Science Lush

The Lush List 8/19/15: Raw Science TV and Netflix's Project Mc2

Project Mc2 Dolls + A Netflix Show = A Winning Formula

So sorry about the pun...couldn't help myself!

But that's just because I'm excited and intrigued by the new Project Mc2 dolls, described on their Toys R Us listing as "a team of four super-smart and seriously cool girls who use their love of science and their spy skills as they go on missions for secret organization, NOV8™ (that's "innovate"!)."

For once, I'm hoping that the copy lives up to its promise. The dolls also come with experiment kits, such as the DIY volcano that comes with the Adrienne Attoms doll.  

The toy launch is accompanied by an original, live-action Netflix series of the same name, starring Ysa Panerojo ("Camryn Coyle"), Victoria Vida ("Adrienne Attoms"), Mika Abdalla ("McKeyla McAlister") and Genneya Walton ("Bryden Bandweth"). Writing credits so far include Katiedid Langrock and Jordana Arkin (Melissa & Joey, Significant Others), and the show's Executive Producers include AwesomenessTV's Brian Robbins and Shauna Phelan, both of whom have tons of experience creating content for young audiences. According to an article on Fortune.com, additional Project Mc2 content will be featured on AwesomenessTV, DreamworksTV and YouTube. 

 
Official trailer for Project Mc2 Netflix series

It's hard to believe that this STEM-oriented brand comes from MGA Entertainment, the same company that brought us the Bratz dolls. But Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA, has a personal connection to the Project Mc2 brand. He studied civil engineering at California Polytechnic State University, and according to the Fortune.com piece, was surprised to find that even now, women make up only about 15% of the class. Additionally, he was inspired by his daughter, an entrepreneur. He hopes the show and the product line will encourage other young girls to follow in her footsteps and become innovators. From Fortune.com:   

Larian thinks that by targeting girls in elementary school and early middle school, Project Mc² will impart a pro-STEM message to girls, as well as boys and families, that much sooner. The dolls are targeted to girls ages 6 through 10, while the series demo is targeted to ages 6 through 13.

“Hopefully, this is just the beginning. We’d like to expand the project even further. Because if you’re [studying STEM] and your girlfriend is doing it, and your sister is doing it, how long before everyone is doing it, and then STEM becomes cool?” Larian says.

If you're looking for an alternative to Barbie dolls or the next show for those kids who have grown out of Odd Squad or Miles From Tomorrowland, Project Mc2 is definitely worth checking out.  

h/t: Fellow Sciren Taryn O'Neill 

Raw Science Film Festival is Now Open for Entries

The 2nd Annual Raw Science Film Festival, which features films on science and technology, is now taking entries for the December 5th, 2015 event. This year's theme is "Virtual Reality." 

You can find all the entry details here, but here's an overview of the main things to know: 

• The festival accepts both fiction and non-fiction films
• Both students and professionals can submit and will compete in different categories based on a combo of length and format. 
• The festival has some very cool judges from the worlds of science and entertainment, including Bill Nix (AMPAS, “The Prophet"), Paul Hynek (Giant Studios - LOTR, Avatar), Joel Hynek (Visual Effects - The Matrix), Liz Keim (The Exploratorium), Hussain Currimbhoy (Sundance Institute), Iram Parveen Bilal (Josh, The PhD Movie) and Rick Loverd (The Science & Entertainment Exchange). Kip Thorne will judge the“Kip Thorne Gravity Award." 
• The submission deadline is November 6, 2015. 

The festival is presented by Raw Science TV, an online network that produces and distributes on-demand videos, news and original programming about science and technology. Entrants should note that according to the festival rules, all finalists and winners grant Raw Science the right to air their “Winning Entries” on Raw Science NETWORKS for 12 months. If you have exclusivity agreements with other entities, I suggest contacting the festival before entering to find out more details and find out if it's an issue. 

For more information on the festival, click here. Need some inspiration? Read about last year's winners, or watch this video of 3D Systems designing and creating the first ever Raw Science Film Festival Awards for the 2014 event and imagine it taking up some room on your shelf. 

3D Systems Creates the Raw Science Film Fest Trophy

 

 

 

Marvel's Ant-Man Micro-Tech Challenge

I love it when creative, imaginary life supports STEM action in real life! Last week I talked about the new scholarship named for The Big Bang Theory established to support low-income students at UCLA pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This week, I'm excited to spread the word about another entertainment entity encouraging STEM education: Marvel's Ant Man Micro-Tech Challenge.  

The contest is designed to inspire and encourage scientifically-minded young women, and the winners will receive a trip to the Hollywood premiere of Marvel's Ant-Man, meetings with innovators from Walt Disney Imagineers, and a tour of the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA, as well as a leadership role in a local workshop focused on building their creation.

Want in on the action? Here's more information from the contest site: 

MARVEL, DOLBY LABORATORIES, VISA, and RASPBERRY PI are looking nationwide for girls – just like you – ages 14-18 in grades 9-12 to create and share micro-technology based DIY projects they have built using readily accessible and found materials. Upon completion of the contest, build instructions for the winning projects will be provided to a STEM based girls program in the winners’ home community. Each winner will have the opportunity to lead a workshop in building her project for the selected program in her community.

Each MARVEL’S ANT-MAN: MICRO-TECH CHALLENGE applicant will design and build a DIY project using at least one inexpensive and readily available micro-technology component of her choosing. Projects can be utilitarian, artistic, or just plain fun.

After completing their projects, applicants will be asked to submit a short video demonstrating the projects and explaining how their projects will inspire other girls to pursue interests in science, technology, engineering, or math.

While the trip to LA is super-cool, one of the things I really love about the way this contest is structured is the hometown community element, where each winner's project will be featured in a local girls' workshop. There is a lot of talk about the "leaky pipeline" when it comes to girls and their interest in STEM, as they gravitate away from STEM education and careers at different stages of their lives. In "Fixing the 'Leaky Pipeline' of Women in Science and Math," Suzanne Bouffard looks at Nilanjana Dasgupta and Jane Stout's research on the topic. She writes: 

During childhood and adolescence, girls internalize stereotypes from parents, peers, and the overall culture that STEM courses and careers are for boys. It is telling that boys are more interested in STEM activities than girls by age 10, well before performance differences emerge, because the pattern suggests that interests drive the performance differences, not the other way around. Studies show that girls tend to value communal goals like collaboration, altruism, and social problems, and they often don’t see the many ways that STEM careers can target these goals.

