Several items worth noting:

1. I did not know the Cowboys Cheerleaders would be at the South by Southwest Interactive conference.
2. Those are my lab goggles, and I did bring them to the conference.
3. That is not my cowboy hat.
4. I too am impressed by how natural and comfortable I look wearing a cowboy hat.
5. This video does not indicate in any way that I am less opposed to any modicum of success potentially achieved by the Dallas Cowboys football team.
6. The Arizona Cardinals will still win the Super Bowl in 2011. I guarantee it.
7. I am also guaranteeing that guarantee.

Gooooooooooooo SCIENCE!

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the 2010Consumer Electronics Show (CES), an international conference that brings together designers, developers, manufacturers, and distributors of consumer electronics products. CES reaches across global markets, connects the industry, and enables consumer innovations to grow and thrive. It was quite an amazing experience, full of new e-readers, 3D TVs, holographic displays, multi-touch screens, and some of the hottest new tech gadgets around.

Still, I couldn’t help but be most proud of this glorious yellow Albert Einstein t-shirt that I nabbed at the Promise Technology booth.  It was well worth the 20 minutes of technical jargon I had to endure while listening to a pitch for the company’s new Smartstor Zero network storage device.

Last night, I was reading through the January edition of Discover Magazine, which chronicles the 100 Top Science Stories of 2009, when I made quite a discovery (pun intended): a story written by our very own Darlene Cavalier placed #69! Darlene’s piece, “Prize-Driven Research Takes Off,” focuses on the growing number of organizations offering prizes for successful science and technology innovations. The article should be released online in the next few weeks, and we’ll make sure to post it here.

Congratulations Darlene! What an honor!

Can’t decide on a holiday gift for Granny? Don’t know what to get your 10 year-old brother,  Billy?  Tired of wasting money on Barbies and video games that may not last through the New Year? I say, give your loved ones a gift that keeps on giving: a do-it-yourself experimental hydrogen fuel cell car that runs on water!

That’s right! The Fuel Cell Car & Experiment X7 Kit provides a playful introduction to one of the most significant technologies of the 21st Century: reversible hydrogen fuel cells. Each kit comes with a full-color, 16-page manual with easy, step-by-step instructions for assembling and using the car. In addition, the kit contains scientific explanations on how fuels cells work, the intricacies of fuel cell car design, and potential alternative energies for automobiles.

Most importantly, the kit is appropriate for anyone aged 10 and up, which means you’ll never be stuck wondering what to get that friend or family member who always seems to have everything. While other kids are showing off their boring skateboards and lame iPhones, yours could be harnessing the power of water. Don’t miss out!

Get the  The Fuel Cell Car & Experiment X7 Kit today!

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Internets, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced the DARPA Network Challenge, a competition that will explore the role of social networking in communication, team building, and group mobilization. The challenge is to be the first person to submit the locations of 10 8-foot, red, weather balloons at 10 fixed locations in the continental United States.

Here’s how it works: The red balloons will be deployed on Saturday, December 5, in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roads. Teams and collaborators will have approximately 9 days, until 12:00 PM (ET) on December 14, to collect the locations of the balloons and submit their entries.  All locations must be submitted in latitude and longitude coordinates. The event is open to individuals of all ages irrespective of nationality or residency (except Federal employees and their spouses and dependents), but first you must register your team on  the DARPA Network Challenge website.

Find the red balloons. Win $40,000. Do you have what it takes to be the next Balloon Boy/Girl?

Humans evolved. Shouldn’t our websites? That’s the idea behind NOVA’s new Beta Evolution website, an experimental effort to transform the way NOVA delivers its award-winning science and technology programming.

Since 1996, NOVA has pioneered new forms of web-original content with more than 30,000 pages covering anything from string theory to aviation to how the Pyrimids were built. The Beta Evolution website serves as one-stop shop for all matters evolution, including the recent three-part NOVA series, Becoming Human, which explores the latest scientific research on human origins. Over time, NOVA will rely on user feedback to help inspire new ways of designing, organizing, and presenting this content to make it more useful for viewers.

