I work at an art school now!

It's been a long time since I've posted here, and no better time that this new lunar year in my new home in Chicago, where I am currently a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). This place is amazing in so many ways, and especially for a scientist that appreciates art as much as I do, it's kind of dreamy. SAIC has a science requirement for its students, so there are loads of science classes offered and lots of scientists teaching here. I am currently teaching a course called the Science of Food. Yum. There is a Scientist in Residence Program, and just last week I got to see the coolest talk on the complicated nature of light from a physicist's (SAIC professor Kathryn Schaffer's) perspective. It was an amazing talk, well illustrated in both words and pictures on a topic that challenges our ability to communicate. How does one draw or describe something like light, which takes up space but is not a material thing, behaves both like a particle and like a wave, is invisible and yet allows us to see? That's where math comes in. But how to talk about the wave function in the equations? It's a challenge that stirs up all we take for granted in describing the physical world around us. And as a science educator, the talk made me think more carefully of how I used illustrations to convey nature to my students. If one is not careful, illustrations may give students the wrong impression about science and the nature of the universe.

The images used in the above poster for the talk, for example, are three different ways to represent light. Light propagates through space as a disturbance in the electric field. An electric field has both a strength and a direction, and the convention has been to indicate direction with an arrow, and strength with an amplitude or height of an arrow, hence the wave shape of how light is normally illustrated. But that can be a deceiving depiction, leading many to think that light actually moves that way in a sinusoidal fashion. It does not! Professor Schaffer prefers the bottom depiction, that conveys strength of the field by the thickness of the arrows, rather than by their length. It still conveys the same information as the top diagram of light, showing how the strength and direction of the fields alter as light moves through.

Now that I'm in a milieu where all sorts of things science and art are explored and discussed, I hope to get back to writing here. More soon to come!

ART and SCIENCE breakthrough contest - DNA, in your face!

The PAX3 gene is involved in the development of the face. Toronto based scientist Dennis McCormac had his PAX3 gene sequenced, and in collaboration with an artist, had his particular sequenced of A, C, T and Gs compose a portrait of his face. Edward Tufte, are you seeing this? Talk about making a visual connection between genotype and phenotype, between DNA and the trait it determines! This is gold to me.

This collaborative art and science work is in the running in a science visualization contest. If you like this as much as I do, please VOTE HERE for this piece by scientist Dennis McCormac and artist James Fowler!

End of the Month Science Music Video: Björk - Hollow

This video, for a song Björk released only though a smartphone app called Biophilia, makes beautiful use of molecular modeling and animation.

Biomedical animator Drew Berry made the animation using models of DNA and DNA-binding and -replicating proteins.

Also make a visit to Björk's webpage to listen to her inspired message on music and nature.

Thank you Marcos for letting me know about this one!

Beyond the edge of the sea: art and science from the ocean's deep

The National Science Foundation is the main source of basic research funding for science and engineering in the United States. But on the third floor of the NSF one can find a fascinating interface between science and art. Until the end of this month, the Art of Science, a committee of volunteers interested in the meeting of the worlds of science and art, hosts a traveling exhibit called Beyond the Edge of the Sea, a collection of watercolor illustrations of the fantastical marine life found around deep-sea hydrothermal vents during expeditions in the deep-ocean submersible, Alvin. The exhibit is the product of a partnership between illustrator Karen Jacobsen and oceanographer Dr. Cindy Lee Van Dover. Both were at the NSF this week to talk about their work in Alvin and the process of observing and collecting samples at great depths, a few thousand meters below sea level, and the process of capturing the images by watercolor.

The scientist (back to us).

The artist.

Some of my favorite drawings are one with notes from the artist, most of which are technical notes, but there is a tone of excitement, curiosity and fascination which combined with the beautiful illustrations make this exhibit so compelling.

As magical as the visual aspects of the sea-life around ocean vents are, equally awe-inspiring is the fact that this life exists without the need for the sun. Even organisms in caves derive energy from the sun, since their food sources are ultimately derived from life above ground. Sea vent organisms derive energy from the chemicals that emerge from the hot vents, and the bacteria that live there that are able to produce organic matter with them through a process called chemosynthesis.

Next stop for the exhibit: Madison, Wisconsin. Be on the look out for this magic visit from the ocean's deeps. You can get a preview of the images here.  For more detailed information on the biology and geology and chemistry of the vents, refer to this easy-to-read guide (PDF).

UPDATE: A recent story on NPR on "The Deep-sea Find That Changed Biology".