Women scientists join the men on Antarctica mission to collect meteorites

From Cordis:  Women scientists join the men on Antarctica mission to collect meteorites

A team of women scientists will be joining their male counterparts on a mission to collect meteorites in Antarctica, from 3 December until 12 December.

The meteorite research team consists of five Belgian scientists, led by Vinciane Debaille (Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Laboratoire G-Time, Faculty of Science), and three Japanese scientists from the National Institute for Polar Research (NIPR) in Tokyo.

This mission follows the success of a previous Belgo-Japanese collaboration, the Belgian SAMBA team (Search for Antarctic Meteorites, Belgian Approach), with the collection of over 800 meteorites in the Sør Rondane Mountains region. Now they are set for their latest mission to take on the Nansen blue ice field, to the south of the Princess Elisabeth station, in Antarctica.

Meteorites provide valuable information on the 4.5 billion years of evolution of the solar system and planets, including Earth. Studying these helps researchers to better understand the formation and age of the solar system, the planets, asteroids and comets. Micrometeorites constitute the largest fraction of the extraterrestrial material that falls on Earth, totalling an average of approximately 40,000 tonnes per year.

The systematic collection of meteorites, using Ski-doo snowmobiles, will concentrate on the southern and eastern sections of the Nansen blue ice field, where the scientists hope to find a piece of Mars or the Moon.

However, their research may be hampered by the fierce weather conditions expected in Antarctica. Climatic conditions are set to be very difficult, with temperatures in the region of -20 degrees Celcius, and with an average wind speed of 50 km/h giving a perceived temperature of -37 degrees Celcius. These inclement weather conditions will dictate the pace of work, as strong blizzards can sometimes halt all specimen gathering for several days at a time.

During the previous mission in 2010-2011, after searching for 13 days, 4 to 6 hours a day, a team of 5 people had found a total of 218 meteorites, varying in size from 1 to 15 cm. However, it was the types of meteorites found that proved exceptional. Among the 218 meteorites, two rare types of achondrite (stony meteorites that attest to magmatic activity in the solar system) and a carbonaceous chondrite (the most primitive meteorites having a similar composition to that of the initial material of the solar nebula) were identified.

Their mission will be carried out as part of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and ULB research programme, run by Philippe Claeys (VUB) and Vinciane Debaille (ULB). Funding for the mission has come from the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and logistical support is provided by the International Polar Foundation (IPF).

In 2010, Steven Goderis (VUB) and Vinciane Debaille (ULB) were awarded the InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship to carry out a detailed study of micrometeorites in order to better understand the formation of the planets and the development and evolution of our solar system. Recent studies have shown that micrometeorites can accumulate in the cracks and interstices of the nunataks in the Frontier Mountains, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.

For more information, please visit:

Expedition blog:
http://antarctica.oma.be/

Université libre de Bruxelles:
http://ulb.ac.be

 

Teen Starts Campaign for Gender Neutral Easy Bake Oven

From ABC News:  Teen Starts Campaign for Gender Neutral Easy Bake Oven
Like most four year olds,  Gavyn Boscio knows what he wants for Christmas — a dinosaur and an Easy Bake Oven.
But the budding chef and his 13-year-old sister McKenna Pope, weren’t thrilled to find out the only colors the Hasbro oven comes in are pink and purple or that the ads and packaging don’t show a single boy.
McKenna decided to take the issue into her own hands and began a petition on Change.org asking Hasbro to alter its packaging and color options. To date, the petition has garnered nearly 10,000 signatures.
“He should know that it’s okay for him to go against societal norms and gender roles,” McKenna said.
Hasbro did not immediately return requests for comment on whether they plan to make the Easy Bake Oven in any other colors.
Jeff Gardere, a child psychologist, said gender neutral toys are crucial to child development.
“In order for children to not face limitations in their occupational choices, we need to present them with gender neutral toys,” he said.
VIDEO: Girl, 4, Blasts Companies for Pushing Girls to Buy ‘Pink Stuff’
This holiday season, overly-gender-specific toys are a hot button issue.  The Butterfly Beauty Shop from Lego’s Friends line has drawn the ire of a group called the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
They’ve nominated it for one of their “TOADY” (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) award, saying it’s “so jam-packed with condescending stereotypes it would even make Barbie blush.”
Lego did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  But previously, in response to the criticism which began late last year, Lego officials said in a statement that their “goal with LEGO Friends is to engage more girls in the positive benefits of construction play.”
Read: Top 5 Nominees for 2012′s Worst Toy
In contrast, in Sweden, the Top Toys group just published a catalog of gender-neutral toy images, showing girls playing with toy guns and boys with blow dryers.
The company is even selling a blue and green kitchen, and depicts a budding chef, a boy like Gavyn, using it.

