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| A marble mosaic of Greek goddess Minerva in the Library of Congress symbolizes the preservation of civilization as well as the promotion of the arts and sciences. |
Earth’s climate is warming, and destructive weather is growing more prevalent. Coping with the changes will require collaborative science, forward-thinking policy, and an informed public.
I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion. Thomas Jefferson
The first sentence is from an article in Physics Today: "Predicting and Managing Extreme Weather Events" (link below). Yet, we question science as if it has a despicable political agenda; a conspiratorial, nefarious, dastardly plot.
Most scientists are in the Myers-Briggs INTJ category: Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging. The personality page for it is titled "The Scientist." The description: As an INTJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via your intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things rationally and logically. It's probably not a good fit to make such a person a salesman, a politician, nor a "mad scientist" bent on taking over the world (Pinky and the Brain; Dr. No). Simply put, too busy with intellectual interests; without that kind of ambition or guile.
But our leaders aren't answering questions on science; candidates obfuscate climate change to please a dogma-driven "base," building a coalition of disparate parts into a missive mass of confusion. They fear citizenry and moneyed sources alike (well, probably the moneyed sources more so).
Judging from the LA Times, the reason for the tepid jobs numbers yesterday was because "OGs" are being called back to the work force, or not leaving it for younger workers, more apt to purchase stuff in our consumer-driven economy. So they stay home longer, having as much sex as before and procreating less (and those that do bring the bundle home), mooching off mom, dad cable TV and Internet access. So much for Carrousel. A simple math question: is 96,000 greater than zero? It's not ideal, but far better than where we've been.
I fear our ignorance, our worship of without-flaw market deities and hostility to reality will not lead to a blissful end.
This is a challenging time for the US and for US science. The economy, though it is beginning to show some positive signs, is still in bad shape. Extraordinary numbers of Americans are without jobs. The public holds a record-low opinion of government. The integrity of the scientific process is being questioned, and pressure to reduce federal spending is fierce.
The irony is that the demand for services provided by agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is at an all-time high and growing. Our ability to deliver those services depends in part on our scientific enterprise. One significant reason why demand for services is growing is the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Last year, new records were set in the US for tornadoes, drought, wind, floods, and wildfires. Heat records were set in every state. At one time last summer, nearly half of the country’s population was under a heat advisory or heat warning. In late November, hurricane-force winds hit parts of Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and California, with winds reaching 97 mph in Pasadena.
Another quote from Jefferson before I go:
I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.
Physics Today: Predicting and Managing Extreme Weather Events
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| American biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick and their contribution to the discovery of the DNA structure, photo and article in Nature |
Scientists unveiled the results of a massive international project Wednesday that they say debunks the notion that most of our genetic code is made up of so-called junk DNA.
The ENCODE project (Encyclopedia of DNA elements), which involved hundreds of researchers in dozens of labs, also produced what some scientists are saying is like Google Maps for the human genome.
"So the most amazing thing that we found was that we can ascribe some kind of biochemical activity to 80 percent of the genome. And this really kind of debunks the idea that there's a lot of junk DNA or really if there is any DNA that we would really call junk," NHGRI's Feingold said.
What has been called junk DNA is actually teeming with an intricate web of molecular switches that play crucial roles in regulating genes. The ENCODE project scientists found at least 4 million of these regulatory regions so far.
NPR: Scientists Unveil 'Google Maps' For Human Genome, Rob Stein
Technology Review: Quantum Entanglement Holds DNA Together, Say Physicists
You Tube Channel: Space Lab
Interestingly, they have a list of banned books (1990 to 1999) written by POC authors: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedauthors/authorsofcolor
When I perused the list of banned books, I was really surprised at a couple. The Lord of the Rings? Really? Yep, burned as being satanic, despite the fact that Tolkien was a devout Christian. And the Call of the Wild by Jack London? REALLY? Are they kidding?
Sadly, no they're not. It seems that ignorance is bliss in some places.