Last week, I had the opportunity to chat with Lauren Aguirre, executive director of NOVA’s Web team, about goals of the new project, the challenges of organizing 13 years of content, and her experiences at the forefront of science communications. You can listen to each individual question and answer by clicking on the audio player below. Enjoy!

While we most commonly associate Google with its ability to search the Intertubes for our favorite science FAILs, the tech giant is also opening new doors for citizen science. A recent article in the Public Library of Science (PloS) ONE highlights a new mobile phone application, powered by Google Maps and Google’s Android operating system, that allows professional and citizen scientists to gather, submit, and access research data from the field.

The application, called EpiCollect, was initially designed for epedimiological and ecological studies but has potential for a number of other fields, including economics, public health, and resource allocation. Individual users can input data records (variables, photos, GPS location, etc) into EpiCollect from their mobile phone, which is synchronized to a central database. An accompanying web application, located at www.spatialepidemiology.net, provides a common location for mapping, visualization, and analysis of the data by everyone involved in the study. The two-way connectivity between the EpiCollect mobile application and the central database could increase the collection and collation of data for community projects, particular in resource-limited areas.

Importantly, EpiCollect was developed as a free software using Google’s open-source Android operating system. Anyone interested in using the software is encouraged to contact David Aanensen in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London.  The EpiCollect website also provides three sample epidemological datasets and a facility to geocode your own spatial data.

This summer, I attended a series of Congressional briefings, “The Road to the New Energy Economy”, which brought together scientists and policymakers to discuss the various energy challenges facing our nation. One of these briefings focused on emerging biofuel technology, and I managed to score some behind-the-scenes interviews with the events’ sponsors and speakers. The above video, produced for ScienceCheerleader.com, contains some of that footage, my now-famous shorts and labcoat combo, and a little Princess Ladyfriend for good measure.

I hope you enjoy it!

You may not know it, but you have a celebrity double. Everyone does. It’s not something you can control or influence. It doesn’t matter if you agree. Your celebrity double may not be particularly famous, the same gender as you, or even a human, but your double is out there, doing whatever it is that celebrity doubles do, just waiting to be identified.

Sadly (or perhaps quite impressively?), I seem to have an unprecedented ability to identify these synergies. Take a look at my personal archive for evidence. Now, I don’t make the rules or create the parings. Your celebrity doubles are mandated by a being far more powerful than me. My role is to simply point out the truth through conveniently positioned thumbnails like the ones below.

Coincidentally, my science and engineering friends have provided a wonderful array of case studies for celebrity doubles both real and imaginary: a) Jackie, ocean conservationist, and actress Christina Ricci, b) Uday, a neuroscientist, and New Orleans Governor Bobby Jindal, c) Brian, neuroscientist and Shrek, and d) Brandon, a computer engineer, and Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps. Celebrity doubles, like scientists and non-scientists, come in all shapes and sizes. And sometimes it clearly takes a little creativity to make them apparent.

But, even I’m having a bit of hard time coming up with a celebrity double for our very own Science Cheerleader. Surely, Shrek won’t make the cut this time, but there must be someone (or something) out there to do her justice.

It’s a classic case of Celebrity Double Trouble, and I need your help! Any ideas? (Free T-shirt if we select your idea!)

Anyone can be a scientist, and not surprisingly, scientists are just like everyone else. That’s what NOVA ScienceNOW hopes to convey with their new show, The Secret Life of Scientists, a web video series that provides a personal and thought-provoking look at the lives of 16 scientists and engineers. Through a mixture of whimsical interview questions, each show will demonstrate how scientists and engineers can be athletes, musicians, artists, chefs, and, most importantly, incredibly human.

Although, SUPER-human might be more accurate for tonight’s episode featuring Nate Ball, a mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, pole-vaulting coach, jazz pianist, and TV star. In his day job, Nate is chief technical officer and co-founder of a technology and innovation company, Atlas Devices. His business develops a tool that he helped invent, the Powered Rope Ascender, which enables military personnel and rescue workers to reverse-rappel up buildings at high speeds. Check out these awesome videos of Nate’s invention in action.