Dasgupta and Stout recommend that schools, community institutions, and parents:

• Make STEM activities more personally meaningful to girls’ lives
• Show links between STEM careers and communal goals
• Expose girls to more female role models through museums, after school programs, and summer camps.

Kudos to Marvel's Ant-Man Micro-Tech Challenge for attempting to patch up the pipeline in several ways, including engaging high school girls in a project about which they are personally passionate, creating a community of winners with the group trip to LA, and turning the girls themselves into role models for other young women when they return home and lead their project workshops.

Applications will be accepted until 9:00pm PDT, June 11th, 2015. For contest rules and requirements, head over to www.ant-manchallenge.com. 

H/T: Superherohype.com

 

 

 

The Lush List: Sundance 2014 Edition - Science & Technology Films

The slopes are empty and the theaters are full in Park City, Utah, which can only mean one thing - it's time for Sundance. The 30th anniversary of the festival kicked off on January XX with 121 feature films, plus a plethora of shorts, panels and events. Nestled mong the gritty relationship dramas, star-studded character pieces and international gems are always at least several films that riff on or are inspired by science and technology. Here's a look at this year's crop, which includes stories across a wide variety of genres ranging from romantic drama to a Western to documentary film.

**Descriptions for the films and events have been taken from the Sundance Film Festival Guide.

 
I ORIGINS
Screening in Premieres
Dir: Mike Cahill


Ian Gray, a PhD student studying molecular biology with a specialty in eye evolution, leaves his lab to go to a party and has an intense, but fleeting, encounter with a mysterious, masked model who escapes into the night. With only a picture of her stunning and iconic eyes, he tracks her down, and they fall in love. Their fundamentally different beliefs about life only serve to intensify their connection, and they vow to spend forever together. Years later, Ian and his lab partner, Karen, make a stunning discovery with profound existential implications. He must risk his life's work and his family to travel across the world to find the truth behind what he has found and what it may mean.

Writer/director Mike Cahill returns to Sundance (Another Earth screened at the Festival in 2011) with a new, enthralling exploration of the connective tissue between love and science. He casts Brit Marling again, as well as Michael Pitt and Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, and utilizes their onscreen chemistry to vigorous effect. As emotionally moving as it is intellectually stimulating, I Origins solidifies Cahill’s position as a distinctive cinematic voice.

 
YOUNG ONES
Screening in Premieres
Dir: Jake Paltrow

Water is running out. Land has withered into something wretched. The dust has settled on a lonely, barren planet. Not long from now, the hardened survivors of the loss of Earth’s precious resources scrape and struggle. Ernest Holm, played by Michael Shannon, lives on this harsh frontier with his children, Jerome and Mary. He defends his farm from bandits, works the supply routes, and hopes to rejuvenate the soil. But Mary's boyfriend, Flem Lever, played by Nicholas Hoult, has grander designs. He wants Ernest's land for himself, and he means to get it.

Grounded by pitch-perfect performances, writer/director Jake Paltrow's sophomore effort reverently strips down genre tropes, inventively layering Greek tragedy over an ethereal narrative that’s steeped in the values of the American West. With a visceral application of cinematic and theatrical shorthand, and a passionate storytelling sense, Young Ones quickly establishes a distinct, fully realized universe and never lets go.

ALIVE INSIDE: A STORY OF MUSIC & MEMORY
Screening in U.S. Documentary Competition
Dir: Michael Rossato-Bennett

Video from the director from the film's Kickstarter campaign

As dementia continues to affect millions of elderly Americans, Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory reveals a remarkable, music-based breakthrough that has already transformed lives. Spearheaded by social worker Dan Cohen and captured on camera over the course of three years by filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett, we learn that songs from a patient’s past can awaken memories and emotions that have been asleep for years, sometimes decades. Within a moment of hearing “I Get Around” by the Beach Boys, Alzheimer’s patient Marylou jolts back to life, dancing around the living room and expressing a euphoria her husband hasn’t witnessed since her illness took effect. Countless instances in Alive Inside provide proof that music stimulates activity in dementia-affected parts of the brain and transforms the quality of life of those often left to languish in silence.

Through revealing conversations with renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks and musician Bobby McFerrin, as well as powerful firsthand experiments conducted by Cohen in nursing homes, this groundbreaking documentary demonstrates how connecting the elderly to the music they love not only combats memory loss but also supplements a broken health-care system often indifferent to interpersonal connections.

DINOSAUR 13
Screening in U.S. Documentary Competition
Dir: Todd Miller

On August 12, 1990, in the badlands of South Dakota, paleontologist Peter Larson and his team from the Black Hills Institute unearthed the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found. It was the find of a lifetime—the world’s greatest dinosaur discovery. They named their dinosaur Sue.

Two years later, when the FBI and the National Guard showed up, battle lines were drawn over ownership of Sue. The U.S. government, world-class museums, Native American tribes, and competing paleontologists became the Goliath to Larson’s David as he and his team fought to keep their dinosaur and wrestled with intimidation tactics that threatened their freedom as well.

Dinosaur 13 chronicles an unprecedented saga in American history and details the fierce battle to possess a 65-million-year-old treasure. With consummate skill, filmmaker Todd Miller excavates layer after layer, exposing human emotion in a dramatic tale that is as complex as it is fascinating.

The film has been acquired by Lionsgate and CNN Films.

THE INTERNET'S OWN BOY: THE STORY OF AARON SWARTZ
Screening in U.S. Documentary Competition
Dir: Brian Knappenberger

As a teenager, Aaron Swartz was a computer-programming prodigy with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. After emerging as a pioneer of Internet activism, education, and politics, he was indicted on multiple federal charges in 2011 and 2012, setting off a complex chain of events that left the Internet community reeling. Shortly thereafter, at the age of 26, Swartz was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Brooklyn apartment. His family, friends, and supporters immediately blamed the prosecutors of the case, who aimed to put him in jail for 35 years and brand him a convicted felon for life. Swartz was persecuted for the very rights and freedoms for which he stood, and that ultimately broke him.

Weaving together home video footage and anecdotal interviews from his closest confidants, Brian Knappenberger creates a dynamic portrait of a precocious boy who grew up to lead the Internet community into a new age of data sharing and free speech.

 
COOTIES
Screening in Park City at Midnight
Dirs: Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion

Elementary schools have given birth to great thinkers, innovative scientists, and inspiring leaders. They are also malignant cesspools, teeming with grime and disease.

Directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion’s first film, Cooties, focuses on the virulent underbelly of grade school. Except this time, the bug that’s going around is transforming the student body from spazzes, tattletales, and brats into deranged, cannibalistic mutants. After an uncharacteristically blood-soaked recess, the surviving teachers and students band together in a desperate attempt to leave the building without being permanently dismissed.

This appealingly preposterous scenario comes together in a hilarious script by cowriters Leigh Whannel (the creator of Saw) and Ian Brennan (the creator of Glee). The strong ensemble cast includes Elijah Wood as a failed writer-turned-underwhelming substitute teacher, Alison Pill as his childhood crush, Rainn Wilson as a mustachioed gym teacher, and Jorge Garcia as a drug-addled crossing guard. Nasim Pedrad and Jack McBrayer are welcome additions to the roster.


THE SIGNAL
Screening in Park City at Midnight
Dir: William Eubank

Nick and Jonah are MIT freshmen with a passion for hacking. While driving cross-country through Nevada with Nick’s girlfriend, Hailey, they follow rival hacker Nomad’s clues to a location 180 miles away. After a terrifying confrontation with Nomad in the middle of the desert, the trio regain consciousness in captivity. Struggling to comprehend the true nature of their confinement, they discover they are part of a plot much larger than themselves.

With his second sci-fi feature, William Eubank continues to prove that grand scale can be achieved on any budget. Starring up-and-comer Brenton Thwaites as Nick and Laurence Fishburne as his stoic captor, The Signal is a contemporary genre film with heart and imagination to spare. Beautifully shot and energetically directed, it lets the circumstances behind the trio’s imprisonment slowly unravel, leading to an epic and mind-blowing conclusion.

 

TO BE TAKEI
Screening in Documentary Premieres
Dir: Jennifer M. Kroot




TK Note: While technically this isn't a film about science or technology, I couldn't leave a film about Takei off of this list. Between his iconic role in Star Trek and his use of social media, he occupies a unique place at the intersection of art and science.

George Takei doesn’t shy away from digging into his remarkable career and personal life in Jennifer Kroot’s delightful and incisive film To Be Takei. As a child forced into Japanese-American internment camps, the actor-turned-activist reveals the ways that racism affected him well into his early acting career, where he played stereotypical Asian stock characters in film and television shows. Even after landing the iconic role of Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek, Takei’s sharp eye, coupled with his wicked sense of humor, continued to challenge the status quo well into the twenty-first century.

Now at 76, nine years after formally coming out of the closet, Takei and his husband, Brad, have become the poster couple for marriage equality, highlighting homophobia through television interviews and hilarious skits, many of which have gone viral and garnered widespread attention. Whether dishing on William Shatner or parodying the now-infamous comments made by Tim Hardaway, Takei proves time and again why his presence in popular culture remains as fresh and necessary as ever. - H.V.

 

LOVE CHILD
Screening in World Documentary
Dir: Valerie Veatch

In 2010, a South Korean baby named Sarang died of malnutrition. The death of a child is always horrific, but the circumstances leading up to this one were even more shocking: Sarang died because her parents were playing games online. Ordinarily, this would be a clear case of negligence, but Love Child takes a different approach by looking at what led to the parents’ gaming addiction and how their child became a secondary concern. The film then expands from this tragedy to examine the way that South Korea’s place as the world leader of Internet infrastructure has adversely affected its communal society.

Director Valerie Veatch skillfully weaves a story of personal tragedy together with social commentary. Instead of merely condemning the parents, she shows how embracing technology can have unforeseen negative consequences. By interjecting footage from the game the parents loved to play into the film, Veatch vividly conveys how intoxicating these games can be and shows how easily the lines between real life and virtual reality can blur.

WEB JUNKIE
Screening in World Documentary
Dirs: Shosh Shlam, Hilla Medalia

China is one of the first countries in the world to label overuse of the Internet a clinical condition. To combat what authorities deem the greatest social crisis for youth today, the Chinese government has created treatment facilities to detox and cure teenagers of their addictions to online life.

But what starts out as an already-fascinating look at ways that technology may be destroying the lives of Chinese youth quickly becomes something more. As the unorthodox psychological sessions continue and the teenage boys begin to share with their parents the reasons why they feel more connected to disassociated voices in cyberspace than to their families, Web Junkie chronicles the results of a nation going through one of most drastic transformations in human history. In honest and wrenching ways that transcend national borders, this film is a thoughtful examination of a society in flux and a technology-addled generation on the precipice of an unknown future.

 

PANELS

EXPLORATORY DETOURS
Part of the Free Fail program

One of the enduring human enigmas is that so many iconic endeavors—from Nobel Prize–winning achievements to entrepreneurial inventions and works in the arts—are not discoveries but conversions, corrections after failed attempts.

Moderated by author, scholar, and curator Sarah Lewis, whose upcoming book The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery explores this theme across myriad disciplines from science to athletics to music and art. Exploratory Detours takes a look at this intriguing issue.

By pulling together science, scholarship, and philosophy, we can better understand the fascinating relationship linking creativity, failure, and mastery that extends far beyond the familiar platitudes. What does it mean to have grit? How does validation work? What can we learn from the way jazz musicians improvise? Our diverse group of panelists look at the ways irreplaceable gifts spring from failure in creative endeavors.

Panelists include: Sarah Lewis (author, The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery), Charles J. Limb, MD (Dr. Limb studies the neural mechanisms behind deep creativity, especially in relation to music and other art forms), Jill Soloway (director, writer, and producer for the film Afternoon Delight, and TV series such as Six Feet Under and United States of Tara), Chris Stone (President, Open Society Foundations), and Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford.

THE COSMIC CROSSROADS

Whether it’s searching for life in the universe or searching for results in a lab, scientists often have a number of theories but are not quite sure what they will find. It’s an enigma that compels filmmakers regularly, but it also brings up an interesting question about process that unites science and storytelling. How do you see what’s not there? How do you form narratives? How do imagination, logic, creativity, and empiricism ally in film’s creative mix? Moderated by Flora Lichtman (multimedia editor, Science Friday, NPR), this year’s group of scientists, Kevin Hand (deputy chief scientist, Solar System Exploration, NASA) and Jill Tarter (SETI Institute), and writers, Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, The Darkest Hour) and Max Mayer (Adam), discuss their work as well as good and bad science-in-film. Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

AFTER SUNDANCE: EMBRACING CHANGE
New Frontier panel

Learn from former Sundance filmmakers who have paved their own path in this changing media landscape and embraced new models of business, technology, and content creation at this very special “show-and-tell” panel. Moderator Chris Horton (director, #ArtistServices, Sundance Institute) along with Jill Soloway (director, Afternoon Delight), Tiffany Shlain (filmmaker and founder, The Webby Awards), Jared Geller (producer, hitRECord), and Dennis Dortch (CEO/founder, BLACK&SEXY.TV) share their tales of creation and innovation. You can also get a sneak peak at Soloway’s television pilot Transparent.

THE BEAUTY OF FAILURE
Part of the Free Fail program

How does embracing risk and failure drive the creative process? Creating something new goes hand in hand with the risk of failure, which the New Frontier artists confront with every project. These artists continue to push boundaries and embrace the new in both their work and their lives. Join Aaron Koblin (creative director, Google Creative Lab), Sam Green (filmmaker, Weather Underground), Jillian Mayer (artist/filmmaker, director #PostModem), Nate Mitchell (Oculus Rift), and Mike Stubbs (FACT) as they share what it takes to be on the vanguard of art, film, and technology, and how overcoming failure can lead to some of their best work. Moderated by Ruby Lerner (executive director, Creative Capital).

 

THE STORYWORLD: CREATING INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES THAT WORK
New Frontier Panel

Actively incorporating your audience members gives them permission to become part of the story rather than mere observers. But letting go of authorship can be tricky. How do you create effective, yet compelling, interactive experiences that audiences want to be part of? Join us for a creative, mind-opening, and inspiring conversation as we break free of the linear narrative and discuss the innovative and rich world of interactive storytelling with artist/director Chris Milk (Sound and Vision, Arcade Fire’s Wilderness Downtown), artist and computer scientist Jonathan Harris (I Love Your Work, I Want You to Want Me, Cowbird), game maker Nick Fortugno (cofounder and CCO, Playmatics), Sep Kamvar (professor, MIT), Nate Mitchell(VP Product, Oculus Rift), and transmedia leader Susan Bonds (CEO, 42 Entertainment). Moderated by Charles Melcher (founder, The Future of Storytelling [FoST] Summit and Melcher Media).

HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON YOUTUBE
New Frontier Panel

YouTube's top creators, learn the key strategies filmmakers can use for creating successful content on YouTube that keeps audiences engaged and coming back for more. The session explores questions you should ask yourself when developing new online content and provides examples of the way YouTube offers filmmakers the opportunity to have creative freedom and reach a wide audience.

Iron Man Science

Last week I had a blast hosting Marvel.com's Live Red Carpet show for the IRON MAN 3 premiere. The movie comes out on May 3rd in the U.S., so I thought it'd be fun to take a look at some of the science behind the sci fi in the IRON MAN films.

STARK INDUSTRIES TECH

The Marvel Cinematic Universe all begins with the comics, and in this piece on ScientificAmerican.com, E. Paul Zehr goes back to the source with "Iron Man's Top 10 Heavy Metal Moments: Reflections on the First 50 Years of Scientific R&D from Stark Industries." 

Zehr traces the development of Iron Man armor all the way from its "birth" in March 1963's TALES OF SUSPENSE #39, through the suited-up fight scene between Tony Stark and Col. James Rhodes (soon to be War Machine) in IRON MAN 2. Some of the upgrades along the way have included changes in color, a more modular suit that's storable, an waterproof exoskeleton, and a neural interface.

Getting into the suit has become easier as well - the first Marvel IRON MAN film introduced motorized robotic equipment for dressing Stark. And although it's not mentioned in Zehr's "Top 10" list, I was a big fan of the "suitcase suit" in IRON MAN 2.

While Zehr says that, "Right now we don’t even have the technology to safely dress Tony Stark in the Iron Man as shown in the robotics, let alone create the Iron Man armor itself," he points out that there are a few other elements that we're a bit closer to realizing. For example, inventor Phil Nuytten has created "swimmable" Newtsuit and Exosuits that seem to share some design elements with the Iron Man exoskeleton in INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #218  “Deep Trouble” (1987), in which Iron Man hits the water.

For a deeper dive into Zehr's take on the reality of creating an Iron Man suit, check out his book INVENTING IRON MAN: The Possibility of a Human Machine.  

 
A REAL IRON MAN SUIT?

Discovery News also attacks this topic with a fun piece - and some nice pics - on the realities of various features of the Iron Man suit. Exoskeleton systems? In development. Head mounted display? Already functional in military and engineering applications. Repulsors? Unfortunately, not going to show up in our world any time soon.

As we know, Tony is proud of his rep as a tinkerer, and loves spending time in his lab...something that causes some problems between him and Pepper at the beginning of IM3. Here's what the piece has to say about Tony's latest additions:

"Iron Man 3" introduces at least one new technology to the Stark armor, although the details are sketchy indeed. Early in the film, Tony Stark is seen experimenting with a substance that he injects into his bloodstream, which then allows him to telepathically summon his armor to him across great distances. Each piece of armor has its own rocket system and latches onto Stark automatically after it flies across the room (or the country, as the case may be).

As a sci-fi conceit, the concept combines ideas of nanotechology, biotechnology and long-range wireless communications. Stark has also developed a system for remotely piloting Iron Man suits from the ground. The suits essentially become unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, a recurring concern in movies these days. In real-world news, just this month the FAA will begin allowing civilian agencies to fly UAVs weighing no more than 4.4 pounds in U.S. airspace.

THE ARC REACTOR

Emory University did a series of videos titled EMORY LOOKS AT HOLLYWOOD featuring faculty members applying their areas of knowledge to some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters. In this 2010 video, Sidney Perkowitz, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Physics, gives his take on the possibilities for a real suit and gets specific on the science behind the power source. 

He, too, suggests that an Iron Man-type of suit is a real possibility in the near (or not so near) future, given the current experimentation with exoskeletons. The military has spent a lot of money building them, and while it'll probably be quite awhile until they cover us head to toe and have a complete neurally integrated sensory system, Perkowitz believes "A walking kind of Iron Man that is stronger than the average soldier, I think clearly that can happen." Sadly, he wasn't so optimistic about the flying part.

A power source is necessary in order for an Iron Man suit to work, especially for the advanced functions. Perkowitz explains that though there are indeed ARC reactors in the real world, their uses are not quite as flashy as what we see in the IRON MAN films.

He says, "As far as I can judge from the film, what Tony's ARC reactor means is a fusion reactor...this idea of making energy by smashing together two hydrogen nucleii and turning them into helium. That's what goes on in our sun. It's a great power source. Physicists have worked on this idea for 60 years. They haven't made it work yet."

