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To say Britney Exline (pictured) is smarter than average is like saying Barack Obama is just another president.
It simply isn’t true and here’s why: Exline recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2011 at the age of 19, making her the youngest engineer to graduate from the school and the youngest African-American engineer in the country.
At a time when young African Americans get too much publicity for violence or having children out of wedlock, Exline is proving to be an example of all the good that is possible.
“I really don’t think it’s been any different, except for in the beginning people are always a little shocked to learn that, but if they get to know me, then they know that it’s just a number,” Exline said at the time of her graduation.
In addition to her collegiate success, Exline is one well-rounded young lady: She speaks five languages and graduated with minors in psychology, math, and classical studies. She also has a passion for volunteering to help others, having traveled to Cameroon with the One Laptop program.
Newsone: Britney Exline, Nation's Youngest African American Engineer
June 30, 2008: The year is 1908, and it's just after seven in the morning. A man is sitting on the front porch of a trading post at Vanavara in Siberia. Little does he know, in a few moments, he will be hurled from his chair and the heat will be so intense he will feel as though his shirt is on fire.
That's how the Tunguska event felt 40 miles from ground zero.
Today, June 30, 2008, is the 100th anniversary of that ferocious impact near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in remote Siberia--and after 100 years, scientists are still talking about it.1
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Earlier today I was wondering why Russia gets all the good meteor strikes–like this one, which looks like a viral promo for a sci-fi movie, captured from a dashboard-mounted video camera. What I should have been asking – and Wired did – was “why do Russian motorists have video cameras on their dashboards in the first place?”
Apparently, Russia’s combination of geographic immensity and lax law enforcement incentivizes everyone to install these “dash-cams” in their cars. If you get into a he-said/she-said traffic accident in the middle of nowhere, you can use the video footage as proof of what actually happened.
Arthur C. Clarke famously said that advanced technology may be indistinguishable from magic. But more importantly, it folds into local culture – and back again – in totally unpredictable ways. As Frederik Pohl (another sci fi author) remarked, good science fiction predicts the traffic jam, not the automobile. Who would have thought that the perfect system for visually documenting a historic meteor strike would be a nation full of drivers strapping cheap, flash-based webcams to their dashboards as a backstop against rampant legal corruption?2
1. NASA: The Tunguska Impact--100 Years Later
2. Technology Review: Unintentional Interfaces: Why Russian Dashcams Saw That Meteor
3. TPM: 9 Spectacular Videos Of The Russian Meteorite Blast
I saw this article from For Harriet on Facebook and thought I'd share it with you. It's about blacks in geek culture, and pretty much the racism that's there and the racism in fandom. I won't say any more. Below is the link:
http://www.forharriet.com/2013/02/blacks-in-geek-culture-final-frontier.html
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| Students of Bhashyam Blooms explain a mathematical model at the maths exhibition in Guntur - The Hindu |
In 1999, while sitting at a bus stop in Cuernavaca, Mexico, a Czech physicist named Petr Šeba noticed young men handing slips of paper to the bus drivers in exchange for cash. It wasn’t organized crime, he learned, but another shadow trade: Each driver paid a “spy” to record when the bus ahead of his had departed the stop. If it had left recently, he would slow down, letting passengers accumulate at the next stop. If it had departed long ago, he sped up to keep other buses from passing him. This system maximized profits for the drivers. And it gave Šeba an idea.
“We felt here some kind of similarity with quantum chaotic systems,” explained Šeba’s co-author, Milan Krbálek, in an email.
After several failed attempts to talk to the spies himself, Šeba asked his student to explain to them that he wasn’t a tax collector, or a criminal — he was simply a “crazy” scientist willing to trade tequila for their data. The men handed over their used papers. When the researchers plotted thousands of bus departure times on a computer, their suspicions were confirmed: The interaction between drivers caused the spacing between departures to exhibit a distinctive pattern previously observed in quantum physics experiments.
“I was thinking that something like this could come out, but I was really surprised that it comes exactly,” Šeba said.
