Science Comedian

Godspeed, John Glenn: 50 Years of Americans in Orbit

February 20th, 2012

On February 20, 1962, perched atop an Atlas rocket, John Glenn was blasted into space at 17,500 miles per hour.  He splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean about five hours later, having orbited the Earth three times, the first American to do so.

Our most recent video for Time.com is a tribute to John Glenn, NASA, and 50 years of Americans in orbit. I wrote it, Tara Fredette was cameraman, and Jim Fields edited.

Godspeed, John Glenn…

Link:
http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1461672138001_2107230,00.html 

My 25 Mundane Neutrino Explanations

September 22nd, 2011

Today I had the most fun I’ve ever had on Twitter, thanks to the OPERA experiment working out of CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider.

The blogosphere is ablaze with news that they seem to have detected neutrinos traveling faster than light.  If true, it would be the biggest science news of the century, overturning one of the most fundamental concepts in physics.  There is obviously much skepticism amongst scientists.  For a typically insightful explanation, check out Bad Astronomer Phil Plait‘s post:  Faster-than-light travel discovered? Slow down, folks

The Twitter fun began when a discussion between two physicist/mathematician-types, Blake Stacey (@blakestacey) and S.C. Kavassalis (@sc_k) led Blake to tweet:

@sc_k Maybe we need to counterbalance the HEP blogohedron with a Twitter meme? e.g., #mundaneneutrinoexplanations

Then he spun out a few funny examples of more mundane explanations for the unusual neutrino measurement:

• #CERN physicists did arithmetic on old Pentium computers
• #CERN physicists let undergrads near the experiment
• Calculations done by visiting Americans who still don’t get the metric system.

…  all with the #mundaneneutrinoexplanations hashtag appended.

I think I was the first one to follow his lead with:

• Forgot to carry the one
• Confused neutrino with one sent later
• Study published by Wakefield et al

Then @drskyskull and @physicsdavid and others joined in (even astophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Bad Astronomer) and, before you know it, the Twitterverse was alive with funny explanations, some of which may be as likely as superluminal neutrinos.  I ended up spitting out about 25 of them, which I present here, as they were tweeted, in reverse chronological order (so start from the bottom).  Enjoy!

My Love Affair with Space

July 7th, 2011

On the eve of the final mission of NASA’s – and the nation’s – 30-year-long space shuttle program, I present to you a video love letter – my newest piece for Time Magazine’s website, wherein Tara and I journey to Florida to witness our first launch.  STS-133, in February, was the last mission of space shuttle Discovery…

Click for bigger version at Time.com

Link:
My Love Affair with Space on Time.com

Lunar Eclipse Defined by Wikipedia

June 15th, 2011

In celebration of today’s lunar eclipse, Google‘s logo features an animated moon.  When you click through, as usual, you get a page of related search results.

A little while ago, one of the top results included a surprising definition of “lunar eclipse” from Wikipedia:

According to Wikipedia:

Lunar eclipse: A lunar eclipse is when the moon turns black and explodes, releasing a poisonous gas, killing all of humanity.  Of course this can occur only when the Sun, …

The page had already been corrected by the time I saw it.  But the false definition was apparently cached and showing up in Google’s search results, until a little while ago.

I love Wikipedia. But it’s still funny.

Check out the page devoted to Google Doodles.

Rooster T. Feathers in Sunnyvale

May 5th, 2011

Science comedy fans, unite!  For one evening in Sunnyvale, California!

April Fool’s Tribute to Thomas Edison

April 1st, 2011

Last year, for April 1st, I was asked to make a guest post to a GE blog called Edison’s Desk.  So I made this April Fool’s Tribute to Thomas Edison.  I had a lot of fun with the links – try ’em all!

I must really be an April Fool because this is a big day for me.  I’ll be on NPR’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow – to talk about science and comedy with my friends Tim Lee and Norm Goldblatt.  The show streams live from 11am to 1pm Pacific/2-4pm Eastern, in addition to airing on your local public radio station.  Listen to it here.

Then later tonight I’m emceeing a great STEM education event (STEM = Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) in the planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences.  It’s called STEMPosium and it’s an evening to honor some fantastic education innovators.  This event will be live streamed from their website at 7:30pm Pacific. Check it out!

