Children's Brains are AMAZING!

TEDtalks, Alison Gopnik - What Do Babies Think?

Getting Real, Why make children choose so early between 'Science & Math' vs 'Liberal Art & Humanities'?

Just where to start this post....  remembering that I want people to read it, but I'm not too sure if it will be read, or by whom, so how personal it needs to be is awfully subjective and random based on how I am feeling just now.  Oh, the dilemma of the blogger, sitting in a darkened room, writing to a faceless, as-yet unidentified audience.

I am a 40-something woman. I have been married, I have a son and a step-son I adore more than anything on the planet.  I have fewer formal qualifications than I should have at my age.  As mentioned in the previous post, I found a brilliant job in the past year that I absolutely adore and it gives me such a feeling of self-fulfilment I never knew possible on a professional level.  I have worked in many industries and situations, with my book-keeping and customer service background.  Seldom have I had the pleasure of a working environment where my colleagues and 'customers' are so equally accepting, caring, patient, open and loving, or where the feedback is so fast with a quick lesson to be learned or instant gratitude to be felt. I have had the past two weeks off and I am missing my job like I have never missed a job before.  

I love science.  I F*ing love science, as the now famous facebook page declares.  https://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLoveScience  It stunned me that the author's gender of this FB page came as a surprise to so many and that this was even the topic of conversation when she was interviewed, recently.  ( http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50143686n)  Aren't we past this? Obviously not. We are all born curious and full of wonder about the world and what we see.  Regardless of what is concealed in our diaper, we are born explorers and experimenters.  We are trying to work things out from the moment we can reach out, grab something and shove it in our mouths to see what it tastes like.  We are brave explorers.

At some point, something must happen that encourages girls one way and boys another and  I can't argue or point or even quote a study that has explored this one way or another and that isn't really why I decided to write tonight.  I won't try to fathom or address that issue.  Yes, we are different (and thank goodness, I think, sometimes).  But, what I want to put forward here is:
'Why are the Sciences and Math still so removed from the Humanities.'  
Recently, on NPR's Science Friday, a fantastic guest list on 29 March 2013 gathered to speak during the second hour of the show. http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/03/29/2013/gripping-science-tales-need-not-be-science-fiction.html They asked that very same question and had a short discussion about it.  Having science writers that can personalise and humanise the curiosity behind the discoveries and add that awe-inspiring feeling that makes a person feel good and amazed and inspired is more important now than ever in our human history.  Mass communication has made it possible to reach and motivate large numbers of people. Of course, this makes it possible to spread untruths and myths as quickly as what we know as real science.  Cherry picking certain theories and ideas from science to support a particular theory about human behaviour or how the world works is not science writing and is not honest. The charlatans who are published in the 'new-age' genre and find a following mixing their own adulterated version of quantum mechanics and mumbo-jumbo is shameful.  We need more science and less mumbo-jumbo.  This needs to be addressed at several levels, but firstly, what I want to discuss; teaching people how to write about science. I want to learn and I want other, like minded, younger people, to learn too.
Why do we tell middle school kids that they have to take the art/literature/humanity courses OR the science and math classes to get them in line for their classes in high school?  If someone had told me in junior high that there was a career option out there called, 'Science Writing' and I could meld my love of English and writing with my love and curiosity of science and the wonders of the world and cosmos, I may have taken a very different route.  Instead I was told I would never be good enough in math to take the high school science classes, so I could, at best, think of the business courses as an option or consider becoming a teacher.  
NOW, is the time to foster kids with a penchant for writing and communicating who can grasp science and logical reasoning and get excited about what is going on in the world of science and research.  There is a broadening gap ... a chasm almost, between what needs to be understood and an almost prideful ignorance.  Open, honest, understandable, persistent communication is the only answer. 
Scientific curiosity is present in a 5 year old and age-appropriate exploration and learning needs to be encouraged.  Science is not magic.  Facts are not mystical but they can be wondrous   We can be in awe of our world and know is it absolutely real and that makes it even better, I think.     
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g4d-rnhuSg

Crafting in paper to celebrate CERN

This image was in the French newspaper Le Monde.  It was commissioned by them from the design studio Zim & Zou.  They wanted to create a series of paper craft illustrations as part of an article on CERN's work involving the Higgs Boson.  Their creation is a beautiful interpretation of particle collision physics based on the LHC.

to see more work from, zim and zou, visit their gallery website.

