Design Your Future with the STEM Career Lab!

Do you want to explore STEM careers and find out which one you think is for you? Then this is the resource for you! Stemcareerlab.org was designed to help high school students explore future STEM career fields.

Today's STEM professionals create virtual worlds, design amazing machines, invent new materials, construct earth-friendly buildings and engineer cutting-edge air vehicles. And that's just to name a few! Through the collection of videos on stemcareerlab.org, students can hear from STEM professionals about their educational pathway, what it is they love about their jobs, and how they really do use the science and math they learned in high school. 

Professions on the website include advanced manufacturing and materials, aerospace engineering, agricultural engineering, architecture, biomechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, construction management, electrical engineering, human performance, systems engineering, virtual reality design, and water resource management. 

Check out a video today and start planning your STEM future!

Can TV Characters Boost STEM Learning?

That's right: TV characters. I'm talking Dora the Explorer and Big Bird reincarnate in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) loving form. Can relationships with characters like these really help young children learn STEM skills? 

A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, Northwestern University, and Georgetown University seem to think so and are gearing up to formally answer that question in a five-year project funded by a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. 

Rebekah Richert, associate professor of psychology at UC Riverside and principal investigator on the project will team up with Ellen Wartella, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al- Thani Professor of Communication, professor of pyschology and professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University; and Sandra Calvert, director of the Children's Digital Media Center and professor of psychology at Georgetown University. 

In a series of studies with children ages 18 months to six years, the trio will examine how toddlers and preschoolers learn from educational media and how that can support STEM education.

Richert, who's known for her previous research on how children transfer what they see on television and in books to real life, and how they distinguish between fantasy and reality is interested in answering questions like, "How can we promote early STEM learning with high-quality media?" and, "How can we develop better avatars and promote diversity in STEM fields?" 

Superheroes and fictional characters that endorse various subject matter and embrace educational material, projecting it onto young audiences isn't a new concept. Nonetheless, the NSF-funded project will look to answer what kind of character could best be used to stimulate STEM learning. Is it a character like Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer or Sesame Street's Big Bird, or something different all together?

The psychologists will kick things off by conducting a workshop at Northwestern in the spring of 2014 involving experts in science education, computer-game design, and television learning for children to consider how best to direct future research.

Read more about the project and see what Richert had to say on UCR Today.

CSI: Forensic Nurses on the Scene

Who said nurses could only find jobs in hospitals? Now, more than ever before, forensic nurses are playing significant roles in coroner and medical examiner's offices.

As Stacy Miller reports on the Advance Healthcare Network website, it was Jennifer Schindell, BSN, RN, F-ABMDI, who after working in hospitals in Alaska, Idaho and Orgeon, found it extremely strange that more investigators didn't come to the hospital to delve deeper into cases involving trauma, abuse or neglect.

While there, officers could have collected evidence from the patient's clothing and other belongings while gathering information on injuries and collecting patient statements. Schindell explained that having law enforcement officials who were present at the crime scene would also have been helpful in treating her patients, because she would be able to ask questions about what happened to her patient before they were brought in.

So Schindell got to work at bridging the gap herself. With experience working in med/surg, critical care, neuro/trauma, flight nursing and some time caring for inmates in a jail, Schindell got to work training to become a forensic nurse. Her hard work paid off: Today she is the deputy chief medical examiner and forensic nurse for Linn and Benton counties in Western Oregon. She is also a board certified medicolegal death investigator and is currently working on her master's in medical anthropology at Oregon State University - she will graduate next year.

To read more of Schindell's story including what it's like to work in a medical examiner's office, what it means to be a nurse coroner and what the classes are like, check out Miller's entire article.

The Science Behind New Year's Resolutions

Almost half of Americans set a new year's resolution each year, however just a mere 10 percent of them are actually successful. Not surprisingly, at the top of the list of popular resolutions are lose weight, quit smoking, get out of debt and spend more time with family. Possibly a bit more surprising, here are some scientifically supported techniques to increase your chances of success this year!

1. Don't keep too many resolutions at once.

• In an experiment performed at Stanford, one group of students was given a two-digit number to memorize, while the other group was given a seven-digit number to remember. Then, each student was asked to walk down a hallway while keeping their respective number in mind. Once they got to the end, each student was given the opportunity to eat a piece of cake or fruit salad. The study found that the seven-digit memorizers were practically twice as likely to choose the slice of cake (like memorizing the extra numbers took up "good decision making" space in their brain). That being said, pick one or two key goals for 2014 and you'll be much more likely to achieve them.

2. Set Specific Goals (really specific).

• In health behavior change and maintenance studies, the effects of setting specific, difficult goals leads to higher performance when compared with no goals or vague, unmeasurable goals like, "do your best."  So, here's how you can apply this rule: The harder the goal, the more imperative it is that be specific and set measurable goals and write them down. For example, if it's losing weight you're trying to do, set a realistic and specific goal of how much weight you want to lose (i.e. 10 pounds) by what a certain date (i.e. April).

