Monthly Archives: January 2008

Sneeze In Your Sleeve!

Posted on January 29, 2008 by cicada

I’ve had the sniffles now for a few days, and as always, I feel self-conscious about where my germs are landing. This little tutorial combats wayward nasally-propelled microbes with the Sneeze-In-Your-Sleeve strategy. Very amusing – and it suggests another possible use for the tentacle arm.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Education, Frivolity | 3 Comments

The Making of a LEGO

Posted on January 29, 2008 by cicada

Businessweek has this little slideshow of a LEGO factory. Neat. Apparently the system is so precise, only 18 in a million LEGO bricks are defective. Which sounds about right; I’ve never found an irregular LEGO, and I’ve handled thousands. Still, … Continue reading →

Posted in Frivolity | 2 Comments

Wise old recycled owl

Posted on January 26, 2008 by cicada

Great Horned Owl Kathryn Spence Kathryn Spence’s owl sculptures work on several levels at once. This Great Horned Owl is a Lear of birds, ragged but regal. Like an impressionist painting, up close, he’s a bundle of discordant rags – … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology | 2 Comments

Empty houses, blind eyes

Posted on January 21, 2008 by cicada

Photo by Eugene Richards From “North Dakota, The Emptied Prairie” National Geographic Magazine These photos bear an eerie, graceful, painful resemblance to the country where I grew up. The year I finished high school, my parents left “town” (7,000 people) … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Department of the Drama, Destinations, Photography | 6 Comments

Seriously, now. . .

Posted on January 19, 2008 by cicada

OK – enough frivolous posts for the moment. There’s an election in the offing, and I want to address those of you who care whether the next President is science-and-technology-literate. Which should be ALL of you, right? Sciencedebate 2008 (of … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Science, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

Tentacle Arm

Posted on January 19, 2008 by cicada

  What more is there to say, really? It’s a tentacle arm. A friend of mine told me I need “at least two” of these. . . . . . at LEAST two???? What?? And once the first one’s on, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cephalopodmania, Conspicuous consumption, Frivolity | 1 Comment

Who’s your daddy? Ask PCR

Posted on January 17, 2008 by cicada

Ah, I have the warm fuzzies now for my eppendorfs and thermal cycler. . . but I’m sure it will pass.

Posted in Biology, Film, Video & Music, Frivolity, Science | Comments Off

Because science teachers don’t get enough respect

Posted on January 17, 2008 by cicada

FYI: AAAS will award a $1,000 prize this year to a high school science teacher, for “leadership in science education”. Candidates must be nominated by their chairs or administrators, and must complete an application by March 2: Entries must be … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Science | Comments Off

3-D Textual Spirographs!

Posted on January 17, 2008 by cicada

. . . or something like that. Courtesy of JK Keller, these Volumetric Redundancies represent the number of times a word appears in a given text. Red cubes represent non-unique words, with size depending on number of occurrences; blue cubes … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Frivolity, Words | 3 Comments

This would be my third-favorite show

Posted on January 17, 2008 by cicada

Geoffrey Chaucer is back on his blog after a hiatus almost as long as Lost‘s, with a comment on the television writers’ strike. He proposes some shows of his own which sound a tad familiar, perhaps – but in literature, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Frivolity, Littademia | 2 Comments