Getting Your Love Equilibrium

Last Thursday, I spoke about the neurobiology of love. You know, hormones, neurotransmitters, all that chemical stuff…

It took place  at a new monthly event at Langton Labs in San Francisco called Equilibrium. The whole event revolved around love, the most magical of emotions.

I hate to say it, but I think I’m too much of a reductionist for the average audience.

It all comes down to the human machine in the end.

Dr. Kiki Sanford - Demo Reel

I’m a science popularizer and communicator. This reel includes examples of some of my recent work hosting, interviewing, and generally being Dr. Kiki for the likes of the Science Channel, Revision3, PixelCorps, and more.

I am currently looking for representation by way of a manager-type person. And, I am looking for new TV and/or online video host, interviewer, contributor, correspondent, writer, producer-type work. Work being the operative term. As in: paying with the money.

Let me know if you have any ideas or if you happen to be a manager looking for some scientific talent.

Finding Answers to Life’s Big Questions… In Comets

I am fascinated by the recent news regarding comets in our solar system.

Most recently a team from NASA reported finding the simple amino acid glycine in materials returned from the Stardust mission.

The Stardust mission sent a craft from Earth on a trajectory that, like a boomerang, flew it through the tail of comet Wild 2 and then back to Earth. Comet Wild 2 originates from the outer reaches of our solar system, and as such is thought to be about as old as our solar system itself. Scientists have been analyzing the collected comet bits since Stardust’s return hoping to discover what the early solar system was made of.

And, now, it seems the early solar system contained the building blocks for life.

Sure, we’ve found glycine in bits of asteroids before, but those are from the warmer, inner parts of the solar system. Finding that an amino acid can come from the cold reaches of space indicates that these molecules don’t need a more temperate climate to form. The necessary chemical reactions can occur far from the sun.

Take that conclusion a bit further, and it means these molecules could be forming all over the universe, which makes the likelihood for carbon-based life in other stellar neighborhoods a bit more plausible. This realization makes our observations of glycine in distant nebulae substantially more interesting.

Now, consider that even though glycine doesn’t need a comfortable place to live, we do. How on Earth (pun intended) did the building blocks get here and evolve into what we know as life?

Glycine could have naturally come about as a result of chemical interactions on the early planetary surface. Or, it could have come from asteroids and comets.

Well, an insightful piece of computational research our of the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark tried to answer this question by looking at iridium in 3.8 billion year old rocks from Greenland and in rocks returned from the moon during the Apollo missions.

Iridium is a metal that while naturally present on the Earth is found in much higher concentrations in asteroids and comets. Additionally, asteroids are estimated to have more iridium than comets, and leave more behind when they impact with the planet; some 18,000 parts per trillion versus 130 parts per trillion were expected in the impact sites.

The analysis found that the amount of iridium contained in the ancient rocks was more in line with comet impacts than with asteroids. They also found that their cometary calculations jived with concentrations of iridium found in the moon rocks.

The researchers, concluding that comets were the most likely culprits during the Late Heavy Bombardment (taking place after the Earth’s young molten-hot phase), estimated that the amount of water that would remain on the Earth as a result was right on par with the amount of water in all the Earth’s oceans.

So, did comets create our oceans? Maybe. The calculations are based on lots of assumptions as to the amount of iridium that should be found in rocks formed during asteroid or comet impacts. Regardless, it is still a fascinating train of thought.

I love this quote from the research paper:

“We may sip a piece of the impactors every time we drink a glass of water.”

And, the final question, is whether comets, in addition to bringing water, brought life’s building blocks as well.

It’s not too far of a reach to consider it a possibility, especially with the recent impact on Jupiter, and work that suggests comet showers make their way through the solar system every 500 million years or so.

Just like April showers bring May flowers, what do comet showers bring?

Be a Part of TWIS

So, among the changes taking place at This Week in Science is the realization that I can’t do everything myself. I would love to see TWIS grow, but I require help.