Part of the issue is size. Perkowitz explains that in reality, the machines that would generate this would be the size of a building. However, Tony Stark has managed to create a device that will do this same smashing together of hydrogen nucleii in something that's about 3 inches in diameter.

The film actually quotes the power level that Tony's ARC reactor puts out, and Perkowitz was intrigued enough to do some calculations. He determined that the reactor puts out somewhere between 1-16 million horsepower. 1 million hp is the equivalent to 2000-3000 Corvettes...so we're talking about something pretty damn powerful coming out of a device the size of a hockey puck.

If one could actually manage to do this, then Perkowitz says that the Iron Man suit could do just about anything, from punching through walls to - yes - even flying! 

The Lush List: 1/21/13 - Sundance Edition

The Sundance Film Festival is in full swing in Park City, Utah, and while I'm not missin' the snow and the cold, I am sad to miss the opportunity this year to binge on independent film for a week. But at least the magic of the Internets is giving me the opportunity to experience a litte bit of the festival from afar.

Sundance usually has at least a few films that deal with science and technology themes, and this year's festival is no exception. Selections from the Sundance's rich slate of documentaries take a more literal approach, while the narrative and experimental pieces at the festival use these themes as a jumping off point for engaging storytelling and flights of fancy. Here's a look at what the 2013 has in store. Descriptions for the films and events below have been taken from the Sundance Film Guide.

PANDORA'S PROMISE
Screening in Doc Premieres.
Dir: Robert Stone

The atomic bomb, the specter of a global nuclear holocaust, and disasters like Fukushima have made nuclear energy synonymous with the darkest nightmares of the modern world. But what if everyone has nuclear power wrong? What if people knew that there are reactors that are self-sustaining and fully controllable and ones that require no waste disposal? What if nuclear power is the only energy source that has the ability to stop climate change?

Prolific documentarian Robert Stone and environmentalists, scientists, and energy experts share the reasons why they have changed their minds from being fiercely anti– to strongly pro–nuclear energy. The film directly attacks popularly held reasons to oppose nuclear energy, including fear of another disaster like Chernobyl, the problem of waste, and the weakness of clean alternatives like wind and solar energy. Whatever your stance, Stone’s compelling film opens Pandora’s box and promises to change the conversation for years to come. With the world’s unquenchable thirst for energy and its resulting threat to our environment, the stakes may be nothing less than the survival of the planet.

WHEN I WALK
Screening in Doc Premieres
Dir: Jason DaSilva



It all started on a family vacation. In 2006, the 25-year-old, vital, handsome, talented Jason DaSilva was on a beach with his family when, suddenly, he fell down and couldn’t get back up. Doctors told him he had multiple sclerosis, and it could lead to loss of vision and muscle control, as well as a myriad of other problems. Jason decided to exercise more, but the problem just got worse. So he turned to his mom. She reminded him that he was a fortunate, privileged North American kid who had the opportunity to pursue the things he loved most—art and filmmaking. So Jason picked up the camera, turned it on himself, and began filming the slow, difficult decline of his body and the miracles he encountered along the way.

An emotional and inspirational documentary that is a pleasure to watch, When I Walk is an energizing and self-generating film experience whose creative engine is its young filmmaker’s determination to live and his ability to make sense of being plagued by a devastating disease through the art of cinematic storytelling.

VIRTUALLY HEROES
Screening in Midnight
Dir: G. J. Echternkamp

A sarcastic, self-aware character in a video game, Sgt. Books, becomes frustrated by the screwy logic of his universe: the pointless battles, superpowerful bosses, and an endless supply of virtual Vietcong. He can’t get the girl who appears at the end of each level, and he can’t get through to his gung-ho partner. To find answers to the questions posed by his odd existence, Books abandons his mission and seeks help from a straight-talking monk, delightfully played by another onscreen hero who also once received words of wisdom from a man in a robe.

The first Roger Corman production to screen at the Sundance Film Festival, Virtually Heroes is a war picture, a satire of video-game culture, a buddy comedy, and an existential mind trip wrapped up into one outrageous film that works on many surprising levels. Injecting the low-budget/high-concept film with a full dose of razor-sharp wit, director G. J. Ecthernkamp embraces the base and the profound as he seeks to unlock the cheat codes of life.

Interview with Director G. J. Echternkamp and producer Roger Corman. 

UPSTREAM COLOR
Screening in U.S. Dramatic Competition
Director: Shane Carruth

Kris is derailed from her life when she is drugged by a small-time thief. But something bigger is going on. She is unknowingly drawn into the life cycle of a presence that permeates the microscopic world, moving to nematodes, plant life, livestock, and back again. Along the way, she finds another being—a familiar, who is equally consumed by the larger force. The two search urgently for a place of safety within each other as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of their wrecked lives.

Shane Carruth’s sensuously directed and much anticipated sophomore effort (his feature debut, Primer, won the Sundance Film Festival 2004 Grand Jury Prize) is a truly remarkable film that lies beyond the power of language to communicate while it delivers a cohesive sensory experience. With its muscular cinematic language rooted in the powerful yearnings felt before words can be formed, Upstream Color is an entirely original, mythic, romantic thriller that goes in search of truths that lie just beyond our reach.

For more:
Hollywood Reporter review

 jOBS
Screening in Premieres
Director: Joshua Michael Stern

In 1976, college dropout Steve Jobs heralded a revolution within the confines of his parents’ garage. Jobs, along with friend and technical wizard Steve Wozniak, unleashed the “homebrew” Apple 1 personal computer kit onto an unsuspecting public, producing 200 units by hand and shipping each one themselves (monitor and keyboard not included). Apple Inc. was born, and the world would never be the same. Today hundreds of millions of users around the world remain tethered to the remarkable products that Jobs championed—his impact on the world of technology was undoubtedly colossal, but his effect on our culture was simply immeasurable.

Although the road that Jobs traveled to become CEO of the company he cofounded was a tumultuous one, director Joshua Michael Stern unfurls his story with relative ease, and Ashton Kutcher’s highly nuanced portrayal of the technology icon adroitly captures the essence of a man who changed the way we live.