The list of the most banned classics: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned
like the title says im a manga writer looking for an artist to collaborate with i am in college for creative writting and i am a nurses assistant i have income and i am willing to pay i need a partner not only that i need a partner who can also be my friend i understand this is business but stil im the type who needs someone i can get along with. even if we dont i dont care im really looking and needing to find an artist
i have several projects, i do my research and i am very serious about this email me, Facebook me or write me on here
email:amukamara44@gmail.com
facebook:phillips nkemakolam amukamara
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| Dr. Z - MySciNet |
From her website: Dr. Aziza is a physicist by training and currently works as a science media producer in affiliation with AZIZA Productions, a science media production company she established in the year 2000. She has always been interested in communicating science to the lay public through television.
While working on her Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics at the University of Maryland at College Park, Dr. Aziza received a Mass Media Science & Engineering fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and was assigned to CNN’s science and technology unit in Atlanta Georgia. During her fellowship, she gained hands-on experience producing science news video segments which aired on CNN’s newscasts. This experience launched her career as a TV science producer and on-air correspondent.
From MySciNet: Aziza Baccouche—Dr. Z, as she calls herself—has made a career connecting scientific research to the people it could affect, such as informing patients about medical developments and getting more minority students interested in science. Her medium is the screen, and she tells the stories of science through documentaries. But Baccouche, a Ph.D. physicist-turned-filmmaker, will likely never clearly see any of her finished products: She became legally blind at the age of 8, and ever since she's relied on her wits, passion for science, excellent memory, and what she calls her vision to achieve success.
"We know power is work over time, that strength is endurance over time. So I endured a lot of obstacles, but at the same time I created strength and vision and wisdom and endurance."
When you delve into the world of Facebook or other such social links, you come to notice, at least I did, anyway, that there are blinded cullerds and out and out fools in great numbers. The ingrained hypocrisy of this joint doesn't matter to them, because they have been Accepted.
The reason? They have Accepted everything put out by the oligarchs. When the actor Terry Crews indulges in tomfoolery, 'Oh quit being so touchy!' When some obscure pol from the South shouts a disparaging remark during the President's State of the Union, 'He was just expressing his right of free speech!' And, 'Treyvon Martin should not have scared that poor misunderstood armed bullyboy!' These are the people who nod their heads when cloaked foul remarks are made and then say 'I understand what they meant'. One of the ironies of the Civil Rights Movement has been the rise of the House cullerds. 'Well, well, being conservative is part of our group character!'
It is what led to our ancestors enslavement. It is why some stay in positions of authority long past they're effective expiration date. It is why too many embrace such negative and denying thoughts, 'All that stuff in school don't mean nuthin', because they have no desire to "change and challenge" their place.
At the opposite end is the group who wallow in the mire of socalled 'Accepted' attitudes. "I'm a member of the country club, and my wife wears big hats for the Kentucky Derby, and it has been because of those rowdy nonrestrained others, that we are not welcome to the class reunion, but I understand, because I have gone out of my way to show I'm on their side. And the business I work for smiles when it denies another a raise or a loan, because there can be only so many of us succeding else it might cause trouble."
The Atlanta Compromise's line "...cast your bucket where you may!" was not answered with "What if you pull up a bucketload of shit?" The Talented Tenth ideal reeks of a placid elitism. Yet in some circles that is an ideal that has taken hold. Aren't the Accepted Talented Tenth the Howards, Allens, and Condis?
I almost turned around and walked away from Dragoncon. I waited for three hours in a line wrapped around the Sheraton Hotel. Both my husband and I were exhausted, hot, and tired. What kept me going were the energetic people around me. They were dressed in costumes, laughed loudly, and were there to have a great time.
I'm so glad that I stayed. Dragoncon was an amazing adventure. I enjoyed meeting all those neat weirdos, hanging out with my fabulous writing buddies, and participating in the State of Black Science Fiction author panel. I was proud and excited to be seated with LM Davis, Alan Jones, Wendy Raven McNair, and Milton Davis. I think we shared our viewpoints and opinions well. What I enjoyed was that we each had our own unique ideas and were able to share our diverse opinions. If you'd like to take a look, here's the Youtube video. BTW, feel free to leave a comment or post, if something about the panel made you think.
