Topics: Bias, Diversity in Science, Education, STEM, Women in Science
This is a re-post from 2012 whose title I didn't quite explain: "the limit as it approaches" is a term in Calculus - helped to co-develop by Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz to define The Derivative; Leibniz's impact was Integration. The point of the article in Physics Today I think is still three years hence quite relevant, as well as PT's own Calculus social reference.
PHYSICS TODAY:Of all the sciences in the US, physics continues to have the lowest representation of women. Currently, women earn just 21% of bachelor’s degrees and 17% of PhDs in the field. Discourse about women in physics often centers on representation, and the unspoken assumption seems to be that if the representation of women were to increase to some higher level, all would be well. However, the focus on representation obscures important issues and ignores the day-to-day experiences of women physicists.
In fact, women physicists could be the majority in some hypothetical future yet still in their careers experience problems that stem from often unconscious bias. After all, science, and especially physical science, is seen by many cultures as a primarily male domain. But do women actually experience problems in their day-to-day work as physicists? Do they have equal access to opportunities and resources? If not, how does that inequity affect their careers? If harmful, sex-based differences of access exist, then those of us who care about the situation of women in physics need to come up with a solution that encompasses more than just increasing female representation.
Topics: Biology, Genetics, Nobel Prize, Research, STEM, Women in Science
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase".
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation. The Nobel Laureates have shown that the solution is to be found in the ends of the chromosomes – the telomeres – and in an enzyme that forms them – telomerase.
The long, thread-like DNA molecules that carry our genes are packed into chromosomes, the telomeres being the caps on their ends. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation. Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. These discoveries explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are built by telomerase.
If the telomeres are shortened, cells age. Conversely, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed. This is the case in cancer cells, which can be considered to have eternal life. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells. The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.
In the near future, troublesome women are marked “noncompliant” and trucked off to a space age Auxiliary Compliance Outpost – aka Bitch Planet – which is also the name of a new comic series by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro.
Dicebat Bernardus Carnotensis nos esse quasi nanos gigantium humeris insidentes, ut possimus plura eis et remotiora videre, non utique proprii visus acumine, aut eminentia corporis, sed quia in altum subvehimur et extollimur magnitudine gigantea.
Translation: Bernard of Chartres used to say that we were like dwarfs seated on the shoulders of giants. If we see more and further than they, it is not due to our own clear eyes or tall bodies, but because we are raised on high and upborne by their gigantic bigness. John of Salisbury, Wikiquote
Topics: Bloody Sunday, Civil Rights, Soldier, Voting Rights, Women's Rights
I knew I wanted to talk about this hero on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. The president will speak today in Alabama, and I would presume some part of his commentary will mention her particular shoulders (like my sister's) that stood up for one like me when I was just learning to walk. Going backwards, as I've stated, violates causality and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. It is better to go forward, together, lifted on shoulders that pushed us all here. She and many others, made our foray on astronautics at NASA; education and engineering; sports and politics up to and now inclusive of the presidency possible. The conditions were not as ubiquitous nor taken for granted as they are today. Thus, we have a generation that believes in magic; that neglecting the sacrifices of the past will have no impact on the present; that their rights taken for granted will always be there if they don't act upon them. There wouldn't be an effort at Voter ID for a non-problem, if your voice made no difference; had no impact.
Civil rights activist Amelia Boynton helped Martin Luther King Jr. plan the Selma to Montgomery March on Bloody Sunday, which led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Amelia Boynton was born on August 18, 1911, in Savannah, Georgia. Her early activism included holding black voter registration drives in Selma, Alabama, from the 1930s through the '50s. In 1964, she became both the first African-American woman and the first female Democratic candidate to run for a seat in Congress from Alabama. The following year, she marched on Bloody Sunday. In 1990, Boynton won the Martin Luther King Jr. Medal of Freedom. Today, she tours on behalf of the Schiller Institute.