When Christmas crafting and science collide....

Or... when cellular biologist get creative.

This stunning image was made by Dr. Donna Stoltz of the University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  She took mammalian cells and stained them and arranged them into this lovely, holiday image.  To see more:     Nikon's small world photography competition

Overdue for a post, I KNOW!

Sorry, sorry.  It wasn't my fault.  Really.  It was friendship's fault.  
This past week I was helping a friend with writing a document in English.  She does a damn fine job herself, but she needed me to just do some bits of editing for her.  I admire anyone who can write well in a language that wasn't their mother-tongue, and she writes well in THREE languages.  We had to hurry and get it done so it literally took up every free waking minute, as well as displaced some of my sleep.  It really did remind me of how much I miss school and writing.  Maybe there will be more writing in my future, who knows? 

Side table from 'Twisted' now at Pryd

Lille Design with super sweet things for
any kid and anyone who is a kid at heart

Today, I spent the day with the group at Pryd in Trondheim.  We welcomed new members and moved around the whole store and freshened up bits and pieces.  The place looks great with some fresh new faces and the wonderfully creative pieces they make.
Here are just two of examples.  I'll take more pictures and you can keep up to date with what is going on at the store at http://prydbutikken.blogg.no/  


I found my nålbinding needle, finally.  I was in quite a bit of panic about it.  You see, it is made from mammoth tusk.  It is rare and very precious to me.  I plan on doing a bit of filming of a tutorial, so watch this space.  
Don't forget about Venus' transit on the 5 of June and I hope you all watched the Space X / NASA mission that got the first private cargo to the International Space Station.  If not, here's to make up for missing my science instalment this weekend.  I am thinking that you all forgive me because it has been a 3 day weekend.  
Youtube videos below show the full launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 and then the Dragon capture by the International Space Station.  We were so excited.  

Science Saturday

from Getty Images, Ring of Fire Eclipse happens approximately every 18 years.

Looking up into the stars has been something I have always done.  I wasn't always aware of what I was seeing and I wasn't that interested in space or star and planet identification when I was younger.  It wasn't until I moved to New Zealand and saw the stars from the Southern Hemisphere that I really woke up to the idea that what we see out there isn't just a ceiling over our heads, but a vastness, surrounding us with pricks of light that we can actually reach.  So, whether you spot the Southern Cross or the Big Dipper in your sky, don't forget to look up and remember that we are part of this big universe.

There is going to be annular eclipse on 20-21st May. The moon will be eclipsing the sun along a swath of the Western Hemisphere.  http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2012May20Agoogle.html
If you live in that space, don't forget to look up (taking all safety precautions of course)  It will look similar to the picture above and it happens approximately every 18 years.

The other thing going on from Earth's perspective, that will be viewable almost Earth-wide, is Venus will traverse across the sun on June 5th. This is amongst the rarest of viewable planetary alignments. It will look like a small spot travelling across the sun.  To watch that, you need something like number 14 welders glasses  (5 or 6 dollars).  The next time Venus does this is 2117.  Chances are, you'll not be around for that one, so here's your chance.  Here is your guide regardless of where you are in the world.  (Thank you, Stevan van Roode and Francois Mignard!)   http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/where-when/local-transit-times/  As you can see from the guide, it takes a really long time for Venus to travel the distance across the sun, so unlike an eclipse, you get a longer window of time to view it and clouds be damned.
Pretty exciting, for a nerdy girl, like me.  I will have to get up really early in the morning to see it, but I will see it!!

