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Bioethics: Should We Strive To Be Better Than Human?

Dr. Buchanan Better than Human

Do you think it is ethical for medical science to do more than simply treat illnesses and try to make us “better than human?” Are the things we are doing today such as cognitive enhancement drugs and genetic modification unprecedented? Join Bioethicist Dr. Allen Buchanan at Chesterfield County Public School’s Visiting Author Program on October 23rd at 6:30 p.m as he explores the promise and perils of our current medical revolution.

Get Ready to Rumble! Robot Rumble 2012

Calling all robotics enthusiasts!  Join us on Saturday, October 6th at the Science Museum of Virginia for an exciting competition and hands-on family fun at VirginiaFIRST's Robot Rumble. The Rumble is Free and open to the public, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.at SMVA, 2500 West Broad Street, Richmond.

Science Pub RVA and "What Research Reveals About Why We Vote"

Science Pub RVA

Have you ever wondered why people do or don't vote?  A lot of political scientists certainly have.  And what is even more intriguing are the methods they use to uncover the answers to the question.  Join other curious minds at Science Pub RVA on October 2nd to discuss the topic of voting and explore your own motivations.

Don’t Be Fooled By Appearances: These Guys Know That Science Matters

Jim Young & Ken Poole, Robotics mentors

Your first reaction to the photo might be, “Who ARE these guys? Isn’t that one on the left a little old to be sporting a NASA logo on this shirt? And, what’s with the wig?”

Well, the fellow on the left earned his NASA patch. He is a retired space systems engineer and a veteran of the first successful landing on Mars who traded-in his pocket protector for a tie-dye t-shirt and a sequined hat. The one on the right is a self-described “redneck trucker” who transported high explosives for the U.S. Navy and now dons a shocking blue wig in certain public settings.

“Slip-sticks” Once Ruled the Math/Science World (and did One go to the Moon?)

slide ruler

Their formal names were slide rules, and folks called them “slip-sticks.” They were literally analog computers. Many years ago, slide rules were de rigeur for engineers and scientists, and especially several generations of high school and college students.

Not only that, but Neil Armstrong used one, according to a recent Wall Street Journal blog.

Science Pub RVA and “Why Black Holes Don’t Suck”

Join other curious minds this Tuesday, September 4th for another Science Pub RVA event. Enjoy food, drink and conversation with Dr. Matthew R. Francis as he demystifies black holes. Dr.

Virginia Tech Students’ Experiments On Board Rocket Launch

Virginia Tech RockSat-X Team

A team from Virginia Tech is at Wallops Island tomorrow morning (Thursday, August 23), for the launch of a suborbital rocket, carrying with it their experiments--and their hopes for a future in space exploration.

The Mars Landing: Seeking Key Clues to Our Own Planet's Future

Levine

The Mars Science Laboratory’s spectacular landing August 6 was not only a game-changer in space exploration, but it opened the door for scientists to answer a most compelling question: What happened to Mars? We know that eons ago, Earth and Mars were a lot alike. And in a recent interview with Science Matters, Dr. Joel S. Levine, Research Professor in the Department of Applied Science at the College of William and Mary, offered some tantalizing insight into that question.

NASA’s Langley Research Center Contributions Part 2

WCVE Public Radio’s Charles Fishburne recently reported on the contributions made by researchers at Hampton, Virginia’s NASA Langley Research Center that aided in the success of the NASA Mars Scientific Laboratory mission to deliver the Curiosity rover to Mars.

NASA’s Langley Research Center: Contributions to the Curiosity Rover Mission Part 1

The recent success of NASA’s Mars Scientific Laboratory mission to deliver the Curiosity rover safely to Mars was due in part to the research conducted at Hampton, Virginia’s NASA Langley Research Center, which goes back decades.