Also in 1964, Boynton and fellow civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. teamed up toward their common goals. At the time, Boynton figured largely as an activist in Selma. Still dedicated to securing suffrage for African Americans, she asked Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to come to Selma and help promote the cause. King eagerly accepted. Soon after, he and the SCLC set up their headquarters at Boynton's Selma home. There, they planned the Selma to Montgomery March of March 7, 1965.
Some 600 protesters arrived to participate in the event, which would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday." On the Edmund Pettus Bridge, over the Alabama River in Selma, marchers were attacked by policemen with tear gas and billy clubs. Seventeen protesters were sent to the hospital, including Boynton, who had been beaten unconscious. A newspaper photo of Boynton lying bloody and beaten drew national attention to the cause. Bloody Sunday prompted President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, with Boynton attending as the landmark event's guest of honor.
So, I like it when an author puts race in front of my eyes. I enjoy visualizing what a character looks like, race and all. When it's done correctly, the experience can deepen the reader's relationship with the character. There are some people who say that showing race in this way is racist. They enjoy reading or writing raceless, race free, or characters of color with little or no physical description. I contend that this approach is racist. Read More
"For innovative experiments that elucidate the electronic interactions and correlations in low-dimensional systems, in particular the use of local gates and tunnel probes to control and measure the electronic states in carbon nanotubes and graphene."
Additional note: The first photograph of a Maria Goeppert Mayor Prize recipient seems to be in 1996 with Dr. Majorie Ann Olmstead, most likely made a part of the site as society got comfortable with the Internet, advances in tools and what could be posted. The prize has been awarded by APS since 1986: "To recognize and enhance outstanding achievement by a woman physicist in the early years of her career, and to provide opportunities for her to present these achievements to others through public lectures in the spirit of Maria Goeppert Mayer." Dr. Mason seems to be - at first brush of the site - the first African American woman awarded this honor.
Topics: Diversity, Nobel Prize, Nuclear Physics, Women in Science
Born: 28 June 1906, Kattowitz (now Katowice), Germany (now Poland)
Died: 20 February 1972, San Diego, CA, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA
Prize motivation: "for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure"
Maria Goeppert Mayer was born on June 28, 1906, in Kattowitz, Upper Silesia, then Germany, the only child of Friedrich Goeppert and his wife Maria, nee Wolff. On her father's side, she is the seventh straight generation of university professors.
She went to private and public schools in Göttingen and had the great fortune to have very good teachers. It somehow was never discussed, but taken for granted by her parents as well as by herself that she would go to the University. Yet, at that time it was not trivially easy for a woman to do so. In Göttingen there was only a privately endowed school which prepared girls for the "abitur", the entrance examination for the university. This school closed its doors during the inflation, but the teachers continued to give instructions to the pupils. Maria Goeppert finally took the abitur examination in Hannover, in 1924, being examined by teachers she had never seen in her life.
To recognize and enhance outstanding achievement by a woman physicist in the early years of her career, and to provide opportunities for her to present these achievements to others through public lectures in the spirit of Maria Goeppert Mayer. The award consists of $2,500 plus a $4,000 travel allowance to provide opportunities for the recipient to give lectures in her field of physics at four institutions and at the meeting of the Society at which the award is bestowed and a certificate citing the contributions made by the recipient. The award will be presented annually.
Not sure where she is in the process, but hopefully she's close to completion if not already a PhD. There is no reason at all that there aren't more women in STEM fields except for bias and discouragement along their matriculation K-12 and post secondary. See last month's post: STEM and Other Biases. There are certain things we should discourage, as in our current obsession with living the lives of "reality TV stars," and encourage more of this. Otherwise, as I said in the post, we're shooting ourselves collectively in the foot, and wondering how the hole got there!
Just when you thought you were done crying over the loss of Leonard Nimoy. You read this:
Leonard Nimoy's Advice To A Biracial Girl In 1968
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 7:19 PM ET
GENE DEMBY
It wasn't supposed to be "Leonard Nimoy + Biracial Kids Day" here at Code Switch, but the news takes you where it takes you.