Like it? Share it!
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| Simulated valence-charge density from x-ray and optical wave mixing shows the nuclei of carbon atoms as dark spots revealed by diffracted x-rays and the peaks of some of the bonds between them as white and blue spots induced by the polarized optical pulse. In diamond, the optical pulse primarily wiggles the charge that makes up chemical bonds. |
Light changes matter in ways that shape our world. Photons trigger changes in proteins in the eye to enable vision; sunlight splits water into hydrogen and oxygen and creates chemicals through photosynthesis; light causes electrons to flow in the semiconductors that make up solar cells; and new devices for consumers, industry, and medicine operate with photons instead of electrons. But directly measuring how light manipulates matter on the atomic scale has never been possible, until now.
An international team of scientists led by Thornton Glover of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) used the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to mix a pulse of superbright x-rays with a pulse of lower frequency, “optical” light from an ordinary laser. By aiming the combined pulses at a diamond sample, the team was able to measure the optical manipulation of chemical bonds in the crystal directly, on the scale of individual atoms.
The researchers report their work in the August 30, 2012 issue of the journal Nature.
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory: Synchronized Lasers Measure How Light Changes Matter
I got my headphones on watching a video about AutoCad's SketchPad pro, thought I heard a sound. I called out to my wife, "you say something hon?" "No that's the cat scratching the carpet." Listened to a whale song video for a while, all the while thinking what it would sound like sped up, like dolphins or chipmunks or maybe some ancient language. Man I got to stop this line of thinking. What if all the sounds in the background were speaking to us. The PC clicks, fan whirl, wind blows the shade and the cat knocks a cup over. The sound of chips crunching in my head as I chew and the way I turn my head to catch the sounds better. I tape them all, slow them down, speed them up and collect the syllables into phrases and arrange them end to end. I play them back, "Arnold, Arnold, quit trying to ease drop on my conversations."
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| Popular Mechanics |
Researchers in the US have estimated that modification of stratospheric albedo – a widely discussed geoengineering technique to counteract some of the effects of climate change – could cost as little as $5bn a year. Although this is just a small fraction of the gross domestic product (GDP) of most western countries, the team stresses that there are many potential risks of geoengineering the planet in this way.
Geoengineering aims to mitigate man-made climate change by making large-scale modifications to the Earth's surface or atmosphere. One of the main proposals discussed by scientists is stratospheric albedo modification: changing the reflective power of the atmosphere 10–50 km above the Earth's surface so that more solar radiation is reflected back into space. Such a modification would be achieved by pumping tiny particles known as aerosols into the upper atmosphere.
Not to be a "Doubting Thomas," but I thought "aerosols in the upper atmosphere" (recall CFCs and the ozone layer) was a bad idea! I sincerely hope they've modeled this thoroughly.
Physics World: Geoengineering is 'comparatively inexpensive'
(c) 2 September 2012, the Griot Poet
"We want our country back!"
The question is: back to when; to what?
Gil Scott-Heron rests in peace
Yet, his piece "B-Movie" might as well be prophesy,
Predicting a looking forward two-faced like the Roman Deity Janus: facing forward while looking back at least to last week (or, our own anus),
To a majority utopia existent only in your Amygdala fear-driven reptilian minds...
Descendants of migrants from Europe to Plymouth Rock and Ellis Island
Dependent on newer ones from Africa or Central America as servants until the PIE: performance, image and exposure, has to eventually be upturned in 2042 when you are no longer a numerical majority.
The White House, so named in 1901because it was easier than “Executive Mansion”
Became a symbol of what you’d refer to as American Exceptionalism
And like fascism, cloaked it in a flag, and carrying a cross.
So, while you’re still culturally “the boss”
You're willing to put out obfuscations and outright lies,
Whacked-out conspiracy theories on falsified birth certificates, death panels, “he’s going to take away our guns,” “secret-Muslim-in-the-church-house-Resurrection-Sunday,” etcetera’s,
Voter ID cum Diebold voter purge cum 21st century poll taxes...