 

Top secret Doctor Who script found by student in taxi on night out

Okay, not really science related, but interesting!

From Wales Online :  Top secret Doctor Who script found by student in taxi on night out

If you found a top secret script for a new episode of one of TV’s most popular shows, would you be able to hand it straight back without releasing any spoilers?
That’s exactly what one Cardiff student did after finding a Doctor Who script in the back of a Cardiff taxi.
Hannah Durham stumbled upon the script for a forthcoming episode of the sci-fi show during a night out with friends.

Producers, scriptwriters and fans of Doctor Who thanked her for returning the missing script and preventing precious plot details from being leaked online.
Hannah told WalesOnline she was unaware of the significance of the find until she was bombarded with praise from the show’s “Whovian” fans.
She said: “I had never even heard of a Whovian before. I have had so many tweets from people thanking me for returning it – it has just been crazy.”
She added: “I like Doctor Who but I haven’t seen it in a while, so the whole significance passed me by a bit.”

Hannah discovered the script on Halloween night at about 10pm after getting into a black cab with friends in Cathays.
Dressed as a skeleton, Hannah spotted the top-secret script, entitled The Last Cyberman, tucked inside a seat pocket.
The 20-year-old said she placed the script in her bag and only fully realised it was a Doctor Who script the next day.
Hannah said she wasn’t tempted to read the contents – or sell it.
She said: “I glanced at it enough to see that it was a script and I saw the title and everything, but I didn’t feel the urge to read through it or copy it or anything.”
Hannah set about attempting to return the script to show bosses by e-mailing and tweeting scriptwriters and producers.
Her friend Ben Rowling, a fan of Doctor Who, helped her get in touch with the show’s production team.
Cardiff University student Hannah said: “He was more excited than me to be honest. It made his life really. He was just really happy that he could help out.”
She eventually arranged to hand in the script at the BBC’s Roath Lock studios in Cardiff Bay.
The final year English Literature student’s good deed was widely praised.
And scriptwriter Neil Gaiman, who wrote the episode, personally offered his thanks.
He wrote on Twitter: “A world-sized pat on the back to Hannah who found a copy of the Dr Who I wrote, an actress left in a taxi, and returned it safe & sound.”
Hannah said she hoped the BBC would be able to offer her some work experience after returning the Doctor Who script.
What can Doctor Who fans expect from The Last Cyberman?
Doctor Who villains the Cybermen will make a reappearance when the show returns for a run of eight episodes in Spring 2013.
An all-star cast has been lined up to appear in the episode, including Eastenders actress Tamzin Outhwaite and Warwick Davis, the star of Ricky Gervais’ sitcom Life's Too Short.
Jason Watkins, from Being Human and Lark Rise to Candleford, will also appear among the stellar cast.
The official Doctor Who team blog said the guest stars would portray “a band of misfits on a mysterious planet”.

Courtney Stevens assigns outreach projects to inspire her students

From WIllamette University:  Courtney Stevens assigns outreach projects to inspire her students

Sydney Moberg ’13 was nervous about dissecting a sheep brain. But once she held a scalpel in her hand, she discovered the only thing she didn’t enjoy about it was the smell.
“I was fascinated by how the brain looked, how it felt and where each individual part was located,” says Moberg, a psychology major. “When it came time to choose an outreach project, I knew I wanted to teach a brain dissection lab. I wanted other students to have the same type of experience I did.”
Through professor Courtney Stevens’ Cognitive Neuroscience course at Willamette University, students pick an outreach project that connects neuroscience to real-world issues, and in doing so, act out the university’s motto, “Not unto ourselves alone are we born.”
Some, like Moberg, have helped high school students dissect a sheep brain, while others have taught a brain class at Bush Elementary School or discussed the effects of drug addiction with incarcerated teens.
Through community outreach, Stevens hopes to link neuroscience content to her students’ individual career goals and interests. She also wants to connect her students with neuroscience content and resources they can access after graduating.
“Some students come in not believing that cognitive neuroscience is relevant to their future,” Stevens says. “But as they begin to work on their projects, they see the connections between neuroscience and the real world.”
Stevens’ program has been adopted in classes at the University of Oregon. Her program also received praise from the Society of Neuroscience, which awarded Stevens the Junior Faculty Next Generation Award in October for outstanding contributions to public communication, education and outreach about neuroscience.
“For me, the beauty of the outreach project is that students take ownership of the material,” Stevens says. “They choose what they will do. They’re the ones making connections within the community.”