Wherein Science Comedian Interviews Science Writer Carl Zimmer

March 31st, 2011

I am guest hosting Dr. Kiki’s Science Hour today while Dr. Kiki is on maternity leave.  My guest this week is science writer Carl Zimmer, whom I met at the ScienceOnline2011 conference in January.  Hm.  In fact, that’s where I met last week’s guest, Greg Gbur, as well.  Good thing I went to that.

Carl is an amazing writer.  I’m currently reading his book Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life.  It’s about life and evolution, as seen through the lens of the most well-researched microorganism.

His latest book is Planet of Viruses which will be out in hardcover from University of Chicago Press on May 1.

Carl also has a book about science tattoos coming out later this year.  Here is a recent post about Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed.

His growing collection of science tattoos resides at his Science Tattoo Emporium.

Visit his blog The Loom on Discover Magazine’s website.

He’s also written on evolution (Evolution: Triumph of an Idea and the textbook The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution).  And I just received the brand new edition of his ten-year-old book about parasites:  Parasite Rex.

I also have his first book (which he says is his favorite):  At the Water’s Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea

Here is a recent (Sept. 2010) article on consciousness at the NYTimes.com.

A list of great science books for high school students.

Carl’s Slate article about the controversy surrounding the NASA study of arsenic-based life – “This Paper Should Not Have Been Published”

Follow me and Carl on Twitter:  @sciencecomedian and @carlzimmer.

My “Virus Walks Into A Bar” series of jokes on YouTube.

Dr. Richard Lenski’s Experimental Evolution Lab at Michigan State University has an evolution odometer on the front page, tracking how many generations of E.coli the lab has bred – over 50,000 generations, so far!

Oh – and listen for me on NPR’s Science Friday tomorrow.  The show streams live (and airs on your local public radio station, too, probably) from 11am-1pm Pacific/2-4pm Eastern.  Listen here.

Robots Attack! My new Singularity video on Time.com

February 10th, 2011

I have a new video up on Time.com about the Singularity.  If you don’t know what it is…  find out here.  I wrote it.  Craig Duff shot and produced it.  Jim Fields edited.

The video complements Lev Grossman’s new Time Magazine feature story on Ray Kurzweil.

Link:
When Robots Attack! Should We Fear a Singularity?

Upcoming San Francisco Shows

January 24th, 2011

Science Comedian Street Team: Activate!  Please forward via email, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, telegraph, semaphore, smoke signals, and telepathy.

I have two(2) big San Francisco shows coming up – plus, a bonus appearance at Ignite SF.  One show is this week, part of SF Sketchfest – the others are just around the corner:  February 8 and 9.  Details and links… to more details and links:

This Wednesday, January 26, see two one-man shows for the price of one.  At the Eureka Theatre, comedian and cartoonist Michael Capozzola will present his food-themed multimedia show “Regurgitated,” and I’ll be doing my latest science comedy: “Spontaneous Emissions.”  Joining us will be the amazing Mike Meehan for a special cameo.

Wednesday, February 9, join me at the San Francisco Punch Line Comedy Club for an evening of science humor – again, “Spontaneous Emissions.”  My good friend Ngaio Bealum will join me as a guest performer.  Call the club and make reservations in advance!  This show will sell out.

And for something a little different…  the 2nd Annual Global Ignite Week is coming.  I’ll be participating in the San Francisco event at Public Works on Tuesday, February 8.  Ignite is an evening of 5-minute talks with 20 slides each, that auto-advance every 15 seconds.  Presentations are by artists, technologists, and other thinkers – designed to be of interest to geeks.  16 speakers!  A huge variety of topics.  My presentation will be called “How Wine Saved the World.”  True story.  Be there!

And, seriously – even if you’re not in the SF Bay Area, please forward this link to someone who is!  Thanks!

Science Online 2011

January 5th, 2011

Jan. 13-16, 2011 – ScienceOnline2011, Research Triangle Park, NC

I’m thrilled to be attending and participating in ScienceOnline2011 – the fifth annual conference on science and the web in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.  My first time!  I’ll be leading a session with Joanne Manaster on communicating science with humor, and I’ll be speaking/performing at the Saturday night banquet.  I’m looking forward to reconnecting with some friends and making some new ones.

#scio11