Daily Science Haiku - Tantalizing Possibility of T. Rex DNA

Shielded by iron,
T. Rex collagen remains,
defies extinction.

What Preserved T. Rex Tissue?

Daily Science Haiku - Walking on Snail Poop

Recycle paper:
Feed to snails, press waste in tiles.
Walking on snail poop.

These Colorful Floor Tiles Were Made From Snail Poop

Daily Science Haiku - Turkey Recipes from NASA

Bored with brined turkey?
Deep-frying just too ho-hum?
Try rocket engine!

NASA Scientists Provide Four Crazy Recipes

Daily Science Haiku - Comet for Thanksgiving

Racing for the sun,
Comet ISON flares its tail,
rivaling turkey.

Viewing info for Comet ISON

Note: DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN, especially with binoculars or a telescope. Find a convenient building to block the sun so that you can view the comet safely.

Daily Science Haiku - Mapping Mars

Schiaparelli mapped
the seas and channels of Mars.
Let us map again.

Robotic Mars Landing Module Named Schiaparelli

Daily Science Haiku - Stanene

Perfect conductor,
a single layer of tin
speeds electrons on.

Move Over Graphene

Guest Poem: The Wind

by Annelise Aminoff

The Wind blows.
It rustles my hair.
It blows through the trees, graceful as a ballerina.
It picks up the leaves in dives and curves.
It swoops amongst the grass in the meadow
and gently cools those in its path.

Sometimes it blows gently, talking to the trees.
While other times, it is as destructive as can be.
But no matter how strong, no matter how soft, the
wind is the wind, and forever will be.

Written by my 9-year-old daughter

Daily Science Haiku - Missing Butterflies

Bees aplenty hummed
in my garden this year but
alas, no monarchs.

The Year the Monarch Didn't Appear

Daily Science Haiku - High Energy Neutrinos Captured

Ghostly neutrinos
from a distant galaxy
snared in icy net.

Unprecedented neutrino discovery

Daily Science Haiku - Growing Plants on the Moon

Nestled in moon dust,
a small green tendril unfurls:
basil on the moon.

NASA's Next Frontier: Growing Plants on the Moon

Daily Science Haiku - Colonizing Venus

Fair Venus beckons.
We dream of flying castles,
safe from metal rain.

Let's Colonize Venus

Daily Science Haiku - 3D Printing Goes to Space

Printed electronics
nestled in a satellite
brave the vacuum's kiss.

First-ever 3D Printed Electronics Launched into Space

Daily Science Haiku - Four-winged Microraptor

Soaring tetrapod,
how did you manage four wings?
Microraptor, glide.

How did this four-winged microraptor fly?

Daily Science Haiku - Herding Robots

Herding stray cattle,
a robot circles, nudges.
Who needs man's best friend?

Rover the cattle-herding robot

Weekend Science Sonnet - Small Changes, Big Effects

It's easy to believe we cannot change,

that we are powerless to swerve aside.

For some, this means denial, head in sand;

the world is just too large, our actions small.

For others, causation is all too clear,

but how can individuals affect

the mounting problems? Superstorms, melting

icecaps, shrinking forests, extinction.

Remember: small changes have big effects.

A single protocol can make a difference.

One voice in the wilderness can call

hundreds, thousands, and ten thousand more.

We hold the future in our trembling hands.

Make one change and help to change the world.
 

Daily Science Haiku - 3D Printing the Smithsonian

Print mammoth, dolphin,
Amelia Earhart, gunboat,
and cosmic Buddha.

Smithsonian 3D Printable Models

Daily Science Haiku - Lithium Air Batteries

Viral templates grow
batteries like coral reefs,
breathing oxygen.

Scientists use a Mutated Virus to Build Lithium Air Batteries

Daily Science Haiku - Plastisphere

Note to polluters:
If you can't clean your mess up,
I will. Mother Earth.

New Life Found on Plastic Waste

Daily Science Haiku - Good at Math

Take variables.
Integrate. Simmer slowly.
Patience. Math takes time.

How do I Know if I'm Good Enough at Math?

Daily Science Haiku - The Mystery of Moon Dust

Invasive moon dust,
soil of meteoric pounding,
too sharp to contain.

The Mystery of Moon Dust

Daily Science Haiku - Fallen Satellite

Satellite orbit
decayed. It rests again in
gravity's embrace.

European satellite about to reenter Earth's atmosphere

Weekend Science Sonnet - No Man Invents Alone

Apologies for being a day late. Sonnets sometimes need to cook a bit.

The fallen apple or rising bathwater,
the glowing filament or buzzing wire:
these symbols of the lonely scientist
belie the fact. Discoveries don't come
from vacuum. Standing upon the shoulders
of giants, yes, but more so hand in hand
with colleagues and with friends. Collaborate
to spark ideas, make discoveries.
Edison was front man for a team,
the Muckers: scientists, inventors all
who found the public eager to believe
the myth of solitary genius. Where
would Watson and Crick without Franklin?
Bell sans Watson? Higgs, Englert without CERN?

Thomas Edison and the Myth of the Lone Inventor

Daily Science Haiku - The YORP Effect

Space rock with six tails
spins in ecstasy of light,
questioning the norm.

Freak Asteroid with Six Tails

Daily Science Haiku - Haiyan

Fibonacci swirl
screams hurricane winds and rain.
This can not end well.

Super Typhoon Haiyan

Daily Science Haiku - Extinction

Western black rhino
is now extinct. Tuna, yew,
palm, who will be next?

Western black rhinoceros officially declared extinct

Daily Science Haiku - Fusion Works

The power of suns
is in our grasp. World energy
fueled by sea water.

Breakthrough: The world's first net-positive nuclear fusion reaction

Daily Science Haiku - Diwali Goes to Mars

Like Diwali lamps,
rocket arcs across the sky
to Mars. Lakshmi bless.

India launches first mission to Mars.

Daily Science Haiku - Inverse Light

Turn light inside out.
Kugelblitz: light so intense,
it swallows itself.

How to make a black hole: Turn light inside out

Weekend Science Sonnet - Cancer

With cancer, most of what you've heard is wrong.
It's not disease. A feature, not a bug.
We mutate to evolve. We change or die.
Replication errors will occur.
All animals get cancer; mammals more.
Dinosaurs got cancer. All those cells.
Antioxidants don't help at all.
Being tall increases cancer risk.
So does menstruation, every time.
Cell phones aren't a risk; it's the birth
of the universe that will get you.
And cancer's smart. It learns, changes, evolves.
Curing cancer makes no sense. There is
no cure for having cells, for being life.

Why most of what you've heard about cancer is wrong

Daily Science Haiku - Hybrid Eclipse

Sunrise tomorrow
(eastern standard time) the moon
takes a bite of sun.

Hybrid solar eclipse on November 3

Daily Science Haiku - Microplastic Beads Clog Lakes

Luxurious soap
cleans your skin with plastic beads
that dirty our lakes.

Microplastic pollution in the surface waters of the Laurentian Great Lakes