**********
In a February appearance on The Daily Show, Bruce Bartlett (former Reagan Economic Policy Advisor), said "Frankly one of our political parties is insane, and we all know which one it is.'
"They have descended from the realm of reasonableness that was the mark of conservatism…"
"They dream of anarchy, of ending government.''
Bartlett argues a new radical right in the Republican Party will oppose anything - even good conservative policy - if Democrats agree to it.
**********
Tell me: since when did obliterating the 8th commandment constitute a "family value?"
Or, running from your own policies because your opposite tries to reach consensus constitute reason and governance? Sounds like tyranny…
You rail against gays and lesbians, yet have them prominently in your Grand Old Party, for one (no, two): George W’s reelection campaign manager and Dick (Darth Vader) Cheney’s daughter and her companion.
Hell, Rush Limp-bah had Elton John perform at his fourth “traditional marriage” from-the-previous-train-wrecks wedding ceremony with notably his beau from the UK in tow.
(And Rush: we THANK YOU for practicing good birth control/safe sex and not procreating!)
Let’s not forget: Newt-the-scoot’s blood sister,
You blithely dog whistle at the tin edges of racial insurrection, yet think yourself a big tent because you have Condi Rice and Allen West? Keep ‘EM!
And when disturbed minds take your wit as holy writ resulting in a congresswoman’s recovery from a murderous attempt, or your pundit’s caustic rhetoric causes an abortion doctor’s assassination in a house of worship, you’re quick to quip: NOT ME!
If you have an argument, voter ID cum Diebold voter purge cum 21st century poll taxes is completely unnecessary.
The electorate in a representative democracy votes rationally, not like text-in adherents to American Idol.
No wonder you ride the train of “limited government,” by which you mean:
- Education
- Police protection
- EMS and Fire Departments
Or, the very bedrock of representative government
Because your avarice Mammon billionaire gods can afford that,
(And wonders why the rest of us can’t)
Kissing butt on Scrooge McDuck is the height of idolatry (and hypocrisy)
And idiocy to the “trickle-down” fantasy
You listen to lobbyists outnumbering you five-to-one senator or congress member
And you can’t remember
Any promise you made beyond the grace of their campaign donations
To “protect and defend The Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic”
And have the “Audacity of Dopes”
To not see
That enemy
Is in your own
Reflection!
We is so funny, we get caught up, then fed up then change up. We change or try to change the insides, failing we change the outside. I can't tell you the changes I've been through from afro to fro to no fro to less fro to fro mind to fro on the sides. The truth is I had wild nappy hair and now I'm bald.
Clothes really makes the manikin. You too can be made up into any genre and feel the part. Don't get caught, or you'll play the part too. It'll get imprinted on your soul. That description will haunt you for ever. Did you see Jimmy's boy? He ain't changed from when he went off the deep end. Wasn't satisfied with being somebody, had to be something else.
I look at every person to see if my reflection is there (watch where you look). I watched the Olympic parade of nations, hoping some recognizable faces go past the screen. You know we are from Africa, so I watched Africa go by, not many resembled me. In college I sported wild hair (a fro), played a conga, owned two dashiki. In my mind every African wore a dashiki like clothes. Damn, sports jerseys and tee shirts are common. I was looking at them, they were looking at us. Tee shirt and baseball cap is the international black apparel.
We adorn ourselves, bling bling, bling ink, bling paint, remote bling (cars, homes, cellphones) and inward bling (musics, education, philosophies, histories). Man, we bust all out, then with equal force we bust back in. Yeah I'm a very conservative all out liberal. I found my self one day and didn't recognize him. He appears just before I step into the change of the day. Before I step into the world where everybody is putting on. He always complains about having to put up with others putting on. Hey dude what's that clone you're wearing? That's not a clone, that's me. You're much older that I thought. You see, this is why I have to put on. Yeah buddy but who is the real me? Damn, got caught up again. I'll never live this down. Gotta stop talking to myself in the mirror. Let's see, baseball cap, check, tee shirt, check, man I'm really Black today!
