News June 20, 2009

John Hodgman Tests President Obama’s “Nerd Credentials”

by Eric

Headlining Friday night’s Radio and Television Correspondents’ Dinner, comedian John Hodgman suggested the possibility that Barack Obama is “the nation’s first nerd president of the modern era.”

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Events June 15, 2009

Week in Preview – 06.15.09

by Eric

Here’s our look at the upcoming week in science (event listings from Bay Area Science).

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News June 11, 2009

It’s on – WHO calls H1N1 pandemic

by Eric

Dr. Margaret Chan Director-General of the World Health Organization issued a statement today raising the world pandemic alert level to 6 making the 2009 H1N1 “swine” flu an official pandemic.

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General June 5, 2009

Southern California’s Lost Lands of “Land of the Lost”

by Eric

For this week’s Cinema Science we take a look at the “Land of the Lost”, a remake of the Sid and Marty Kroft Saturday morning TV series of the same name. In Land of the Lost, explorers [Rick] Marshall, Will, and Holly survive the “greatest earthquake ever known” only to find themselves transported to an strange world filled with vengeful dinosaurs, alien technology, and the slow-witted but somehow menacing Sleestak. We’ll take a look at locations Dumont Dunes, Trona Pinnacles, and the La Brea Tar Pits.

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Events June 5, 2009

Commonwealth Club: Evolution of the New California Academy of Sciences 06.08.09

by Eric

On Monday, June 08, 2009 the Commonwealth Club of California will be featuring Cal Academy Executive Director Greg Farrington in a discussion with NPR’s Moira Dunn on the recent renovation to the museum facility.

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Events May 31, 2009

Stanford Announces 2009 Summer Science Lecture Series

by Eric

The Stanford Office of Science Outreach has announced the lineup for the 2009 Summer Science Lecture Series. Among the topics to be discussed by Stanford Faculty are ownership of life, the secret lives of viruses, the state of energy policy, and the future of longevity technology.

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General May 29, 2009

The real world behind “Up’s” Paradise Falls

by Eric

Beginning May 29, audiences to Disney/Pixar’s motion picture Up will be treated to yet another of the Emeryville, CA animation studio’s breathtaking visions: a fantastic South American world of towering waterfalls; vast, aircraft carrier-flat mesas called tepuis; and immense hangar-like caves. We look at some of the real natural history behind the fictional Paradise Falls.

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Reviews May 27, 2009

Looking at The History Channel’s The Link

by Eric

After nearly a week of hoopla in the wake of the Darwinius masillae “Ida” announcement, the History Channel began the process of reeling in cash for its investment, premiering a 2-hour (“with limited commercial interruptions”) documentary entitled The Link.

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Events May 27, 2009

USGS Open House 2009 – Field Seismometers

by Eric

In this clip, we talked to John Krueger of the Earthquake Hazards Team about field seismometers and his experiences installing and maintaining them.

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Events May 23, 2009

USGS Open House 2009 – NetQuakes

by Eric

After way too much struggling with the a Final Cut Express/LiveType workflow, I’ve finally managed to upload the first in a series of videos I shot at the USGS Open House earlier in May. In this first clip, we interviewed Dave Croker of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Team about NetQuakes, a new program that will […]

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