ideonexus.com

David Ng is a difficult name to research as, Mr. Ng himself writes, there are a bazillion David Ng’s in the world; however, “David Ng” is also a few genes:

Currently, the code for DAVIDNG⁹ can be found only in the genetic instructions of one Thermus Aquaticus, a very old species of bacteria that have the nifty ability to grow in boiling hot environments, thereby making them an unfavorable pet choice for children. To be honest, this was actually pleasing to me, to know that DAVIDNG wasn’t literally everywhere in all manner of organisms. By contrast, the code for ELVIS is very common¹⁰. Unfortunately, my own curiosity got the better of me and I also took it upon myself to check if DAVENG11 was present in the various genomes of various organisms. Turns out, in a major knock against my individuality, DAVENG was everywhere.

Director of the Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory at the University of British Columbia, Mr. Ng also authors Science Blogs’ World’s Fair, but most of all, he is… (lead editor…? organizer…? cat herder…?) of the Science Creative Quarterly, where his editorial oversight has prevented me from embarrassing myself in a few places, and where he has published many entertaining columns, covered projects, and made science entertaining–one of the most important contributions anyone can make to the New Enlightenment.

Plus he’s on my facebook. I rule.

Behold the latest addition to my Facebook trophy friends!

Dr (X 2) Janet D. Stemwedel Photo by base10

Janet Stemwedel (Bio here and homepage here) has two, count ‘em, two Ph.D’s. One in chemistry from Stanford University, and then went for another in Philosophy from San Jose State University.

This consilience of academic disciplines gives Dr (X 2) Stemwedel incredible powers of scientific philosophication, which she applies to her thought-provoking blog Adventures in Ethics and Science, and articles for other sites and publications, like “Getting ethics to catch on with scientists.” She also has the power to teleport ninja stars into the large intestines of her enemies, but she’s too ethical for such undistinguished tactics.

Dr2 Janet D. Stemwedel on my facebook

She also set up the Science Blogging Ethics Wiki, which I thought was cool, even if it was quickly forgotten and only three authors contributed to it. The issue of Opportunities for Educational online dialogues came up in her 2007 SBC talk, and are theme in her writing, like when Dr² Stemwedel provides an example of using the Socratic Method with her kids, in an article titled Kids and Combustion, where I learned something myself. I pity any fool who would dare slur the Stemwedel family name, for Dr.² Stemwedel would quickly harness the power of her twin doctorates and dispatch the adversary with a deadly Occam’s Razor attack, which makes even Ryo from Streetfighter tremble in fear.

Janet Stemwedel, Ph.D (X 2)’s Tribe of Science posts interest me most, delving into issues of scientists policing one another, science culture, and provides a continuing line of thought about what science is and what are the best way to bring out its best qualities. I think this dialogue, like the dialogue with her children, is the best method (however cool the ninja-Ph.D. thing would be). So she is highly successful in her efforts to promote ethical science, education, and blogging by simply keeping people thinking and discussing it.

Can you believe there isn’t a Wikipedia entry for this remarkable blogger??? I hypothesize early wikipedians were struck with sudden amnesia from out-of-nowhere psionic-attacks for daring to reveal the identity of Dr. Free-Ride as she was known in her former, anonymous blog-life. Don’t let the sweet, motherly façade lull you into a false sense of security. : )

Phil Plait on My Facebook

Look upon my Facebook Friends List ye mighty and despair!!!

Author of the Bad Astronomy blog, Phil Plait’s book Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing is highly recommended by the National Science Teachers Association. He has a new book, Death from the Skies, due out in 2008 about the multiple ways our cosmos could squash us like bugs. With such an unassuming title, I fear it might not do well with our sensationalism-starved masses.

; )

Plait is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. His politics #$&%ing rock and his logic is impeccable. Unfortunately, the Huffington Post won’t let me RSS just Phil Plait.

Most importantly of all, Plait got pwned by Wil Wheaton at Star Trek fandom. Anyone who would dare even face Wil Wheaton in a battle of trecknobabble has much much larger cajones that I could ever aspire to.

I see Plait as what Chris Mooney refers to as a Science Ambassador, like Carl Sagan or EO Wilson… only hipper.