And, Nate isn’t camera-shy. He is currently a cast member on PBS’ Design Squad, a show that features two teams of contestants charged with brainstorming, designing, building, and testing products before putting them to the test.

I had a chance to ask Nate a few questions about how he balances all of these endeavors, what inspires him to innovate, and his strategies for creating more interest in science and engineering. You’ll find, just as I did, that Nate has transformed a childhood passion into a career and drawn from a variety of perspectives to keep himself grounded. To learn more about Nate’s drive to succeed, check out tonight’s episode of The Secret Life of Scientsts.

Dr. John: How do we demistify science and bridge the gap between scientists and society?

Nate: Bridging the gap between scientists & engineers and society has always been an extremely important endeavor, and certainly is now more than ever. The way I like to make my career of mechanical engineering more accessible is to point out that I get to do now what I loved to do as a kid–build stuff and solve problems! Did you like to make forts out of couch cushions when you were 6? It’s a great lead-up to civil or mechanical engineering. Love to make your own recipes in the kitchen? Chemistry or biology may be for you. What usually gives people that “aha!” sort of understanding about engineering is when they realize that engineering is responsible for everything around them, and what engineers do is no different from any of the creative experimentation and problem solving everybody did as a kid. It’s just at a higher level with some extra training.

Dr. John: You clearly balance your interests in science and technology with other interests in your personal life — why is this balance important?

Nate: I pursue quite a few activities outside my office, which I find really important. For one, it gives my brain a chance to rest after exercising the analytical one for 14 hours a day at work (I love my job!). Play music and spending time doing really active things is my chance to change up what I’m working on and recharge the engineering part. I actually find that I’m never as focused as right after a hard workout. My brain just feels like it works differently–nothing seems distracting, I have much better clarity on whatever I was trying to solve before, and I’m even relieved to be sitting down again. But the whole “giving the analytical side a rest” isn’t the only part of it; I find that the things I balance my work with are really complementary to the engineering I do. Exercising the creative part of the brain with playing music or figuring out how to coach one of my pole vaulters keeps the colorful brain half flexible and ready to attack engineering challenges in a new way. So it’s a very important two-way street.

Dr. John: What is your most cherished accomplishment?

Nate: Having heard through a parent that their kid was inspired to pursue engineering after reading about some of my work. That was one of the most gratifying things I’ve ever heard!

Dr. John: Who inspired you to pursue career in mechanical engineering?

Nate: I credit my parents and grandparents with nurturing my interests in engineering-related activities that launched me toward where I am now. When I was about 3 years old around Christmas, my granddad gave me a block of wood, a hammer, and a bunch of roofing nails. After a lot of hammered fingers, I was off to the races and never stopped! My parents’ continued support of all the projects I made growing up, from kayaks to land sailers to potato guns and a Tesla coil, was really responsible for me getting hooked on technical problem solving. They supported my decision to go to MIT and are still cheering me on today.

Dr. John: How big of role can citizens play in the scientific process?

Nate: A huge one! You don’t have to have formal training in science or engineering to be perceptive about how the world works, and the observations of countless laymen have always made tremendous impacts in technical development. Take anything you’re familiar with and think about how it could be improved. How about that bad intersection you always avoid when driving to work because the lights aren’t timed well? Do you always slip on your front walk with the coated pavement? That old car you drove in high school that needed some special operator training (jiggle the key just like this to get it to start…). Every person on earth has some amount of intuition and more than enough capability to observe how things work. We execute careful problem solving processes many times each day whether we realize it or not. And sometimes, average Joe or Jane Citizen makes an observation that’s particularly insightful, and the scientific process helps make another leap forward for everyone’s benefit.

Dr. John: How do you encourage people to become more interested in science?

Nate: I engage many people in a lot of different venues to familiarize them with science and engineering. Some outreach I do directly, some through the engineering reality TV show I host (Design Squad on PBS), and some is done with the help of the very-real engineered products I have helped create, which closely resemble some of the equipment on Batman’s tool belt. Nothing captures the imagination like zipping up a rope at 10 feet per second, and when I’m able to close the loop between what people are seeing me demonstrate and the engineering that made it possible, you can practically see the light bulb go on in their head. And that’s a great feeling.

