kcollins | March 7, 2011
Nominated by:
Marine scientist and deep-sea explorer Edith (Edie) Widder sometimes can't believe the beautiful, natural rewards of her job. Deep beneath the surface of the ocean in her submersible vehicle where the marine world is dark, quiet and peaceful, often all she has to do is sit back and be treated to a spectacular undersea light show: courtesy of the teeming sea life outside her window.
In her work, Edie studies bioluminescence, or living light. To answer questions about how creatures in the ocean make and use light she develops special instruments that can measure and record…
kcollins | March 4, 2011
Nominated by
The world deep beneath the surface of the ocean is a dark, mysterious, and fascinating place. Renowned oceanographer David Gallo should know -- he's been there numerous times.
"Sea life at those depths -- two to three miles down-- is also bizarre, resilient, beautiful and shockingly abundant," he adds.
A pioneer in ocean exploration, David (who participated in the exploration of the legendary Titanic) is one of the first scientists to use a combination of manned submersible vehicles and robots to map and study the undersea world with clarity and detail.
In his work, he's…
kcollins | March 2, 2011How scientifically accurate are today's Hollywood superhero and sci-fi movies? Surprisingly accurate, says physicist James Kakalios, He should know - he's author of the widely known book, The Physics of Superheroes, which examines such things. In this video clip (below) from the 2010 Festival, Dr. Kakalios talks about what makes recent movies like Iron Man so scientifically "right on" and appealing.
Dr. Kakaios also has a new book that has just come out. Check out "The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics" with Engineering.com at the 2010 USA Science and Engineering Festival.
kcollins | February 28, 2011
Heather Knight is an engineer on a mission.
Known as a social roboticist, she is constantly thinking about new ways to make robots charismatic, giving them the necessary personality and social skills to interact with humans in meaningful ways.
Her work includes developing a cuddly robot called "Data" (named after the Star Trek character) who does stand-up comedy before live audiences. Impossible, you say? Well, read on.
Currently a young graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, Heather is already a pioneer in the growing field of social robotics which investigates ways in which…
kcollins | February 25, 2011Meet Storm Chaser Josh Wurman and Discover first-hand from this original storm chaser what it's like to track and study deadly tornadoes across the Kansas landscape and stare down wicked hurricanes off the Gulf of Mexico!
You could say Josh Wurman was born to chase storms. Even as kid he was adventurous with a penchant for science, especially delving into the mysteries and wonders of bad weather.
But growing up in the relatively placid climates of Pennsylvania, he really didn't have any meaningful opportunities to experience really severe weather like tornadoes, hurricanes, or even real…
kcollins | February 23, 2011Learn about the theory of Relativity from Einstein himself! Interview by Engineering.com at the 2010 USA Science and Engineering Festival.
kcollins | February 21, 2011
Meet Nifty Fifty Speaker, Ben Gulak. Unique, amazing inventions - and the story behind how they came about - always inspire us. Such is the story of Benjamin Gulak, who, as a teenager growing up in Ontario, Canada had a special wish: that one day he be known for his inventions - inventions that would help improve the world.
Now, just age 21 and the inventor of the highly acclaimed "eco-friendly" Uno III -- a stylishly compact personal mobility vehicle he developed as a high school senior - he can honestly say he's off to a great start.
Benjamin is also the creator of the DTV Shredder (…
kcollins | February 16, 2011From lack of role models in the elementary classroom to a learning culture that isn't engaging boys in the learning process, meet Nifty Fifty Speaker Ali Carr-Chellman who talks about how to change these things.
--For every 100 girls suspended from school there are 250 boys suspended from
school.
--For every 200 girls expelled from school there are 350 boys expelled
--For every 100 girls in special education there are 217 boys in special ed
--For every 100 girls with a learning disability there are 276 boys with such a
disability (Boys are four times as likely as girls to be diagnosed with…
kcollins | February 14, 2011
They're back! Yes, the Nifty Fifty - that high-profile group of researchers and professionals in science and engineering who wowed students during last year's Festival with their inspirational school visits and talks --are returning for the 2012 Science & Engineering Festival.
But this time we're doubling the number of participating Nifty Fifty speakers to 100 so that more classrooms can experience these renowned experts. To make this happen, we are asking Festival Partners to nominate at least one of their scientists, engineers or related professionals to be considered for this elite…
kcollins | January 17, 2011Mark it on your calendars! Spring 2012 the USA Science and Engineering Festival will be taking over Washington DC once again! The 2010 Festival was wildly successful and we want to repeat that in 2012, but we can only do that with your help.
We need input from those that came to the festival as well as those that exhibited at the 2010 USA Science & Engineering Festival: What Makes a Good Expo Exhibit??
A picture or video is worth a thousand words! Post them on our facebook fan page (and become a fan) or contact us and send us your pictures or videos.
