Lab Out Loud®

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Adam Savage

We first met Adam Savage (from the Mythbusters) at The Amaz!ng Meeting 7 last summer, where he gave a talk about the creative process and failure that comes with ‘making’.  Of course, we knew that we had to get Adam on the show.  A few months later, we were lucky to talk with Adam about the Mythbusters, science education, and how he uses both experimentation and learning from mistakes in his work both on and off the show.

Links:

• adamsavage.com
• The Mythbusters (Discovery Channel)
• Follow the Mythbusters on Twitter
• Wikipedia Entry on Adam Savage
• Mythbusters Bio on Adam Savage
• Adam Savage (donttrythis) on Twitter
• Fancast Clip: Bullet dropped vs. fired
• Mythbusters: Antacid Jail Break
• Mythbusters at the White House
• Presentation for Maker Faire 2009: Adam Savage’s Colossal Failures
• TED Talks: Adam Savage’s Obsessions
• Interview with lifehacker.com
• Interview with popularmechanics.com
• Online Interview with MAKE Magazine, Part I
• Online Interview with MAKE Magazine, Part II

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SOFIA's 100 Inch Diameter Telescope

Dana Backman is the Outreach Director for SOFIA – The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.  Essentially, SOFIA is a modified 747SP with telescope in its fuselage.  A joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (NASA supplied the aircraft and the telescope was built in Germany), SOFIA is the largest airborne astronomical observatory that will allow astronomers to peer into the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum of space – above the majority of water vapor in the atmosphere.  Dana talks with us about the aircraft, the mission, and some exciting opportunities for science teachers.

Links:

• SOFIA Science Center
• SOFIA (nasa.gov)
• SOFIA Mission (nasa.gov)
• SOFIA Image Gallery
• SOFIA Video Gallery
• 747 Flies With a Big Hole in its Fuselage…For Science (Wired)
• SOFIA: Exploring the Hidden Universe (short documentary video)

Direct download: LOL42.mp3