Science Saturday... ermmm.. Sunday.

Evolution:  It's how we got here.

Soap Volcanos

Soap Volcanos of Nightmares

As mentioned in my last post, the volcano deserves its own blog entry.

The making of the Newton Soap Volcano: 

Helping the children's TV science show, Newton, with their soap episode was fun.  The volcano can be seen at 7:57 (you can also see Nidelva Såpekokeri in the credits at 27:54) They asked loads of questions, I demonstrated soapmaking for them and when they finally wrote their episode to include a nightmare sequence with a volcano bubbling over (soapmakers know of this phenomenon) they asked me if I could make them one.  I had to try.  It sounded like it was going to be very fun to try, even if it didn't work out.  I decided it had to be recycled and reusable, so it had to be made out of real soap.


I had several kilos of goat milk soap sitting in storage that I knew I could shred down and recook (a method called re-batching).  I had never sculpted anything with soap before, but I knew what the texture was like during rebatching and it turned out to be a rather fun medium to sculpt in.  It was hot, but with rubber gloves on, it was comfortable enough to handle.  


I put two small plastic containers upside down, smaller one on top of the larger one and covered them in a plastic bag and then covered that with a layer of rebatched, jasmine scented, goat milk soap.  At this stage, I wasn't sure if I was going to try to remove the plastic containers or not.  What I ended up doing was cutting the botton of the top container, giving me a nice, manageable space to put a decent volume of my 'lava mix' into.

The soap stayed malleable long enough to shape and held together very much like a sticky wax. 

I wanted the lava mix to be a bath and body product too, not just baking soda and vinegar, like the kids do at science fairs.  My answer?  Bath bomb. Citric acid for the low pH and baking soda for the high pH.  I tested the bath bomb mixture in a cup and added plenty of red food colouring but found the bubbles lacking so I squirted in some dish soap and got bubbles-a-plenty.  It wasn't something I would put in my bath tub, but it worked.

The first layer of soap over the
plastic containers.

Building up the base of the volcano,
giving it shape.

The top cut open for the lava mix to be poured into.

A closer look at the sculpting and design

I giggled the whole time I was making this.  It seems perfectly surreal, but I guess that was the idea.  It was for Solveig's dream sequence.  It ended up weighing in at 3.7kg and it was 26cm tall.  


























The whole, 'make a soap volcano' also led to these little beauties:  Chocolate scented melt and pour soap with and adjusted formula for the lava to make it very skin friendly.

Just add water

The lava was strawberry scented with cosmetic grade
colorant and enriched with shea butter and rice bran oil.

Keep adding water until the lava exhausts
itself and then use the soap to wash.

My son's face says it all.

If you represent a company and would like to license this idea, get in touch.  

Soap vs Detergents and some History

Talking Soap

Where to begin..., let's see...
The difference between soap and detergent:
A few years ago, I was helping the team from Newton (a children's science program here in Norway) create a segment about soap. see program here (in Norwegian) (the giant soap volcano in her nightmare sequence was made by yours-truly.  That sucker deserves its own blog entry.) The first thing I talked to them on the phone about was how people confuse soap and detergent.  They actually chose to lead with that in their segment, so I'll start with that here as well.


Soap is the combination of fats + base solution and has been around for over 2000 years.  Detergents were invented in the 1940's using petrochemicals.


There is some debate, myths and legends about how soap was first discovered.  I imagine that soap's origin story goes something like this: Melted animal fat falls into ashes from fire, ashes are used to clean something and someone notices that the animal fat + ashes clean better than just ashes and water.  Why?  Well, we know now, but they didn't know then, that wood ash, especially wood ash from hard woods, contains potassium and when it is mixed or drained through with water, it becomes a potassium hydroxide solution, or KOH.  A solution of KOH, made crudely with wood ash, combined with any kind of animal fat will make a pasty, muddy looking soap.  Why?  Because KOH is a mean bully and it pulls apart fat, eats it, rearranges it until it is a type of salt and not a fat.  It becomes potassium tallowate and water and glycerine (we'll talk about glycerine and why it is there another time) and probably loads of dirt from the ash because nothing has been measured or cleaned or filtered nicely.  The year is sometime BC and soap is discovered.  *cue hero music.


