Me, but Italian

I was interviewed a week ago by an Italian Master’s student in science communication, Chiara Ceci. We had a great conversation, and she turned it into a podcast. It’s kind of weird to hear myself translated. If you are interested in hearing what I had to say, or in brushing up on your Italian you can take a listen here.

TWISmas

I am a huge fan of the holiday season. Not for christmas persay, but for the general spirit of the season. I just got my very first very own xmas tree ever. I decorated it this evening with lights borrowed from friends, stuffed animals, mini disco balls, a hand-puppet, and my keychain collection.

Enjoy!

Yummy Chocolate

I just finished shooting an episode of Food Science that’s all about chocolate. It should be coming out in a month or so… whenever all the post-production is finished. But, in my recent infatuation with the dark and tasty treat, I came across this website about chocolate from the American Chemical Society. It is… ahem… choc full of great information.

Pretty Picture

I love Hubble…

Thanks For Science

I am incredibly thankful for science. I thank science for allowing me to see the world with objectivity. I thank science for allowing me to see the world as it is, an amazing, awe-inspiring place. I thank science for giving me tools with which to learn more about my world. I thank science for never sitting still, but always striving for more. I thank science for challenging the status-quo. I thank science for teaching me that it is ok to subvert the dominant paradigm when knowledge necessitates a change. I thank science for the technology I use and the medicine I take. I thank science for the food that I eat and the buildings in which I live. I thank science for pushing humanity’s limits. I thank science for verifying and falsifying human beliefs. I thank science for making life easier and yet more complex all at the same time. I thank science for the information that will help me make an educated decision. I thank science for finding cures. I thank science for never saying that it is 100% certain. I thank science for always asking questions.

Do you have a reason for being thankful for science?

Something I never expected

So, searching for a story for TWIS, I entered “Scientists Trap a Rainbow” into Google’s search field, and this is what came back:

Unicorns Arising

PZ Meyers at Pharyngula likes our Unicorn site. He posted about us. Yay!

Robots…

Amen

Unicorns

Over at This Week in Science we are having a contest to create a billboard for our future Unicorn Museum. My friend Casey came up with the idea, and I am running with it like a bat outta hell. The billboard will be installed across from the Creation Museum in Kentucky if all goes as planned. But, in the meantime, we are working on a website for the museum, and taking entries for the billboard. Eventually, people will be able to vote for their favorite billboard design, and with enough donations from kind folks we may see a dream become a reality. Unicorns facing off against Creation.

Some might get the impression from many of my posts that I am anti-religion, but that is not the case. I just have an extremely short fuse when it comes to dealing with people who misrepresent science. There may have been some act of creation by some greater being at some point in history. I have no way of knowing that. But, to twist scientific evidence or to completely disavow it because it doesn’t agree with ones beliefs is unforgivable.

You might be the nicest person in the world, but if you think the world is 6000 years old you are ignorant of and blind to the world around you. If anything is a sin it should be the benighted thinking that young earth creationists are marketing to the masses.

Let’s all open our eyes to the fact that the scientific mis-information that the Creation Museum is peddling is from the Dark Ages, and that is where it belongs. Not here in the 21st century.

So, now that I’ve opened myself to all sorts of abuse, let’s all think about Unicorns for a minute.

Doesn’t that make you feel better?