Hooray! October is Energy Awareness Month, a national effort to empower citizens to reshape the energy economy and be part of the solution to climate change. This year’s theme, “A Sustainable Energy Future; Putting All the Pieces Together”, encourages everyone to see themselves as a piece of the much larger puzzle that includes efforts from the Federal Government, private industry, and the general public.

While scientists and engineers are working to solve many of our energy challenges, there are steps that each of us can take now to lower our emissions while reducing energy and waste disposal costs. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Personal Emissions Calculator can help you measure your own carbon footprint and then take action. The Department of Energy provides an array of low- or no-cost methods specifically geared towards homeowners who want to save energy without compromising their comfort. Google’s Energy Saver Gadget optimizes your computer’s power management settings. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Effiency offers a map of utility programs that provide incentives for those who invest in energy efficiency. You can also help by simply spreading the word and making your friends and family aware of their energy consumption.

If protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, saving taxpayer dollars, and creating a better world for our children is not enough incentive, how about a chance to meet The President of the United States? Oh yes!

Last week, President Obama announced the SAVE (Securing Americans Value and Efficiency) Award, which challenges Federal employees to submit practical, environmental-friendly ways of improving government efficiency and savings. Do you have a innovative idea for preserving light bulbs at government facilities? Or how about a brilliant method for reducing the cost of air conditioning?  You have until October 14, 2009, to submit your ideas for consideration in the fiscal year 2011 Budget. In November, the winner will have the opportunity to present his or her idea to President Obama himself. Stay tuned for news on whether you will also be drinking beers with him.

I’ll return with more Energy Awareness Month reports throughout the next few weeks, including some behind-the-scenes video interviews with speakers, sponsors, and others attending the four-part energy event, The Road to the New Energy Economy. I’m energized — are you?

In 2008, Vivek Kundra, then-Chief Technology Officer for Washington, D.C, was looking for innovative ways to use information technology to improve the city’s government. He looked no further than its citizens.

Kundra created a public contest called Apps for Democracy, which challenged citizens to create their own software applications using DC government data and popular products like iPhones and Google Maps. For years, the DC Data Catalogue had provided public data on crime, construction projects, and government operations. Apps for Democracy rewarded citizens that could think one step further and develop the most cost-effective, accessible ways of re-packaging this data for use by the general public and the government.

The city invested roughly $50,000 in Apps for Democracy, and in just 30 days, produced 47 software applications with an estimated savings of $2,300,000. The effort was so successful it even spawned a follow-up, Apps for Democracy: Community Edition, which asked citizens to develop applications for submitting online requests for city services.

Through Apps for Democracy, Kundra established a new model for cross-sector collaboration by engaging citizens to meet the technology challenges of tomorrow. It was participatory government in its purest form. And, apparently, President Barack Obama was paying attention – in May 2009, he named Kundra the country’s first Federal Chief Information Officer and charged him with “directing the policy and strategic planning of federal information technology investments”.

As a critical player in President Obama’s Open Government Initiative, Kundra has focused his efforts on increasing public participation in government and improving the availability of government information. One of the first initiatives is Data.gov, a website that provides free access to over 100,000 machine-readable datasets, widgets, RSS feeds, and other data tools held by the Federal government. This collection includes valuable data on an array topics that impacts our lives, from financial numbers to transportation statistics to the FBI’s Most Wanted List. And the numbers will only grow as geographical, weather, and other scientific data is opened for public consumption.

The data by itself is not particularly useful. The real value comes when citizens evaluate and repurpose this data into “mashups” — applications that combine different data sources together to create an entirely new product. To unlock some of this potential, Sunlight Labs took a page out of Vivek Kundra’s book and held their own contest, Apps for America: The Data.gov Challenge. On Tuesday, they announced three winners: DataMasher allows users to build mashups of state information and visualize them in different ways; GovPulse allows users to filter and act on information from the Federal Registry, the government’s official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices; and, ThisWeKnow combines nationwide data to provide information about your favorite city or region.

