Mindy posted this picture from a mysterious “Miss NASA” beauty pageant on our Tumblr the other day. She is wearing a tiara and interacting with a Dalek-like machine. Although it is unclear whether she was just told to touch it and vaguely smile into the distance. According to Artifacting, who published these photos, this was taken in 1968 or 1969. It turns out that according to Lori Ga... »
A most interesting study group is taking place at WITS University this week. Mathematicians will attempt to find a solution to the problem of Rhino poaching. International mathematicians and graduate students will converge at Wits University next week to help solve various industry problems during the 2013 Mathematics in Industry Study Group (MISGSA) Workshop. With more than 600 rhinos poached in ... »
Tomorrow (Thursday the sixteenth of August for those of you who are reading this another day… say, tomorrow), A whole age group in the United Kingdom with shudder with both anticipation and nerves. That’s right, it’s A level results day, the time of year where Brits aged 16-18 get their university prospects shoved in their face like an apple in a roast boar’s mouth. I went ... »
As hinted in our Reality Checks today, the EU has launched a campaign to convince girls to get into science. I’ve visited their website, and it’s not completely off-base. The profiles of women in science are a good idea. But the video teaser they’ve released is horrendous and offensive. »
Tell me if this doesn’t sound familiar to you: you’re sitting in class in your usual spot, up front but slightly off to the side so you can see the board but not be too obvious about it. It’s about twenty minutes into the lecture and the white board is now so covered in notes, drawings, and equations that the professor has to start erasing things to make room for the rest of the... »
This is probably a good time to make this confession, before I get to the meat of the article: Astronomy terrifies me. I don’t just mean that I get nervous when I think about zipping on a space suit and going into orbit 240 miles above the Earth, which I do. Like, I’m afraid of planets. I feel a bit of vertigo if I’m browsing through Wikipedia pages on the solar system for too long. Star-gazin... »
Do you remember what you were doing eight years ago on June 8th, 2004? No? Neither do I, but on that early day in the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, celestial bodies in our solar system were aligning. The planet Venus’ orbit brought it directly between the Earth and the Sun and for six hours, Venus appeared to observers on Earth as a black silhouette against the solar disk. It was an itty, bitt... »
A couple of days ago one of the Skepchick quickies was S.E. Smith’s article ‘Get Your Antifemininity Out of My Feminism’. It’s a wonderful piece, and it expresses an idea I’ve spoken about before– that by undervaluing things that are seen as feminine, we undermine our goal of gender equality. Antifemininity is misogynist. What you are saying when you engage in t... »
