The Daytime Astronomer

Ever want to be interviewed by big time media?  I'll tell you the two secrets to getting your message out.  I'll be talking about the Project Calliope extreme DIY satellite project on NPR's "All Things Considered" this Saturday (July 24), sometime after 5pm.  And while I honestly have no idea what the final edit will sound like, I'm insanely pleased to have been invited.How did I get on NPR?  How can you?  I will tell you the 2 secrets I've learned to getting noticed by the media.

Ever wonder what the future of space tourism will be? This series of posters (from the same collection as last week's spaceport illo) in neo-retro style clearly presents your options.

GPS will die, sending airplanes crashing and sinking boats.  Cell phones will fail, stranding travelers and resulting in people in remote areas dying due to exposure.  Worse of all, our TV may go out for a few hours.These are some of the doomsday scenarios prophecied in the current "Chicken Little" coverage of space weather, as the sun ramps up towards Solar Maximum during the same decade that our society has become perilously dependent on advanced technology.So where's the science?  The science is standing behind Chicken Little, simultaneously crying "pay attention to us" and "stop overselling us, you media hacks!"

Last night, while gym climbing with a science manager, I found he also did outdoor climbing, hiking, and yoga.  Yoga is a great exercise system.  Scientists need healthy bodies to match our super-healthy minds.  Yet a websearch on 'Yoga for Scientists' reveals nothing about how Yoga can help Scientists!  Well, except for "Yoga-- Naked Scientists Discussion Forum" (go ahead, I know you want to look).

NASA is dead.  Jedi killed it.Used to be, growing geeks wanted to go to Space Camp.  To fly rockets, to mimic operating a shuttle, to #$^ing be an astronaut.  It was engineering and space heaven.  Based on an idea tossed out by rocket god Wernher von Braun and given life in 1982 by a state agency, it was all about to know what it’s like to train like an astronaut."We have band camp, football, cheerleading; why don't we have a science camp?" [von Braun]

'Hollywoood's job is not to educate but to entertain and inspire', but it turns out they find science inspirational.  In the Going Hollywood podcast, you can listen (or read) about just how scientists get to, well, Go Hollywood.There are 3 ways for a scientist to enter that bastion of decadence we call "where I'd like to be".  The first is basically a dating service for Movie Makers and Scientists.  Since Nov 2008, Jennifer Oullette has run the "Science and Entertainment Exchange", a National Academies of Science program that is in LA, that tries to match scientists and writers.

Which would you rather eat-- cotton candy, a volcano, or broken glass?  Turns out they're the same thing.  Ivan Amato breaks this news in Volcanic ash and cotton candy share molecular characteristics with glass (a Washington Post science special).Here's a quick science primer on what's what: Glass is an imperfectly arranged solid.  Crystals have nearly perfect geometric arrangements of their atoms&molecules, like a neat stack of oranges.  Glass is the same thing with disorder-- Amato's analogy is 'a fallen stack of oranges (with some grapes and such mixed in)'.

"What is autism" is a medical science question.  "How can people with autism adapt to society" is a social science question.  "Why would someone pay to see a movie in a theater with the lights on, the sound turned down, and anyone in the audience able to dance or yell during the show" is a scientificblogging.com question.Movie chain AMC runs a monthly sensory friendly film.  And in their own words: The auditoriums dedicated to the program have their lights up, the sound turned down and audience members are invited to get up and dance, walk, shout or sing!

Support for science comes in many forms. I've discussed being a research scientist and what citizen scientists can do when they donate their time. Now let's bring up the third leg of the Tripod of Science-- cash. This is about the triumph of capitalism over adversity.There are so many causes one can give to. Haiti received huge economic support because, for whatever reason, they caught the public's fancy and got significant media attention. That's hard to predict, or arrange.

How often do you hear a song featuring Bill Nye? Well, often-- it's part of his shtick.  But to hear him remixed with 3 other science populist greats, that's a treat.  It's "We Are All Connected (feat. Sagan, Feynman, deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye)  from Symphony of Science (one of several original music vids there).  Excellent work with adding reverb, echo and autotune to make a nice bit of electronica.  Falters a little at the 2 minute mark, but ends strong.  Thanks to my friend Danny O'Neill for pointing this Earth Day treat!

The PBSKids show "Arthur" ran an episode featuring a new character, Carl, who has Aspergers Syndrome.  Aspergers is either an autism-like condition or a form of high-functioning autism, depending on which definition you subscribe to.  Its marked by good intelligence and memory, difficulty learning social cues, and a tendency towards non-supervillian monologuing about a favorite topic.And how good a job did they do of portraying an Aspie?  The show already has an asthmatic kid (Buster), ADHD twins (the Tibbles), and a woody-alleneque neurotic (George), so it's not like Carl will really stand out.

Princeton researchers found that high-fructose corn syrup-- the basic sweetener is sodas and just about everything-- causes more weight gain that sugar.  Calorie for calorie, rats got fatter on the corn syrup than on sugar.And at the same time, PepsiCo has released 'Throwback' products-- Pepsi sodas made with sugar instead of corn syrup.  So if researchers are saying sugar is better for you, we need to check which tastes better-- corn syrup or sugar?