BuzzFeed's Leonora Epstein uncovered this blog post from the blog My Star Trek Scrapbook, which features a letter from a 1968 issue of the defunct teen magazineFaVE! In a letter addressed to Mr. Spock, a young biracial girl laments that she doesn't fit in with either her black or her white peers.
"I know that you are half Vulcan and half human and you have suffered because of this," the girl named F.C. wrote. "My mother is Negro and my father is white and I am told this makes me a half-breed. ... I guess I'll never have any friends."
Nimoy was so moved by the letter that he responded at length in the next issue. "[Spock] said to himself: 'Not everyone will like me,' " Nimoy wrote. "But there will be those who will accept me just for who I am."
Topics: Diversity, Diversity in Science, Nanotechnology, Women in Science
I believe her title these days is Dr. Mary Graham. If we want more women in STEM fields, this needs to be encouraged in the K-12 levels and post secondary, not when our collective backs are against the wall as a nation. A quote from "Capital in the 21st Century," Thomas Piketty:
"Over a long period of time, the main force in favor of greater equality has been the diffusion of knowledge and skills."
Image Source: Nobel Prize - Biographical (link below)
Topics: Chemistry, Diversity in Science, Nobel Prize, STEM, Women in Science
Synopsis
Born Maria Sklodowska on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland, Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only woman to win the award in two different fields (physics and chemistry). Curie's efforts, with her husband Pierre Curie, led to the discovery of polonium and radium and, after Pierre's death, the development of X-rays. She died on July 4, 1934.
Early Life
Maria Sklodowska, better known as Marie Curie, was born in Warsaw in modern-day Poland on November 7, 1867. Her parents were both teachers, and she was the youngest of five children. As a child Curie took after her father, Ladislas, a math and physics instructor. She had a bright and curious mind and excelled at school. But tragedy struck early, and when she was only 11, Curie lost her mother, Bronsitwa, to tuberculosis.
A top student in her secondary school, Curie could not attend the men-only University of Warsaw. She instead continued her education in Warsaw's "floating university," a set of underground, informal classes held in secret. Both Curie and her sister Bronya dreamed of going abroad to earn an official degree, but they lacked the financial resources to pay for more schooling. Undeterred, Curie worked out a deal with her sister. She would work to support Bronya while she was in school and Bronya would return the favor after she completed her studies. [1]
Don't lament the lost days of cutting your fingers on pristine new novels or catching a whiff of that magical, transportive old book smell just yet! A slew of recent studies shows that print books are still popular, even among millennials. What's more: further research suggests that this trend may save demonstrably successful learning habits from certain death. Take comfort in these 9 studies that show that print books have a promising future:
Basically I just put pen to paper when I begin to write but I would say I mostly write in the vein of Sci/fantasy, time travel (which probably allows me to touch on almost everything anyway), soft and certainly metaphysical. Naturally I have the Diaspora element in there - as active and reflective.
With "First Lost Risen" - which came out of a poem I wrote - I wanted to bring Jamaica into sci/fantasy. Guess I touched a lot of nerves in one book ...
Thanks for the "chat" the other night guys. It helped me to focus some.
Looking forward to listening to Genesis on You Tube! A lot going on here.
Now, we have web sites that celebrate black nerds. There's even a word for it now: blerds. Not so in the 60's. You were then just weird, oddball, outcast, different: the "other."
Despite the demonstrably miraculous technologies your fictional century had mastered, there was still an obvious prejudice even between space faring species Gene Roddenberry and the scriptwriters couldn't ignore. Part of the attraction and charm of Star Trek (especially for Dr. King) is we might just learn to get along with one another and survive as a species; that we might tolerate differences especially when it is solidly in our faces with bowled haircut; arched eyebrows; pointed ears and green-tinged skin. You played a half-human: Vulcan and Earth coursed in your copper veins; your character balanced and respected two cultures because of the parents Spock loved (though logic wouldn't let him admit it). You were "diversity" before the word was re-purposed in the lexicon.
You will be lauded, celebrated and missed by Star Trek fans worldwide. I know the totality of your body of work is far beyond the franchise as poet, director; writer, song writer and more. It's not uncommon nor unfair for actors to not wish to be typecast, i.e. known for only one role. However sir, this role was significant to straightening the backs of many: you were the "other," a man artistically crafted between two worlds to struggle with what than meant, and we struggled with you. You allowed those of us that felt "different" to feel that it's OK to be that way. That our nerd culture was beyond Melanin or for many, sexual orientation: all our values, our histories, ourselves have purpose and meaning for our brief time as blades of grass in the light. We thoroughly enjoyed your time and your talents in it with all of us.
As you attain escape velocity, and warp to meet Gene, Majel Barrett and James Doohan, know that "I have been, and will always be"...your fan.
Topics: #BlackLivesMatter, Denouement, Diversity, Diversity in Science, Women in Science
...or, women for that matter!
To the point: it is quite obvious by expectation, (some) low educator motivation that many of us are subtly "herded" into what was once challenged vocations - sports, for example - and away from science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Such puts one in the position to literally "lift themselves [by their own academic] bootstraps" out of poverty, into prosperity, self-worth, and yes: power. "Knowledge IS power," and thus you are not encouraged to take Advanced Placement classes - though anyone can request them - you're stressed out over ACT/SAT/Standardized ________ to graduate from high school. Dr. Lani Guinier's article should be a breath of fresh air and an eye-opener. Such hurdles can be prepared for, and overcome (links below).
Personal note: I have worked in the semiconductor industry since 1989. In 1974, my middle school science teacher - upon my asking him a question on linear expansion - called me a "dummy." My parents asked him to explain himself, which he did in sweaty apology in front of the principal to save his job. In 1979, my high school counselor was pretty adamant that I should "graduate early" and go into the military; that I did not have the academic preparation to major in engineering in college, as it seems she advised most of my African American classmates (only). I visited my high school in 1983 a college AFROTC junior and an alumni Air Force JROTC graduate. I had been a cadet colonel and Brigade Commander of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school district, a position in my high school freshman year in 1976, the BC then said: "your kind will never get to this rank!" (I was also personally threatened by the Klan via passed crude letter: first, for "getting to the rank," then with showing up for the citywide Brigade Review parade, my last function as cadet commander. This was of considerable concern as I wasn't too far in time or mileage from their infamous shootout in Greensboro.) Upon seeing her, I reminded my counselor of our conversation: that she suggested I graduate early; that I wasn't prepared to be an engineering student. I told her I was a in my junior year in Engineering Physics at North Carolina A&T State University, and that I was going to be a commissioned officer. She quickly found something else to do, and like the Neanderthal my freshman year, found herself quite wrong and at a loss for words. How many have been discouraged by words of ignorant and unqualified judges to jettison their dreams? Don't let ANYONE steal your dreams from you.
I have spoken hopefully, to the young and given them pride, a sense of history and accomplishment. I have hopefully spoken to their appreciation of diversity, as many have friends outside of their culture without the overt impediments of previous generations (we could all follow your example).
There is much more to do in astronautics, astrophysics, architectural and civil engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, industrial engineering energy independence, food consumption, medicine, ophthalmology, physics, robotics and nanotechnology. We need your minds; we need your brilliance, we need your energy: we need your confidence. Think of the barriers you've seen over the month surmounted during times when we couldn't even drink at a decent drinking fountain, or voting could get you killed. Look at the archives of previous February postings. Think of your own recent history: Trayvon Martin; Jordan Davis; Renisha McBride; Eric Garner; Michael Brown. Marching and now, posting to social media is a kind of activism that temporarily makes you feel good: the other is to tackle the books. As Richard Feynman and his fellow students did, quiz one other on your understanding of all your subjects, science and math definitely. "Outsourcing" should be a last resort in a global economy, and you don't want to make it easy to do so by not being prepared to compete.
