Jasper National Park – Canadá
(via fyeahgeology)
BEN WEBER
SK8ORD!3
Armpit Cheese?
Every time I am reminded of Christina Agapakis’ unique twist on synthetic biology research, I smile. It’s such a wonderful blend of design, art and pure cool. I had the pleasure of helping her with one of her “body bacteria” projects at this year’s SXSW conference.
To put it bluntly, the cheeses you are looking at were cultured using bacteria swabbed from the armpits (and elsewhere) of human bodies. The species of bacteria living on us, and the volatile (read: “smelly”) compounds that they produce aren’t that far off, chemically speaking, from what we normally find in cheese. I mean, some cheese smells like feet because feet smell like feet bacteria, know what I mean?
It challenges our perception of what is “gross” and what is “good”. Check out Christina’s site to read more about this cheesy project, and follow her Scientific American blog, Oscillator.
Want more cool/gross synthetic biology projects? Check out E. chromi, a project to use colored poo to diagnose medical conditions.
so cool
(via fyeahsciencenerds)
Some quotes about climate change from a growing collection I keep. Here’s the comic on my site.
(via fyeahsciencenerds)
when people ask me what jobs there are with my degree, after slapping them in the face I’ll show them this photo.
“Actually, there are two basic theories about how the universe was created. There is a scientific explanation: that the universe began to expand about 13.7 billion years ago and continues today to do so. And there’s an explanation offered by people who believe that angels are real… People who suggest that we teach children competing theories are using a sophisticated code to further the forces of creationism.”
— Michael Specter responds to Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s comments in GQ magazine about the age of the Earth. Continue reading. (via newyorker)
(via newyorker)
Happy Carl Sagan Day!
On what would have been his 78th birthday, here’s a selection of Sagan-inspired GIFs to honor the late sage of science and science popularization. The garden of our mind would not grow as rich if it weren’t for people like Carl, and without him, many people like me certainly wouldn’t be talking science at you all the time. He’s my greatest inspiration as a teacher, and I don’t think I’m the only one.
What’s that? You want more than just some GIFs? Okay! Click here or here to find pretty much all of my Carl Sagan posts, ever. My apologies to your productivity.
(several of these GIFs via GifMovie, the Time Traveler at the Solvay Conference is by me, and others source unknown)
(via geologise)