This latest addition to my Facebook Trophy friends will further serve my quest for World Domination. You hear me you high school jocks? Your days are numbered!!!

PZ Myers on my Facebook

A Biology professor at the University of Minnesota, PZ Myer’s sharp wit and powerful logic put the smack down on Intelligent Design’s anti-science agenda. For the last five years, Myer’s evolution-promotin’, evangelical-blastin’, cephalopod-appreciatin’ blog Pharyngula has generated between 10,000 and 25,000 hits daily and posts that exceed hundreds of comments.

Raised Lutheran, Myers simply didn’t buy into Christianity, finding much more promise and awe in the natural world, what biologist E.O. Wilson termed the ionian enchantment. This is the modern day Thomas Henry Huxley, aka. “Darwin’s Bulldog,” who defended Darwin’s Theory of Evolution against criticism in its early days, only these days the opponents are Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, and other arch-conservatives.

Myer’s greatest strength lies in his political insightfulness. Because the science fails to fit their preconceived ideas about the world, conservative political pundits resort to attacking the scientific process, casting doubt on established scientific principles, and presenting alternative hypotheses completely bereft of factual support.

Luckily, PZ Myer’s is there to call BullPuckies on them.

Myer’s didn’t get any takers when he asked Ann Coulter fans to cite one scientific argument from her book Godless, where she attacks science and evolutionary theory extensively with insults and factual inaccuracies. When Bill O’Reilly interviewed Ben Stein, Myer’s was there to respond to the major points and their silliness. PZ Myers’ witty sarcastic response to Jim Pinkoski’s arguments for biblical literalism, led to the spread of the PYGMIES + DWARFS internet meme in the Science Blogger community.

PZ Myers will make an excellent addition to my collection, and further my nefarious plans substantially.

BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!

Hey all you “cool” kids from my high school, remember this?

Ryan: Hey guys! Can I ride to school with you?

Cool Kids: Okay Ryan, but we can’t be seen with you, so you’ll have to ride in the trunk.

Ryan: Sweet! Now I won’t be like all those losers who ride the bus to school! Hey! You guys wanna come over to my house later and play with my transformers collection?

Cool Kids: Into the trunk Ryan.

Well, you know what? BITE ME LOSERS! Because Andrew Kavanagh’s on my Facebook! Thpppt! on you! Thpppt! I say!

That’s right, THE Andrew Kavanagh (aka. “Kav”), is on MY facebook friends list. Author of the Living in the Real World blog, 11 refereed articles, three conference proceeding papers, 23 conference presentations, and, most importantly, an occassional commenter on this blog.
Herr Docktor Kavanagh is a Research Associate in the
Department of Communications Systems at Lancaster University, specifically at the
Infolab21, whose website describes its function as:

Lancaster University’s world-class research, development and business centre in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). It is a well equipped, high-tech environment shared by academic research staff, research students and businesses.

Obviously this is a ruse to throw people off the top-secret facility’s nefarious plot for world domination, but I’ll speak no more of this, lest Dr. Kav decide I know too much and makes me disappear.

Super-Dooper impressive is Dr. Kav’s thesis, Energy deposition in the lower auroral ionosphere through energetic particle precipitation (PDF). Doesn’t that just sound cool? I would love to drop that bomb on a boring conversation:

Average Person: …and the Bahamas were just grrrrrand, we just lay on the beach all day soaking up sun!

Dr. Kav: Sun, huh? You know I wrote my thesis on Energy deposition in the lower auroral ionosphere through energetic particle precipitation (PDF). Did you know that solar radiation follows an average eleven-year periodicy that produces–?

Average Person: My goodness! Is that spinach dip over there? Please excuse me.

This thesis truly deserves the word epic. Dr. Kav draws data from RIOMETER (Relative Ionospheric Opacity Meter using Extra Terrestrial Electromagnetic Radiation), SAMPEX (Solar, Anomalous, Magnetospheric Particle Explorer), GEOTAIL satellite, CUTLASS radars, DMSP satelites, EISCAT, CANOPUS, IRIS (Imaging Riometer for Ionospheric Studies), and many other observation points on Earth and in space. What an incredible cooperative effort, requiring 28 phreaking pages of references to cover (Go cry emo-boy Michael Crichton!).