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| Technology Review |
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: Oscillating circuits are the workhorses of many electronic devices. In particular, oscillating electrons emit electromagnetic waves, a mechanism that has lead to one or two applications that readers may have come across.
Now Seth Caliga and pals at the University of Colorado and National Institute for Standards and Technology in Boulder have built a version of this kind of circuit that works with atoms rather than electrons.
Their atomtronic circuit generates an oscillating atom current that emits matter waves in which atoms carry energy through space.
The heart of their device is an atomtronic transistor--an optomagnetic trap with three compartments that can hold a Bose Einstein Condensate of rubidium atoms cooled almost to absolute zero.
In an analogy with electronic transistors, Caliga and co call these compartments the source, gate and drain (with the gate sandwiched between the source and drain). The optical barrier between the compartments prevents atoms from moving freely between them.
Physics arXiv: A Matterwave Transistor Oscillator
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| Search the Technology blog |
...science. Yes, from glucose star to rant in 24 hours.
Of course, numerically it has seven letters. Think of how amazed I was when I went to ScienceDebate.org after the RNC convention to see this link:
What left me rather nonplussed was the sizable representation of "D's" as well as "R's." A sample:
Senator Barbara Boxer California (D)—chair, Committee on Environment and Public Works
Senator Jim DeMint South Carolina (R)—member, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchinson is retiring)
Mitch McConnell Kentucky (R)—Senate minority leader
Harry Reid Nevada (D)—Senate majority leader
John Boehner Ohio–8 (R)—speaker of the House
House Member Eddie Bernice Johnson Texas–30 (D)—ranking member, Committee on Science, Space and Technology
House Member Frank Lucas Oklahoma–3 (R)—chair, Committee on Agriculture; member of Committee on Science, Space and Technology
Nancy Pelosi California–8 (D)—House minority leader
The rest are at the link above, with the encouragement to email respective representatives.
This silliness has gone on long enough and produced addled, attention deficit leadership! More concerned with sloganeering than science or engineering. Instead of being treated like an informed, Jeffersonian democratic republic, we're treated like the text-in voters of American Idol.
According to the International Monetary Fund, China is poised to surpass our economy in 2016! Godless, communist China! That is irrespective of who occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (previously known as the Executive Mansion before 1901). They've invested in STEM-focused education, and we've allowed lawmakers to create loopholes, offshore tax havens and export jobs that drive an education system to supply it with workers, not pass standardized tests with absolutely no meaning, or global equivalent. We are goldfish in a much larger ocean than our self-made, self-righteous boundaries.
If I sound incensed, I'm wondering why you are not, and why we're asking softball questions, or submitting our representative leaders to litmus tests from the left or right while the sun shining on our mythical "city-on-the-hill"is setting rapidly.
I'm wondering why knowledge is feared. Take your pick: evolution, the Big Bang, the age of the earth/universe; dinosaurs being the predecessors of modern birds. If it challenges a dogma or worldview, it must be "evil" (that is a four-letter word). Science is not. It can be used for evil, obfuscated, deliberately tampered with, but in the right hands and with the right motives, it can be a force for good, not ill. And I should expect representatives of my democratic republic to answer questions with tact not tactics; honest inquiry or admittance to lack of expertise. "I don't know" is the beginning of discovery and wisdom: tweeting during a joint session of congressis not.
I'll admit to witnessing that our collective moral compass has strayed, and modern television with all its channel options and "reality TV" is as empty as a ream of fresh printer paper, but righting it "true north" should not involve the blissful embrace of ignorance.
We were [once] the country of "one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." No more.
It makes Neil Armstrong's departure (and before him Dr. Sally Ride) all the more prescient...and sad.