Looking at the responses from my post regarding the website and TWIS community from a couple of weeks back, I have realized that this is project overall is bigger than I am and bigger than I can conceivably achieve given the number of hours in a day.

First, TWIS requires funds to make things happen. So, I’m looking for an experienced new media advertising representative to help us find sponsors and advertisers.

I’m looking for someone with experience in advertising sales, specifically within the new media sector, with an interest if not a background in science. The position is contract based, and would be perfect for someone looking for a small side project.

Second, I’m looking for someone to help with project management and business development. There are so many things that I would love to do, but don’t have the time. I’d love to find someone passionate about TWIS and interested in helping it grow, who understands what TWIS is all about, and who wants to help whip things into shape. The person should have fantastic organizational skills, a love of science, creativity, great communication skills, and the ability to make things happen. I really need someone to be my right-hand in all things TWIS (kind of how Dane works with Leo at TWiT), which would make being a local San Francisco person highly beneficial.

The issue with this second position is that I have nothing to currently offer by way of pay. One possibility is that an applicant would be interested in working with me to find and apply for grants, which could then fund the position. An additional option is to get involved with the promise of future equity or future pay. Or, you could be independently wealthy, and not be concerned with this issue.

But, all this could be putting the cart before the horse. I’m just thinking out-loud, so that the idea can stop cycling in my head.

Please, send me a bio and/or resume and a statement of your interest if you are interested in talking about the details of either position (kirstenatthisweekinsciencedotcom). If you have any suggestions on how I can move forward with finding help, on people you think would be great for me to consider, or on how crazy I am, please, let me know.

The Science Comedian at Jasper Ridge

Brian Malow, the Science Comedian, waxes scientifically funny at a Bay Area COPUS science communication retreat at Jasper Ridge Nature Preserve in California.

This Week in Science Community Brainstorm

This Week in Science has been a labor of my love for ten years. I have enjoyed every one of them, and expect to enjoy many more.

The show has enabled me to meet so many people, and created a community of science minded folks who I hope to count as friends (even though we call them minions).

However, the community could be better. The show and our website are still run based on the old media ways of pushing content out when they should be created with a mind for the community who want to pull the information in. So, we are thinking about how to change our ways, to make even better science content that can contend with what the major publishers are pushing out, and how to foster the growth of a truly awesome science-y community.

It’s actually been a dream of mine for a long time to create a community-driven science media channel based on TWIS. We started to develop the idea with our TWIS-tributions; asking minions to record TWIS-y news stories for the show. But, it didn’t get the response I was hoping for, and so fell by the wayside.

Naomi Most (nthmost on Twitter) brought me back to the idea today (seriously, I think she is data mining my brain), and specifically peaked my re-contemplation with a couple of her comments:

“Ah, but w/ TWIStributions, the show always goes on regardless whether of ppl contribute… If you set up a system of continuous expectation of involvement w/ appropriate reward, superfans emerge.” 

And, this is a crucial point. The community needs ownership and investment for the entire endeavor to thrive. And, so far that is limited.

So, this is where I am. I want to create what Naomi termed an incubator for science reporting through TWIS. I want to rebuild the TWIS website to reflect the community and its many interests, and allow the growth of parallel scientific content in the form of blogs, audio, and video programming. I want to find the science reporting superstars among the minions, and have them call TWIS their home.

Is that too much to ask?

Interested in sponsoring the endeavor?

Have any ideas?

Famous Scientists Wanted

For the past few years I’ve been talking with friends about the fact that scientists should be treated like rockstars or sports heroes. Scientists do amazing work that affects every aspect of peoples’ lives. Why aren’t they compensated for the valuable contributions they make to society? Why isn’t science sold to the public? Where are the PR agents for science? Science needs PR, so that more kids will see science as a future career instead of looking up to the likes of the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana.

Why don’t kids look up to scientists? There really are no famous scientists to look up to.

