Archive for the ‘Sophie Bushwick’ Category.

Critical Wit #58 – The Science Fund Challenge: How the Public Can Finance Science

Zen Faulkes is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Texas-Pan American and science communicator at the blog, Neurodojo.  In this episode, guest host Sophie Bushwick talks with Zen about another project that he’s working on – the SciFund Challenge.  The SciFund Challenge is an organization of scientists who pitch their ideas for science research to the public in the hopes of raising money through small donations.  You can visit http://scifundchallenge.org to find out what projects are listed, of which you can donate to seeing it come to fruition.  In fact, Zen has a project listed with a modest goal of $750. It’s called “Beach of the Goliath Crabs.”  Donate soon, as the challenge ends on May 31st!  Zen’s blog can be found at http://neurodojo.blogspot.com. And you can follow him on twitter @DoctorZen.

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Critical Wit #52 – Graphene: Its Role In Future Technology Innovation

Sophie Bushwick is a freelance science writer who contributes to Scientific American’s Sixty Seconds Podcast, and is a writer for the io9 blogging network.  In this episode, we discuss the topic of graphene, a substance that has promising features and qualities for future technological innovations, such as more efficient solar cells, improved semiconductors, and more.  You can subscribe to Sophie’s blog, “Life is just a theory,” at www.sophiebushwick.com and follow her on Twitter @SophieBushwick.

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider ‘liking’ the Critical Wit page on Facebook and/or give it a rating in iTunes. You can also follow Critical Wit on Twitter @TheCriticalWit.  Thanks!

Critical Wit #49 – From The Cutting Room Floor 5

In this episode, I give you more interview excerpts from off of the cutting room floor, such as Zachary Moore gives his favorite evidence of evolution that’s not relevant to molecular genetics (episode 43), why Rosie Redfield thinks it’s important for scientists to blog (epsd 42), what Sean B Carroll thinks are some of the under-appreciated qualities of Charles Darwin (epsd 46), and what Barbara Oakley thinks is the hardest part of writing about technical science for the general public (episode 40).  And of course, we include a few funny clips, both of which occur in episode 44 & 45, when Peggy Nelson seems to ironically preface a drop-out in the conversation…listen carefully.

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider ‘liking’ the Critical Wit page on Facebook and/or give it a rating in iTunes. You can also follow Critical Wit on Twitter @TheCriticalWit.  Thanks!

Critical Wit #48 – Meet Beatrice the Biologist!

Katie McKissick is a “former high school biology teacher who simply loves to talk, write, and read about science.”  She’s also the author and illustrator of “Beatrice the Biologist,” a fun, informative website about science.  In this episode, guest host Sophie Bushwick chats with Katie about her unique way of describing science through blogging and illustrating.  And they discuss one of the more popularly read Beatrice the Biologist articles, “Biology Doesn’t Support Gay Marriage Bans” and how it spun off into a conversation about olives.  You can subscribe to Katie’s website at www.beatricebiologist.com, and like her Facebook page, and follow her on Twitter @beatricebiology.

Special thanks to Ira Moore for providing some technical counsel in this episode.  If you’re interested in checking out Ira Moore’s music for your multimedia project, you can visit his website at http://iraemoore.weebly.com.

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider ‘liking’ the Critical Wit page on Facebook and/or give it a rating in iTunes. You can also follow Critical Wit on Twitter @TheCriticalWit.  Thanks!

Critical Wit #45 – Using New Media to Create Art

In the second of this two-episode interview, Sophie Bushwick talks with Peggy Nelson, a new media artist who’s currently using Twitter to tell the amazing survival story of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. In the previous episode, Nelson provided a detailed overview of Shackleton’s perilous 1914 expedition.  In this episode, Nelson describes how Twitter can be used as a narrative medium, as well as other new media that Nelson utilizes to create art.  You can find out more about Peggy Nelson by visiting her website http://www.peggynelson.com/, as well as her author page at hilobrow.com.  And don’t forget, you can follow Ernest Shackleton on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/#!/EShackleton and be a witness to his struggle for survival.

 

 

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider ‘liking’ the Critical Wit page on Facebook and/or give it a rating in iTunes. You can also follow Critical Wit on Twitter @TheCriticalWit.  Thanks!

 

Critical Wit #44 – Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure…Told On Twitter

Peggy Nelson is a new media artist who’s currently using Twitter to tell the incredible survival story of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton.  In the first of this two-episode interview, Sophie Bushwick talks with Nelson, who recounts Ernest Shackleton’s incredible 1914 expedition and why she ultimately decided to tell his tale on Twitter.  You can find out more about Peggy Nelson by visiting her website at www.peggynelson.com, and you can follow Ernest Shackleton in the midst of his adventure, describing his experiences at http://twitter.com/EShackleton.

 

 

 

 

Sophie Bushwick is a freelance science writer who contributes to Scientific American’s Sixty Seconds Podcast, and the io9 blogging network.  You can subscribe to her blog called “Life is just a theory” at www.sophiebushwick.com and follow her on Twitter @SophieBushwick.

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider ‘liking’ the Critical Wit page on Facebook and/or give it a rating in iTunes. You can also follow Critical Wit on Twitter @TheCriticalWit.  Thanks!

Critical Wit #42 – Rosie Redfield on ‘Arsenic Bacteria’: One Year Later

Dr. Rosie Redfield is a microbiologist at the University of British Columbia and science writer for the Field of Science blog network.  In this episode, guest host Sophie Bushwick talks with Dr. Redfield about her work on whether bacteria have sex, the possibility of arsenic-based life forms, and the importance of blogging and open science.  Dr. Redfield has recently been named one of Nature magazine’s ‘ten people who mattered in 2011.’ You can follow Rosie Redfield on Twitter @RosieRedfield and subscribe to her blog at http://rrresearch.fieldofscience.com.

Sophie Bushwick is a freelance science writer who contributes to Scientific American’s Sixty Seconds Podcast, and the io9 blogging network.  You can subscribe to her blog called “Life is just a theory” at www.sophiebushwick.com and follow her on Twitter @SophieBushwick.

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider ‘liking’ the Critical Wit page on Facebook and/or give it a rating in iTunes. You can also follow Critical Wit on Twitter @TheCriticalWit.  Thanks!