A friend’s daughter, pictured here, created this lovely prom gown using Duct Tape. That’s right, Duct Tape. Now through June 7th, prom-goers are invited to send in pictures of their creative duct tape gowns or suits to win scholarship money as part of the Stuck at Prom contest, sponsored by DuckBrand in celebration of its 10th anniversary.

Yes, she did indeed wear this to the prom!

Really doesn’t have much to do with the dino sculpture my son created, next to the THANG  on our family’s fireplace matel. But I bet Carl Zimmer has a guess. I recall the time I brought this heavy THANG into HIS office at Discover. Back when HE had a windowed office and I did not. Cut me a break, HE was 28, I was still young…and, oh yeah, there was that AAAS award he won for “God-like writers under the age of 30″.

I asked, genuflecting upon entering his office, as we all did: “Carl, what do you think this is? My father-in-law found it in a local, Long Beach Island, NJ, fishing shop.”

HE said: “Looks like a Mastodon tooth, maybe a molar. Probably a young one because it’s not worn down too far. You should take this to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philly, near where you live,  and I bet they can tell you more.”

So I did. I pulled the THANG out of my baby’s diaper bag, and asked the resident paleontologist: “What do you think this THANG is?”

He replied: “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT? DID YOU STEAL THAT?!”

I spent the next hour ‘splainin’ the situation. Hey, Carl, back then, they never heard of YOU. The best thing I had going for me was the real baby in the real baby stroller…and two, twenty dollar bills.

But I digress.

I never did learn more about the origins of this tooth. Who knows more about this tooth? Closest to the tooth-truth earns a Tshirt. And now that I FINALLY have some street-cred with the National Academy of Sciences, I know I can find the answer there if you all fail.

I had so much fun doing Science Cheers with 1,500 kids at a Temple University basketball game yesterday. Those kids were awesome! Thanks for the invite, Temple and thanks for the assistance Hootie and Temple cheerleaders! Stepping on campus brought back a flood of wonderful memories. Goooo Owls! I’ll post the video shortly. I’ll be in San Francisco, L.A., Jacksonville, Washington, D.C., and NYC in the coming months. If you’d like me to get some Science Cheers going at a location near you, just email me at Darlene@sciencecheerleader.com
“LET’S go, SCI-ence,” clap, clap, clap-clap-clap! “4, 3, 2, 1, Science is for EVERYONE!”

Just back from Pittsburgh, PA where I spent the day with the Robotics Institute team at Carnegie Mellon University. Discover Magazine, the National Science Foundation and CMU will present a Robotics panel discussion on January 28th at CMU. If you are planning to be in the area, come join us (just email me and I’ll send you details). Pictured here with me are (l to r): Byron Spice (media relations director); Red Whitaker (infamous roboticist); and Matt Mason (director of CMU’s Robotics Institute).