Subatomic particles have little to do with decentralized bus systems. But in the years since the odd coupling was discovered, the same pattern has turned up in other unrelated settings. Scientists now believe the widespread phenomenon, known as “universality,” stems from an underlying connection to mathematics, and it is helping them to model complex systems from the Internet to Earth’s climate.
Simons Foundation: In Mysterious Pattern, Math and Nature Converge
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| The Root - Go Zora! |
This week, the story of Harambee first-grader Zora Bell, our youngest Bootstrap participant, made the Internet rounds via Mashable.
The Bootstrap algebra and computer science curriculum is designed for children in grades 6 and up. Zora Ball’s participation in and excitement about this advanced subject matter goes to show the importance of both community (FATE) and family support in advancing our childrens’ STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.
It takes a village. It takes a set of ideals. It takes the courage to aim for a “moonshot” of education for our kids. The will is there, but the dedication and resources are lacking.
Support FATE. Support Bootstrap. Support Harambee and watch STEM education turn into the best STEM careers for our kids.
Melba Roy, NASA Mathmetician, at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland in 1964.
Thanks to National Society of Black Physicist member and fellow USCS Alum Dr. Anouk Shambrook for pointing me to Melba Roy an African American woman that was part of the USA space efforts! I tracked the original post to here: http://vintageblackglamour.tumblr.com/post/43006851970/melba-roy-nasa-mathmetician-at-the-goddard-space.
In the post Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein another NSBP member is mentioned.
Melba Roy was head of the group that tracked the Echo satellites. The picture is courtesy of NASA.
Just finished a first draft for a short story about a sixteen year old girl who is taking physics and playing on her school basketball team. I have been thinking about the story for years but was inspired to put pen to paper for an essay competition. I have two weeks to polish the story but it feels really good to have it finally on paper. The word limit is 1200 words so I have to really tighten the story without losing meaning.
[2006]: Inside Higher Ed reported this week that a new document from the National Science Foundation says that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) educate a disproportionate share of African American women and men who go on to earn Ph.D.s in the STEM fields (STEM = science, technology, engineering, and math.) In some ways, this is not surprising: given the data we have about the greater percentages of graduate degrees among women who attended women’s colleges, it would make a lot of sense that African American students who have the opportunity to study in an environment where they are typical instead of exceptional, and where they can work with a variety of different faculty of color, would be more encouraged and better supported in their ambitions.1
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| College of Arts and Sciences |
North Carolina A&T State University has been ranked in the top tier of national universities in several categories in the 2013 U.S. News & World Report college rankings.
The national news magazine released its annual list of rankings in early September. N.C. A&T earned top 25 honors amongst the nation’s top online programs in the area of information technology. Online IT faculty ranked No. 7 in faculty credentials and training while the program ranked Nos. 15 and 19 in student services and technology and student engagements and accreditation, respectively.2
1. Historyann | HBCUs tops in Making African American PhDs
2. A&T News | A&T Ranked in Top Third National Universities
ONLY nerds do this...
You don't have to be a science lover to be amazed at how they build on such a small scale. First, they put a pattern of microscopic iron "seeds" onto a plate. A blast of heated gas causes a miniature forest of carbon nanotubes to spring up. Each nanotube measures about 20 atoms across and is 99 percent air.
And while love is in the air, both love and the nano-cupid are fragile.
"It's a really fragile structure at this point – blowing on it or touching it would destroy it," said BYU physics professor Robert Davis.
To strengthen both the cupid and other micro-machines, Davis and his colleague Richard Vanfleet coat the nanostructures with metals and other materials. That opens the door to all kinds of uses.
Phys.org: A Cupid made of carbon nanotubules: world's tiniest Valentine
I just tweeted: It's possible finding all the AfricanAmerican PhD Astrophysicists: today found maybe 1st AfriAm Undergraduate woman http://www.news-gazette.com/news/people/2013-02-10/new-ui-residence-hall-will-bear-name-universitys-first-african-american-alumn …
Meaning, 1906 an African American woman graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne. She was the first Black woman to attend and to graduate. She went on to be a career educator and racked up several degrees.
UI is naming a building after this wonderful woman!
