Science comedy writer Sarah Rose Siskind has some ideas. We met Sarah at SXSWedu in the spring of 2024 where she delivered a keynote titled Science Comedy: Why it's a Thing and How to Do It. Of course we had to have her on the show. To open our 18th season, Sarah joins Lab Out Loud to share insights from her work with Hello SciCom, emphasize the link between humor and empathy, and give some tips for using comedy to communicate science in your classroom.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2024/09/episode-282-teach-science-with-humor/

It's spring, and it's a great time to get students outside to do some science. Need some ideas? Science teacher Brian Kaestner (St. Mary's Hall in San Antonio) and Vernier Educational Technology Specialist Colleen McDaniel join us to discuss how they use Vernier sensors so students can locally measure the effects of climate change.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2024/05/episode-281-vernier-climate-change/

Video version at: https://youtu.be/7zvYh4XvFVk

In 2017, Sam Cornwell launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to make a pinhole camera called the Solarcan. Now a successful company with the same name, the Solarcan is a simple camera that takes extremely long time exposures capable of capturing the path of the sun. Sam joins us for this special video episode of Lab Out Loud to tell us how the Solarcan combines art and astronomy for the citizen scientist in all of us.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2024/03/episode-280-solarcam

Ella Marushchenko joins Lab Out Loud to discuss her job and her journey from a traditional art background to creating scientific illustrations. Stressing the need for artistic freedom in scientific visualization, Ella describes how she balances the collaborative process between artists and scientists as she translates complex concepts into visually appealing art.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2024/01/episode-279-scientific-illustrator/ 

In a recent survey, Nature asked scientists about their use of Twitter, and discovered that many decreased their use of the platform, and some have decided to leave it completely. To help understand this trend, we welcome bilingual science journalist Myriam Vidal Valero to the show. Myriam reminds us how many scientists need social media to connect, share their work, and build connections to help advance their careers. With the recent changes at Twitter, Myriam helps us navigate through the fragmentation of what's left in the landscape of social media for scientists that still want and need to collaborate online.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2023/10/episode-278-scientists-leaving-twitter/ 

To talk to us about the life cycle of our technology, we welcome Lucas Gutterman to the show. As the director of the Design to Last campaign with PIRG, the Public Interest Research Group, Lucas provides us with some insight and strategies on how we can advocate to make our devices last longer, and in turn save money and previous raw materials.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2023/08/episode-277-chromebook-churn/ 

Artist Dan Nott joins Lab Out Loud to tell us about his new graphic nonfiction book called Hidden Systems. With the help of visual metaphors, Dan illustrates systems that we often take for granted, such as the internet, the electrical grid, and providing water. Hidden Systems reveals these difficult to understand and often hidden systems that we tend to care about most when they aren't working. Through his research and art, Dan also reveals their history, with sometimes uncomfortable truths about our past that are literally hardwired into our present.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2023/05/episode-276-hidden-systems 

Meet the Friends of Big Bear Valley, a group that maintains two solar powered webcams focused on Jackie and Shadow, a pair of bald eagles in Big Bear Valley, California. Executive Director Sandy Steers and Candee Roberts join us to share a little of Jackie and Shadow’s life while describing the continuous challenges that the eagles face. Listen to the show to learn how you can observe these eagles in your classroom for environmental awareness, appreciation and enjoyment.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2023/03/the-bald-and-the-beautiful-tales-from-the-nest-in-big-bear-valley 

Announced in 1984 by President Reagan as a way to boost science education, the Teacher in Space program invited teachers to apply to become the first citizen into space. Realizing that two teachers from Wisconsin were selected, we reached out to connect with one of them. From Tomah, Wisconsin, science teacher Larry Scheckel was a finalist in the program alongside Christa McAuliffe. Larry joins the show to describe the Teacher in Space application and selection process, tell us about the state of science education in the 80s, and relive the shared grief that he and other finalists experienced when the Challenger exploded.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2023/02/episode-274-teacher-in-space/

Rhett Allain returns to Lab Out Loud for his 5th time to talk about ChatGPT, a novel artificial intelligence chat tool from OpenAI. In the last few months, Rhett has also been exploring how to use ChatGPT to see how it can solve physics homework, serve as a suitable teaching assistant and even write code. Rhett shares his experience as we think about the utility of emerging AI tools and how they might challenge educators to teach differently.

Show notes:

https://laboutloud.com/2023/01/episode-273-chatgpt/

Thinking of snow? We first talked to Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht in 2006 when the US Postal Service began featuring his photographs of snowflakes on stamps. 16 years later, we wanted to find out what’s changed in snowflake science, so we invited him back to the show. Dr. Libbrecht joins us again to share new discoveries in snowflake science, describe how he became the snowflake expert for the movie Frozen, and discuss some tips on talking your own pictures of snowflakes.

Show notes and snowflake photos at: https://laboutloud.com/2022/12/a-closer-look-at-snowflakes/