Science Cheerleader

From Dr. John: To mark the 40th anniversary of the Internets, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced the DARPA Network Challenge, a competition that will explore the role of social networking in communication, team building, and group mobilization. The challenge is to be the first person to submit the locations of 10 8-foot, red, weather balloons at 10 fixed locations in the continental United States.

Here’s how it works: The red balloons will be deployed on Saturday, December 5, in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roads. Teams and collaborators will have approximately 9 days, until 12:00 PM (ET) on December 14, to collect the locations of the balloons and submit their entries.  All locations must be submitted in latitude and longitude coordinates. The event is open to individuals of all ages irrespective of nationality or residency (except Federal employees and their spouses and dependents), but first you must register your team on  the DARPA Network Challenge website.

Find the red balloons. Win $40,000. Do you have what it takes to be the next Balloon Boy/Girl?

Indulge me (Dr. John Ohab) for just a moment and check out this new story, Armed and Scientific, just released by UCLA Magazine. I was recently interviewed for the “Quick Takes” series, which highlights former students and their work since graduating from UCLA. While much of the article focuses on my experiences at the Defense Department, the author did include a brief ditty about Science Cheerleader, describing it as “a web-based media platform that… aims to make science more fun and understandable to wider audience.”  Right on!

Click here to read “Armed and Scientific” in UCLA Magazine.

From Dr. John: Last week, David Meerman Scott, marketing guru and author of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR,” visited the Pentagon to discuss the importance of social media in the Defense Department’s communications arsenal.  He spent two hours with the All Services Social Media Council, comprised of people from across the Department (ten points if you can find my forehead), and led a very interesting discussion about social media strategy and brand journalism.

I had the opportunity to chat with David during a 30-minute car ride, and I couldn’t help but detail all of the social media strategies we use to operate Armed with Science, the Defense Department’s weekly science podcast.  He was so impressed with our efforts to provide meaningful information about science and technology through social media that he even mentioned us in a blog entry, Brand Journalism in US Military Humanizes Large Organization.

Pretty cool!  Maybe his next book will be titled, “The New Rules of Science Marketing and PR”!

By Dr. John. Anyone can be a scientist, and not surprisingly, scientists are just like everyone else. That’s what NOVA ScienceNOW hopes to convey with their new show, The Secret Life of Scientists, a web video series that provides a personal and thought-provoking look at the lives of 16 scientists and engineers. Through a mixture of whimsical interview questions, each show will demonstrate how scientists and engineers can be athletes, musicians, artists, chefs, and, most importantly, incredibly human.

Although, SUPER-human might be more accurate for tonight’s episode featuring Nate Ball, a mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, pole-vaulting coach, jazz pianist, and TV star. In his day job, Nate is chief technical officer and co-founder of a technology and innovation company, Atlas Devices. His business develops a tool that he helped invent, the Powered Rope Ascender, which enables military personnel and rescue workers to reverse-rappel up buildings at high speeds. Check out these awesome videos of Nate’s invention in action.

And, Nate isn’t camera-shy. He is currently a cast member on PBS’ Design Squad, a show that features two teams of contestants charged with brainstorming, designing, building, and testing products before putting them to the test.

I had a chance to ask Nate a few questions about how he balances all of these endeavors, what inspires him to innovate, and his strategies for creating more interest in science and engineering. You’ll find, just as I did, that Nate has transformed a childhood passion into a career and drawn from a variety of perspectives to keep himself grounded. To learn more about Nate’s drive to succeed, check out tonight’s episode of The Secret Life of Scientsts.

Dr. John: How do we demistify science and bridge the gap between scientists and society? (more…)

A brief, “edutaining” first-person account on the Science of Lying, from our own Dr. John Ohab.

This Pentagon Channel report investigates whether neuroimaging techniques can be used to detect deception. Dr. Bhatt previously appeared as a guest on the weekly science and technology podcast, “Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military”.

The report also features my award-winning acting skills and demonstrates the razor-sharp wit and decision-making savvy required to answer personal questions under pressure.

Dr. Bhatt: Were you born in 1980?
John: Yes.

Virtually no hesitation.

Special invitation from an inside-source at the Department of Defense…our very own Dr. John Ohab:
Here’s a great opportunity to engage the highest ranking U.S. military officer in a dialogue about science: Admiral Mullen, The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is taking YOUR video questions over YouTube through midnight on Monday, August 31st. He’ll select his favorite questions and answer them directly on the Defense Department’s YouTube page.

The Department of Defense (DoD) will spend more than $75 billion on research, development, testing, and evaluation in fiscal year 2009; that is, more than the entire budgets of the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation COMBINED. Much of this will directly support our warfighters by providing revolutionary, superior capabilities needed to accomplish DoD’s mission. However, this investment also includes research in biomedicine, earth and environmental sciences, information technology, and many other disciplines that extend beyond military applications into the civilian world.

Do you have a question about DoD’s efforts to reduce energy consumption, their research on climate change and retreating Artic sea ice, medical care for servicemembers and their families, or how Recovery funds will impact DoD scientific pursuits?

Submit your YouTube video questions before midnight on Monday, AUGUST 31!   Don’t miss your chance to get answers straight from the top!