Maudelle Tanner Brown Bousfield
Thanks Claude Poux for pointing me in her direction.
In a White House ceremony Sylvester James Gates and George Robert Carruthers were awarded the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation, respectively. These awards are amongst the top honors that US bestows upon scientists and engineers.
Gates is known for his work on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. He is currently the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, a University of Maryland Regents Professor and currently serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the Maryland State Board of Education.
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| Wikipedia |
Sylvester James Gates, Jr. (born December 15, 1950), known as S. James Gates, Jr, or Jim Gates, is an American theoretical physicist, known for work on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. He is currently the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, a University of Maryland Regents Professor and serves on President Barack Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Gates received SB (1973) and PhD (1977) degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His doctoral thesis was the first at MIT on supersymmetry. With M.T. Grisaru, M. Rocek, and W. Siegel, Gates co-authored Superspace (1984), the first comprehensive book on supersymmetry. (Wikipedia)
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| NASA History |
Carruthers is an astrophysicist at the Naval Research Lab. He first gained international recognition for his on ultraviolet observations of the earth’s upper atmosphere and of astronomical phenomena. But he is perhaps best known for his work with the spectrograph that showed incontrovertible proof that molecular hydrogen exists in the interstellar medium.
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From a young age he showed an interest in science and astronomy. He grew up in the South Side of Chicago where at the age of 10 he built his first telescope. Despite his natural aptitude, he did not perform well in school at a young age, earning poor grades in math and physics. Despite his poor grades he won three separate science fair awards during this time.
After graduating from Englewood High School he went on to get a bachelors in aeronautical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1961, a master’s degree in nuclear engineering in 1962, and a doctorate in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1964. He now works with NRL’s community outreach organization, and as such helps support several educational activities in the sciences in the Washington D.C. area.
His work on ultraviolet spectrums and other types of astronautical tools helped him earn the Black Engineer of the Year award, of which he was one of the first 100 people to receive. His work has also been used by NASA, and in 1972 he was one of two naval research laboratory persons whose work culminated in the camera/spectrograph which was put on the moon in April, 1972. (Wikipedia)
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Original text published on NSBP Vectors. Between "*****" = Wikipedia additional info (italicized).
Lichens and algae could be the first life forms we find on Earth-like exoplanets, by looking for their light signatures in a planet's distinctive colouring.
Astronomers have found several rocky worlds in the habitable zone, the region around a star where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface, and many more are thought to exist. As telescopes get more sensitive, we should be able to collect light reflected off such planets and look for clues to their surface conditions.
Seen from space, Earth gives off a large amount of near-infrared light, which is reflecting off the chlorophyll in plants. We might see a similar "red edge" on distant exoplanets if they also host green vegetation.
New Scientist: Extreme life might be visible on colourful exoplanets
I watched the kids on TV play with an automated dog and my mind went wild. Let's bore 'n' stroke this puppy and see how fast she runs.
Enter the AKS, the Automated K9 Sentry System. He has dual cameras for measuring distance, night-vision and infrared functions. His sense of smell can detect anything around the home from smoke to CO2 to human breath. He gets up from his doggy bed recharging station, patrols the home stopping at possible entry breach points. Has a presence mode and a stealth mode. There is a family interactive function that allows him to "act like a dog". He has monitor functions so he can check the health status of family members and alert the Meds when necessary. He has a protect mode, calls the cops, has surveillance streaming video, is hooked to cell phone and PC.
Now the scary part. Has nanobot fleas. Can be programmed to hump the leg of unwelcome house guest.
Imagine being locked in a house with a mechanical dog gone mad, Cujo-rx7 anyone? Man broke into a AKS facility and was brutality mauled by a pack of off the shelf AKS's.
News flash, man gets 20 years for orchestrating AKS dog fights violating the robot laws of Asimov.
By the way, you can down custom bark files for your AKS from the local app store. And we know you all miss cleaning up after a pooch so there is an entire line of fake barf, poop, chewed shoes and torn couch pillows. Veterinarians protest against having to study robotics to care for mechanical family pets. My cats are rolling on the floor with laughter (they like dog jokes).