BLACKFISH
Screening in U.S. Documentary Competition
Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Many of us have experienced the excitement and awe of watching 8,000-pound orcas, or “killer whales,” soar out of the water and fly through the air at sea parks, as if in perfect harmony with their trainers. Yet, in our contemporary lore this mighty black-and-white mammal is like a two-faced Janus—beloved as a majestic, friendly giant yet infamous for its capacity to kill viciously. Blackfish unravels the complexities of this dichotomy, employing the story of notorious performing whale Tilikum, who—unlike any orca in the wild—has taken the lives of several people while in captivity. So what exactly went wrong?

Shocking, never-before-seen footage and riveting interviews with trainers and experts manifest the orca’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity over the last four decades, and the growing disillusionment of workers who were misled and endangered by the highly profitable sea-park industry. This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans have learned from these highly intelligent and enormously sentient fellow mammals.

For more:
CNN Films and Magnolia Pictures Acquire Documentary 'Blackfish' at Sundance

#PostModem
Screening in Shorts Competition
Directors: Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva

A comedic, satirical, sci-fi pop musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, #PostModem is the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets.

 

PANEL: ONCE UPON A QUANTUM SYMMETRY: SCIENCE AND CINEMA
Ever since Méliès shot a rocket to the moon, cinema has had a wondrous fascination with science and technology. Movies can show us the working science of today, and with surprising prescience, the science of tomorrow. During our ten-year collaboration with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which aims to encourage more realistic and compelling stories about science and technology themes and characters, we’ve traveled from synapses in the brain to distant galaxies – hitting different corners of spacetime along the way, and proving that both scientists and filmmakers are creative, imaginative, speculative, and adventurous. Join Jon Amiel (Creation, Sommersby, Entrapment), Scott Burns (writer, Contagion, Pu-239, The Informant and producer An Inconvenient Truth), Dr. André FentonDr. Lisa Randall (Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science, Harvard University, author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World) with moderator Paula Apsell (Senior Executive Producer, Nova and Nova ScienceNow, Director, WGBH Science Unit) as we continue the journey.

Jon Amiel is an English film director who has worked in film and television in both the UK and the US. After studies in English literature, Amiel graduated from Cambridge University and ran the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare Company, which often toured the USA. He worked as a story editor at BBC before directing the critically-acclaimed TV series The Singing Detective. He has directed for TV and film, and is currently in production on his latest feature film.

 

NEW FRONTIERS
The New Frontiers section of Sundance is a social and creative space that showcases media installations, multimedia performances, transmedia experiences, panel discussions, and more.

EYJAFJALLALOKULL
Playing in New Frontiers
Director: Joanie Lemercier

Inspired by the 2010 Icelandic volcanic eruption that wreaked travel havoc across Europe, Eyjafjallalokull is a stunning, three-dimensional, audiovisual mapping installation that challenges audiences’ perception of space by creating an optical illusion that transforms the walls of New Frontier into a sweeping digital vista that artistically recreates the seismic event.

NEW FRONTIERS PANELS

The Magic of MIT
When you think about the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, filmmaking, civic activism, and cultural criticism are probably not what come to mind. A visiting crew of MIT professors and students present some of their story-oriented and story-enabling work. This panel is moderated by Kamal Sinclair, senior manager of the New Frontier Story Lab, and features projects from the Object-Based Media Group and the Open Documentary Lab.

Tablet Storytelling Takes Off
When multimedia tablets popped up a few years ago, many of us wondered why we'd ever need a second, “dumber” computer. Filmmakers and artists saw something else entirely and started hacking together DSLR rigs, shooting interactive documentaries, and inventing new formats such as album apps and RGBD. This panel is moderated by Wendy Levy, executive director of the New Arts Axis, and features Scott Snibbe (Björk’s Biophilia, Beck’s Rework: Philip Glass Remixed), Greg Pak (Vision Machine), Eli Horowitz (Silent History), and Loc Dao (Bear 71, Circa 1948).

The Lush List: 12/11/12 - Star Trek Into Darkness, Geminds and Advice from Neil Gaiman

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS TRAILER & FIRST 9!

All I can think of is "Khan Khan Khan" when I watch this "announcement trailer" for the new Star Trek movie, but according to most of the press reviews of the first 9 minutes, we're going to have to wait to find out more about the villian of Into Darkness. The opening of the movie will be playing before IMAX screenings of The Hobbit starting on Friday, but if you just can't wait, io9.com has a round up of what the critics who were given a sneak peek have been saying.

EYE ON THE SKY

If you're a fan of meteor showers, you're in for a treat this week. The annual Geminids show lights up the sky, peaking on December 13th. As explained on Space.com, one of the reasons for the great show has to do with the origin of the shower.

The Geminids, unusually among meteor showers, are the leftovers of an asteroid (most showers originate with comets). They are caused when rubble from the asteroid hits Earth's atmosphere, lighting a path through the sky as it burns up.

The fact that the Geminid-causing debris comes from an asteroid and not a comet makes the particles denser and more durable than the typical cometary particles that make up other showers, said NASA's Bill Cooke.

As many as 100-150 meteors may be visible during peak times in dark areas. Alas, Los Angeles is not exactly what I'd call prime viewing territory, so I'll be relying on others' pictures to get my meteor fix.

TIPS FOR WORKING IN THE ARTS

I stumbled across this gem of a list from horror/fantasy/sci fi writer Neil Gaiman, which is drawn from a speech he gave to the graduating class at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. As the year draws to a close and thoughts turn to year-end evaluations and resolutions, here are a few ideas to inspire you for 2013. 

1. Embrace the fact that you’re young. Accept that you don’t know what you’re doing. And don’t listen to anyone who says there are rules and limits.
2. If you know your calling, go there. Stay on track. Keep moving towards it, even if the process takes time and requires sacrifice.
3. Learn to accept failure. Know that things will go wrong. Then, when things go right, you’ll probably feel like a fraud. It’s normal.
4. Make mistakes, glorious and fantastic ones. It means that you’re out there doing and trying things.
5. When life gets hard, as it inevitably will, make good art. Just make good art.
6. Make your own art, meaning the art that reflects your individuality and personal vision.
7. Now a practical tip. You get freelance work if your work is good, if you’re easy to get along with, and if you’re on deadline. Actually you don’t need all three. Just two.
8. Enjoy the ride, don’t fret the whole way. Stephen King gave that piece of advice to Neil years ago.
9. Be wise and accomplish things in your career. If you have problems getting started, pretend you’re someone who is wise, who can get things done. It will help you along.
10. Leave the world more interesting than it was before.

[Source: Open Culture]

 

 

NASA Social: Curiosity Rover Landing

What's the next best thing to going to Mars?

