Category Archives: Film, Video & Music

Remarkable Lego street art illusion

Posted on February 4, 2012 by cicada

Legophemera FTW. If you have not yet seen this street art illusion of a Lego terra cotta army, watch now – before your techie-artsy-hipster cred is permanently diminished! Video: “Lego Army,” by Leon Keer at the Sarasota Chalk Festival 2011. … Continue reading →

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“Jesus is God’s Atomic Bomb,” and other lyrical classics

Posted on February 3, 2012 by cicada

Conelrad’s fascinating cold war culture jukebox, Atomic Platters, offers lyrics and historical context spanning several decades of popular atomic-themed music. Many of the songs unsurprisingly convey a sense of unprecedented, un-romanticized astonishment and awe. Consider the following gem:

Posted in Education, Ephemera, Film, Video & Music, History of Science, Science in culture & policy, Yikes! | Comments Off

Chipotle saves spherical pigs from Science

Posted on January 1, 2012 by cicada

If one of your New Years’ resolutions is to eat healthier, more sustainable food, contemplating the evils of industrial food production and re-reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma might help you reach that goal — and you might want to post this … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Conspicuous consumption, Ephemera, Film, Video & Music, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

Dr. House vs. Car Talk: Diagnostic Showdown

Posted on December 27, 2011 by cicada

A clever little article in JAMA, written by Gurpreet Dhaliwal, suggests that diagnosticians should admire not House, MD, but rather NPR’s Car Talk mechanics, Click and Clack: Car Talk, like most forms of technology and media, offers advantages and conveniences … Continue reading →

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SF/F as a lens for looking at the law

Posted on November 1, 2011 by cicada

As Arthur C. Clarke once put it, technology is — at some sufficiently advanced tipping point — “indistinguishable from magic”.  An interesting question that follows from that realization is this: how big a difference is there, really, between the law … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film, Video & Music, Gender Issues, Littademia, Neuroscience, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

The Golden Age of Scientific Computing?

Posted on February 17, 2008 by cicada

In a Friday session at the AAAS conference here in Boston, Dr. Chris Johnson of Utah’s Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute showed this short video encapsulating some of his team’s striking 3D imaging innovations. He also made what I think … Continue reading →

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The Mona Lisa, Genes, and Money

Posted on February 13, 2008 by cicada

One of the questions an artist hates most is what is your artwork worth? Price is a subjective, unsatisfactory proxy for emotional angst, frustration, eyestrain, and time. Sometimes I find that NO (reasonable) value can compensate for the emotional investment … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Ephemera, Film, Video & Music, Littademia, Photography, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

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

The Woods: a beautiful anti-lullaby

Posted on November 10, 2007 by cicada

The Woods: a stop-motion music video for Polly Paulusma, by artist Rima Staines. You can read Rima’s account of her creative process here, at her blog. Paulusma’s song is a sort of bittersweet version of the Hansel and Gretel myth. … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Film, Video & Music | 3 Comments

Wired Science on PBS

Posted on October 3, 2007 by cicada

AC Gilbert chemistry set, 1922 From Wired Science on PBS Tonight is the premiere of a new PBS science series, Wired Science. My fear is that, as with so many other science programs, it will be the kind of staccato, … Continue reading →

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