A model of a solar flare showing possible sources for different radiation types

It was also pretty dang-gone educational for lay-people like myself. The first chapter and section introductions explained concepts like solar wind, the Earth’s Magnetosphere, and the Interplanetary Magnet Field. I didn’t realize that solar wind was actual plasma flowing from the sun, or that there even was an Interplanetary Magnet Field. I was only aware of the Earth’s.

Although most of the text was lost on me, I was genuinely impressed by all the research, which revealed to me a whole nother realm of inquiry into our shared reality. It’s incredible how many experts it takes to figure out this thing, and Dr. Kav is one of those important experts, and the “cool kids” should take a moment out of their mundane lives to envy him.

They should also give me back my lunch money… with Interest! (Two Dollars a day for gas money my ass.)

Ira Flatow responded to my friend’s request on Facebook (still denied), after I wrote to him back in September explaining my obsession with collecting Science exponents on social networking sites and singing their praises when they add me.

This was his response:

To Ira’s credit, he did actually click the link to my blog. To Ira’s discredit, he didn’t flame me for flaming him… or maybe that’s to his credit, like… I dunno… Being a bigger person than me or something.

Whatever. My blog isn’t an after-@#$%ing-school special. No matter how cool Ira is for his books and radio and networking with real scientists, he still sucks just a little bit for not adding me. : P

Food Science with Dr. Kiki Sanford

No wonder my mom says I’m cool.

Doctor Kirsten (”Kiki”) H. Sanford, Ph.D hosts this week in science radio show and podcast, authors The Bird’s Brain blog, co-created the Unicorn Museum website brilliantly parodying the Creation Museum, and stars in the totally ass-kicking anything-goes culinary ninja videoblog Food Science, where she blowtorches creme brulie, makes ice cream with liquid nitrogen, and uses infrared thermometers in a totally geektacular and scientiferifically entertaining way.

Oh yeah, and she’s also on twitter, which indicates a level of transhumanist wired-into-the-mainframe level of cybergeekdom that borders on the next step in human evolution. Okay, maybe twitter isn’t that far out there, but it does tip toe into dangerous post-human territory.

All this and a cirriculum vitae of dizzying awesomeness. It makes me look at my BA in English and get degree envy… degree inadequacy… I’m trying to work a Freudian/Academia metaphore/gag in here, but it’s–oh nevermind.

Dr. Kiki is a true honest-to-goodness exponent of science for the Information Age. Someone who deserves mad-props for really getting it, understanding how to use the wikinetionaries’ social networking and multimedia to communicate and promote science. Dr. Kiki harnesses the awesome power of the webbernets for good, unlike Steve Milloy, who uses it for evil, and Ira Flatow, who doesn’t use it at all.

Obviously, when the singularity comes to harvest all the brainiacs into nerd-rapture, Dr. Sanford will have front-row seating.

Ira Flatow

Ira Flatow, host of NPR’s Science Friday has denied my request to be added as his friend on both MySpace and Facebook. That’s okay. I didn’t wanna be Ira Flatow’s friend anyhow. He’s a big stupid dummy head.

Ira’s new book is called Present at the Future. Phooey! Why would I read about the future by someone who doesn’t even know how to use a social networking site??? Huh? Huh?? Huh???

Ira Flatow probably brags in this book about how he meets all these hot chicks on the MySpace, and they’re all sending him links to naked photos of themselves in exchange for his Credit Card number. And how he’s met all these wealthy Treasury Czars from unpronounceable African countries, who he’s sent his bank account information to so they can transfer their country’s Gross National Product to him for safe keeping. Or how Amazon keeps losing his personal information, so they’re always e-mailing him to verify his password at “amorzorn.com,” which he figures is their sister site, and he can’t remember buying 3,000 copies of Ishstar for somebody in China, but oh well…

Why would I wanna be Ira Flatow’s friend?

Ira Flatow’s MySpace Profile (Denied!)

I thought you were cool Ira. Pod casts of Science Friday… Interviews with Richard Dawkins… Carl Sagan… Ann Druyan… David Brin… Chris Mooney… Chris Mooney’s my friend on FaceBook, I guess Ira Flatow isn’t as cool as the guests he has on his show. Like that isn’t totally obvious. Harumph!

Remember Ira? It used to be about the science. What good is it to learn all about science and not share it with everybody? Huh? Oh sure, you do that every week on Science Friday and probably in your book too, but I’m talking about on MySpace and Facebook. You’re a science proponent celebrity, which might be an oxymoron, but celebrities don’t get private lives!

Fine. You know what. I’ll read Ira Flatow’s Present at the Future, but I won’t like it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to put some Science Friday podcasts on, curl up in bed, and cry myself to sleep.

My nefarious plot for global domination of the InterWebbies continues!

Behold! I have added Chris Mooney (pronounced (deep voice) “MOOOOOOOOOOO-NEYYYYY!!!!”) to my Facebook profile of doom!

The Republican War on Science

Author of The Republican War on Science, the most important book yet published in promoting public awareness of the Bush administration’s pathological interference in scientific research and communication, and Storm World, which has had significant repercussions in the blog world for teaching Global Warming activists what they can and cannot say factually regarding Climate Change’s influence on the strength and frequency of hurricanes.

Mooney gives me a +2 bonus when trying to persuade the politically-minded to support science! Or rather, he would give me a +2 if real life were like a Dungeons & Dragons role-playing-type game where, instead of fighting orcs, you argued with self-righteous nimrods. That’s because Mooney is part of the Speaking Science 2.0 lecture series, working with Matthew Nisbet to teach the scientifically literate how to frame their debate points surrounding scientific issues (Be Positive, Keep It Simple).

Each scientist who accepts me as a “friend” on a social networking site unwittingly becomes part of my maleficent machinations. Soon I shall unleash the insidious Phase II of my evil mad-scientist scheming type things!

Chris Mooney shall make a fine addition to my collection.

BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!

Bora Zivkovic on Facebook

This is like collecting sports cards, only scientists!!! Ha! Ha! Time to sell the comic book collection, I’ve found a new hobby.

Bora Zivkovic runs A Blog Around the Clock, works as the “Online Community Manager” at Public Library of Science (PLoS-ONE), one of the two main organizers for the annual NC Science Blogging Conference, one of the organizers for the Open Laboratory annual best-of science blogging book, and his “scientific specialty is chronobiology (circadian rhythms and photoperiodism)”–what I consider a very obscure specialty, but one he covers in an entertaining manner without being pedantic.

While there aren’t specific posts of Zivkovic’s that stand out in my mind, I am perpetually blown away by the incredible stream of clock quotes, blog rolls, events, and news articles that he references on his blog. As one of the most prolific writers on ScienceBlogs, he is one of the many reasons I had to switch my RSS feed there from all blogs to just the “Select” feed to keep from getting overwhelmed.

Zivkovic is also an activist blogger, helping to expose the attacks on open-source science and blogger lashback, recent developments in political interference in science, and promotes using Blogs as Weapons in the war against the proprietary establishment.

And did I mention he’s now on my facebook friends? BOO-YAA!!!

There’s gotta be a Science Scouts badge for this one. If not, there needs to be one. The “I have X Scientists on my MySpace/Facebook Profile” badge.

I’ve already got the “I may look like a scientist but I’m actually also a ninja” badge:

Ninja Scientist	I blog about science	I can be a prick when it comes to science
Some of my Science Scouts Badges

And he added me as friend! w00t!!! I’m totally pwning these InterWebs and stuff!

The Carl Zimmer, author of many excellent books that I need to read, and author of The Loom science blog, which has covered such fascinating topics as parasitic wasps that mind-control cockroaches and kick-ass Science Tattoos.

Aaaaaand, for the moment, I’m in his top friends!!! And I got the f1rst p0st on his profile! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

Sure, Tom is in the #1 spot, but he’s everybody’s friend on myspace, not discriminating at all. That guy is a slut.

MySpace is pwned!

I had to take a snap shot of this for posterity. You know, before people he actually knows start adding him and I get dropped out of the top friends list and eventually lost under the avalanche of people who will inevitably add him, but, for now, I rule.

This is so going on my resume.