Community Partnerships

Stevens developed the Cognitive Neuroscience course in 2008. Back then, outreach activities were relatively uncommon in undergraduate, neuroscience classes — and they still are today.
“For large classes of 300 students, there would be concerns about quality control,” Stevens says. “There’d be little incentive for faculty members to do this because it’s too much of a burden.”
But in Stevens’ class, not only is there no need for outside funding, students absorb the responsibility.
First, they pick a neuroscience project that interests them. The project features a tangible component that may be evaluated — such as a video or a set of lesson plans.
Students then develop an evaluation rubric that describes what A-, B- and C-level work looks like. Prior to implementing their projects, they submit a project proposal, which Stevens evaluates to help them refine their plans.
When delivered, supervising teachers and participants help grade the presentations, worth up to 10 percent of the students’ final grade.
So far, more than 75 Willamette undergraduates — most of whom are psychology, exercise science and biology majors — have taken the upper-division course.
Two of these students are Linnea Hardlund ’13 and Jennifer Wade ’13, who taught a brain class at Bush Elementary. Through pictures and demonstrations, they showcased the lobes of the brain and the functions of each lobe.
As part of the interactive class, the primary students colored worksheets on the brain and ate a “brainfood” snack of frozen blueberries, which stimulates healthy brain function.
Hardlund and Wade say the outreach project not only challenged them to think critically, it forced them to find creative ways to share their knowledge.
“Professor Stevens’ class was one of the best I have taken at Willamette,” says Hardlund, a biology major. “The outreach project allowed us to take our knowledge from the classroom and bring it full circle in a real-life situation.”

Making a Difference

Maxx Kaplan ’11 also enjoyed Stevens’ class. For his project, he and another student gave a PowerPoint presentation to youths incarcerated at the Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility in Salem.
The presentation focused on the neural effects of drugs and the biological explanations for cravings and addiction.
“We wanted the youths to come away with an understanding that the brain is a growing, changing organ, and that they weren’t necessarily doomed by their family history or past experiences, ” says Kaplan, a psychology major who had interned at the facility.
For Kaplan, seeing the teens make connections between his presentation and their own experiences proves Stevens understands the value of community outreach.
“Professor Stevens knows what she’s talking about, and everyone in the classroom knows it,” he says.
Going forward, Stevens plans to continue soliciting feedback from students and area partners to improve the outreach activities.
“I want my students to do more than read a textbook and take an exam. I want them to be creative and to take ownership of the material,” Stevens says. “They’ve done that. Some of their work has blown me away.”

 

Science careers start with young girls

From the Globe and Mail (Canada):  Science careers start with young girls

On a recent morning, in a spacious boardroom at the Mozilla office in Toronto, 25 girls experimented with writing code that would bring an animal to life on their laptops. The girls, who ranged in age from nine to 14, were taking part in a twist on Take Our Kids to Work day, aimed at empowering girls to become the next generation of software developers and designers.

