natural woman

the one, the only, ARETHA FRANKLIN!   this brought me to tears - so pure, so passionate, so powerful.  a great way to say goodbye to 2015.

creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul

words of incredible wisdom from bill watterson.  illustrated by gavin aung than.  

hell yeah.

the star talker - neil degrasse tyson

what a fun, almost surreal evening talking with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

pre-show with Neil deGrasse Tyson

He reminded us to "look the hell up every once in a while" and not to take evidence of science and technology in our everyday lives (phones!) for granted.

I didn't realize for the first few minutes that we were on the HUGE screen behind us on stage!

one of the best parts about spending time with neil is realising that he is constantly observing the world around him and thinking about it, questioning it, interpreting it - not taking it at face value. it's something we should all do more, as it keeps us present in the moment and prevents us from not appreciating all the amazing things around us.

With Neil DeGrasse Tyson after our conversation in Melbourne, thanks to Think Inc

I'll host his next show in brisbane next weekend, so there's still time to let me know what questions you would ask him if you had the chance!

also, should i wear the boots again, or change it up?  serious questions of the universe....

Hosting Neil DeGrasse Tyson

dr neil degrasse tyson is one of the most recognised scientists in the world right now and he has recently embarked on an australian tour!

i'm thrilled to report that i will be hosting two of his shows: August 7th in Melbourne and August 16th in Brisbane!

there are still tickets available for each show, so if you're around, please join us!

what does hosting mean?   i will pop up on stage first and welcome everyone to the event then introduce neil and invite him to the stage.  he and i will then sit in a couple comfy chairs and have an hour long conversation on topics ranging from pluto to science education to alien life to the (lack of) edge of the universe!

then a few audience members will have a chance to ask him questions as well.

i'm thrilled for this opportunity and will hopefully have a full report after the events are finished. here we go...!

Journey to the edge of a forming galaxy

in early july i spent two weeks as "scientist in residence" at the ABC as a result of the Top 5 Under 40 award.  the main project i worked on was producing a science ninja adventure story that went live on the science show on radio national yesterday afternoon!

LISTEN HERE:
journey to the edge of a forming galaxy (website)
journey to the edge of a forming galaxy (mp3)

Artwork by Mischa Andrews from photo by Jenny Gabache and galaxy image by David Malin

long time readers may remember the seeds of this story from a blog post in 2010. you never know what direction random inspiration will go!

transforming the written story into something radio-ready was an interesting challenge.  phrases that look lovely on the page do not sound smooth or conversational when spoken out loud.  i wrote many versions of the story (in less than 2 days) before settling into one that i could read out loud comfortably.

Artwork by Glen Nagle

once the story was ready, i had the amazing luck of booking an entire afternoon in the studio with award-winning sound engineer Russell Stapleton.  i had shared an early draft of the story with him and he came prepared with directories of "space and ninja" sounds that he had been working with for the last 20 years!  he really made the story come alive and it was fascinating to watch him work. such a unique experience to work with him to create the depth of sound you hear throughout the story.


the science show producer asked me for some unique artwork to display with the story on the webpage, since a regular galaxy image would be a bit boring.  i was busy at a workshop during the couple days i had to produce the image, so i asked twitter for volunteers to help.  they certainly came through - the images are displayed through this post.  thanks so much to Mischa Andrews and Glen Nagle!

Put together by Glen Nagle from photo by Jenny Gabache and galaxy image by David Malin

Hope you enjoy the adventure!

Top 5 Under 40 in Australian Science

I'm very proud to announce that I'm a finalist for the Top 5 Under 40 in australian science! As part of the program, I'll attend a workshop this Thursday and Friday to get media production and science communication training, and then pitch an idea for a radio program to the panel of judges. eek! also, woohoo!

This initiative is supported by UNSW and ABC Radio National to mark 40 years of The Science Show. The winners - the ‘Top 5’ - will be announced on The Science Show on 7 March.  fingers crossed!

bouncing on a comet.

humans landed a robot on a comet last week for the first time.  yeehaw! a collaboration of scientists and engineers from 20 countries made this happen through the european space agency.

the rosetta spacecraft traveled through the solar system for 10 years, getting gravity assists from earth a few times and mars before reaching its destination: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

space craft selfie with its solar panel and comet 67P

the philae lander drifitng away from rosetta on its way to comet 67P

the philae lander spotting its landing site

unfortunately, philae did not stick the landing and drifted and bounced twice across the surface. scientists werent exactly sure where philea drifted to at first, but this morning released this compilation of images from Rosetta's camera OSIRIS. WOW! at the time, Rosetta was 15.5 km from the comet's surface. the images have a resolution of 28 cm/pixel and the enlarged insets are 17 x 17 m.