When I say famous, I mean easily identifiable to the general public; famous as in rockstar famous or even reality TV famous… the kind of famous where Joe Shmoe at the grocery store is interested in looking at pictures of you drinking a coffee in the most recent edition of Famous People (Because We Say They Are Famous and We Are The Media) Weekly.

There are scientists who are known for helping to popularize science, like Carl Sagan and Michio Kaku, or for being insulting to large groups of people, like Richard Dawkins and James Watson. But, if you were to ask a cross-section of people at at cocktail party to name their favorite scientist, the majority of them will probably name someone dead. Ask them to name their favorite actor, athlete, or musician and it is a completely different story.

However, within the past few months the grapevine has been abuzz with chatter addressing this issue of scientist popularity. Intel used the idea as the basis for a recent ad.

And, a group out of Southern California are even putting scientists and rockstars together (is this the transitive property of fame by association?).

Both of the above campaigns lack one major component… women. It’s true, women do science, too. And, they should get the recognition they deserve just like the men.

That said, it’s great to hear people talking about science’s public image. The concept of scientist as rock star is growing in the public consciousness. There needs to be a continued and consistent PR effort to maintain that growth. Scientists as a lot aren’t so great at self-promotion, but with help from the marketing and PR community scientists and science could be… the next big thing.

Are we listening?

The science is in,
but the people aren’t listening.
How do we get them to listen?
When they no longer hear the sounds of laughter,
the sounds of normal childhood,
through the walls of their homes.
How do we get them to listen?
When they are preoccupied,
looking for something, anything,
whatever took their little one from under their noses.
How do we get them to listen to us?
When they are the ones with stories
that they can tell each other,
that they can use to warn others of
the danger.
Have we really listened to them?

There is an amazing article this week in PLoS Biology by Liza Gross discussing the history of the Autism/Vaccination war. I highly recommend giving it a read.

 McCarthy emerged as a hero for some parents by telling her story. Personal stories resonate most with those who see trust in experts as a risk in itself—a possibility whenever people must grapple with science-based decisions that affect them, whether they’re asked to make sacrifices to help curb global warming or vaccinate their kids for public health. Researchers might consider taking a page out of the hero’s handbook by embracing the power of stories—that is, adding a bit of drama—to show that even though scientists can’t say just what causes autism or how to prevent it, the evidence tells us not to blame vaccines. As news of epidemics spreads along with newly unfettered infectious diseases, those clinging to doubt about vaccines may come to realize that several potentially deadly diseases are just a plane ride, or playground, away—and that vaccines really do save lives.

Michio Kaku on God

Dr. Michio Kaku dishes on spirituality, Einstein, and God in this latest installment of our interview. Distributed by Tubemogul.

KDVS Annual Fundraiser On Now

Hey everyone…

Every year, KDVS, the radio station that This Week in Science calls home has a fundraising drive. It’s that time of year again.

For the week, volunteers will be at the station answering phones, taking donations, and generally working their butts off to support the station. The goal is to raise $60,000.

That’s a small sum compared to so many other things in this world. It’s significantly less than most households in the San Francisco Bay Area make in a year.

In return for support, those who donate will receive gifts that have been specially chosen by people who work at the station. The music directors have put together amazing music packages, djs have crafted their own t-shirts and cds. Hundreds of hours of love and dedication have already gone into making this week something special with no expectation of gain in return other than to keep the station thriving.

That’s what is so special about KDVS. It is non-commercial, independent, free-form radio, and the people who work at the station truly love to be there.

So, show your support for the concept of KDVS, for the home of TWIS, for a station that continues to put science on the radio… donate.

Any amount is great, but we hope that people will be able to give $25 as students or $40 as community members.

TWIS is offering a limited number of the 2009 Science Music Compilation CDs as our special gift to people who donate at the student or community level in support of our show.

You can donate online here.

Oh, and PS… It’s tax-deductible.