The Data.gov and Apps for Democracy efforts indicate that the government is starting to think differently about how it uses the Internets to share information and provide more opportunities for citizens to participate in their democracy. Take advantage of this new approach. If you’re a software developer with an innovative idea, check out Data.gov and let the ScienceCheerleader team know if you create your own Data.gov mashup. And, if you don’t have the necessary computer programming skills (i.e., me), you can still contribute by suggesting data sets that you would like to see, rating and commenting on existing data, and suggesting improvements to the website.

Citizen scientists, I’d like you to meet Ziya Tong, a new correspondent on the Emmy-nominated science video series, NOVA ScienceNOW. Ziya joins a NOVA program well-known for exploring important science and technology topics at the interface of politics, art, and society. So far, she’s covered areas like gene therapy, how walruses and sea lions have influenced human language, and the hunt for the earliest macromolecules. I recently had a chance to chat with Ziya about how her work in science broadcasting is creating common ground for scientists and the public.

For Ziya, it turns out that exploring far-out science topics is just another day at the office – literally! In addition to her work with NOVA, she also hosts Daily Planet, Discovery Channel Canada’s daily science show, and previously served as host and producer on PBS’ Wired Science. She even hosted a travel show, Island Escapes, during which she visited over 50 countries (approximately 45 more than me).

“I’m inspired in a new way every day,” Ziya said. “I’ve had the unique opportunity to meet, and most importantly, learn from very inspiring people.”

Ziya’s work in video production, writing, directing, and hosting has reinforced the importance of presenting science in a way that is meaningful and understandable to people. She operates from several guiding principles: keep things simple, live what you love, and get out in the field to experience real science.

Importantly, she has seen first-hand the impact of citizen participation in the scientific process. For example, in the Wired Science episode, Flotsam Found, Ziya worked with Curt Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who tracks data points of garbage floating in the ocean. By aggregating records of things people have found on the beach — rubber ducks, shoes, etc — Curt is able to track the flow of objects over ocean currents.

When it comes to getting people involved, Ziya has been a part of some pioneering efforts in the media space. One of her first hosting gigs came on ZeD TV, a Canadian variety show that included user-generated video content and interactive features through its website. This concept would later influence the development of Current TV, a network led by former Vice President Al Gore. Also, on Daily Planet, there is currently an interactive segment, Planet You, where viewers can record and contribute their science and technology ideas.

Ziya also discussed her place as a role model and the importance of mentoring students who are interested in careers in science and communications. She credited much of her own success to the “fantastic visionaries” Arthur and Marilouise Kroker, her mentors at McGill University, where she received a Masters degree in Communications. Ziya hopes to play a similar role for aspiring young science broadcasters, particularly women.

“It’s important to present to young people, especially young women, a new face in the science and technology realm,” she said. “I want to present a critical and thoughtful view that demonstrates the impact that scientists have on society.”

Ziya is not the only one trying to demystify science. On August 31, NOVA ScienceNOW launches The Secret Life of Scientists, a web video series that provides a personal and thought-provoking look at the lives of 16 scientists and engineers. Through a mixture of whimsical interview questions, each show will demonstrate how scientists and engineers can be athletes, musicians, artists, chefs, and, most importantly, incredibly human.

Ziya also offered advice to young students looking to pursue a career in science, whether at the bench or with a camera. “Persistence and passion,” she said. “If you can demonstrate that you care more than anyone else, eventually people will see that.”

As for her future, Ziya has considered lecturing and even writing a book about her experiences covering science and technology across the globe. For now, you can find Ziya on her personal website and access every episode of NOVA ScienceNOW via streaming, download, and RSS or iTunes.

On Saturday, July 11, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), the Defense Agency responsible for protecting the Pentagon, conducted an operational response test to a simulated outdoor airborne biological attack on the Pentagon grounds. The study consisted of the release of a harmless gardening powder into the Pentagon parking area, where nearly 100 citizen volunteers were positioned, followed by subsequent decontamination and surface sampling of the volunteers. The results will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of various emergency personnel and guide future operational responses to attacks on the Pentagon.