3. Focus on the carrot, not the stick.

• A review by faculty members at the University of Chicago Booth School of business concludes that, for people who are new to certain goals, receiving positive feedback causes them to be more likely to adhere to a new task. Since you're not an expert at your newly declared resolution, don't underestimate the power of being positive and encouraging yourself about your progress. Instead of dreading an extra monthly payment on a loan, think about how much quicker the balance on the loan is shrinking and all the things you'll be able to do when the loan is paid off.

4. Tell Some Friends and Family.

• An experiment conducted on the effects of social support at the workplace found that weak social support often leads to elevated levels of heart rate cortisol, which are indicators of anxiety and stress. It goes unsaid that having the support of others is really important when trying to accomplish a goal, though many people forget about this. Increase your chances of success by telling a few supportive individuals in your life about your resolution - they won't only be your cheering section, they'll be there to celebrate when you achieve what you set out to do.

Now that you have some scientifically based rules for accomplishing your resolution, go out and put them to use.  Good luck!

San Antonio Scores $1.5 Million STEM Grant

Thanks to a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant, minority students at Alamo Colleges in San Antonio will get the help they need to excel in science, technology, engineering and math fields beginning in 2014.

As mySA.com reported, just last month, Alamo Colleges announced that St. Phillip's College will head-up the implementation of the three-year grant, called the CIMA Alliance, which will benefit all five area community colleges. 

Cima means summit in Spanish. For a city rich with Hispanic culture and traditions, the name couldn't be more appropriate. 

Even more impressive, the grant was one of only two funded by the science foundation's Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation Bridge to Baccalaureate Alliances program. 

CIMA hopes to involve 900 misrepresented minority STEM majors in activities such as undergraduate research and peer and faculty mentorship. The grant also aims to up minority STEM enrollment by 10 percent and boost transfers to STEM majors at four-year schools by 20 percent. 

The grant will enable the district to create STEM study centers at three campuses as well as fund tutoring efforts, STEM student clubs and professional development for faculty, among other activities. 

Read the entire mySA report here.

How Science Changed the World in 2013

http://mashable.com/2013/12/04/innovations-world-2013/

Mashable's "10 Innovations That Improved the Word in 2013" list is out, and some of the innovations you have to see to believe.

Topping the list at number one is the lab grown hamburger. Yes, you read that right: lab grown. It may have cost $330,000 to develop, but thanks to a major investment from Google co-founder Sergey Brin the world saw its first lab grown burger in August. It took researchers at the Netherland's Maastricht University five years to develop the patty, which was created using 20,000 protein strands grown from stem cells taken from a cow's shoulder. Hello, scientific solution to the increasing global demand for meat!

Google Glass is number two and the beef tendon condom is a strong number three, though the invisible bike helmet that doubles as an airbag at number eight is impressive. Hovdig is a discreet helmet cyclists wear around their necks that inflates like an airbag in the event of an accident. While skeptics think this option sounds a bit riskier than a traditional bike helmet, Hovdig claims its not-so-noticeable helmet offers the best shock absorption in the world.

Just about finishing out the list at number nine is a tremor-reducing spoon for people with Parkinson's.  Check out the entire list. 

Thanksgiving Science: Why You Really Can't Blame the Bird

As you gear up for Thanksgiving, everyone normally pictures something along these lines: Indulge in a big meal centered on a turkey prepared to your liking, move things to the couch and watch football while you eat dessert and then start nodding off before the 7:30 game even kicks off. It's not breaking news that catching the holiday bug can be exhausting, but blaming your afternoon nap on the turkey is all wrong, say scientists.

NBC News reports that sure, turkey contains tryptophan, an amino acid that produces the brain chemical serotonin, known to cause calm and sleepiness. But the amount of tryptophan in turkey is extremely small, and other amino acids commonly in the Thanksgiving meal actually block tryptophan's entry to the brain!

Scientists say that the infamous Thanksgiving nap has more to do with missing out on sleep, drinking alcohol and working hard to digest the carb-loaded meal than it does the turkey. So turkeys everywhere urge you: stop blaming your lazy afternoon and casual post-meal nap on the them.

For more bites of Thanksgiving science to chew on, including how science "built" a better turkey and how science created a better balloon, check out NBC News.

Halloween Experiment: Haunted, Screaming Cup!

If you think haunted houses are scary, you're definitely going to want to make haunted drinkware tonight! If you'd rather scare than be scared, invite some friends over and get them spooked by making the cup scream where they can't see it!

Here's what you'll need:

• A plastic drinking cup
• Yarn or cotton string (nylon string won't work as well)
• 1 paper clip
• 1 paper towel
• 1 nail
• Scissors 
• Water

Not let's get started!

