwr41. If you are involved in astronomy or science education and haven’t heard of her already, you will. My dear friend @astrogailis is crazy busy making a brand new research instrument called APOGEE work, which you’ll hear more about soon. @mickeyj26 isn’t technically at UVa anymore, now a post-doc in Boulder, CO, but he’s still part of the family. And our newest to join is @astro_sailor, who has been watching twitter from the sidelines (aka twit-stalking) for a while, until I bugged the crap out of him to make a damn account already.
Much science and silliness is sure to ensue. Because we don’t have enough to distract us, right?
Thanks for letting me brag about my awesome friends!
Categories: astronomy · fun · outreach
Tagged: personal, twitter
Brief paper-writing break to showcase my two favorite videos this week. First, Tim Minchin’s STORM has been animated and is finally available on YouTube! Seriously, let the whole thing upload, then watch high-def full screen. It is so awesome. I am floored by the talent of the illustrators and their ability to convey the message, and the fun, of Minchin’s infamous 9-minute beat poem.
(Note of awesomeness, Tim and I got tickets to see him live in Boston on June 4th!)
Second up is a video of my favorite bald, be-spectacled skeptical men doing a LIVE performance of “Death From the Skies”, based on the awesome book and on this awesome album, in New York this weekend.
Sadly, I could not make NECSS, but that is mostly because I am a) working and b) saving up to attend TAM9 From Outer Space! in July. I already have my registration in, thanks to the lovely, fantastic donors to the TAM Forum Grant (please donate so even more students can attend!), and my airfare booked.
So excited! So… think we can get Phil and George to do a live performance at TAM???? (Pretty please??)
Categories: fun · outreach · skeptic
Tagged: animated, badastronomer, georgehrab, movie, music, storm, timminchin, video
This made my afternoon yesterday, when I was running around like crazy…
This made me sooo happy! And I told Steve, of Tree Lobsters fame, that it made my day. (See how he did it at Mad Art Lab!)
Later that evening, I was totally pooped from my busy day and about to curl up in a ball and sulk, and I get this in a tweet from Steve…
Categories: astronomy · outreach · science
Tagged: art, awesome, cereal, Sagan
So, I’ve begun to make some forays into Astronomy Education Review, a journal about science education specifically as it relates to, of course, astronomy. It has been recommended to me by several people, and I’ve browsed it a bit as I begin to understand the wide-world of assessment.
As a kid, I thought tests were just something you had to get right to move on to the next level. It was a whole lot of rote memory, and much of high school was devoted to teaching to state tests. It is a system that many complain about but few know how to change. After all, as teacher, we really want to know the answer to the immortal question, “Is our children learning?” (Yes, yes, cheap shot.)
So, how do we make learning fun, student-centered, and still get an accurate assessment of learning?
Categories: astronomy · education · outreach
Tagged: assessment, dsbk, postaday2011
Update 1/13: Would help if I use the proper hashtag in the title. Fixed!
With one trip done, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s road trip to Science Online 2011 in North Carolina. This is my first time at the “open conference” or “unconference” about communicating science on the internet. There will be museum tours, workshops, and book discussions on Friday, followed by panel discussions on Saturday and Sunday. I’m starting to put together my weekend schedule now, drawn to things like “How to produce a high-quality short video” and “Alternative Careers for Scientists: from grad school to writing for Main Stream Media.”
If you couldn’t make the registration before it closed, you can still be a part of the conference by watching the livestream here.
I look forward to meeting a lot of people there who I’ve only heard of or talked to online, as well as seeing distant friends. If you are reading this and are going, please say hello! I’m, uh, the really short one.
Categories: outreach
Tagged: blogs, postaday2011, scio11, travel
I’m a 7th (and final!) year graduate student in astronomy. My thesis has focused on radio astronomy instrumentation. That means, I get to build cool telescopes that will open up new frontiers in the universe. I also love to teach, both in a classroom setting and informally. I'm happy to talk about the universe with anyone who will listen, and I am skeptically curious about all things.