Best of all, Pentagon security relaxed its usual restrictions on photography and permitted media to film virtually all aspects of the operation. I had an opportunity to interview various subject matter experts, including Mr. Paul Benda and Dr. Christina Murata, Director and Deputy Director of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives Directorate at the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, as well as some of the volunteers for a SciCheer video report.

If you’re interested in learning more about the operational response test, check out “Armed with Science”, the Defense Department’s weekly science podcast, this Wednesday at 2pm ET on Pentagon Web Radio. I’ll be interviewing Mr. Benda and Dr. Murata live, and anyone can submit questions before or during the show by posting to the Armed with Science podcast or the Twitter page.

Let’s talk about things that frighten me and start with the mysterious creatures of the deep. I mean, really — surviving under extreme pressures and temperatures, often without sunlight, in a hostile ocean environment where you might very well be someone else’s dinner? We’ve all seen Pirates of the Caribbean. Creepy.

Still, someone needs to ensure that the marine environment is protected from various human pressures like pollution and over-fishing. That person is just not me.

That’s why I’m asking YOU to go down there on my behalf as part of Earth Dive, a global citizen science project that calls on recreational scuba divers and snorkelers to monitor the ocean for key indicator species.When you participate in Earth Dive, your observations are recorded in a special database, called the Global Dive Log, and accessible through a clever Google mapping interface. Over time, observations are aggregated to create a Global Snapshot of the state of the world’s oceans. You can also use the satellite map feature to look for your house, which is totally cool. Importantly, everyone who contributes data is automatically added to a petition demanding that policymakers take action.

Earth Dive is what I like to call a win-win-win situation. I don’t have to be in the ocean; your hobby provides a sense of personal enrichment; and we all work together to monitor and conserve marine life on this planet.

The Vancouver Aquarium has re-imagined the classic arcade game, Frogger, to better reflect the global decline in the amphibian population. The new version, Frogster, retains the spirit of the original game (e.g., horrendous controls and even more horrendous graphics) but now offers a myriad of new dangers, including loss of habitat, pesticides, pollution, and other human factors. The game also provides informative “Did you know?” facts about the amphibian population; for instance, did you know that air pollution is deadly because frogs breathe through their skin? Neither did I!

Frogster is advertised as “The Hardest Game You’ll Ever Play”, and they aren’t kidding. Navigating through car exhaust, polluted water, and human interference is a lot harder when you’re a helpless little frog. In fact, it was so frustrating to watch my frogs repeatedly drowned or flattened by oncoming traffic that I was compelled to help.

FrogWatch USA makes it easy! Since 1998, they’ve leveraged citizen scientists to monitor the health and behavior of various frog species around the country. In as little as 20 minutes a week, you can monitor frogs and toads in your own neighborhood wetlands and help scientists develop practical ways to help conserve these important animals. You can even learn to make your own frog calls — great fun at parties!

So play Frogster, get motivated, and let’s start monitoring some frogs!

Looking for a fun way to translate your love of pignut hickory (Carya glabra) into scientific data that can help the planet? Look no further than the National Phenology Network (NPN), an organization that calls on citizen scientists to monitor the influence of climate change on plants and animals in the US.

NPN defines phenology as the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events, such as the first flower on a plant, the appearance of a songbird species in spring, or the changing leaves in fall. Phenological events are particularly sensitive to climate variations (e.g., temperature), and shifts in timing can dramatically affect the planet’s ecological systems. That, in turn, can affect the way we live – allergies, recreation, farming, and our ability to respond to natural disasters are all impacted by phenology.

NPN harnesses the power of citizen scientists and the Internet to collect, share, and store information on patterns of phenology for 200 critical plant species across the nation. NPN will use your contributions to help scientists identify which species are changing, and ultimately, better predict the impact of changing phenologies on natural systems and people. Do this immediately:

1. Select your favorite plant.
2. Learn about site selection, plant marking, and phenological observations.
3. Join the network and become an official participant.
4. Start observing, collecting, and reporting.
5. Feel a sense of personal satisfaction and enrichment.

At this time, citizen scientists can only monitor plant species. However, in 2010, NPN will welcome observations for many species of animals, including yellow-bellied marmots, hummingbirds, wood frogs, bumblebees, and all of your favorite Disney characters.