1. Cut a piece of yarn that measures about 20 inches.
2. Carefully punch a hole in the center of the bottom of the cup with the nail.
3. Tie one end of the yarn to the middle of the paper clip.
4. Push the other end of the yarn through the hole you punched in the bottom of the cup and pull it through.
5. Get a piece of paper towel about the size of a dollar bill. Fold it once and get it damp in the water.
6. Now it's time to make the cup scream! Hold the cup firmly in one hand and wrap the damp paper towel around the string near the cup. While you squeeze the string, pull down in one continuous motion so that the paper towel tightly slides along the string.

What about the science? This is how a sounding board works. The vibrations from the string would practically be mute without the cup, but when you add the cup, it spreads the vibrations and amplifies them.

Check out Science Bob's video of this experiment. Here, he pulls the string in short jerks to make it sound like a chicken.

Economic Stimulus Package Advances Science

Though the economic stimulus didn't do much for those actually suffering during the recession, it did pave the way for some great memories in the field of science. When scientists look back on the Great Recession, they'll think of better solar panel technology, a move toward an HIV vaccine and a hive of robotic bees.

As Katie Worth of Slate reports, those are just some of the advances that were made when the government started pumping megabucks into science while trying to reverse an economic downturn at the beginning of 2009. 

Of the $800 billion in stimulus funds, one third of it tried to create jobs and invest in infrastructure and innovation by funding shovel-ready projects - or in the case of science, microscope-ready projects. This led The National Science Foundation to the purchase of a long-wanted Arctic research vessel. NASA spent around $160 million designing a next-generation crewed space shuttle. Close to every research university in America scored new lab equipment. The cancer genome was expanded and electric cars were improved.

For all the scientific projects that lacked validation, there were others that would benefit the country in the long run: The world's largest photovoltaic solar plant and wind farm were financed. Research tested new treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease.

All of the stimulus grant money had to be spent by Sept. 30, and any unspent money had to be returned to the government. Of course there were a handful of exceptions.

So now that the stimulus money has been put to use, the question remains: Did it stimulate? If you ask the government, they'll say yes. The main goal of the stimulus was to create jobs and it certainly did that.

The stimulus also silently spurred advances in science and healthcare. The agencies and organizations that received and dished out the funds say that the results speak for themselves. The National Institutes for Health (NIH), for example, received more than $10 billion and developed new strategies for the treatment of alcoholism, better approaches to fight childhood obesity and a new national database for autism research just to name a few. Even better, the stimulus money and extra projects created more jobs within NIH.

Though it's up for speculation, it's important to note that had the projects not been funded by the government through the stimulus, it's possible they wouldn't have been funded for quite a while.

To check out some of the projects that angered conservatives (like the measuring of duck genitalia, a study on how men feel about condoms and a different study that gave cocaine to monkeys) check out Worth's full report. Here you can also find commentary from experts and other projects that advanced the science realm. 

Discover the Microscopic World!

You have a microscope and you've gone through the basics and know how to use it, but you don't have a lot of stuff to examine - or so you think. You'd be surprised at the the number of things just laying around your house that become fascinating specimen when magnified and explored through the lens of your microscope. Here are some of our favorite suggestions:

1. Fibers: Pull out a few individual fibers from different fabrics like cotton, nylon, rayon, silk, wool, etc. Place them one-by-one on the center of a slide and add a drop of water and a cover slip. Examine each fiber under different light and objective settings to see what you discover.
2. Hair: Noticing the differences in hairs can be one of the coolest things to do with your microscope. Examine different types of hair - naturally curly, permanently waved, blonde, brown, red, grey, etc. Check out the difference when the hair is void of oils after dipping your specimen strand in alcohol or soapy water. Compare human hair to that of other mammals.
3. Paper: Place the torn edge of a piece of paper under the microscope. Light it from above with a flashlight or lamp and then focus in on the torn edge. What do you see? Compare different types of paper.
4. Crystals: Place a few crystals of table salt (NaCl) or sugar on a slide and view after adjusting for the best illumination. (Remember: too much light will not reveal much detail.) Slip a piece of black paper beneath the crystals and use side lighting from a lamp or flashlight. What do the crystals look like now?
5. Currency: Examine a dollar bill under various magnifications of the microscope. Compare the fine detail of the engraving process to that of paper play money. We took a look at some currency ourselves - take a look at our picture above!
6. Colored Pictures: Look at a colored postcard or picture from a magazine. What are you surprised to see?
7. Pond Water: Stationary water like pond water is always one of the favorite sources of microscopic organisms for many people. You will find some incredible changes in the kinds of organisms present over several weeks or months.

For lesson plans and more formal activities that you can do with your microscope, click here.