How exactly does the world’s largest emerald form?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Ryan

I stumbled across this video about the world’s largest emerald being sold. Sure it’s being sold by Canadians, but that’s not the important part, the important part is just how a 57,500-carat gem could form in the first place.

Continue reading →

Posted in Ryan's Ramblings | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Patrick’s Winter Solstice Shopping Guide 2011

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Patrick

I view this as a cumulative exercise, I was checking out my recommendations from last year, and in my opinion they hold up pretty well. Check them out if you don’t like what you see in this post.
Continue reading →

Posted in Patrick's Ponderables | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ryan’s Winter Solstice SURVIVAL GUIDE

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Ryan

When the days get so short it seems as if the sun will never return to warm our cheeks, we give each other gifts as comfort in the darkness. Then somehow the days begin to lengthen. Coincidence? Of course not. Some credit a magic baby, others a Roman deity, science simply calls it the solstice. Regardless, warm your favorite geek’s heart with some gifts sure to brighten their darkest days of the year.

Continue reading →

Posted in Ryan's Ramblings | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Introducing: My Titanium Physicists!

Posted on November 28, 2011 by ben

Hi everyone. I’m here to announce that science… sort of has a new baby brother. It’s name is The Titanium Physicists Podcast .

Turns out that Physics is full of SUPER SEXY IDEAS which are way too technical for science journalists to talk about. No, the best way to taste this fruit is to go to the tree. I (ben) have assembled a team: my titanium physicists. A group of  the rarest sort. technical experts, and also lucid and fun.

But you can’t just throw a group of experts together in a room. they start talking technical and it’s impossible to follow. So to keep everything under control, we bring on a special guest each week! Awesome people who are good at interrupting nerds.

the result is a half-hour long show, released fortnightly. it’s super fun and i encourage you to listen. we’re up on itunes!

Posted in bennnnn | 1 Comment

REVIEW – Bodies: The Exhibit

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Juliana
Bodies: The Exhibition

Promo for Bodies: The Exhibition

While Ryan was enjoying New York Comic Con, I decided to take the opportunity to visit some of the Big Apple’s awesome museums. I left the choice of museum up to my good friend Rick, a New York native and fellow nerd, and he ended up taking me to the South Street Seaport — think Fisherman’s Wharf, NYC-style — for a double exhibit feature, Bodies: The Exhibition [BtE] and Dialog in the Dark (to be reviewed soon). Some of you might already know about BtE, since it’s been around since 2005. Multiple variations on the theme have been around for nearly 20 years, so you may have seen Bodies: The Exhibition, or Our Body: The Universe Within, or perhaps you saw Body Worlds back when it came out in 1995. These exhibitions are all independently owned and run, but you’d be forgiven for confusing them because they’re eerily similar. Essentially, you wander through room after room of plastinated human bodies, learning about the various systems and structures under our skin, seeing comparisons of healthy versus diseased organs, and wondering how the displays were made and who on earth these people once were.

Continue reading →

Posted in Juli's Theories | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ben’s Math Education Response in Terms of Carts & Horses *AWESOME REMIX*

Posted on November 3, 2011 by ben

Another in our series of Ben’s ramblings Patented Wisdom BOLTS that didn’t make it to air! This week Chad asked us about our thoughts on math education, and Ben had things to say. We were running long I Didn’t want the reader’s ears to explode with wisdom so I didn’t read it, but I’ve posted Chad’s question here followed by Ben’s response. It’s interesting stuff from the newly minted PhD and teacher  the prophet of thunder, so hopefully you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I did. And make sure you listen to the full episode from this Ep 110 – Back to School!

-Ryan (with edits by Ben)

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Ben’s Math Education Response in Terms of Carts & Horses

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Ryan

Another in our series of Ben’s ramblings that didn’t make it to air! This week Chad asked us about our thoughts on math education, and Ben had things to say. We were running long so I didn’t read it, but I’ve posted Chad’s question here followed by Ben’s response. It’s interesting stuff from the newly minted PhD and teacher, so hopefully you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I did. And make sure you listen to the full episode from this Ep 110 – Back to School!

-Ryan

Continue reading →

Posted in bennnnn, Ryan's Ramblings | 2 Comments

Are Your Ear-Holes Ready For The Weekly Weinersmith?

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Ryan

For those of you with you head in the sand, you may not have heard but Kelly and Zach have officially begun their podcast The Weekly Weinersmith, a proud member of the Brachiolope Media Network!

This officially marks the start of our grand experiment in putting together a network of quality science content in a way that is ideally approachable and enjoyable to both laymen and scientist alike. No big deal, right? Well the Weinersmiths certainly make it sound easy! Hopefully this post comes as old news, but if not, get thee to iTunes or your preferred podcast aggregator for some Weinery goodness.

Continue reading →

Posted in Ryan's Ramblings | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

REVIEW: First in Space

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Juliana

Hey everyone, my apologies for not having posted a museum review in a while. You see, I’ve been interning at the Nashville Zoo and haven’t had a chance to scope out to other institutions. The good news is that in the downtime between interviewing visitors, I’ve managed to read some awesome books and comics about science, so that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

First in Space

Writer: James Vining
Artist: James Vining
Publisher:  Oni Press

$9.95/96 pages/Black and White

All summer long I’d been hearing about chimpanzees in the media, so now that the weather’s changing, it seemed fitting to close out the season with one of the greatest chimp stories of all time. As one might expect from a book titled “First in Space“, this is the tale of the first living being in space, a chimpanzee with the rather unassuming name “Ham”. I know, I know, just one letter off… In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the United States was lagging behind the USSR in the Space Race. The Soviets had already launched Laika (a story also available in comic form) into earth orbit, and the Americans were looking to jump ahead by successfully launching a creature into space — and successfully recovering the live specimen.

Continue reading →

Posted in Juli's Theories, Review | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ben’s Science Sort of manifesto.

Posted on September 20, 2011 by ben

written for Patrick, who wanted to know what i thought of SSO, based on an earlier claim that i thought SSO’s mandate is to socialize science.

My friends, Science is not something we DO, it’s something we are.
If you play video games, you are not necessarily a gamer.
If you answer phones for a living, you are not necessarily a receptionist.
But if you have been trained in the sciences, you are a scientist.

Continue reading →

Posted in bennnnn | 2 Comments