Being at Mission Control when the Curiosity Rover lands on the Martian surface!!

I am incredibly stoked to report that I'll be taking part in NASA Social, a program that gives special access to specific NASA events to a group of folks active on social media. I've been chosen to be part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, and will spend 3 rockin' days at the Jet Propulsion Lab from August 3rd - 5th learning about the program, touring JPL, and witnessing the final prep for and landing of the MSL Curiosity rover. I cannot imagine what it's going to be like to be present when the first signal of the rover's landing is detected by JPL mission control, but rest assured, I'll be tweeting the hell out of it!! So stay tuned to @tamarakrinsky at 10:31 pm PDT on August 5th.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be doing a lot of reading and research in prep for the event (I don't expect to become a rocket scientist overnight, but I'd like to be able to at least ask the scientists some intelligent questions). Expect ScienceLush to be astronomy-heavy for a bit, as I pass along the tidbits of my Googling to you, dear S'lushees.

And that starts right now, with the fantastic video CHALLENGES OF GETTING TO MARS: CURIOSITY'S SEVEN MINUTES OF TERROR. In the vid, scientists detail the harrowing final minutes of Curiosity's journey from when it hits the Martian atmosphere to contact with the planetary surface. This phase of the mission is called EDL - Entry, Descent and Landing - and involves six different vehicle configurations, 76 pyrotechnic devices and an insane number of calculations and adjustments that all need to take place without help from Mission Control.

And why are the scientists letting the rover do this final leg of the journey on its own?

Because they don't have a choice. It takes approximately 14 minutes for signals from Mars to reach Earth. Which means that by the time we here on the Blue planet start receiving information about the EDL phase, Curiosity will already be on the surface of the Red planet...hopefully in functioning form.

Thank goodness I'm not a nail biter...though I might need to have a serious stash of M&M's on hand...

And because you know I'm all about the Art as well as the Science, here's an interview KPCC's Patt Morrison did with producer/dirctor John Beck. The video is garnering quite a li'l following on YouTube: since its posting on June 22nd, the video has racked up approximately 678,000 views. In addition to directing the video, Beck also composed the music, which greatly adds to the sense of drama.

In the interview, Beck talks about his desire for the film to capture the vulnerability of the risk-taking inherent in the undertaking. When putting the piece together, he said he thought about what it would be like if he were sitting in the movie theater watching the story of this mission.

I am a bit of a comment voyeur, and my favorite one from this radio interview is from "sandor", who excitedly urges JPL to get the video into movie theaters, where (s)he suggests it should play as a preview before all of the summer blockbusters. I actually think it's a great idea - it's a great way to draw attention to the space program and inspire both kids and adults to embrace math and science. After all, as sandor so eloquently puts it, "Do it! You're landing on flipping Mars again."

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll tell you more about the NASA Social experience, but for now I'll leave you with a resource for a detailed mission timeline. Check out Spaceflight 101's MSL Landing Special - thanks to @susanbellfilm for passing it along.

 

Lush List 6/18/12: Udacity courses, Materials Science photos and LA Film Fest

Udacity courses

When it comes to higher education, I've often wondered when we'll switch to a model of distance learning. As four-year universities become pricier, ya' gotta think that at some point, somehow it'll be possible to just stay home in our jammies, stream our lectures, participate in weekly study groups via Google hangouts, and save a hell of a lot of money on room and board.

Sebastian Thrun is bringing that model a little closer to reality. His new venture, Udacity, is offering a selection of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), beginning on June 25th. In addition to Intro to Physics, the free classes include Algorithms: Crunching Social Networks and Intro to Statistics: Making Decisions Based on Data.

The idea is pretty simple: courses are broken down into units; each unit comes with corresponding homework; there are forums where you can interact with instructors and other students; and some classes offer the opportunity to take a certified exam, which does have a cost attached to it. For more details, check out the Udacity wiki.

Just because the classes free of charge, though, don't think you're getting off easy. Thrun was tenured at Stanford, where he taught artificial intelligence, and helped invent the self-driving car at Google. He was intrigued and inspired by the possibilities of online learning after teaching a MOOC on AI at Stanford. While Udacity students won't get an established University's recognition for their coursework, they might get something else more valuable - a job. Udacity is working directly with companies who are seeking employees with specific skill sets.

For more on MOOCs: Instruction for Masses Knocks Down Campus Walls [NYTimes]

Stats or physics not your thing? Open Culture has a list of 500 Free Online Courses from Top Universities.

 

Intro Video for Intro to Statistics.
I have actually signed up for this...remains to be seen if I am disciplined enough to tune in regularly when there's not a real grade at stake.

 

Science As Art

This very purty video from the Materials Research Society features a collection of photographs from their "Science as Art" competition. As described on their site:

Visualization methods provide an important tool in materials science for the analysis and presentation of scientific work. Images can often convey information in a way that tables of data or equations cannot match. Occasionally, scientific images transcend their role as a medium for transmitting information, and contain the aesthetic qualities that transform them into objects of beauty and art.

As a special feature of recent MRS Meetings, we have offered the popular Science as Art competitions, with entry open to all registered meeting attendees. 

My favorite images are Sedat Canli's "Rising Moon" and "Nano Graveyard" by Steven Herron.

[Source: Maria Bellantone]

Los Angeles Film Festival

So many movies, so little time!

The LAFF is in full swing in Downtown Los Angeles, with tons of movies, panels and events to satisfy your cinematic yearnings. Here are a few selections that might appeal to S'Lush readers...descriptions taken from LAFF program guide...

Robot and Frank: Frank is an aging ex-con, played to perfection by Frank Langella, living alone in a house filled with clutter and memories. When his son insists on buying him a robotic caretaker, he is quite resistant, futilely searching for an off switch on his new housemate. Over time, however, the two come to an understanding and even a friendship. But when Frank begins to re-explore old vices, it leads both him and his cybernetic pal down a dangerous path. With supporting performances by Susan Sarandon, James Marsden and Liv Tyler, Robot & Frank is a comic look at the very near future of family and friendship.[For a clip, check out EW's piece on the movie from Sundance]

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World: In this comedy that explores the funnier side of the apocalypse, an asteroid is hurtling through space on a collision course with Earth. Unlike some who decide to party their way out, Dodge, played to perfection by Steve Carell, is taking the news rather calmly, content to putter around his empty apartment until the end. Then he meets Penny, his spirited neighbor from across the hall, played in a delightful turn by Keira Knightley. With a stack of LPs clutched under her arms and a letter from Dodge's high school sweetheart in her hand, she convinces him to try and get his life together even as the world is falling apart.