I think the #1 thing that worked…
kcollins | November 2, 2010Maybe you made it to the Expo, maybe you couldn't and wished you were there. Here are a few highlights from the Expo.
President Obama invited you to the Festival
Check out some picture highlights from the festival! (and tons more on our facebook pages too)
Winners of the engineering.com Physics Teacher's Contest
A great video highlight from engineering.com of the Expo
The final Nationwide Wordle to answer the question: What will be the greatest discoveries and advancements science and engineering will bring us in the 21st century?
Walk on a little corn starch? (tweet video from @…
kcollins | November 1, 2010The USA Science and Engineering Festival challenged students across the nation to make a video that tells us "Why Science is Cool". The video contest received over 100 entries, and the awards ceremony was hosted Oct. 24 in Washington, D.C., by Bill Nye the Science Guy, as part of the festival's Expo on the National Mall. Top prizes include an HD camcorder (first prize), in addition to cash donations assigned to the students' school science or technology programs, WOLFRAM Mathematica visualization software, and Adobe PREMIERE editing software.
The contest was sponsored by the Kavli…
kcollins | October 23, 2010Thanks NCAS for helping us get the word out about the USA Science and Engineering Festival!
Post here
Oct 10-25 Inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival DC
The USA Science and Engineering Festival is coming up. And while the Expo on the Mall Oct. 23 & 24 is getting the most publicity, there are a bunch of free science lectures and other events starting Oct. 10. Here is the full schedule:www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/pre-expo-events
The USA Science & Engineering Festival mission:
Our mission is to re-invigorate the interest of our nation's youth in science,…
kcollins | October 22, 2010Check out one of our Satellite Festivals Happening this weekend! Visualizing Marathon 2010
It is a weekend-long student data visualization competition and they have about 95 students from Harvard, Columbia, SVA, Pratt, Parsons, L'ecole de design (France), etc. attending. The challenge will be announced Friday (Tonight!) at the Opening and it will focus on a complex scientific issue - more specifically - planetary boundaries. This challenge focuses on science and it's all about the merge of science and design, making sense of complex issues through data and design. Pretty Cool!
Read more…
kcollins | October 21, 2010 Even Bill Nye will be at the Expo! Read more here.
The first USA Science & Engineering Festival will take science out of the lab and onto D.C.'s National Mall this weekend: October 23rd and 24th. The free, two-day expo will feature over 1500 fun, hands-on science activities and over 75 stage shows and performances on four stages.
The family-friendly festival hosts a PBS Kid-Zone, activities including birdhouse building and Rubik's Cube solving, and much more. Making it easy on parents seeking age-appropriate activities, the festival's exhibit-finder sorts by age-group.
The expo will be…
kcollins | October 21, 2010Thanks Soil Science Society of America for presenting at the Expo. Here is information for their booth.
ASA, CSSA, and SSSA will each have a booth at the Expo, with fun activities for kids and kids-at-heart
The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America (ASA, CSSA, and SSSA) are proud to be Official Partners of the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival. The Festival, which will be the country's first national science festival, is a collaboration of over 500 of the country's leading science and engineering organizations and…
kcollins | October 21, 2010Engineering.com has a Great Science Teacher Video Contest happening right now! Watch and rate teachers in action as they explain projectile motion, Newton's 3rd Law and many more science concepts.
This is a competition with $3500 in prize money and prestige on the line, so please be sure to rate the videos by clicking on the star symbols at the top. Go here and vote for your favorite video!
kcollins | October 20, 2010Ohhh...you might even get to WALK on some ooblek. THAT would be cool!
Check out what this MIchigan Tech Exhibit has in store at the Expo.
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Michigan Technological University's MindTrekkers are taking STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) to the heart of the nation--the National Mall in Washington, DC. And they're making it so much fun that it might just turn casual onlookers into science geeks.
"We want people of all ages to have fun learning the science behind the mystery"
MindTrekkers, a traveling science road show produced by Youth Programs at…
kcollins | October 20, 2010Check out the cool Robots at the Expo!
The WildStang Robotics Team, housed at Rolling Meadows High School and comprised of students from Rolling Meadows, Wheeling, Prospect, and Elk Grove High Schools is travelling to Washington, D.C. October 21-25 to participate in the first ever USA Science and Engineering Festival being held on the National Mall.
Twenty-three students are travelling to Washington. Chaperones and several engineering mentors from corporate sponsor Motorola will also attend the event. The WildStang Robotics Team will demonstrate several different robots representing FIRST.…
kcollins | October 20, 2010Extract DNA from a strawberry? Make a DNA bracelet? Check out the National Human Genome Research Institute booth and what they have happening at the Expo!
Find more info here.
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will present some simple and fun DNA-related activities at the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. on Sat., Oct. 23 and Sun., Oct. 24.
Instructions and resources related to these activities will be highlighted here on Sat., Oct. 23 for those who can't come to the Festival in Washington, D.C.. All of these activities can be done at…