Monday, June 15, 2009

Art of Science Competition - Help Select People's Choice Winner

Princeton University's Art of Science Competition is underway, and you are invited to participate! Look for beauty in the representation of scientific results, by comparing images side by side and making a judgment as to which is "more Art of Science." The People's Choice competition remains open through noon, July 1, 2009. Click on Cast Your Votes to get started. Details on the science behind each art piece is part of the online exhibit. According to American Scientist (July-Aug 2009, p. 292) a competition is already being planned for 2010, and Andrew Zwicker of the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, one of the show's organizers and a past prizewinner, encourages other communities to hold similar competitions.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

H1N1 Virus Declared a Pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the swine flu pandemic. Read or listen to the story and related information on NPR. On Wednesday, WHO said 74 countries had reported nearly 27,737 cases of swine flu, including 141 deaths [from the AP]. Find more information on H1N1 in the USA at the Center for Disease Control, and GenBank sequences for the 2009 outbreak at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Monday, June 01, 2009

Earth 2100: the Final Century of Civilization?

Received from the Sierra Club, Northeast Ohio group:

"Earth 2100" is a two-hour television event from ABC, scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, at 9 p.m. ET. Bob Woodruff explores the potential scientific scenarios for our future, with the underlying premise that the planet is at risk: population growth, resource depletion, and climate change could bring catastrophe in the next century. Two possible futures will be considered, ending with an optimistic outlook that presents the actions humanity must take now, in 2009, to create a future that ensures health and sustainability for ourselves and the rest of the planet.

Earth 2100 News and Related Stories from ABC News.