Science is the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena. Thats a really big definition, and covers so many studies. The experimental investigation part is the most fun, don’t you think? My younger daughter Gothgrrl loves to do “experiments”, especially when I’m working outside or napping. One day I followed my nose and found her playing with a lit candle in her room. She had taken a piece of a 2x4, covered it in a layer of peanut butter, and then covered the peanut butter in a layer of candle wax. What are you trying to find out? I asked. I dunno, she answered. So much for theoretical explanation. Another time, she put dishwashing liquid in her sister’s Froot Loops to see what would happen. What happened is Princess refused to eat them. I caught her just as she was trying to serve the mess to the neighbor’s dogs. Good thing I did, or we’d have bubbles every time they barked, which is all the time.

Experiment Gone Wrong. (via Gorilla Mask)

Science Fair projects that are a bit “different”.

From Popular Science: The Scariest Ideas in Science. Read about undead viruses! Killer foxes! Soldiers who never sleep! And other frightening laboratory developments. Plus, this article has awesome graphics! (via Mental Floss)

When dinosaurs invent weapons of mass destruction.

Take the Senses Challenge. I scored 14 out of 20. That's supposed to be good.

New Scientist tells about the Stuff of Dreams, such as materials that expand one way when pulled another, and liquids that turn solid and liquefy again depending on... well, go read it.

Sulphur Hexafluoride (via Arbroath)

What they have is Sulfur hexafluoride. It’s 5.11 times as dense as air. It’s non toxic, although it’s byproducts can be extremely dangerous. Another interesting point is that inhaling this gas will make your voice sound deeper. Sound does not travel as fast in this medium. Helium can transmit sound very rapidly, hence making your voice squeaky. (Thanks, Russell!) Here’s a video of guys inhaling Sulphur Hexaflouride. And here are some guys doing the same, but alternating with helium.

The 20 Most Popular Myths in Science.

Made With Molecules is a gift shop for the scientifically inclined. They have boxers shorts with the testosterone molecule, baby clothing with the oxytocin molecule, and estrogen jewelry. And lots more nifty ideas!

MetaJoke

An engineer, a physicist and a mathematician find themselves in an anecdote, indeed an anecdote quite similar to many that you have no doubt already heard. After some observations and rough calculations the engineer realizes the situation and starts laughing. A few minutes later the physicist understands too and chuckles to himself happily as he now has enough experimental evidence to publish a paper. This leaves the mathematician somewhat perplexed, as he had observed right away that he was the subject of an anecdote, and deduced quite rapidly the presence of humour from similar anecdotes, but considers this anecdote to be too trivial a corollary to be significant, let alone funny.

KIDS AND SCIENCE

(Thanks, Dora!)
These are supposedly answers kids gave on science quizzes. Whether or not that really happened, they are funny enough to share!

Q: Name the  four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain  one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A:  Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants  like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew  formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them  perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?    
A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What  causes the tides in the oceans?
A: The tides are a fight between the  Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because  there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where  the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for  keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body  as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you  get intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches  puberty?
A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A:  Premature death.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized?  (e.g., abdomen.)
A: The body is consisted into three parts - the  brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium co ntains the  brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels, A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the  fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does "varicose" mean? (I do love  this one...)
A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term  "Caesarean Section"
A: The Caesarean Section is a district in Rome

Q: What does the word "benign" mean?'
A: Benign is what you  will be after you be eight

TRANSLATING SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

A+ phrases to use in reports
The following list of phrases and their definitions might help you understand the mysterious language of science and medicine. These special phrases are also applicable to anyone reading a PhD dissertation or academic paper.

"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN"... I didn't look up the original reference.

"A DEFINITE TREND IS EVIDENT"... These data are practically meaningless.

"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS"... An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.

"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY"... The other results didn't make any sense.

"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"... This is the prettiest graph.

"THESE RESULTS WILL BE IN A SUBSEQUENT REPORT"... I might get around to this sometime, if pushed/funded.

"IN MY EXPERIENCE"... Once

"IN CASE AFTER CASE"... Twice

"IN A SERIES OF CASES"... Thrice

"IT IS BELIEVED THAT"... I think.

"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT"... A couple of others think so, too.

"CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE"... Wrong.

"ACCORD1NG TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS"... Rumor has it.

"A STATISTICALLY-ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS"... A wild guess.

"A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA"... Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of Mountain Dew.

"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS"... I don't understand it

"AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES"... They don't understand it either.

"THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO CINDY ADAMS FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS"... Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Adams explained to me what it meant.

"A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY"... A totally useless topic selected by my committee.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD"... I quit.

Thermite  is some weird stuff. And dangerous, too!

There’s lots more thermite videos on YouTube.

Thought for today: Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy. - Albert Einstein

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