Profile Post: Asymptotia!

For my profile post, I decided to talk about Asymptotia, a blog written by Dr. Clifford Johnson who is currently my physics professor!

Just from looking at the name, and also the fact that Dr. Johnson is a physics professor, you might be able to guess that this is somewhat of a science-centered blog. Roughly once a week, Dr. Johnson posts on his blog about a variety of topics. If you look at his About section, you'll see that he blogs--or wants to blog--about many, many different things. Aside from talking about general physics-related topics, for example raving about the recent discovery of gravitational waves (fun fact: the class I'm currently taking with him is actually on General Relativity!).  Aside from scientific topics, he also blogs about his personal life. He's an avid gardener, is currently in the process of writing a book, and does home improvement, among other things. Dr. Johnson also frequently blogs about how science is portrayed in popular culture. 

In one of his more recent posts, he talks about doing some consulting work with Marvel on the TV show Agent Carter where he helped them make the science fiction elements of the show more realistic. In this particular post, he talks about the "science" behind something called Zero Matter. In the show, Zero Matter is a substance that comes from a different dimension which, after touching it, will make a person intangible. Since it is a science-fiction based universe, this obviously requires a bit of an explanation, and who better to ask about extra dimensions than your friendly neighborhood string theorist? The post not only clarifies some aspects of the show but also teaches readers a little bit about what real-world physicists mean when they talk about the possibility of extra dimensions.

In another, more complex post, he talks about a paper he's working on which suggests we might one day be able to us black holes as heat engines to do useful work! This one, which is almost certainly aimed at a more-scientifically literate audience, goes much more in depth into the theory behind it. Again, however, he seeks to make this post an educational one, explaining himself where he has to and even providing references in order to dispel any confusion his readers might have.

I think these two posts do a good job of capturing the essence of Asymptotia: Dr. Johnson simply wants to share the joy of science with everyone. He's passionate about physics both inside and outside the classroom. Every year he holds a scientific film festival for students to submit short documentaries explaining some scientific topic. More than anything, I think he wants to make science accessible to the lay and very much does not have the attitude that science is somehow reserved for the intellectual elite. 

Science, It's a Girl Thing!

It's no secret that today, science and engineering are male-dominated fields. In 2012, the European Commission published the above video in an effort to get more girls interested in science. TL;DR: the video was a massive flop and the original video was actually taken down, most likely due to the massive number of dislikes it received.

The biggest problem with the video is that it tackles the issue from entirely the wrong perspective: rather than empowering girls by telling them that they're just as capable of doing science as anyone else, it instead sends the message that science can be "girly" enough for them. It looks more like the girls are just there for a photo shoot than to actually do science! On top of that, what's with all the scenes that have been spliced into the video that depict makeup? Are girls only interested in science if it's related to beauty products? Ultimately, the video really just tells girls that they can still conform to societal expectations of what girls should like while being scientists.

The video also opens with a male scientist looking confused when he sees the three girls walk into his lab, which I find disturbing. Immediately, the video presents an image where men and women are somehow competing with each other, that the girls are seen as intruders in the man's territory. Not only does this reinforce the idea that science is somehow meant for men, it also goes against the heart and soul of science which revolved around collaboration.

Fixing this inequality, along with any other inequalities between women and men, is not simply about encouraging girls to do this or that but is really about dispelling the gender stereotypes that gave rise to the inequality in the first place. There's nothing wrong with liking makeup or wanting to be a model, but a video that's intended to encourage girls to be scientists has no need for things like that. How about showing them how useful and important science can be? If we want to convince girls--or anyone, for that matter--to be more interested in science, we should be showing them that science is a worthwhile career by allowing them to make meaningful contributions to society. In doing so, they will be empowering themselves.

Why do I blog?

One of my clearest memories from my childhood was a commercial that I saw for a science summer camp.

The commercial opens with two girls walking down the street of a suburban neighborhood. The girls turn their heads as a car passes by. All of a sudden, instead of seeing the car we see a blueprint schematic of the car. The schematic is animated, detailing how all of the different parts of the car are assembled as well as how they interact with each other.

Then, we're back to the two girls, who have advanced a few more paces down the road since we last saw them. This time, they turn their head in the other direction and see someone jogging down the street with a CD-player clasped to the hip. Again, we are taken out of the scene, this time to a blueprint schematic of the CD player. The animation details how exactly a CD-player uses a laser to read the disk and ultimately how that is translated into sound that comes out of the runner's headphones.

We then go back to the girls for a third time, how are now interested in a barking dog across the street. As the dog makes barking noises, we see diagrams and equations appear on the screen which appear to be analyzing the sound that the dog is making.

Finally, the commercial ends with information regarding the summer camp such as when and how to sign up for it, as well as revealing that it is for girls only.

Unfortunately, I didn't ever get to attend the camp, but the commercial was absolutely captivating to me. I realized I wanted to see the world exactly the way the two girls did in that commercial--to be able to look at something and see how it works on the inside. To me, that commercial sent the same message that I try to send with my blog posts about science--that it's all around us so long as we look for it! I hope to be able to share this perspective with as many of my readers as possible.