Tag Archives: Canadian science blog

Welcome to Something About Science; another Canadian science blog

Lynn K, the Something About Science blogger is a (from the online profile),

…  Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry at the University of British Columbia. Biochemistry is the chemistry of life. I am interested in things that happen inside our bodies, such as what happens when you drink alcohol, what does it mean to have mutations, and how can we treat diseases like cancer and heart failure. Through this blog, I hope to intrigue your curiosity by sharing some bits of facts and stories about science in everyday life!

Lynn posts once a week on a variety of topics,

Top Posts

I have a personal fondness for the July 11, 2012 posting, What is a flame? — When a house catches fire…,

“FIRE!!” In the middle of the night last week, I was woken up to find a neighbor’s house fast ablaze. The entire framework crackled and was engulfed by flames which glared bright orange against the night. Fortunately, no one was hurt, as the house was under construction, and the neighboring houses had been evacuated before they, too, caught fire.

Here are some images that recapitulate the (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime experience.

But this being a science blog, my question to you is, “What is a flame?” And better yet, can you explain flames in a way everyone, including children, can understand and enjoy learning?

Alan Alda and the Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, New York, have asked the same question to scientists. The Flame Challenge invited scientists to communicate science clearly to the public by explaining what flames are in a way simple and fun, yet educational. The challenge received over 800 entries, which were judged by over 6,000 children aged 11.

Lynn goes on to announce the winner, Ben Ames, a PhD student in Austria and includes the challenge-winning video animation. You can watch the video and find out where you can post a question for next year’s challenge in Lynn’s What is a flame? posting.

Bike-geocaching in Edmonton’s (Alberta, Canada) River Valley

An adventure science blog for families is the best way I have of describing, The Rocket Scientists; Science, Engineering and Mathematics for Curious Minds of All Ages, a new (to me) Canadian science blog from people based in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada).

The Rocket Scientists’  July 13, 2012 posting features a bike=geocaching adventure in Edmonton’s River Valley. First, here’s a bit about the park, from the River Valley webpage on the City of Edmonton’s website,

At 7,400 hectares, Edmonton’s North Saskatchewan River valley is the largest stretch of urban parkland in North America. There are 22 major parks and over 150 kilometres of trails on which you can enjoy walks, bike rides, picnics, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and more.

From the July 13, 2012 posting, here’s the proposed bike-geocaching adventure,

The Rocket Scientists are looking for a few brave explorers to join us on a bike-geocaching palooza in the River Valley. The key mission for the geocaching fellowship will be to locate at least 10 geocaches before sun set, thus breaking our previous record. As always, should any member of the team be bitten by moquitoes or OD on chocolate bars, The Rocket Scientists will disavow all knowledge of the mosquito and the chocolate bars.

All participants are required to bring their own bike, helmet, bug spray, sun block, water, lunch, snacks and small non-edible trinkets to trade (if they wish to trade) and a parent. Long pants are advisable as we will likely be doing a fair bit of bushwhacking and crawling around in the underbrush. The Rocket Scientists will provide the GPS and the geocache coordinates.

Sadly the event scheduled for Sat., July 14, 2012, and Sunday, July 15, 2012, had to be cancelled due to rain. (In Edmonton? squeaks a Vancouverite) On a cheerier note, this means that you can join the adventure when they reschedule, assuming you are in Edmonton when it takes place.

Here’s a little more about the bloggers, from the About us webpage,

The Rocket Scientists is a group of kids and adults in the Edmonton area dedicated to the experiential exploration of science, mathematics, and engineering. Our aim is to nurture science literacy by inspiring curious minds of all ages to explore the amazing world of basic and applied science.

Do we only do rocket science?
We conduct experiential research in a wide range of fields, from kitchen counter chemistry, kitchen table dissections, sidewalk astronomy, inventing and engineering contraptions, basement biology involving experiments with animals and, yes, we also build, launch and crash the occasional rocket. We also do more outdoorsy explorations, e.g. geocaching, hiking, birding, fossil and meteorite hunting, entomology, and mountaineering.

About this blog
The aim of this site is to document our experiments and adventures and in doing so (hopefully) inspire others to explore the amazing world of science as well. Our motto is: Science will blow your socks off. Resistance is futile.

Do we use animals in our research?
Some of our research involves the use of animals. Typically this means that our cat, Princess, will stand in as our model organism. Research involving living animals never harm our subjects, on the contrary they usually involve yummy treats, fun animal friendly activities, and lots of belly rubs. Research involving non-living animals always use the remains of organisms that already left the world of the living by the time we encountered them.

Really, who are we?

A mom, a dad, a cat, and a 6/7-year-old  + friend and family.