Credit: ESA

this is what philea saw upon settling still.  captions by emily lakdawalla.

philea now rests still, in hibernation.  it landed in a spot that doesnt have enough sunlight to supply energy to its working solar panel.  luckily, the little robot managed to collect all the data it was designed to collect during its short initial lifespan, AND it successfully sent all the data back to earth.
it's an exciting time for all those scientists.  i hope they got some sleep after a few days of incredible activity.  lots of science to do now.... i cant wait to hear what they find!

for your entertainment, watch the event as is played out through randall munroe's live-comic-blogging!  relive the experience here:  xkcd1446.org

steve and the stars

i'm SO EXCITED to finally get to reveal this short film "steve and the stars" to everyone. i worked with the bluebottle group to produce it for the AAO. i think it captures the excitement and wonder, that cosmic vertigo that comes when thinking about our place in this unfathomably huge universe of ours. so lucky to be able to do this as my job!



the official blurb and behind-the-scenes shots while filming in july 2014!

Ever wonder what it's like to stay up all night using a world class 4-metre telescope?

In celebration of 40 years of discovery with the AAT, the AAO has made a short film, Steve and the Stars. 

The star of the show is Head Telescope Operator, Steve Lee, who has worked at the AAT for almost its entire 40 years of operation. 

Steve guides this video tour of working with the AAT, exploring how observational techniques have changed from the 1970s to today's digital age, and the AAT’s exciting future pursuing more world-class discoveries.

The live footage was shot and edited in July 2014 by Bluebottle Films with time-lapse material by AAO's Angel Lopez-Sanchez.

just hanging with the tarantula nebula and the large magellanic cloud :)

danielle and james from bluebottle films.  great to work with them!

Never tire of sunrises on siding spring observatory

with david malin, one of the stars of the show!

astronaut halloween

the thing i always like about halloween in north america is the inventiveness of costumes - you can dress up as anything from inanimate objects to characters to puns. anything goes and the more clever the better!

that's why this 4 year is wearing the best costume i've seen so far this year!  welcome home, commander chris hadfield :)

image spotted via twitter. 

not bad, eh?

Hadfield immediatey after a successful return to earth

riding the booster

this is the first video i've seen of a shuttle launch with all the crazy sounds enhanced.   really incredible!  

read more info about the creation of this video HERE.

space oddity

sadly, commander chris hadfield is leaving the international space station (ISS) and wont be sending down his regular awe-inspiring images for us to enjoy.  see some of his previous posts: space nacho, nuts in space, space rock damage, or towel-wringing in zero-g.

but the guy sure knows how to go out with style.  he made this video, a space station cover of david bowie's space oddity, and i think it's pretty much the most awesome thing in the universe right now:

magnetic magic

i have a phd in astrophysics and yet magnets mystify me and seem like wonderful, natural magic.   i love being able to *feel* their force and resistance on tangible scales without being able to see what's going on. 

my birthday isnt too far away.   if anyone wants to either send me a post card or some of this "super magnetic thinking putty," you would make me a very happy super scientist!!  ;)

infinity handshake

shhhh.... don't tell anyone.   this is our new secret handshake, ok?! 

silhouettes in the moon

this is not a timelapse movie, its a real time video, which becomes clear as soon as the first tiny people show up in silhouette. 

this video was shot by Mark Gee in the southern hemisphere - no "man in the moon" that some people in the north are familiar with.  i've always had trouble seeing that face. 

anyway, this video is absolutely gorgeous.  enjoy.

astronaut tumblrs from space

did you know that canadian astronaut chris hadfield is on the international space station RIGHT NOW, and is continually posting photos to his tumblr and twitter accounts FROM SPACE, in addition to doing cool science?

in addition to taking photos of earth from space, like images of the australian bushfires:

he recently shared a photo of a space nacho saying "Variety is the Spice - corn chip, salsa, mushroom pate and jalapeno, floating weightless."

fun with technology!

highline moonwalk

this is a moonwalk unlike any you've seen.  watch the full screen version. 

it's calm, peaceful, beautiful, almost surreal.

adventure filmmaker bryan smith captured free climber Dean Potter using a canon 800mm super telephoto lens and sitting nearly a mile away!  they shot this at cathedral peak in yosemite national park. 

Moonwalk from Reel Water Productions on Vimeo.

what to do with your life

i like john green's short discussion about the ever-present question of "what should i do with my life?"  

there is not a simple answer, because there is no single answer.   listen...





he gives lots of interesting perspective and this general advice, which i wholeheartedly agree with!

study broadly and without fear,
learn a language if you can
(because that will make your life more interesting),
read a little bit everyday,
try to surround yourself with people you like
and make cool stuff with them.

ps.  has anyone read any of john green's books?   i have not, and i'm curious about what you think if you have.  thanks!

a SUPERnova

another member of the super team!  ;)

i got this among the gems regularly posted by the i fucking love science facebook account.

the future belongs to us

the winners have been announced for the science, it's your thing video contest.  the australian video i previously posted took 3rd place!   

a great effort was made by all the entrants.   i really enjoyed watching these videos! 

here is the winning 1-minute video:




2nd place goes to an animated video called science, it's your thing:



congratulations to all involved!

Isaac Newton vs. Rube Goldberg

love a good rube goldberg machine.... especially when it involves magnets and other cool visual trickery!