Multimedia
Video blogs, video series, podcasts, science art, photo essays
#554 Coders
Tech, computers, code, security vulnerabilities, hacking elections... We hear about the technical change, but what about the subculture of tech and coders that brought it about? Who are these people who -- in the words of our guest today - "are among the most quietly influential people on the planet"? Rachelle Saunders digs into this topic with writer Clive Thompson, author of the new book "Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking…
Whole Question
I’ve definitely found myself flying through a question, only to look up fifteen minutes later and realize I only had to find part of the answer.
Entangled
The issue (and great thing) about mathematics and physics is that you need to build up from the foundations. Unfortunately, that means you can rarely just “pick up†a topic without having to look at several other connected ideas.
Ocean sunfish tattoo tribute
Once in awhile, people seek my permission to use one of my illustrations as the basis for their tattoo. Most recently, Shumpei Maruyama asked about using my illustration of the ocean sunfish (Mola mola) for some skin art. Shumpei is a PhD candidate in Integrative Biology who is studying coral-algal symbiosis, but has long had an interest in the Mola mola because “the name is goofy as heck, they’re enormous, they classify as plankton in…
Poster Template
#553 Scan All Fishes
This week is all about fish. All about ALL the fish, actually. Biomechanicist Adam Summers shares about his adventures in studying fish and CT scanning them. Adam and a community of researchers are working to take 3D scans of all known fish on Earth: some 34,000 species and counting. New host Carolyn Wilke and Adam discuss the project, the diversity of fish — fish that fight, float upstream, cling to rocks and more - and…
Holes
Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider
As someone who enjoys any compelling story that’s well told, I’m a fan of Stephen B. Heard‘s new book Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider; How Scientific Names Celebrate Adventurers, Heroes, and Even a Few Scoundrels, published by Yale University Press March 17, 2020. It’s full of thoughtfully considered stories behind the names that scientists give to species, and I think people of all backgrounds will find it to be engrossing, accessible, and delightful. The author is an evolutionary ecologist…
Mountain of Mathematics
Really? I thought that as soon as I finished my undergraduate degree, all of math was essentially the same, but a bit more difficult.
