STEMtacular!

A collection of pictures, facts, articles, tidbits about the STEM fields that I find amazing, amusing and exciting

[proud-atheist]

Science Builds The Future! http://proud-atheist.tumblr.com

[molecularbiologistproblems]

Nope. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. I just need to find a first aid kit. Tis simply a flesh wound.

Via people in white coats

[theolduvaigorge]

Digital Reconstructions of Hominids from the set ‘Descendenteí,’ Human Kind Lineage Project

by Eduard Olaru

Identification:

First row: Paranthropus boisei (KNM-ER 406)

Second row left: Paranthropus robustus (SK 48)

Second row right: Homo habilis (STW 53)

Third row left: Homo rudolfensis (KNM-ER 1470)

Third row right: Homo georgicus (D2282)

Fourth row: Homo ergaster (SK 847)

Fifth row left: Homo floresiensis (LB1)

Fifth row right: Homo erectus (Sangiran 17)

Sixth row: Homo heidelbergensis (Atapuerca, Skull 6)

Seventh row: Homo neanderthalensis (St. Césaire)

Click through for full sequential soft tissue facial reconstruction posters from The Human Kind Lineage Project

(Source: Behance.net)

[txchnologist]

Breaking The Supposed Limit In Seeing The Microscopic World Earns Three Chemistry Nobel

[mindblowingscience]

Natural gene selection can produce orange corn rich in provitamin A for Africa, US

Purdue researchers have identified a set of genes that can be used to naturally boost the provitamin A content of corn kernels, a finding that could help combat vitamin A deficiency in developing countries and macular degeneration in the elderly.

Professor of agronomy Torbert Rocheford and fellow researchers found gene variations that can be selected to change nutritionally poor whitecorninto biofortified orange corn with high levels of provitamin A carotenoids - substances that the human body can convert into vitamin A. Vitamin A plays key roles in eye health and the immune system, as well as in the synthesis of certain hormones.

"This study gives us the genetic blueprint to quickly and cost-effectively convert white or yellow corn to orange corn that is rich in carotenoids - and we can do so using natural plant breeding methods, not transgenics," said Rocheford, the Patterson Endowed Chair of Translational Genomics for Crop Improvement.

Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness in 250,000 to 500,000 children every year, half of whom die within a year of losing their eyesight, according to the World Health Organization. The problem most severely affects children in Sub-Saharan Africa, an area in which white corn, which has minimal amounts of provitamin A carotenoids, is a dietary mainstay.

Continue Reading.

[365reasonstobeafeminist]

Last week Russia sent a woman into space for the first time in 17 years as part of a U.S-Russian mission to the International Space Station. Being chosen as part of the crew for a space expedition is quite an accomplishment. It’s a job which asks for years of training, excellent skills and the...

[stemtacular]

3D-Print a Brain with Free Government Library

A new government website allows people to download, share and edit files for use in 3D-printing.

[sigmaaldrichofficial-deactivate]

[sandandglass]

[itscalledfashionlookitup]

When people compare the greatness that is The Simpsons to other animated shows like Family Guy it makes me want to set myself on fire

[women-in-science-blog]

As I have stated here previously, Lisa Simpson is one of my heroes. (I do like Family Guy though). How many of you grew up thinking that women, POC, and LGBTQ people didn’t have a place in science?

[dumb-science-jokes]

GUYS, PLUTO IS A PLANET AG-

[jenniferisntalive]

"The Grand Prize went to a team of three 16-year-old girls from Ireland: Ciara Judge, Émer Hickey, and Sophie Healy-Thow. Their project, “Combating The Global Food Crisis: Diazotroph Bacteria As A Cereal Crop Growth Promoter,” explored different bacterial strains that could shorten the germination time of cereal crops like oats and barley. Growing food is becoming monumentally important, as climate change threatens food crops, and the increasing global population is becoming incredibly demanding.” - IFL Science

[gender-and-science]

Always great to see teenage girls doing awesome things! 

[stemtacular]

School kids at soccer practice could use solar panels lying out in the field to charge their smartphones. A mix-in for concrete could keep buildings cooler longer, cutting the cost of air conditioning. A gel that dries to a crisp could soak up water and swell, transforming into a single-layer, mess-free base on which you can grow a garden indoors. These are the visions of a better world from emerging engineers tackled at MADMEC, the annual design competition hosted by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT.

[science-junkie]

Inside a Changing Autumn Leaf

One of the great wonders of life is watching the leaves change colors in the fall. When temperatures get cool, chlorophyll begins to break down revealing the underlying pigments in the plants’ sap. This depiction of the inner-workings of a maple leaf shows the process in action.

Sorce: SciAm Blog Network

[asapscience]

:/ :/ :/ :/  sorry, we had to. 

[stemtacular]

Got mine today!!

background image via [x]

[zenpencils]

SHONDA RHIMES ‘A screenwriter’s advice’

[comedycentral]

Click here for more of Jon Stewart’s coverage of the recent House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing.