Frontiers of Science Lecture Series
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
H1N1 Influenza Virus
Francis H. Brown, distinguished professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah, will lecture Nov. 24 about the "Geologic Control of the Age of Early Man. Graeme W. Milton, a professor of mathematics at the University of Utah, will present "Cloaking: Where Science Meets Science Fiction," March 10. Ronald L. Walsworth, senior physicist at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, presents the final lecture "The Search for Earth-like Planets Around Other Stars," April 7.
Centers for Disease Control test kit for influenza virus
You can watch previous lectures online (we can't embed any of these but they are great!) The lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Aline Wilmot Scaggs Biology building. All lectures are free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To request tickets email your first and last name with the number of tickets requested to office@science.utah.edu.
Labels: science, technology, university
Fun Films and Serious Games: Digital Media in Utah: Recap
Friday, September 25, 2009
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
Our five presenters did a fantastic job talking about animation in films, gaming, and online platforms. They covered everything from story boards to the final product.
Check out some of the Lunch with Leo fun!
Our next Lunch with Leo event will be held early December. Keep checking back for more details!
Labels: art, Leo, locals, technology, university, USTAR, video
Dana Centre
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
We often see examples of science inspiring art but the Dana Centre in London is finding ways where art inspires science. The Dana Centre, which opened in 2003, caters to an adult audience. The Centre hosts free monthly events where people can discuss and learn about current science issues. It even has different event styles to suit your learning needs, including "Vent Your Views," "Artistic License," "Test Lab," and "Face to Face."
Photo courtesy of Dana Centre
The Centre's website features many of their unique past events like An Experiment in Kissing, where an artist collected kisses as well as our emotional connection to music or Sleep Creative, where they looked at how to bring out your creative side while sleeping. One of my favorite events is the Beatbox Laboratory, where scientists explore how beatboxing works and how it can be made better.
Beatbox workshop
The Dana Centre even has a yearly poet-in-residence who writes poems based on events! If you happen to be in London anytime soon we highly suggest checking out the Dana Centre, and remember that most events are free but you must reserve a spot. (And, in the first year of The Leonardo we hope to bring you unique programming inspired by the Dana Centre.)
Labels: education, museum, science, technology
The Leo on Wheels: Mapleton
Friday, September 18, 2009
Blog entry by Analiesa Leonhardt from The Leo on Wheels staff
Students entered their gymnasium that we had converted into a traveling science museum buzzing with questions. Most had already heard stories from their friends, and over the hum of the science classes, I picked out phrases: zapped her braces! ... his hair stood straight up! dude, there's the big silver ball! The Van de Graaff generator is always a favorite; we have to pre-advise the students to ration their time wisely. Even still, many kids return to the shocking machine numerous times during their limited class sessions.
This simple and timeless machine generates question after question as middle-schoolers test their own experiments: How far away can I stand and still get shocked? What happens if I take my shoes off? If I stand on a plastic stool? If we hold hands and then touch the ball?
A Mapleton Jr. High student uses the Van de Graaff generator
For the extra curious, we lift off the top half of the metal sphere to unveil the inner workings: a simple inch-wide rubber band running over two pulleys, one of which is coated in wool. Two small pieces of wire mesh act as electrodes to conduct the resulting build-up of electrons to the metal ball and beyond. It works by the very same mechanism as rubber shoes on carpet, or balloons on hair. Added revelation spurs more questions: What is electricity? Why do the electrons jump to my body? Why is my hair standing straight up? The kids giggle and squeal as the ion beams arch over to their fingertips. And we smile, watching the formation of new synaptic junctions in their brains as the students gain more understanding of the energy source that fuels our technological world. Hey, what's better than a group of excited kids, all excited about excited electrons?!
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Labels: education, science, The Leo on Wheels
Lunch with Leo
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
Our next Lunch with Leo is fast approaching! We are once again partnering with USTAR to bring you a visual feast, "Fun Films and Serious Games: Digital Media in Utah." This Lunch with Leo will be Sept. 23 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Salt Lake City Public Library.
At the event, you'll see the cool tech tools and creativity that go into all-things animated -- from feature films and shorts, to hand-held video games and serious simulations. Our five presenters come from companies and labs right here in Utah. We think you'll be wowed to see what's happening in your own backyard.
Our presenters are James Bunker, who is the Studio Art Director for Avalanche / Disney Interactive Studios; Craig Caldwell, a USTAR Professor of Digital Media at the University of Utah; Brent Adams, the Director of the Center for Animation at Brigham Young University; Alan Hashimoto, who is a Graphic Design Professor at Utah State University; and Brett E. Shelton, a Professor in the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning at Utah State.
This event is $25, includes lunch, and is open to the public. Space is limited, so get your tickets now!
Become a fan of The Leonardo on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!
Become a fan of The Leonardo on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!
Labels: art, Leo, locals, technology, university, USTAR
James Balog and Extreme Ice Survey
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
Here at the Leonardo we are working on making our building environmentally friendly and sustainable. Peaceful Uprising, a Utah organization, is also focused on protecting our future and environment from climate change. Peaceful Uprising is bringing renowned photographer James Balog to Salt Lake City.
It has been made clear that climate change is melting glaciers all over the planet. However, James Balog believes knowing and actually seeing are two different things. James Balog, an adventurer and nature photographer, set out in 2005 to photograph many of the worlds glaciers. Time lapse cameras were used to show the rapid rate at which glaciers are melting. In just over two years, the photographs show dramatic changes in the landscaping all over the world.
James Balog will be giving a free lecture about his "Extreme Ice Survey" at the University of Utah Fine Arts Auditorium on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. Balog will be available after the lecture to sign his newly released book, Extreme Ice Now. You can also watch James' entire one-hour PBS special, Extreme Ice.
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Labels: art, photography, science, sustainability
Sensate: Bodies and Design
Friday, September 4, 2009
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
Like the BODY WORLDS exhibit, "Sensate" gives us a new perspective on the human body that we have never seen before. Every artist featured in the exhibit looked at the body in a different way and developed a unique design for each piece.
All photos from San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Website
For "Sensate," the SFMOMA commissioned a new piece by Andrew Kudless. His design, "P_Wall," features two gallery walls covered in smooth plaster hills that represent how human skin expands to fit added pounds. A video on the museum's web site with Andrew shows the entire process from design to the finished product. (We can't embed this video but make sure you watch.)
The exhibit also features photographs by Aziz & Cucher where photographs of human skin are distorted to look like rooms. "Bone Cigarette Table," made in 1977 by John Dickinson, looks exactly as it sounds... a table with leg bones, instead of simply legs. One piece by Marcel Wandersan, looks almost like a human vertebrae until you read that it is a 3-D scan of snot as it is ejected during a sneeze.
So if you happen to be in or near the bay area this fall, be sure to wander through the gallery and check out the askew body parts at "Sensate"!
The Leo on Wheels: Helper
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Blog entry by Jeanne Huelskamp from The Leo on Wheels staff
It's the beginning of another school year and The Leo on Wheels, The Leonardo's outreach program, just launched its sixth year of traveling to middle schools and junior high schools throughout the state. We traverse the state in our 25-foot trailer bringing hands-on science, technology and art exhibits to students and teachers. We explore concepts in physics with an architecturally designed rollercoaster, and test out the nature of electricity with a Van de Graaff machine. It can be a very hair rising event literally!
This year we welcomed two new crew members, Ian and Analiesa. Ian McClintick recently received his B.S. in Geology from Lafayette College College in Pennsylvania. He moved here after visiting on a school trip. Analiesa Leonhardt comes to us from Baraboo, Wisconsin. She has a bachelors degree in Botany from BYU and has spent 2 years living and farming in Ecuador.
The Leo on Wheels started the year off on a road visit to Helper Junior High in Helper, UT. We rolled into town on Monday evening and were greeted with ominous dark cumulus clouds, a setting sun and the most spectacular rainbow we had ever seen. It started out as half a rainbow, but developed into a full 'bow with intense colors. The 'bow stretched from the edge of Helper's Book Cliff Mountains on the north side of the city, over the interstate beyond the Price city limits to the west.
A rainbow is a perfect artistic expression of a scientific wonder. Did you know that the lower the sun is in the sky the bigger the rainbow? And, if you were in an airplane, at the right angle and altitude, you could see a full-circle rainbow! The Leo on Wheels features two exhibits that allow students to manipulate light by reflection and refraction, and students learn these concepts in 6th grade. And even though I'm older, every time I see a rainbow, I still marvel at the beauty and think about all the scientific conditions that need to be in place for me to see this event.
The rainbow was definitely an omen of the wonderful time we spent at Helper. The students and teachers are dedicated to learning, and proud to be Helper Rams.
Become a fan of The Leonardo on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!
This year we welcomed two new crew members, Ian and Analiesa. Ian McClintick recently received his B.S. in Geology from Lafayette College College in Pennsylvania. He moved here after visiting on a school trip. Analiesa Leonhardt comes to us from Baraboo, Wisconsin. She has a bachelors degree in Botany from BYU and has spent 2 years living and farming in Ecuador.
Majestic rainbow spanning Helper, Utah. Photo Credit: LaraLee Smith
The Leo on Wheels started the year off on a road visit to Helper Junior High in Helper, UT. We rolled into town on Monday evening and were greeted with ominous dark cumulus clouds, a setting sun and the most spectacular rainbow we had ever seen. It started out as half a rainbow, but developed into a full 'bow with intense colors. The 'bow stretched from the edge of Helper's Book Cliff Mountains on the north side of the city, over the interstate beyond the Price city limits to the west.
A rainbow is a perfect artistic expression of a scientific wonder. Did you know that the lower the sun is in the sky the bigger the rainbow? And, if you were in an airplane, at the right angle and altitude, you could see a full-circle rainbow! The Leo on Wheels features two exhibits that allow students to manipulate light by reflection and refraction, and students learn these concepts in 6th grade. And even though I'm older, every time I see a rainbow, I still marvel at the beauty and think about all the scientific conditions that need to be in place for me to see this event.
The rainbow was definitely an omen of the wonderful time we spent at Helper. The students and teachers are dedicated to learning, and proud to be Helper Rams.
Become a fan of The Leonardo on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!
Labels: education, Leo, The Leo on Wheels
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