Sunday Funnies Blast Off Into the Space Age
When Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus met President Kennedy in 1962, JFK told him, "The only science I ever learned was from your comic strip."
January 27, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
How to Measure the Moon this Weekend
The people of Byzantium viewed a lunar eclipse as a bad omen, but today it's just another time to do science
December 08, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
1968′s Computerized School of the Future
A forward-looking lesson plan predicted that "computers will soon play as significant and universal a role in schools as books do today"
November 16, 2011 |
By Matt Novak
Ann Finkbeiner: Why I Like Science
As a way of working, it's wide-open, competitive, nit-picky and nerve-wracking; it's outright warfare
October 06, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Boston Globe of 1900 Imagines the Year 2000
A utopian vision of Boston promises no slums, no traffic jams, no late mail deliveries and, best of all, night baseball games
October 04, 2011 |
By Matt Novak
Why Are Finland's Schools Successful?
The country's achievements in education have other nations doing their homework
September 2011 |
By LynNell Hancock
Do Kids Have Too Much Homework?
Across the United States, parents, teachers and administrators alike are rethinking their approach to after-school assignments
August 22, 2011 |
By LynNell Hancock
The Animaniacs’ Take On Science
A look into the intelligent humor of this 1990s-era cartoon
August 15, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Cambrian Explosion in Song
What does a music teacher do when he ends up teaching science?
July 13, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Top Ten Kids’ Movies With a Green Theme
Loggers, hunters, developers, fishers, polluters and whalers are the evil villains in this movie genre
June 24, 2011 |
By Julie Mianecki
Why Scientific Ignorance Can Kill You
While working on this story from Smithsonian's May issue about oncologist Brian Druker and his discovery 10 years ago of a breakthrough drug for chronic myeloid leukemia, I was struck by the following passage:Over the pub’s blaring music Mayfield said of his BCR-ABL gene, “I had the G250E mutation—...
April 21, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Five Reasons Anti-Evolution Measures are a Bad Idea
In 1925, John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was put on trial in Tennessee for having the audacity to teach evolution to his students. In the 21st century, teachers don't have to worry about being arrested for teaching this fundamental topic in science, and the Supreme Court declared teachi...
April 04, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
How to Find Trustworthy Science and Health Information
I can see why some people might long for the good old days, when medical advice came from your doctor, news from your local paper or Edward R. Murrow, and science news from a specialty publication like Scientific American. Today, we're overwhelmed with sources of information, with hundreds of telev...
March 02, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Looking Forward to the International Year of Chemistry
The United Nations has dubbed 2011 the International Year of Chemistry, with the unifying theme "Chemistry—our life, our future."The goals of IYC2011 are to increase the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, to encourage interest in chemistry among young people, and to generate...
December 30, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Great Science Books for the Little Ones
How do you raise a miniature scientist? Start with books, of course. Below is a list of my favorite children's science books from the past year (if you're looking for other types of kids' books, Smithsonian.com will have our annual list of notables online later this week):Adventure Beneath the Sea,...
December 13, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Calculus Diaries
Though I was a very good at math in school, I usually found the subject incredibly boring, so much so that I often slept through class (teachers didn't mind as long as I aced the exams). The one exception was a college math course for biologists that gave us real-world problems like figuring out th...
August 31, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Be a Science Fair Judge
Last week I was a judge for the local EnvironMentors Fair (a science fair with an environmental theme). Thirty-one high school students were competing for scholarship money, the chance to compete at the national fair this week and, of course, bragging rights. This was the first time I'd been to a s...
May 17, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Level Playing Field for Science
I suppose, in a way, I should thank the woman who tried to compliment me when I was in high school by saying that I was too pretty for science. What she was really saying was that girls don't belong in science, and that got me so riled up I'm still ticked off nearly two decades later. But at least ...
March 23, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Greatest Hits of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science hosted its annual festival in San Diego this past weekend. It's a serious scientific meeting complete with plenary sessions, lots of PowerPoint presentations and rows of posters, but it's also a big party for people who care about the big pict...
February 22, 2010 |
By Laura Helmuth
The Science of the Olympics
I've always been a fan of the Winter Olympics, but a bout with the flu in 2002 that kept me at home watching TV for a week made me an addict. But it's not just about watching hours of skiing and skating. There's science, too, and it seems to be everywhere this year. Here are some good resources and...
February 17, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
