It’s still Earth Science Week, folks!

In my attempts to raise $money$ for science classrooms, I completely neglected to inform you that the public radio show Science Friday may go off the air for lack of funding.

We at SciFri are facing severe financial difficulties, i.e. raising money. NSF [National Science Foundation] has turned us down for continuing funding, saying they love what we do, we are sorely needed, but it’s not their job to fund us. At the same time, NPR has said the same thing, telling us that if we want to stay on the air, etc, we now have to raise all our own money. Despite what listeners may think, NPR only gives us about 10 percent of our funding.

If it isn’t the National Science Foundation’s job to fund a radio show that promotes science, then what is? The scientists of tomorrow will simply spring forth from the ether and flat earth with no nurturing along the way. Between this and hearing that the local, nationally-acclaimed high school now allegedly employs a biology teacher who believes in intelligent design, I can only hope that the FSM‘s noodly appendage strikes me unconscious.

Only you can prevent mass brain implosion. You know what to do here and here. Following is some food for along the way:

* Why Science Matters: A Scientist’s Apology. I agreed with some parts of this article and disagreed with others. What’s fascinating to me as a technologist is the language and discussion surrounding science as pure discovery versus invention/engineering and the ethical consequences of this distinction.

* Carbon sequestration could help to neutralize Hungary’s red bauxite sludge. Is there anything industrial waste cannot do?

* Xavier University of New Orleans celebrates the opening of the College of Pharmacy“s new Qatar Pavilion. “This provides a good antidote to a couple of pernicious myths. The first myth is that the USA doesn’t receive foreign aid. Yes, we do. I recall after Katrina even poor nations like Jamaica and Bangladesh were helping us out. The second myth is, of course, the idea that Islam is at war with Christianity. I’d just like to point out that Qatar is a Muslim country and our school is Catholic. ‘Nuff said.”

The Art Institute of Chicago | October 2010

Someone took a picture of me taking a picture of this painting. And we laughed and laughed.

Last night, someone tweeted, “Thanks to the two The View hosts walking off the set because of Bill O’Reilly’s comment, the Democrats just took two steps backward.” I winced at the stupidity buttered with more stupidity. Later, I snickered on hearing accounts of Sharron Angle’s and Christine O’Donnell’s comments at their respective debates. And then I stopped myself. We would rather watch our opponents, however legitimately ludicrous they are, take steps backward than move ourselves forward? Is this what being American and winning have come to?

It’s Earth Science Week!

Today in 2010, we have the ongoing oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, controversy over hydro-fracturing to extract hydrocarbons, coalmine explosions, poor economies and infrastructure placing our nuclear future at risk, water resources drying up and countless other resource issues that relate immediately to understanding the earth and our interaction with it. It’s quite apropos then that this year’s Earth Science Week theme is Exploring Energy. There are Events In Your Area and resources at the US Geological Survey’s website to help edumacate yourself on this elephant in the room topic. I don’t know if I’d get in a car with Bud Tuminous (Har Har) The Mascot â„¢, though. Apparently the USGS hasn’t heard of the dangers of PedoBear.

Blunt, I mean Bud

Earth Science Week is especially a great opportunity for teachers and parents to talk to young minds about where the gasoline in the car or schoolbus and gas, electric current and drinking water at home come from. To be fair to the kids, most adults think God puts gasoline in the station’s pump and that slabs of meat miraculously appear at the grocery store. The point here is that it’s going to be the next generation who will find the sustainable, renewable and affordable energy sources of the future. Even if you want them to Drill Baby Drill, think about it: there are lots fewer critical-thinking, inter-disciplinary and creative engineers and scientists coming out of our school system that are qualified to work in increasingly challenging oil and gas environments.

You can help. And write it off on your taxes, even. Please support my efforts and those of other awesome earth science blogs in the Science Bloggers for Students challenge. Whatever you give, HP will match up to $50,000. Check out the leaderboard, guys! Highly Allochthonous and Gam just shot past me. Help!