Did I trick any Twilight lovers out there? Sorry to disappoint you fan-pires, but this post is not about the movie, but about today being the birthday anniversary of astronomer Charles Dillon Perrine. Twilight: New Moon might not have been around when Charles Perrine was born in Ohio on July 28th in 1867, but Jupiter’s [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Twilight: New Moon(s)
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010Vampire Myths = Real Life?
Thursday, July 8th, 2010The final movie in the Twilight saga opened at the Maryland Science Center’s IMAX Theater last week. Whenever I hear the word “vampire” I automatically think of the blood-sucking villains from the scary stories I heard growing up. While I know that’s not “real life,” there’s actually some solid science behind many of the myths [...]
World Cup Science
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010All eyes are on the excitement in South Africa as 32 nations vied for the grandest prize in soccer, the World Cup. The U.S. team fought hard in Saturday’s overtime match against Ghana but the game ended in an unfortunate loss for the U.S. Nonetheless, watching the remaining games will be exciting—and educational! Some articles [...]
Carnival Science
Thursday, June 24th, 2010Come one, come all! This weekend, the Maryland Science Center will be hosting its annual Carnival Science Days. Everyone loves going to a carnival, and watching the acrobats and performers as they thrill us with death-defying feats. But we always seem to wonder… how exactly can they do all those amazing tricks? It’s Science! Ever [...]
A Swimmable Harbor
Monday, June 14th, 2010Ahh, looks like it’s going to be another beautiful day at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. I think I might just go for a swim in the beautiful, clean water. Wait. What? That’s right; the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore has released its “Healthy Harbor Initiative,” an outline of goals that says that by 2015, we’ll have a [...]
Cleaning Up the Oil Spill
Friday, June 4th, 2010The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico started April 10th and is leaking an estimated 500 gallons a day. Until very recently, the reports about the containment and clean up have not been encouraging. As we watch and listen to the reports of the clean up, we can easily see the science behind some [...]
Wow. That’s Tubular!
Friday, May 28th, 2010Let’s face it: You spend most of the day on YouTube anyway… so why not check out some cinematic science? I never learned how to play dominos. I knew the dots were important, but that’s as far as I got. Who has time to learn the intricacies of the game when you’re busy setting up [...]
Come On Get Happy!
Friday, May 14th, 201011 minutes, 32 seconds. That’s how long it took 261 loyal Baltimoreans to set the Guinness World Record for the largest smiley face. The record, set on the Maryland Science Center plaza, was part of the kick-off for Visit Baltimore’s summer tourism campaign, “Find Your Happy Place in Baltimore.” We got to thinking: What other [...]
Perky Jerky?
Friday, April 23rd, 2010Well, I like beef jerky and I definitely like caffeine but I have never, even once, ever imagined combining the two. Why would anyone? Turns out, Perky Jerky came about accidentally. Here is the story, taken directly from their website: Our story, like most good stories, begins with two jerks in a ski lodge. After [...]
Print a report, a picture or….new skin?
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010Printing New Skin: Saving Lives with Inkjet Printers By modifying an ink jet printer and growing skin cells from a patient’s body, an Army research lab has developed an amazing treatment for severe burns: printing new skin. Once the patient’s skin cells are in a sterile ink cartridge, a computer uses a three dimensional map [...]