The event at the Canadian headquarters of the software company was organized by Ladies Learning Code, which offers workshops in designing Web pages and developing other computer skills. Shortly after starting the group, director Laura Plant realized that encouraging tech career paths required targeting a younger demographic by showcasing role models and providing hands-on experience. So was born Girls Learning Code, which offers one-day workshops and summer camps.
“We’re trying to position technology to girls in a way that helps them see it as a creative outlet, and something that can help them change the world,” said Ms. Plant, a former technophobe and human-resources consultant who was encouraged by friends to experiment with technology.
On university campuses, women make up 60 per cent of those enrolled in life sciences, but 39 per cent of undergrads in math and physical sciences and only 17 per cent of undergraduates in engineering and computer science, according to data from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Efforts to attract high-school seniors to STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) come too late. Learning experts say it is crucial to reach girls before their enthusiasm wanes and they drop science and math courses which are optional in high school.
As girls grow up, they are socialized to believe that women are caring and empathetic, making careers that nurture others appealing; more abstract fields like math and physics do not seem as female friendly. Drawing women to these areas requires countering these perceptions.
“When girls think they want to contribute to society, they want to work with people. There are other things that probably say that more than physics,” said Marie-Claire Shanahan, an associate professor of science education at the University of Alberta. “But physics is the basis of a lot of biomedical testing. Communicating about that hasn’t been as successful as it should be.” Then there is simple gender stereotyping: In a culture that prizes physical attractiveness, women in lab coats are not frequently depicted as role models.
“Whether it’s obvious or not, there’s still a picture in everybody’s head of what a good scientist or what a good engineer looks like. And it’s often not a pretty young woman. There’s a responsibility among adults to show kids role models that reflect the reality, which is that there’s lots of women in science,” said Sandra Eix, vice-president of programs for the non-profit Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology.
Changing the culture and a girl’s perception of appropriate careers is a long-term project. Establishing mentor relationships is one of the fastest and easiest ways to dispel myths and show young women that female scientists and engineers exist. “It’s about having the capacity to identify with somebody, to aspire to what they’ve been able to achieve because suddenly you see you can do it,” said Bonnie Schmidt, president of Let’s Talk Science, a non-profit organization that engages young people in science.
Nicole Bowal is hoping that talking to female engineers will help with her career path. Three years ago, Ms. Bowal, who lives in Calgary, joined Cybermentor, which matches young girls with women who have chosen careers in math, science and engineering. The program was the brainchild of Elizabeth Cannon, former dean of engineering at the University of Calgary and now president of the institution.
Ms. Bowal, 16, heard of Cybermentor through one of her siblings, who is now studying chemical engineering at the University of Calgary. In the past two years, she has been linked with two undergraduate engineering students, and more recently is talking to Melanie Swanson, in Edmonton, who works in the telecommunications field.
Ms. Swanson hopes the young girl sticks with her decision to enter engineering. When Ms. Swanson attended school a couple of decades ago, there were only 10 girls in her engineering class of 100 – and the situation has barely changed.
“I want to get more girls involved in science and technology. We have a lot to offer,” Ms. Swanson said. “We have different ideas. We have a different take on life. And I want to see that mentality around engineering change.”
Still, the process is challenging. Elisa Patel, 14, who participated in Girls Learning Code, was more interested in becoming a doctor, and finding a cure for cancer. Why did she come? “I don’t really know a lot about it [technology], so I want to learn some new things,” she said.
That gives Ms. Plant hope. “[Technology] was not positioned to me in a way that was attractive to me. I think that is the biggest part of the problem, and why there are fewer women than men getting into the field of technology,” she said. “We’re trying to be pro-active and connect with young girls to help get them excited about technology and feel confident with it.”

 

Iris Critchell

Ever day, I check Ebay to see if anyone is offering anything about the Powder Puff Derby.  Today someone was offering a Pilot magazine from 1958, which talked about the Derby (then in its 11th year) and Iris Critchell. Whi is Iris Critchell?


From Harvey Mudd College : Iris Critchell Celebrates 90th Birthday

Feb 24, 2011 - Claremont, Calif. - 
Community members gathered Feb. 19 to celebrate their favorite aviatrix—Iris Critchell, instructor of aeronautics emerita, on the occasion of her 90th birthday.
In attendance were over 100 people, including family, many alumni, faculty and friends, who shared personal stories about Iris and her husband, Howard ("Critch"). HMC students receiving aeronautical scholarships were also in attendance.

• Claire Robinson '11- The Hale Chapin Field Memorial Aeronautical Endowed Scholarship
• Joseph Min '12- The Lois & Joseph Marriott Aeronautical Endowed Scholarship
• Johnson Qu '12- The Adele & David Foley Aeronautical Endowed Scholarship
• Keiko Hiranaka '12- Isabel Bates Aeronautical Endowed Scholarship
• Christopher Cotner '13- The Adele & David Foley Aeronautical Annual Scholarship
• Benjamin Liu '12- The Iris & Howard Critchell Aeronautical Annual Scholarship

