What does silk sound like?

Silk is an awesome feat of nature. We can use it for everything from Kevlar to fancy evening dresses, and now we can even listen to it!




Scientists at MIT are mapping spider silk proteins on to musical scores not only for fun, but as a way to understand the structure of any given silk "recipe" and to predict how it might pan out in real life. How cool is that? Skip to the middle of the video to "hear" the silk!

June - July Challenge Theme: Genetics

The theme for June / July was genetics. Only two team members tackled this challenge, but they were too good not to feature here.

First up is Helices, an original watercolor by Genevieve of SummerQuarters.

I love the addition of the accessory proteins controlling DNA transcription and gene activity. The cheery orange-red background makes this a piece I can really see hanging in a doctor's office.

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Next up is this amazing collagen color spectrum by Kristin of ArtAtomic.

It doesn't look like much at first (especially at this size), but once you know what it is, you can't help but think "oooooh! COOL!" In Kristin's own words:

A color spectrum, based on the amino acid sequence of the protein Collagen. First, I wrote a program in Python, to analyze the amino acid frequencies in a sequence. Then I wrote a second program to visualize the results.

It'll be really interesting to see how the spectra change depending on the size, composition and function of the protein scanned. I'd like to see some GPCRs and other transmembrane proteins to see how they differ from globular and structural proteins.

Kristin ran the code for insulin in her program next:

These color maps are fantastic! I think a print of a scientist's favorite protein would make the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for nerd... and would look just as awesome in a baby's nursery as it would in a doctor's office!

Hop of over to Kristin's blog for more details. 

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The challenge theme for August / September is Hypatia of Alexandria - what are you going to create?

April/May Challenge Treasury!

You might recall that the challenge item for April (and May) was the world's tiniest vertebrate.  Here's what we cooked up!

'The World's Tiniest Frog!' by Kokoba

trilobiteglass... $25.00	PaperUlixis $5.00	Ulixis $16.00	minouette $16.00
BallyhooBath $5.50	iWunder $50.00	ArtAtomic $60.00	Kokoba $20.00
PhDstressrelie... $50.00	clairepayne $6.00	buffalonerdpro... $6.00	iWunderVintage $15.00
molarchae $15.00	QuercusDesign $20.00	Kokoba $25.00	IdeaLiza $24.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

April Challenge Theme: World's Tiniest Vertebrate Found!

Scientists in New Guinea recently discovered the world's tiniest vertebrate: a frog that reaches a whopping 7.7 mm in length.

Look at him! I can't deal with adorable he is! Neither can we, apparently, so for the rest of April the Mad Scientists will be crafting up a huge (tiny) storm. 

What do you think would be a cool crafty idea to celebrate this miniature amphibian?

Item of the day: Plush Stomach

If you're looking for some nerdy plush (because you have to start them young) or one-eyed monsters, look no further than MSOE team member FurWillFly. I really like this orange stomach:

But isn't the whole set of innards adorable?

Be sure to check out the FurWillFly blog for more, including a Project 365 with a plush scientist that's sure to make you smile.

Item of the day: Embroidered Cell

This embroidered cell by MSOE team member AlphaRabbitOnline is too cool:

And if you're handy, you can pick up a kit to make your own (with glow-in-the-dark thread)!

Follow AlphaRabbitOnline on facebook.

Profile of a Mad Scientist: scientificculture

The Mad Scientists of Etsy present the fifth Mad Scientist Profile. Who are these people who both love science and love to create? What does science mean to them? How do they make the things they do? Well, we're going to tell you!

The image shows the set of finger puppets Kate from scientific culture made for MSOE's december challenge "Louis Pasteur". The set includes pasteur accompanied by a nice rabies-free cat with pasteurized milk as well as a culture of happy little culture of anthrax he made a vaccine further supporting his findings on germ theory.

As part of our continuing series, Sasha from whatnomints interviewed Kate from scientific culture. Kate builds all of her creations in her home in Kamloops, British Columbia (Canada), where she graduated with a degree in cellular, molecular, microbial biology. She has spent a while working lab jobs studying water microbiology and wildlife genetics and plans on heading back to school next year for Education so she can spread her science geeky excitement into the fragile minds of youth! She loves to spread her excitement through cute science crafts and blogging and has been creating as long as she can remember.

Why did you decide to start selling your awesome geeky goodies and how does your interaction with science inspire your work?

During my undergrad I took every possible opportunity to work some crafty fun into projects and presentations, whether it was a plush cross sectioned pseudomonas for microbiology, or subtly placed strong bad bacteriophage during a lambda life cycle for regulation of gene expression! It’s fun to express your passion for geeky science in new ways and I found that my classmates all got a kick out of my antics. This soon turned into crafting plush microbes for friends’ birthdays and eventually the cross over into Etsy selling.

My favorite items in your shop involve your cute anthropomorphic drawings. How did you come up with the idea for these and how do you create them?

My first anthropomorphic character I created was the ciliated bacillus I have as my avatar. He originated as a superhero character (with cape) that saved the day (with his fantastic array of microbial enzymes) in a cartoon I did for industrial microbiology. I liked him so much I decided more science items need to be spiced up with adorable wide set eye smiles! Voila! The cute science formula was born:



As for their creation, I’m pretty low tech. I draw out my characters with sharpies, scan them, and colour them using photoshop and a keen colour sense.

