mini-post: D.C. wanderings, a photo-blog

[slideshow] A few comments: 1. NMNH in the captions = National Museum of Natural History, aka the Smithsonian’s absurdly fun enormous collection of dinosaur bones, a giant squid, the Hope diamond, meteorites, BUGS, elephants, a crochet coral reef that lives up...

mini-post: science and engineering fair photos

[slideshow] N: I had a conversation at the awards ceremony with John Mather about kids and science. John’s argument was that kids are natural scientists — and that the problem we’re facing is not how to interest kids in science; rather, the challenge...
K-tron and Slugnads do D.C.

K-tron and Slugnads do D.C.

This will be a “LIVE, recorded during an earlier broadcast” blog post. We will update as much as possible. *NOTE: We have updated to the point of arrival back in California. We’ve added some flavorful text message exchanges and additional photos...

Show Me

In graduate school, I studied a group of jellies called siphonophores. Most people had never heard of them, except for the Portuguese Man-O-War. (I have now taught spell-check the word ‘siphonophores’) As part of my research, I took pictures of my...
The moment of uncertainty

The moment of uncertainty

Flushed from my rush back to the office, I throw open my laptop, slam in the USB cord, and hold my breath. A small moment of panic. Is it there? Is it entact? The file transfers, iTunes bounces awake, and the tinny voices of victory sing my success. Glory be, my...

Social media, journalism, and expressing opinions

Our class was visited by NPR’s Richard Harris today. What followed was a fascinating look at what makes radio different from print, and some inside looks at how NPR does such great science reporting for radio. But that’s the subject of a whole different post. Towards...

Plastic Pink Flamingos

You’ve heard of the old prank where someone takes your pink flamingo yard ornament (or garden gnome) and sends you photos of it posing in front of the Eiffel Tower and other destinations? I think it’s a wonderful tradition, and if I could bear the sight of...

Interview tips

I’m not the sharpest tack in the box. De-mystifying science, the job of a science writer, is difficult for me because I am easily mystified. I feel comfortable in my world of wildlife biology, but when I venture out to cover physical science stories in...