worldsfair

...but actually somewhere else... So what's going on? The short version is that this is a goodbye post. The long version goes a little like this: 1. For a while now, I've been using twitter, primarily as a place to highlight interesting things. It has more or less replaced my blogging output.…

(You can follow Dave on twitter @dnghub) 30 MINUTES, 70 FATES. You don't know it, but as I write this piece, there is some serious procrastination going on. My attention span is weak and sidetracked constantly by a variety of diversions, and if you must know, it's taken me close to half an hour to…

It's election time again and, as is the norm, we see teachers using the opportunity to talk to their students about things such as Prime Ministers, parliaments, senates, and, well, basically - how this thing we call the "Canadian Government" is meant to work. My own daughter who is in Grade 4 is…

I just noticed that there's a workshop being offered from June 13th to June 18th, 2011, in Vancouver, Canada, that provides technical and hands-on training for "scientists and non-scientists interested in human cloning." This course has a price tag of $1400 (does not include transportation, room…

(Reprinted from Boingboing) Access to life-saving medicines is not a luxury, but a human right. ~Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network To me, the above statement is one of those things that sound like a no-brainer. Put another way, if I were to ask you whether you thought a person's income should…

Although I can't remember where I saw "play with duct tape" on the list of learning objectives, I figured it would be cool to make a paper pinball machine with the kids - it's kind of "educational." (right?). Anyway, this ended up being a lot of fun, and (if I do say so myself) our pinball machine…

Sorry it's been a bit quiet here lately. Things have been busy at the museum, and I've also been writing in other places. In particular, These days I'm a guest blogger at Boing Boing, and on top of that, I'm also having fun starting a children's novel. This novel has a mouthful of a title,…

Just a quick note for you Brits out there (and specifically Londoners I guess). Tonight (Sept 24th), the Natural History Museum is hosting a "Science Uncovered" evening, whereby scientists and staff from various departments will be on hand. As well, there will be a place where cocktails can be…

Or something like that:... I just noticed, with some amusement, that the 2010 Toy of the Year is something akin to a cute robotic rodent. Specifically, they are called Zhu Zhu Pets, a mechanical universe of furry and mobile hamsters, expandable with a hamster-like ecosystem complete with wheels,…

Image: Nagoya Congress Center plus Millenium Falcon reworked from original photo by Paula Pedrosa. link. Originally made for a series of Nagoya COP10 primers at Boing Boing (1 | 2 | SB | 3 | 4) I: SORTING OUT THE VERNACULAR So what is up with this Nagoya thing? Well, it's a big international…

(Lifted, 2009, 40"x30", acrylic on panel) You can see more at this link. Let me know if you find yourself both quietly mesmorized and disturbed as you take in his images. From his "about" page: Biography Josh Keyes was born in Tacoma, Washington. He received a BFA in 1992 from the School of the…

Great illustration for children, even though it may not be anatomically correct. By Peter Slight - Larger version can be found here. Seeing piece like this makes me think a wonderful art project would be to create a whole new design driven anatomy book - one that may even be as comprehensive as…

@dnghub Twitter Feed This video of a talk I gave at Northern Voice got completed whilst I was away. Anyway, if I remember (I'm one of those people who can't stand seeing themselves on video or hearing themselves on audio!), it's a pretty decent overview of what the Phylo project is all about,…

O.K. It's been a while since I last posted, but I do have a good excuse. I've been on the road with my family for the past 5 weeks, and have just settled in London. I'm here because I am about to start a half year sabbatical, and to give you a sense of where I'm working, here are a few picture…

(Well, actually 6 since the first ad below is just a bit of fun...) - - - JOB POSTING: "IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME" This is a call for outstanding candidates to apply for a tenure track assistant professor position within the context of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British…

Speaking of robots: you might be interested in the types of "deep thoughts" they have.

@dnghub Twitter Feed Most people know that Google's informal tagline is "Don't be evil." In fact, that phrase comes with a little background, nicely described at Wikipedia: "Don't be evil" is the informal corporate motto (or slogan) of Google,[1] originally suggested by Google employees Paul…

@dnghub Twitter Feed A while back, I was trying to think of phrases that "sound pleasant but are actually maybe bad" and I remember one of the silly ones I thought of was: Hummer coming through. Get it? "Hummer," as in a person who hums (yes, I know - kind of lame). Just for the record, this…

@dnghub Twitter Feed Happy Biodiversity Day! Well, it's been about 5 weeks, and the Phylo project is close to 100 cards, all ready for free printing. As well, a set of rules is now available that is polished enough to go through some beta testing. Today, we even have an "Oil Spill" card, and I'd…

... You should go outside. Seriously. And if, for today, you've forgotten how graceful our planet can be, I'd invite you to take a mental break, put some headphones on, and watch these three lovely videos. Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo…

@dnghub Twitter Feed Yesterday I noticed that the web was a buzzing over two things in particular. One being the news of Craig Venter's work on a proof of principle example of producing a synthetic organism, and the other being the unveiling of London's 2012 Olympic mascots. Venter's work…

@dnghub Twitter Feed I recently read this great post on the Terry blog, whereby Elysa talks about preconceived notions of success and how a person's profession may relate to that. In particular, she used the example of Anne Wintour, the celebrated editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, who by any…

@dnghub Twitter Feed Original article can be found at our Science Scout site. - - - (Acronyms used: SSBFME = Science Scout Badges Free Market Economy) So... It's been a few years since the Science Scouts were born, and (at last count) we have received over 300 emails from various Indian or Chinese…

Last Friday and Saturday, I went to Northern Voice 2010, a gathering of 500+ individuals intent on absorbing everything that a "Personal Blogging and Social Media Conference" can muster. And I must say, that it was a treat to be there - not only because it had a nice friendly, informal vibe which…

Specifically, I'm trying to see whether we can engage folks into the PHYLO card process by seeing if they work with requests. And we're going to start with a special one - coming from a luminary in the science plus art arena, this is from Margaret Atwood, who notes that her favourite organism is…

Seriously, if there's a day to enjoy the outdoors, then that would have to be Earth Day. If, however, you find yourself stuck inside due to poor weather, volcanic ash plumes, or some other reason, then go check out the Phylo game (http://phylogame.org). It's been up for about a week and a bit,…

O.K. Sorry this took a while, but you know, things are busy, having just finally launching the Phylo game website. A while back, I mentioned getting an acoustic bass, and wanting to work on yet another science-geekery song. This one with a biodiversity theme and the inclusion of reader supplied…

In this video, I'm actually speaking (as oppose to dancing silly), since it looks like TEDx has released the mini talks we gave on our experiences hosting a TEDx conference. Anyway, it only confirms my theory that most people on TV have huge heads (this is data gathered from interacting with the…

A few months ago, for fun, I took a course on "Writing Books for Children." It was pretty good, in that it kind of forced me to sit down and come up and work through an idea. Or at least, work through it enough so that it was close to the stage of maybe querying publishers. For readers who have…

Recently, I was on Australian radio doing a bit about the phylomon project and one of the creatures that the host brought up was the Kakapo. As well, an article at the Escapist was just published (again on the phylomon project), and within the comments there, the Kakapo was highlighted once again.…