Did you experience an "a-ha moment" that made you realize that you wanted to be a scientist?

I’ve always been enthralled by how amazing the world is and science is a great tool for figuring out how each thing on our planet works! I think the closest thing I had to a “rest of my life” realization was how exciting Grade 11 Biology was! I quickly fell for every phylum (especially echinodermata) and loved memorizing every interesting tidbit of information. Once I hit University, I discovered a greater love for cellular, molecular, and microbial biology. I figure after this many years of science dedication there’s no turning back…

Do you have a favorite scientific instrument/procedure/chemical? Why? (You only have to pick one.)

My most favourite scientific procedure would have to be the Southern Blot. It is so amazing when you can team up microbiology and genetics into a huge plasmid fragment puzzle! It honestly baffles my mind how anyone came up with such complicated methods that seem so obvious and simple once you understand them. Plus figuring out DNA fragment placement from a bunch of gel electrophoresis bands is the epitome of cool.

What is the most interesting development in modern science you have come across recently? (Doesn't necessarily have to be well-known or chemistry-related.)

I’m not entirely sure about recent, but I think the most interesting molecular biology breakthrough is PCR (polymerase chain reaction). Talk about revolutionizing what is capable in the world of biology! And as a bonus it’s the same age as me! Every experiment I dabbled into has led me to thanking to wonders of PCR and even employed me in a population genetics lab! Hooray for PCR! In fact, I need to make a few anthropomorphic thermocyclers for my next button set…

Check out Kate's etsy shop scienticculture, her blog, her fan page on facebook, her flickr set and follow her on twitter.

Profile of a Mad Scientist: buffalonerdproject

The Mad Scientists of Etsy present the fourth Mad Scientist Profile. Who are these people who both love science and love to create? What does science mean to them? How do they make the things they do? Well, we're going to tell you!

As part of our continuing series, Julie D'Arcy interviewed Lisa Hufnagel, a microbiologist who spends her spare time sewing quirky, upcycled, science-related clothing and accessories. Her shop, Buffalo Nerd Project, is where her love of science meets her urge to create.

Tell me about your chosen field of science. Why that one over other branches of science?

My chosen field of science is biology. My interests within the field are vast; my original interest in biology was sparked by prions (specifically bovine spongiform encephalopathy). I have never actually worked with prions but they remain my first biological love. I earned my Master’s Degree working with bacteriophages, and I followed that with some time spent in a genetics lab doing microarrays. I finally ended up in my current lab, a microbiology lab, where I am working on a project that fascinates me. I love biology because it's very hands-on and more concrete for me than some of the other sciences.

Is there a second favorite in science, something you found really interesting but didn’t want to do it for a living?

I am in love with the idea of physics, but I notoriously suck at it. I suffered through Physics 101 and 102, failed at reading "The Elegant Universe" and probably couldn't find my way out of a frictionless hole (I mean, that would be tough, right?), but I am absolutely fascinated by everything about physics and people that understand it.

Describe your creative process. How do you come up with some of those ideas you have?

I'm one of those people that buys fabric with no preconceived notion of what it will be and then builds around what I have. I do the same thing when I cook. I don't usually know where my ideas come from, it's like one minute they're not there and whoops, there's an idea. Sometimes I think they come from my weird sense of humor.

What’s your favorite thing that you’ve ever created?

One year for Halloween I made a dinosaur suit out of a pair of coveralls and some felt. I absolutely loved how it came out, and it had the added bonus of not being the typical "scantily-clad-girl" Halloween costume (although the number of people tugging on my tail got a little annoying after awhile). The dino suit was also a semi-finalist in Etsy's Halloween costume contest one year, so that was pretty sweet.

How does your art affect your science?

I have been known to communicate with my labmates through cartoons. I once did experiments for a postdoc who was always away from his desk when I came to discuss my latest results, so I would draw some ridiculous picture, like me wearing a mouse suit or something, with text hinting at what I had achieved that day. I kind of miss communicating via cartoons.

If you could create any project you wanted, regardless of complexity, abstractness, cost of raw materials, or even total lack of usefulness, what would it be?

I think I would buy a beautiful old house in Buffalo and completely renovate it to my tastes. Either that or I would create some kind of huge Chihuly-inspired chandelier that would most certainly hang ceiling to floor in my apartment (but would look amazing in my beautiful old house once it was renovated).

Lightning Round!

Question	buffalonerdproject	jvdarcy
Google, Wikipedia, or YouTube?	Google	Totally Wikipedia
Science, or Nature?	Nature	Science
Virus or bacteria?	bacteria	Bacteria
Igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary (rock, that is)?	sedimentary/igneous tie	Metamophic
Flannel or poplin?	flannel	Flannel
Love or money?	LOVE	Love
Favorite:
Flavor?	chocolate	Maple
Color?	green, grey and blue	Teal blue
Abstract concept?	Hope, and also π (pi)	1/∞
Dimension?	Fourth (Dimensional Transition, the song by MGMT)	Second

Check out Lisa's Buffalo Nerd Project on Etsy!