Author Archives: nadia drake

martini-drinking robot minions

Posted on June 13, 2011

Awhile ago, I wrote about the robots (Stormtroompas) working behind the scenes at the San Jose Mercury News. It would be great, I thought at the time, to capture these things on video. So I did. Here, for your amusement, is … Continue reading →

Posted in future of media, Video | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

mud, mountain lions, and my dad

Posted on May 14, 2011

The SciCom slugs have been out and about recently, perhaps seeking an escape from the swirling pre-graduation chaos? Part 1: Paintings and Pumas Last week, we attended the opening of the Science Illustration Program‘s exhibit at the Pacific Grove Museum … Continue reading →

Posted in inspirations, observations, photography | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Google

Posted on April 6, 2011

Several of us trekked up to Google today to see the mothership a talk by Greg Asner, from the Carnegie Institution of Science, Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University. Asner studies tropical forests and uses a variety of spiffy … Continue reading →

Posted in observations | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Stormtroompas

Posted on March 22, 2011

During winter quarter I interned at the San Jose Mercury News. On my last day, I saw ROBOTS. In the *building*. The bots keep the presses plied with newspaper, but really they’re plotting to take over the world (just a … Continue reading →

Posted in future of media, observations | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

weekend warrior seeks tutus ‘n trees

Posted on March 14, 2011

For the past two weeks, I’ve been parked in front of my computer. Yesterday, I finally went stir-crazy and listened to my pleading, sorely underused muscles. “I’ve had it!” I thought, and promptly began stomping around. It was time to … Continue reading →

Posted in observations, photography | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

#AAAS in 140 or less

Posted on February 27, 2011

As many of you know, I have a love-hate relationship with Twitter. #ilovewaffles (1/2) Some days, I’m tempted to relinquish my membership for reasons that will remain mysterious, (2/2) and other days, I eagerly watch my Twitter feed as if … Continue reading →

Posted in future of media, learning curve, Twitter | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

a thousand splendid planets

Posted on February 10, 2011

NASA’s Kepler team announced last week they’d found more than a thousand potential planets – after just *four months* of observation. The numbers make my head spin like…oh, never mind. (Since you asked, my favorite Kepler story lede? Dennis Overbye’s, … Continue reading →

Posted in inspirations, observations | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

moonlight meditation

Posted on January 27, 2011

By the late 1990s, my grandfather could no longer read. To be visible, photos needed to hover near his visual peripheries. Then, Jiddou –“grandfather” in Arabic – couldn’t see me unless I stood off to his side. My Jiddou had … Continue reading →

Posted in inspirations, observations | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

AGU = A Great Undertaking?

Posted on December 18, 2010

I’m stuck at home and dealing with a formidable, unexpected foe: FREE TIME! I think my utter dread of unstructured minutes motivates much of my multi-tasking. Maybe I should be more aware of that. So — I’m creating a blog post, … Continue reading →

Posted in learning curve | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Whales — and a twitterpated writer

Posted on December 5, 2010

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about my beat. Today, it’s pretty obvious: I’m grooving with whales. I’m twitterpated (again).             Right whales, photos by Brian Skerry, National Geographic (see also Q&A with Skerry about … Continue reading →

Posted in learning curve, Twitter | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments