Tag Archives: science
Learning about fear with rats and Legos
As I wrote in my last post, fear can be a real problem for writers. So much so that there’s actually a book on how writers can overcome it, called The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes. But fear isn’t … Continue reading
Crab pot corrosion control
We went on a class outing to the Santa Cruz Harbor last week. Our goal: Find crab fishermen and learn about their catch during the first two weeks of crab season. Biggie, a friendly sport fisherman in the bait shop, declared … Continue reading
The worst travel day of the year
Anyone flying on November 24th this year should probably plan to get to the airport extra early: A group of travelers’-rights advocates are organizing a nationwide boycott of the full-body scanners used in security checks in airports. The Wednesday before … Continue reading
Perhaps Sinatra didn’t know about E. coli…
…or else these would have been the lyrics to “Strangers in the Night.” The opening party for the National Association of Science Writers annual meeting was Friday. A folk singer, a classical guitar/opera duo, and an astronomical a cappella group … Continue reading
Four fun facts about sea otters
1. Sea otters have the densest hair of any mammal – around 900,000 hairs per square inch (140,000 hairs/cm2)[1]. That’s more than 500X denser than the hair on the human scalp, which averages at 1600 hairs per square inch (250 … Continue reading
Otter tracking and random titbits (parasites, sharks and Darth Vader)
I got a little taste of the perils of field research when some of us got drenched by a wave where the researchers first set up. They assured us they’d never experienced something like that in over 10 years. Once … Continue reading
slugnads’ adventures in wonderland: through the looking-glass(es)
Oh Frabjous Day! Time to slay some jabber-demons and admit it: I have, on occasion, been known to take photos in mirrors and through microscope lenses…and telescopes. And binoculars. …and it’s totally possible that at least one of my dissertation defense … Continue reading
How often is science distorted in the media?
You know you’re back in college when conversations start, “So, what are you studying?” But when I replied to this question at a recent dinner gathering of fellow grad students, I got an unexpected response. I explained that I was … Continue reading
Crowdsourcing Science
Can science be crowdsourced? That is, can scientists turn to the average citizen for help in collecting data? Earlier this week, Genomes Unzipped, a group of genetics-savvy bloggers, announced that its 12 members had made the results of their direct-to-consumer … Continue reading
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