To make soap, they were creating a base solution, and that is 'base' as in the pH scale, not bass in the music scale. Base is the opposite of acid. (I'll write more about pH another time, too.) The solution is strong enough to eat through clothing and a layer or two of skin. Ouch. Once it is mixed with enough oils and fats, it becomes soap and there is no more caustic base left.  Ensuring there was enough fats for the KOH to bully and eat was important.  They didn't want any of the caustic chemicals left over and sitting alone because then it became a very harsh batch of soap.  The soap makers learned to put a small, cooled piece of soap to their tongue.  If they felt a sting, they knew they had to add more oils.  Some soap makers still check their batches like this.  


KOH is the base chemical used to make a true liquid soap, even today.  Of course, today, we have better sources of it than leeching it through wood ash.  Today, we measure our chemicals by the gram, mix carefully and cook patiently.  I don't make liquid soap, but I know a lady who does and she does it brilliantly. Her name is Agneta and she has been a fellow soapmaker of mine since I began, 6 years ago, generously sharing her time and experience with me over the internet.  You can see her work here: Tvålmakaren, Sweden  
So, next time you are looking for liquid soap at the store, check the list of ingredients.  If they don't include potassium something-ate it isn't soap.  (btw, I will have some of Agneta's soap in Pryd in the near future, if you are reading this in the Trondheim area.)


Another strong base chemical is used to make harder bars of soap.  Sodium hydroxide, or NaOH, or more commonly known as lye.  Lye is sometimes also used as the term for KOH, so that gets a bit confusing.  I like to stick with their chemical abbreviations, then there are no misunderstandings.  NaOH does the same thing KOH does, so on the ingredients list of a real soap, you should see, Sodium something-ate.  Because the NaOH eats the oils and turns them into soap, water and glycerine.  The 'something' always refers to the type of fat or oil used in the formula.  


Some soap makers simply list the oils, but if you are looking on commercially made bars, you will see what are called the 'INCI' chemical names.  'INCI' stands for the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients.  (AAG, which stands for Acronyms Are Great.)  INCI is a list of agreed upon names that manufacturers put on labels so that there is a standard of some sort. The words need to transcend languages in some ways but there are variations, with the Americans usually being the exceptions. (no real surprise there.)  For example, in the US, soap isn't considered a cosmetic, so legally, it only has to be labelled 'Soap'.  Everywhere else I know of, the ingredients need to adhere to INCI standards for that region and language.  Cosmetic manufacture laws are long and boring and a bit confusing.  If anyone wants to read about them, I can give you links.  I am an ingredients list reader because of sensitivities to certain chemicals, so rely on truthful information and claims on packaging, but again... another topic for another blog entry, because now, I'm tired.


Thanks for reading.  I hope you found it informative and interesting.  I touched on a few topics in addition to the one I set out with, perhaps raised some questions, so feel free to write in the comments section below.  *bangs on the mic*  Is this thing on?  

soap molecules forming.  neat, eh?

A crafty tute with a superhero twist.

It helps that I also have a crush on the website.  It's called madartlab.com and it bills itself as 'a group blog about the intersection of science, skepticism, and art.'  Give them a look and tell them I sent you.  
Yes, it is superhero shoes.  Bling out an old boring pair of shoes.  Why not?

Full tutorial from madartlab.com

and because I missed Science Saturday yesterday, here is some space candy....

Space.  The real thing.  Not CGI

or... why I love science.

goosbumps.

Science Saturday! 

(I will try to make this a regular feature, unless there is antiborg-like resistance.)
I mentioned science, didn't I?   I enjoy a good layman's explanation in comic book format and hope you do, too.