worldsfair
Posts by this author
April 2, 2007
Last week, I managed to catch one of last year's Massey lectures on the radio. These are basically a high profile lecture series that is sponsored by both the CBC and the House of Anansi Press. In essense, they usually involve a prominent Canadian cogniscenti who attempts to cover a topic…
March 30, 2007
Recently, I read an interesting piece on something known as "Darwin's Delay." Briefly, this is a mystery which queried why it took 20 odd years for Darwin to take his theory of evolution from his own private musings in the late 1830's, to its publication as the Origin of Species in 1859.…
March 29, 2007
PRESS CENTER | UPDATED BRACKETKAPOW!!KA-CHING!WHUPAH!BADA-BING!COWABUNGA!KUNG-POW!
(Images from Chemsoc, wiki, and Accelrys)
March 28, 2007
PRESS CENTER | UPDATED BRACKET
GAMES TO BE PLAYED NEXT WEEK (April 2nd to 6th, 2007)
March 27, 2007
Another writing contest I'm affiliated with. And to reiterate, pretty much anything goes as long as it fits (even remotely) in the global issues genre. Plus (plus), there's a category for non-UBC folk, and the insider info is that we don't have an awful lot of those kind of submissions (full…
March 27, 2007
Basically, an almost last call for entries. And to reiterate, a humour piece is needed, plus (plus) additional captions can be supplied if you want to take a chance at modifying your score for better or for worse. Also, note that the prize rocks! (full details below)
* * *PDF | JPG
The Science…
March 23, 2007
I've shown this before somewhere in this blog, but since Ben recently put up a post on "unintended consequences" and the use of genetic modification, just thought it worth mentioning that an older piece of mine on Grimace is up at the SCQ.
March 22, 2007
So like, I'm not a big fan of making lunches for my children, and in my household we actually alternate that chore between the two of us (If Kate is doing bedtime stories, I'm on lunches, etc). In fact, on the days when the daycare or school is doing a "hot lunch" or it happens to be "Hot Dog"…
March 21, 2007
Kuhn vs. Determinism (by an excitable commentator)
Oh, oh, I can't believe it, I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT! This one was for the history books, people. Team Kuhn beating the pants off of the Determinism squad. A real life massacre of crisis proportions. Really, it was all Kuhn ALL THE TIME. Word is…
March 21, 2007
This is how I'd imagine the thought process would go (or why I think satire does a pretty good job of showing the silliness of intelligent design).
(From Inkling)
March 16, 2007
Mandatory testing of all tourney players has found substance abuse in all members of the Internal Medicine team. Specifically, the players tested positive for Norethandrolone, a testoterone derivative, and Showdown officials have ruled that they have no choice but to disqualify the team from the…
March 16, 2007
PRESS CENTER | PRINTABLE BRACKETS
Well, you know it's big when the American Idol gang weigh in with an opening musical number (live at the HIV vs Plasmodium court, and telecast to the others). Not only that, but the crazy reworking of Kelly Clarkson's "Since you've been gone" using the words from…
March 15, 2007
This just in.
Looks like the supply and management staff for the Genomics and Proteomics teams are causing some headaches for the venue organizers. "Basically, too much hardware," as one onlooker commented. And too much indeed. It appears that with all of the high throughput robotics hardware…
March 14, 2007
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Gates have just opened and it looks like a pretty good throng of fans are piling into their respective arenas. We won't comment too much on these match ups for now, since we are more interested in what the fans think. For now, we can only imagine that the plant…
March 13, 2007
CLICKABLE MAP OF TOURNAMENT HERE OR CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOWPrintable brackets available here (pdf)(THIS PAGE WILL HAVE UP TO DATE COVERAGE - LAST EDIT, APRIL 30th)- - -
(March 12th)
Grand opening. Introductory remarks. Brackets revealed. (link at World's Fair)
(March 14th)
Arenas will open for…
March 13, 2007
So, on Sunday and Monday, I had the privilege of hanging out with Dr. Shiva. And she was an absolute joy to host, and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see students come away both enthused and provoked by the interaction.
In case, you're not in the know, Dr. Shiva is:
"is a physicist,…
March 9, 2007
So, as mentioned previously, I got the chance to hang out with Chris Mooney this past week, and gracious as he is, he also took time to meet and greet a few of the local gang of science scouts. Anyway, his visit was great as a number of interesting topics were broached both in casual conservation…
March 9, 2007
So, apologies again for the recent lack of posts. There's been a number of things going on of late, including getting a chance to meet fellow Scienceblogger, Chris Mooney, as well as being in full wedding planner mode for an upcoming visit by Dr. Vandana Shiva.
To get back into the swing of…
March 1, 2007
Well, actually, Kate my wife is Welsh, but whatever.
In any event, I know how to say a few things in the Welsh tongue which is not such an easy thing to do. Although, it can come in handy when one wants to mess with the heads of Welsh children.
For instance: I once memorized a Welsh nursery rhyme…
February 28, 2007
Well, looky here now...
With the strength of the Science Scout initiative behind it, our little Truth experiment has finally hit front page google real estate.
That's right, people, we're hovering at a pretty nice ranking. What ranking is that you ask? Ta da.
Freaking number seven!
Which, of…
February 27, 2007
So basically, I've been hearing stuff about some new game show that pits adults against the sort of knowledge that a child in Grade 5 should know. It sounds like a pretty interesting concept, and has gotten me thinking about kids and science information generally.
Anyway with this in mind, today,…
February 26, 2007
Well, finally a science song that kicks ass!
This one has been humbly adopted as the Science Scout's anthem. It's called "Increase the N," and comes courtesy from a local Vancouver band called HEFE. Click here for their myspace account, and check out the song on their embedded player.
Why, "…
February 22, 2007
So:
The Police is starting their tour in Vancouver on May 28th and May 30th, and even though I'm more or less still a fan of Sting, I've just got to say that watching Stewart Copeland play those polyrhythmic drum beats at the Grammys was pretty impressive. Here, take a look yourself:
But how…
February 21, 2007
So last week was pretty busy, and to be honest I haven't quite depressurized yet from the fatigue it induced (hence the lack of material from me on the blog - thanks Ben for stepping in as always). On top of that, the science scouts apparently hit a nerve in webland being picked up by a few…
February 16, 2007
Last day of my workshop.
And I simply must direct folks to the piece that is up at the SCQ today. The piece by Hugh Powell (who also contributes over at the always wonderful Inkling), is really what the SCQ is all about. Go check it out - it's called, "MALCOLM GLADWELL WRITES THE INTRODUCTION…
February 14, 2007
This piece is great. Basically looking at scientific ways to query a few well known hypotheses such as, "All we need is love", "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all", and "Love means never having to say you're sorry."
Fitting too, being Valentine's Day and all (Happy…
February 14, 2007
"Leaping from tree to tree, as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia. The Giant Redwood. The Larch. The Fir! The mighty Scots Pine! The lofty flowering Cherry! The plucky little Apsen! The limping Roo tree of Nigeria. The towering Wattle of Aldershot! The Maidenhead Weeping Water…
February 13, 2007
Specifically, I'm teaching a workshop - this one actually.
Anyway, the piece up at McSweeney's today is inspired, and is another one of those I wish I thought of that things. It's called "The Birthday Party Log of Ned, Born on February 29" - go check it out, it's awesome.
February 12, 2007
PF#2, as originally introduced.
PF#2, the follow-up.
The answer was "Mercury" (and we still relish the chance to find that middle puzzle-making ground, between Monday crossword too easy and Sunday crossword too hard).
The Queen goes to Queen the band goes to Freddy Mercury.
The instruments go to…