Included among the guests were Bates Aeronautics Program alumni whom Iris and Howard had taught to fly. In 1962, Iris prepared the curriculum for the Bates Foundation for Aeronautical Education, which later became HMC's Bates Aeronautics Program and was run by Iris and Howard, until 1990. The two-year curriculum of classes and flight was designed specifically for the needs of the science and engineering students at HMC. Critchell, who was named the local FAA Instructor Pilot of the Year in the early 1970's, served as the chief flight instructor of the flight portion and on the faculty as Aeronautics Program Director.
Critchell, who served as a designated pilot examiner for the FAA FSDO for more than 20 years, began flying in 1939 at Mines Field, now known as the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). From then on, her diverse flight experience helped define the role women were able to assume in the field of aeronautics.
In 1941, Critchell's became the first woman to complete the Civil Pilot Training Program at the University of Southern California (USC), where she also earned a degree in physical sciences and mathematics.
As a member of the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), Critchell went on to ferry military planes across the county during World War II for the U.S. Army.
Following the WASP disbandment, she continued her flight training and designed the curriculum for USC's aeronautical courses for veterans at its College of Aeronautics in Santa Maria in 1946. While there, Critchell served as chief ground instructor and chief instrument rating flight instructor for three years.
After retiring from HMC as instructor emerita of aeronautics in 1990—the year the college's Bates Program officially ended—Critchell continued to serve as a faculty advisor on numerous projects. Over the years, she also assisted the HMC Engineering Clinic's aeronautics projects and performed equipment flight tests.
Critchell's lifetime achievements also include swimming in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, winning the 1957 Powder Puff Derby (a transcontinental race performed by women pilots) and being inducted into the National Flight Instructors Hall of Fame in 2000 and receiving a Congressional Gold Medal in 2010 along with fellow members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Today, she lectures and consults on various phases of aviation education and history.

The Engineering Toy That Teaches Girls There's More to Life Than Being a Princess

From YahooNews:  The Engineering Toy That Teaches Girls There's More to Life Than Being a Princess

When Debbie Sterling graduated from Stanford with an engineering degree, she was the only woman in a class of 181 students. She then entered a field where women account for only 11% of its population. Always bothered by that, the young engineer decided to do something about it.  And that something was “GoldieBlox,” an engineering-based toy geared at getting girls interested in science.

In a particularly moving video that recently went viral, Sterling says she was never encouraged as a child to pursue anything other than traditionally feminine roles. In fact, she didn’t even know what engineering was until her senior year in high school. But after graduating from Stanford, she decided her purpose on earth was to get girls interested in science, and so she invented GoldieBlox, the toy she wished she had been given as a child.

What is it? GoldieBlox is a toy set that includes a pegboard, axles, cranks, wheels and washers, which are joined by an accompanying book series starring “Goldie, the kid inventor who loves to build.”  As girls read along, they get to build whatever Goldie builds along with her ragtag group of colorful friends. In the first story, they build a “belt drive,” which Sterling cleverly names a “Spinning Machine.” Later in the series, they erect a pulley elevator, design a vehicle, and so on.

It may sound like a simple idea, but it’s actually radically different from any building-based toys available.  After taking a look at what was out there, Sterling quickly discovered when toys like LEGOS or Lincoln Logs try to sell to girls, they generally just paint the sets pink and call it a day. But as Sterling says, “Yeah it’s true, girls do like pink, but there’s a lot more to us than that.”
In fact, having spent a year researching how girls learn and what appeals most to them, she found the differences in children can be boiled down very simply and they have nothing to do with color choices. Instead she found that boys like to build, girls like to read.
And that’s why GoldieBlox isn’t just an erector set, but a set with accompanying books, because for girls the narrative is what first engages them and gets them hooked, and then while that’s happening, they learn to love building.
So far, it’s been a radically successful endeavor. After Sterling’s video went viral, the attention spurred her Kickstarter fund to top $285,000 in five days, taking her creation from dream to prototype to production. In the interim, she’s racked up some pretty impressive media exposure through outlets like Forbes, FastCompany and TIME.
Sterling isn’t alone in her quest to make science more accessible to girls. Jennifer Kessler, Alice Brooks, and Bettina Chen (also Stanford engineering alums) were so disappointed that there weren’t more women in classes with them, they too created a toy (and a quickly-funded Kickstarter campaign) called “Roominate,” a buildable dollhouse with a customizable infrastructure and wiring capability. And for girls in their teens, nonprofits like “Girls Who Code” are establishing free summer programs to teach them marketable computer science skills.
Why the push? Why not just let girls keep playing with pink nailpolish and Barbie if that’s what they’re drawn to? Because they’re not only drawn to those things―it’s that they’re offered almost nothing else outside of those traditional toys during the time they’re establishing their core interests. And when we normalize ideals like, “Science is for boys” other facts, like “Girls are very spatial and naturally geared for engineering” go unnoticed, even disbelieved.

But obviously the most important reason behind encouraging girlsto pursue science is their future. Just as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor explained to Abby Cadabby on a recent episode of Sesame Street, “’Princess’ is not a career.” And though there is nothing inherently wrong with a little girl wanting to be a princess, there is everything wrong when she believes that’s all she can be.