Register to vote when you turn 18, vote in midterm and presidential elections and don't let anyone stand in the way of your well-fought for, blood-spilled for right of citizenship, or tell you "it's not worth it"; "it doesn't matter"; "the election is already decided." Active democracies should have elections decided by mere hundreds of votes in close elections; elected officials should not be cowed by 5:1 lobbyists with wheelbarrows of cash, or violent mobs with torches and pitchforks, but with voter registration cards constituents are willing to use to hold them accountable. It stops mattering when you allow the moneyed few to dictate the direction of the nation, and the dreams of the many: on a personal level, a lot "dreams deferred"* may sadly, (indefinitely) be yours and this nation's. Spend less time on social media and million player games and master science, technology, engineering, mathematics and above all: critical thinking to question those in authority. You can do it! This country needs you: the WORLD needs you...to straighten your backs, and step out into the light.
Ending the month how we began it:
"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr - and, a seldom-quoted riff (embed) below...
*What happens to a dream differed?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
Or, fester like a sore, and then run?
Does it stink like rotted meat,
Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load...
...or does it explode? Langston Hughes
Don't explode: ascend, and give light to your dreams!
Posted by LN Gibson on February 28, 2015 at 1:42pm
More than 99% of all the species that have ever lived on our planet are now extinct, and while the majority of these die-offs can be attributed to competition or failure to adapt, many perished during dramatic cataclysmic events. The fossil record shows us that these mass extinctions seem to occur periodically in cycles of approximately 26 to 30 million years—which, interestingly, is similar to the amount of time it takes our sun to bob up and down through the galactic disc and cross the center line of the Milky Way.
This region, known as the galactic plane, is crowded with clouds of dust and gas which could disturb space debris within our solar system and send some hurtling towards our planet, which would fit in with some of the mass extinctions. However, according to new research, there could be something else at play: dark matter.
Posted by LN Gibson on February 28, 2015 at 2:02pm
Since rumors and reports first revealed that director Josh Trank was looking at a non-white actor to play Johnny Storm a.k.a. Human Torch in Twentieth Century Fox’s reboot of Fantastic Four, the project – which already had a stiff uphill climb against expectations – has unavoidably been a subject of controversy. It didn’t help skeptical fans that the FF marketing campaign didn’t begin until a few weeks ago (with good reason though – see why here).
Josh Trank began early Fantastic Four development even before his first feature Chronicle (which got him the FF director’s chair) opened in theaters, and his original ideas for a modern take on the FF and casting remain largely intact. The plan was always to reboot the franchise by using the Ultimate Fantastic Four comics as a source of inspiration, especially when it comes to the younger team dynamic and science fiction aspects of it. The other part of the plan was to cast Miles Teller andMichael B. Jordan as Mr. Fantastic and Human Torch, respectively.
To support wireless communications at higher frequencies offering more channel capacity, NIST engineer Kate Remley led development of this new 94 gigahertz calibrated signal source for testing receivers and other devices. Credit: NIST
Topics: Electrical Engineering, 5G Cellular, Wireless Technology, Women in Science
Smartphones and tablets are everywhere, which is great for communications but a growing burden on wireless channels. Forecasted huge increases in mobile data traffic call for exponentially more channel capacity. Boosting bandwidth and capacity could speed downloads, improve service quality, and enable new applications like the Internet of Things connecting a multitude of devices.
To help solve the wireless crowding conundrum and support the next generation of mobile technology—5G cellular—researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are developing measurement tools for channels that are new for mobile communications and that could offer more than 1,000 times the bandwidth of today’s cell phone systems.
Like pioneers who found land by going west, telecom researchers can find open spectrum by going up—to higher frequencies. Mobile devices such as cell phones, consumer WiFi devices and public safety radios mostly operate below 3 gigahertz (GHz) (see infographic). But some devices are starting to use fast silicon-germanium radio chips operating at millimeter (mm) wavelengths above 10 GHz. Researchers at NIST and elsewhere are eyeing channels up to 100 GHz and even beyond.
So, I like it when an author puts race in front of my eyes. I enjoy visualizing what a character looks like, race and all. When it's done correctly, the experience can deepen the reader's relationship with the character. There are some people who say that showing race in this way is racist. They enjoy reading or writing raceless, race free, or characters of color with little or no physical description. I contend that this approach is racist. 
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