The History of Future Folk: Sent to destroy the human race, General Trius, the most decorated soldier from planet Hondo, has a change of heart when he hears music for the first time. Taking on the alias Bill Hunt, Trius settles down in Brooklyn, where he starts a family and plays bluegrass banjo at the local tavern. When an assassin from Hondo comes to kill Trius, the two quickly bond over the power of music and form Future Folk — think Flight of the Concords from space. The duo rocks the house every night, but can they save Earth and Hondo from certain destruction in this wonderfully odd, surprisingly sweet sci-fi musical comedy?

 

 

 

The Lush List: 6/5/12: Time Travel and Physics from the International Space Station

1)Flicks: SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED

"My calibrations are flipping pinpoint." 

This week in "Off Hollywood: The Five Best Indie Movies To See This Month," Leonard Maltin recommends a few quality flicks which you probably won't see advertised on huge billboards or via a tie in with your local fast food joint. Included in his round up is SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, which hits theaters June 8th.The film was inspired by an actual classified ad placed by a man seeking a compantion for time travel, and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Colin Treverrow and written by Derek Connolly, it follows three cynical magazine employees as they look for the story behind the classified and discover supermarket clerk Kenneth, who believes he's solved the riddle of time travel and intends to depart again soon.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I can only imagine that Kenneth would be inspired by the announcement from a group of physicists at CERN in Sept. 2011 that they had seemingly detected neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light. While the scientists were careful not to draw any overall conclusions about the results of their experiment, if it turns out to be true, it could change the way we think about time travel.

Intrigued?
-For an overview of the experiment, check out "Neutrinos and the Speed of Light - A Primer on the CERN Study" by Brian McLaughlin.
-For a more detailed breakdown of what this announcement means (or doesn't!) for time travel: "Faster-Than-Light-Discovery Raises Prospect of Time Travel" by Stephanie Pappas.

 

2)Web series: SCIENCE OFF THE SPHERE

Tubefilter.com just did a write up about this web series featuring chemical engineer and NASA astronaut Donald Pettit exploring and presenting “fantastic physics that can only be demonstrated in micro-gravity"...which is a lot easier to do when you are hangin' out on the International Space Station!

You can find the entire series on Physics Central's YouTube channel. Too lazy to click over and choose a video to start with? Here's one of my trippy favorites, in which Pettit uses his computer speakers to test the behavior of corn starch, a non-newtonian fluid, in the weightless environment.

3) Welcome Home, Dragon Capsule

"Looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail!"

I got a little misty (or should I say Musk-y?) when Space X's Dragon capsule headed back to Earth last Thursday. As the first privately developed ship to make a round trip to the International Space Station, I found myself filled with hope and awe for our future in space (now if I could only get over my claustrophobia problem...damn those suits...). In a piece in the Chicago Tribune, mission director John Couluris said:

The ability to get to (the) space station on our first time, to not only rendezvous but then to berth, transfer cargo and depart safely are major mission objectives. We would call that mission alone a success.

Here's a video of the historic consummation.

 

 

 

 

The Lush List: 07/18/10: Summer Entertainment Options

1)INTOXICATING MOVIES: INCEPTION

While not strictly science-related, I saw Inception last night and had to post about this smart, gorgeously shot movie that will satisfy your desire for popcorn action thrills as well as provide some more deeply nourishing food for thought.  If The Matrix, 2001 or Blade Runner hold any fascination for you, get your butt into a theater to check out Christopher Nolan's latest. I won't give away any other details from the film because you should see it without knowing too much about it, but I'll just add that Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento) continues to remain one of my favorite filmmakers. 

2)ONLINE SHOWS: JOE GENIUS

If you don't feel like hoofing it to the theater for your entertainment, check out Joe Genius, the new online show from Revision3. As described by their PR materials, "Joe Genius highlights home-grown Newtons who experiment, tinker, and yes, blow stuff up in the name of science. And it's all caught on tape! Join [comedian] Jonah Ray as he whizzes through these geniuses' most epic failures and thrilling successes -- and of course, the science behind it all."

The show features online vids from citizen scientists and students - some that go well, others which go horribly wrong. The first episode focus on chemistry, and includes such experiments as mixing rubbing alcohol and chlorine, concocting homemade rocket fuel, and an endeavor titled "watermelon versus liquid nitrogen."

Much like G4's new show It's Effin' Science, the show approaches science like an extreme sport, accompanied by comedic commentary. I am curious about the very last line of the show, which states that the show is "brought to you in part by the National Science Foundation"...interesting...will let y'all know when I find out more...

3) PBS'S HISTORY DETECTIVES

The PBS show History Detectives traces the history, mythologies and family legends behind found objects. This year, as part of the 8th season space-themed premiere, the show made a direct interactive pitch to viewers to help solve the mystery of whether or not a miniature piece of collaborative art was snuck aboard the Apollo 12 space mission, possibly created by Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and others. It's a story of collaboration between engineers and artists, cryptic telegram messages and the fascination with getting a teeny bit of oneself up into space. The show's producers ask the public to help solve the mystery here and over 170 viewers have already done so. 

Watch the full episode. See more History Detectives.

[Source: Cynopsis Digital]

4)NSA GEEKY AFTER DARK

Many folks get through the hot summer by heading out to the pool club. The folks at the NSA have a different idea of how to blow off steam. A post on Wired's Danger Room blog details how NSA staffers get down & dirty after work. Turns out that hacking at top levels during the day isn't enough for these guys - they continue their exploits in 12 different "Learned Organizations" after the work day is done. From the Wired post:

Most of the clubs revolve around cryptoanalysis, communications analysis and language translation. Which is pretty much what employees at the NSA do from 9 to 5 — and, it seems, still shell out $15 in annual fees to do on evenings and weekends, too. But at least on evenings and weekends, snacks are involved...

The clubs offer more than chips & dip. In addition to the work they do, the Crypto-Linguistics Association (CLA) has an International Cookbook; the KRYPTOS Society has an annual literature contest; and the Crypto-Mathematics Institute (CMI) has a fondness for word puzzles.

I'd love to sit in on a meeting of the Pen & Cursor Society (P&CS), which sponsors “creativity seminars,” where members are invited to “explore childhood memories,” “break rules!” and “fertilize the garden in which you grow ideas.” I'd even bake some killer cupcakes if they'd let me come play, but alas, the clubs are only open to NSA Staff.