Beauty in the Eye of the Microscope

A rose by any other name … Oh wait, those are stink bug eggs.

Through Friday, the eighth Olympus BioScapes Imaging Competition brings images of beauty captured under light microscopes to our museum. The winning images were selected from more than 2,000 submissions and reflect the latest advances in neuroscience and cell biology. Visitors can marvel at the beauty of stink bug eggs, be awed by the iridescent colors of a damselfly eye, and yes, even admire the peony-like splendor of a fruit fly’s ovaries.

And you thought you’d seen everything.

Photo: Stink Bug Eggs by Haris Antonopoulos

PRESS RELEASE: World Maker Faire Returns

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106 Days to Maker Faire New York —- Call for Makers NOW OPEN!

We’re looking for a few hundred makers. Are you one of them? Save the Date and start working on your projects (if you haven’t already…) Maker Faire New York is right around the corner and as of this morning, the Call for Makers is open. 

Step one for participating is to submit an entry so we can learn about you and your project. Here’s just a sampling of what makes for a great Maker Faire exhibit:

• Student Projects
• Robotics
• Music Performance and Participation
• 3D Printers and CNC Mills
• Textile Arts and Crafts
• Home Energy Monitoring
• Rockets and RC Toys
• Sustainability
• Green Tech
• Radios, Vintage Computers and Game Systems
• Electronics
• Electric Vehicles
• Biology/Biotech and Chemistry Projects
• Food and Beverage Makers
• Robotics
• Puppets
• Kites
• Bicycles
• Shelter (Tents, Domes, etc.)
• Unusual Tools or Machines
• How to Fix Things or Take them Apart (Vacuums, Clocks, Washing Machines, etc.

Not planning a project but still can’t wait for Maker Faire New York? Standby. Tickets go on sale soon and we’ll be warming up all summer with community gatherings, Maker Weekends at NYSCI and more.

Kinect Tracking Video: by Design-IO at NYSCI

Prototyping for Puppet Parade, NYSCI’s artists in residence Design-IO, use a Kinect camera:

design-ionysci:

This is what the Kinect camera mounted above the screen sees. We needed to mount it in this way so we could easily see when someone’s arm was outstretched in front of them. 

Making Space for STEM

Move over textbooks. Step aside complicated instruction sheets. On Monday, an unusual space opens that will teach kids and adults how to create and build circuits, metalworks, quilts, crafts, robots, and most importantly, that wacky, out-there project that you were told could never be built.

Maker Space is a new area at NYSCI that is made possible thanks to an investment by Cognizant’s Making the Future education initiative. The space, designed by the Brooklyn-based firm Situ Studio, will feature workshops on topics like sewing, soldering, and programming using open-source hardware. But the real skills being honed will be collaboration, risk-taking, creativity and innovation. These are skills that are necessary for careers in STEM. And skills that will help prepare the next generation of leaders.

“Curiosity, creativity and collaboration all come together in the activities we have planned for this space…” said Margaret Honey, president and CEO of NYSCI. “The network of collaborators that will work with us in this new venue represent an inspiring pool of talent to give our visitors  – especially young children – the tools they need to nurture the innate human tendency to be creative and see the world differently.”

Beginning in May, visitors to NYSCI can participate in workshops and drop-in sessions at the space. Topics will vary but will include sessions on the basics of soldering, sewing (using machines and equipment donated by SINGER^® Sewing Company), and circuitry.

So forget your old notions of what you can and can’t accomplish. At Maker Space, there’s room for all your ideas, but there’s no space for limitations.

Recipes for STEM Learning

The woman looked at the items on the table. Vegetable oil, egg yolks, linseed oil and other ingredients. The elements for a perfect creation were right there in front of her, if only she could find the right combination.

The woman was not cooking. She was attending a workshop where participants mixed powdered pigments with everyday materials such as oils, soap and sand to create unique paints. The workshop was part of the conference Design, Make, Play Growing the Next Generation of Science Innovators, which was hosted by NYSCI in collaboration with O’Reilly Media and the White House Office of Science Technology Policy. Design, Make, Play brought together educators, policy leaders, university researchers, and makers to discuss how the kinds of do-it-yourself innovations on display at the annual World Maker Faire can become inspirations for reforming and improving the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in schools.

Paints weren’t the only things created that day – wooden cars, mini bobsleds, robots, pop-up cards and other projects required participants to try out new techniques, find solutions to problems, and use their inventiveness.

So what’s the best recipe for getting kids and adults interested in science? Start with a base of make-inspired projects then add a dash of curiosity and a pinch of critical thinking. Innovation is sure to follow!

View photos from Design, Make, Play

Design, Make, Play’s lead sponsor is Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds. Additional support is provided by the National Science Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Kauffman Foundation.

From Pop-Up Cards to Vibrocrafts

Participants at today’s Design, Make, Play: World Maker Faire Workshop, Phase Two spent the day exploring ways to enrich learning and increase student interest in science and math with projects that focus on making, designing and engineering. Workshop activities included making pop-up cards with LEDs, creating a robot from scratch, and building a wooden car, among others. The two-day workshop is a collaboration between NYSCI and O’Reilly Media.

Pictured: A conference attendee builds a Vibrocraft in a session presented by the Eli Whitney Museum.