I Can Get Science

You've had the flu three years in a row. The first year, you got it from Bob, the IT guy, who sneezed while updating your computer. The second year, you got it from Harry, who touched the tab on the water cooler after sneezing into his hand. The third year, you got it from Linda because she made out with Harry, and Harry's wife got the flu from their kids. Gross.

Scientists know how to have a good time. Just ask Yahoo Serious about when he played Young Einstein. That guy really knew how to par-tay! To see for yourself this Halloween, host your very own Mad Scientist Halloween Party. Check out these ideas to really get your party started. You'll be amazed at how easily you can transform your digs into a Spooky Laboratory!

Just last month, Hubble Space Telescope's main instruments were idled by a computer failure, but not to worry, thanks to NASA engineers, who successfully transferred the work of the failed science data downlink computer to a backup system, Hubble is up and running just a couple of days after the orbiting observatory was brought back online.

When I was an undergraduate, I had to read Bram Stoker's Dracula for a class called, "Myths of the World." The novel is composed of first hand accounts, diary entries, letters and newspaper clippings to add validity to the story, so as you're reading it, you begin to think--it's real. There I was one night, in my San Francisco apartment, huddled in my bedroom with all the lights on reading:When the Count saw my face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demonic fury, and he suddenly made a grab at my throat. I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there. - Bram Stoker's Dracula

Tricking students into learning with fun has always been a ploy of educators. When I was a kid, my kindergarten teacher, tricked my class into enjoying reading by serving eggs and ham that were dyed green. In sixth grade, while studying Ancient Egypt, we made papier-mache sarcophagi. To this day, I still remember well Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham (I will not eat them, Sam I am), and I know what the heck a cartouche is. Nowadays, students are embracing this same concept, incorporating their interests into their fields of study and making learning fun. They’re studying what they feel passionately about. And what has always interested college students?--Beer. Duh. 

It's no news that women were historically excluded from the "boys club" of science but women scientists date as far back as Ancient Greece, and perhaps further. In more recent years, they have become essential to the scientific community. Several of the women listed here are sisters or wives of scientific men. During their times, women were forced onto the backburner but, given equal rights and freedoms, might have overshadowed their masculine counterparts. Some even disguised themselves as men and most, if not all, faced tremendous adversity. They have been chosen for this list because their contributions to science cannot be ignored, nor forgotten. 

I'm obsessed with the apocalypse. No joke. I always carry a mini-emergency kit stuffed in an Altoids tin, and I know that if the apocalypse comes, my husband and I are supposed to meet at our apartment, grab our pre-packed bags, maybe the cat, and head for the hills. We own a Grundig self-powered radio with hand crank and charger for cell phones with various adapters. Survival manuals. Canned food. Bottled water. Check. Check. Check.Zombies, watch out! We're armed. Nuclear attack? No prob--we've got pills for that.But what if the apocalypse isn't zombies? What if it's not radiation poisoning we've got to be worried about? What if it's simply some giant celestial object bearing down on us?--I'd need several pills to handle that. Sounds improbable? Think again. Illustration by LYNETTE R COOK

This summer, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Take this quiz to find find out how NASA knowledgeable you really are.You consider yourself a staunch supporter of space travel. As a child, you spent many a day lying under your mother's dining room table, pushing imaginary overhead buttons in your very own spaceship. When Apollo 13 opened in movie theaters, you spent all 140 excruciating minutes questioning its historic accuracy while your date slumped over snoozing. You even know that Starfleet Headquarters is located in San Francisco. But how much do you really know about NASA, the US agency that's been pushing to explore that final frontier for the last fifty years?

It drives me mad when I hear a guy complain that he eats and eats but can’t gain weight, and that he resorts to drinking protein shakes to “bulk up.” [Insert world’s smallest violin playing here.] Excuse me? Did I hear him right? He gorges himself when I’ve sworn off pasta, meat, birthday cake--my only nutritional intake: a bottle of water and a carrot stick between classes, all so I can decrease my bulk? Argh. But really, Pfizer (and those men) take the cake even when it comes to Lipitor.