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| USA Science and Engineering Festival - Facebook |
As part of my research I am covering the Afrofuturist influence in contemporary art, so I thought I should share with you the post about my visit to Sanford Biggers' studio this week.
http://netarthud.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/sanford-biggers-studio-visit-in-nyc
More specifically, if you're in the Northeast of the U.S. check out Sanford's show, The Cartographer's Conundrum at Mass MoCA:
http://blog.art21.org/2012/06/19/sanford-biggers-conundrum-the-mothership-lands-at-mass-moca
If you're in the Chicago area check out Cauleen Smith's A Star is a Seed, A Seed is a Star at MCA:
http://blog.art21.org/2012/07/17/cauleen-smith-a-star-is-a-seed-a-seed-is-a-star
Best,
~ Nettrice
African Cosmos: Stellar Arts
http://www.si.edu/Exhibitions/Details/African-Cosmos-Stellar-Arts-4781
This first major exhibition of some 90 objects explores how the celestial bodies of the sun, moon, and stars and such celestial phenomena as rainbows and eclipses serve as sources of inspiration in the creation of African art, both traditional and contemporary. Far from abstract, African ideas about the universe are intensely personal and place human beings in relationships with the earth, sky, and celestial bodies.
I am definitely going to see this!
~ Nettrice
...if humankind were to ever travel 400 light years, at least we wouldn't have to pack a lunch!
(Yeah, that was POP-corny!)
It's Friday though... |
| Astronomy and ESO |
A team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has spotted sugar molecules in the gas surrounding a young Sun-like star. This is the first time sugar has been found in space around such a star, and the discovery shows that the building blocks of life are in the right place, at the right time, to be included in planets forming around the star.
The astronomers found molecules of glycolaldehyde — a simple form of sugar — in the gas surrounding a young binary star, with similar mass to the Sun, called IRAS 16293-2422. Glycolaldehyde has been seen in interstellar space before, but this is the first time it has been found so near to a Sun-like star, at distances comparable to the distance of Uranus from the Sun in the solar system. This discovery shows that some of the chemical compounds needed for life existed in this system at the time of planet formation.
Astronomy Mobile: Sweet result from ALMA
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| USA Science and Engineering Festival - Facebook |
Reading a lot of blogs as well as web sites for this one, I came across "Physics and Physicists" entry by ZapperZ (yes, that's the PhD's post name) titled: "Science Is Not Cool."
The entry relates somewhat to the recent landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars, which I posted as I was watching the touchdown @ 1:30 AM EST. Times I wish I lived on the west coast!
Adam Ruben, PhD in Microbiology, is the original author of the title piece on the American Association for the Advancement in Science (AAAS for short) "Issues and Perspectives" piece.
At first, I thought about ignoring it. Then, I couldn't help commenting on Zapper's entry, which he graciously published. It follows:
I am in agreement. Along with our advancement through the atomic age post “Sputnik moment,” there has been an attention deficit noticeably spread among the population. Our secondary education is affected by inane standardized tests that point to nowhere measuring [not] anything of global competitive importance; all STEM careers must be “fun” to compete with Xbox, Play Station, You Tube, Facebook, Twitter and “the Google.” A picture of the Apollo landing and an astronaut next to the lunar module is captioned: “This was done with a slide rule. Your eight grader has more computing power in his cell phone, and still can’t pass math because he won’t do more than fifteen minutes of homework. Where do you think HE’LL be going?” Alas, it is the technology birthed of a lot of science behind their genesis that is our undoing. Two good reads: the first Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business." Even though he was referring to the news media in the advent of cable television (written in the early eighties), it is easy to extrapolate to the current technology and its effects on the populace. The second is “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Our Youth and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30),” by Mark Bauerlein.
Ironic, as my Google ID is "Cool Physics." I'm sure that was a qualifier for ZapperZ posting it.
I have a lot of fun, posting what I think or what I've read, and obviously, my fascination with science. That fascination is shared with a lot of people that view this blog.
Adam Ruben is also a stand-up comedian, and has written a humorous book "Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School." I put him in the company of Jorge Cham of PhD Comics (PhD in Robotics from Stanford) and Scott Adams (former engineer for Pac Bell), cartoonist for Dilbert. Each are saying science and engineering are human experiences, and humanity also involves humor.
For myself, it was the finding of humor in things that got me a degree in physics in the first place, and keeps me pressing forward with the wonder of a child opening wrapped presents (metaphorically, an 'onion'). It is my hope to share that wonder; making STEM a more human experience...for everyone.
