PDF | JPG The Science Creative Quarterly seeks science humour pieces for entry into our awesome new contest. Judging will be based on a number of criteria that can be annotated as follows: Briefly, final Score (FS) is equal to the the base score of the humour piece submitted (S), times a number (n) of modifiers (fs) which are dependant on captions provided, and their humour level. Note that captions may be submitted separately even at multiple dates after initial humour submission. Number of captions provided by author is flexible but can be no more than 1 for each image…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From September, 2006
DUDE, YOU GOT SOME GUM?
When my family moved to Vancouver from Hong Kong, I was at the awkward age of 14. In addition to language barrier and social adjustment, most of my cultural shock came inevitably from high school. One thing that impressed me the most was how popular gum-chewing was (and still is). All these cool kids were hanging out by their lockers, exchanging colourful and minty gums, and engaging in a perpetual chewing contest throughout classes. You see, students in Asia would never dream of eating/chewing/drinking/whining/talking in class. You can tell how fascinated I was at these rebellious classmates; they may not…
WINNING PROJECTS FROM THE FELLOWSHIP BAPTIST CREATION SCIENCE FAIR 2001
Elementary School Level: 1st Place: “My Uncle Is A Man Named Steve (Not A Monkey)” Cassidy Turnbull (grade five) presented her uncle, Steve. She also showed photographs of monkeys and invited fairgoers to note the differences between her uncle and the monkeys. She tried to feed her uncle bananas, but he declined to eat them. Cassidy has conclusively shown that her uncle is no monkey. 2nd Place: “Pine Cones Are Complicated” David Block and Trevor Murry (grades four) showed how specifically complicated pine cones are and how they reveal God’s design in nature. Middle School Level: 1st Place: “Life Doesn’t…
TO TALK OF THE WORLD OF BODIES
(BodyWorlds 3 is currently in Vancouver at Science World, until January 14, 2007) I had a train-wreck experience about Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds. I had previously heard nothing about the man, his work, or the show before we headed out to see it at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, but one of my sources inside the museum world had mentioned that there had been a fair amount of controversy surrounding both von Hagens and the exhibit. The exhibit was divided into anatomical systems: locomotive, nervous, cardiovascular, and digestive, plus a kind of gallery of awe—bodies in motion, human…
HOW EVOLUTION NATURALLY SELECTED ME
If you’re anything like me you think Radiohead is the greatest band on the planet; that the Rolling Stones are important, but overrated; Natalie Portman is the greatest actress of her generation (and hot, even with short hair); the most disgusting noise is the noise of someone eating with their mouth open; and you read—a lot. But no fiction, only non-fiction. Not even James Frey non-fiction. A lot of it is news, some of it is commentary, and sometimes life experience. I read a lot about Intelligent Design (ID) these days. It’s not something that I’m particularly proud of, it’s…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: FORENSICS WITH A SPOON – NO WAIT, MAKE THAT ON A SPOON.
REFERENCE: The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute. (2005) BMJ 331:1498-1500 ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES: To determine the overall rate of loss of workplace teaspoons and whether attrition and displacement are correlated with the relative value of the teaspoons or type of tearoom. DESIGN: Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: Research institute employing about 140 people. SUBJECTS: 70 discreetly numbered teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute and observed weekly over five months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of teaspoon loss per 100 teaspoon years and teaspoon half life. RESULTS: 56 (80%) of…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: FORENSICS WITH A SPOON – NO WAIT, MAKE THAT ON A SPOON.
REFERENCE: The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute. (2005) BMJ 331:1498-1500 ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES: To determine the overall rate of loss of workplace teaspoons and whether attrition and displacement are correlated with the relative value of the teaspoons or type of tearoom. DESIGN: Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: Research institute employing about 140 people. SUBJECTS: 70 discreetly numbered teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute and observed weekly over five months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of teaspoon loss per 100 teaspoon years and teaspoon half life. RESULTS: 56 (80%) of…
SONNETS FROM SPACE
I We sit, in love and gazing at the stars That fill the violet evening sky with sparks. What flies up there, besides our thoughts, or larks That sing life’s glory or its scars? Is there a being on a quest from Mars, And launching out in meteoric arcs? What answers would he seek when he embarks Across the void between his world and ours? We love each other, sitting two as one, And mostly, life is full with soothing sun, You hold me as we face the starry sky, To contemplate what comes and goes; and why. But sometimes,…
THE RNA TIE CLUB AND LESSONS TO BE LEARNED IN HOW TO WIN A NOBEL PRIZE
As of November 2005, 776 Nobel Prizes have been awarded (758 to individuals, 18 to organizations) in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and economics. In that same month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Census, there were an estimated 6,469,818,677 people alive in the world. Consequently, the average person (or even the average scientist) has a very small chance of winning a Nobel Prize or even ever knowing anyone who has done so. However, there is a very small group of people whose odds of winning this estute award are exponentially increased. These people were the members of an elite…