I'm editing Black Sun this morning while the fog is rolling in. I'm putting together a section on all the astronomers we met in Cairns. They are the high end eclipse chasers! They know more about the mechanics of the eclipse and what science can be done during the eclipse than everyone else. At the same time, many were not there to do science they were there to simply enjoy the eclipse! If you ever have a chance to view a total solar eclipse, make it happen. The next eclipse is this November in Africa. Photo: Jarita Holbrook & Kelvin Phillips Co-Directors in Cairns, Australia.
Brian Carter knows how important it is for his son, Adante, to get a good education. Half of Kentucky’s African American males score below the basic level in math, and he doesn’t want Adante to be one of those. To provide a challenging environment and prepare Adante for a rewarding career later in life, Brian enrolled him in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Academy.
United Way of the Bluegrass partnered with First Bracktown Inc., University of Kentucky, Fayette County Public Schools and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation to create the STEM Academy. Adante and 39 other middle school males attend weekly out-of-school programming with STEM focused activities.
And, it’s working. Seventy percent of STEM Academy students have improved their overall grades. These amazing results prove all children can succeed in school.
“Any program that supports the future of our children is important,” says Brian. “Having a program like this is beneficial to both the kids and society as a whole.”
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| "These first years set the stage not just for school, but for life." |
Scientific American: Why Hasn't the Whole Universe Collapsed into an Enormous Black Hole?
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Sixty-five African-American middle-school girls from the Dallas Independent School District will visit the UT Dallas campus this Saturday to walk on a liquid and solve a “whodunit” using fingerprint analysis.
The activities are part of a STEM academy called “Passport to STEM,” a half-day workshop aimed at fostering girls’ interests in science, engineering, technology and math (STEM).
Held at UT Dallas and sponsored by the Dallas Chapter of The Links Inc., the STEM academy session includes an experiment using a mixture of cornstarch and water, which forms a so-called “non-Newtonian” fluid. It pours like a liquid, but behaves like a solid when force acts upon it, such as stepping on it. The girls also will meet with professional women in STEM-related careers, as well as network with female graduate students who are pursuing STEM degrees.
“This is a great opportunity for these girls to gain exposure to both academic and professional opportunities in STEM fields,” said Felecia Pittman, professional development associate with UT Dallas’ Center for STEM Education and Research. The center is partnering with The Links and coordinating the curriculum for the event.
“We hope that the girls will develop connections with some of our female students who could serve as mentors or role models,” she said.
Photo: A STEM academy session allows girls to meet with professional women in STEM-related careers, as well as female graduate students who are pursuing STEM degrees.
UT Dallas: Middle-School Girls to Get Taste of Science at STEM Academy
With working organs and a realistic face, the world’s most high-tech humanoid made his debut in London yesterday and will be a one-man show at the city’s London Science Museum starting tomorrow.
The robot goes by Rex (short for robotic exoskeleton) or Million-Dollar Man (because that’s how much it cost to build him). Rex looks somewhat lifelike in that he has prosthetic hands, feet and a face modeled after a real man. That man is Swiss social psychologist Bertolt Meyer, who himself has a prosthetic hand. Such technology is now becoming more widely available to the general public.
But where Rex really breaks new ground is his suite of working organs. The team of roboticists, called Shadow, that created Rex incorporated various individual body parts built in labs all over the globe. He acts as a sort of showcase to demonstrate the human organs that are currently being built in the lab and what they can do.
Rex has a heart that beats with the help of a battery, and eyes that actually kind of see: Rex’s glasses send images to a microchip is his retina, which in turn sends electrical pulses to the brain, forming shapes and patterns. But the roboticists didn’t even try to tackle the complexity of the human brain this time.
Rex’s fist-sized dialysis unit works like a real kidney, and his mock spleen can filter infections from his “blood.” This filtering function could eventually be extremely helpful in a human, but Rex’s mock-circulatory system pumps a synthetic blood that is immune to infection.
Rex’s creators say he is the most complete bionic man to date.
Discovery Magazine: Bionic Man Has Fully Functional Mechanical Organs
