The Society for Physical and Natural Sciences!

The meeting on November 17th embraced the Apples to Apples word list yet again, this time in the form of charades.  This word list was without a doubt one of the best ideas we ever had.  That’s pretty much all we did that meeting, because it was way too much fun to do anything else.  We briefly discussed the recent field trip and possibilities for future field trips.  There may be some sort of science-y party at the end of the semester to use up some of our left-over funds, but we don’t know yet.  If you have ideas, sharing them with any member of the board would be awesome.

No meeting next week, as it is so close to Thanksgiving break, but when we get back, we will be building stuff, Science Olympiad style.  What kind of stuff, I honestly don’t know.  Scientific stuff, I would imagine.

The meeting of November the 10th took scientific drawing to new heights.  We began the meeting with a brief discussion of science classes, this being pre-registration season.  Camille then led us in a debate about the value of using animals in both real-world research and teaching labs.  We also discusssed the logistics of our upcoming field trip to the Franklin Institute.  All details will be emailed once they are finalized.  If you have not informed a board member that you would like to attend, please do so, um, now, really.  We need to figure out costs.  (Please note that everyone is expected to pay her own train fare.)  If you have questions about the trip, you should direct them to Claire W (cweichselb) or Camille (jpetre) as neither Yang nor I are able to go (so we’re not really in the loop on this one).  (Yes, we suck, sorry, but we’re seniors, and we’re trying graduate and get into grad school/med school.  Blame the real world.)

Following these activities, epicness happened in the form of Science Pictionary using some of our Science Apples to Apples words.  How does one draw the word “castration” without being obscene?  Answer: unknown, as of yet.  Nanoparticles are also rather difficult to draw, considering their size relative to the size of a Crayola marker tip (even a fine-line).

As always, please contribute to the Science Apples to Apples wiki.  I think we’re pretty much set for words.  But we need a lot more definitions.  You can either copy and paste stuff from Wikipedia (citing it, of course) if you just want to do a bunch quickly, or you can write your own amusing definitions if you want to be a show-off.  When it comes to a game like Apples to Apples, the opportunities for puns and word-play are fruitful (and don’t even ask me if that was intended, of course it was).

…because apparently I’ve gotten into an every-other-week habit.  I’ll try to break that next week.  The meeting for October 27, 2009 was, however, a rather poorly attended meeting anyway (it was pouring in a sort of end-of-the-world fashion, which may explain that), so not much happened.  The meeting on November 3, 2009, however, was far more exciting.

To start, we discussed field trips.  The general consensus was that this coming weekend’s trip to the zoo wasn’t really such a great idea.  Not a lot of people are available, it’s cold, and transportation is iffy.  So we’ve canceled that trip and hope to go sometime in the spring.  Maybe with some more time to plan ahead, we can arrange for a van.  Maybe not, I make no promises.  Such promises are not something I can make as a modest scribe.  What this means is that we’ll have more money this semester to spend on our trip to the Franklin Institute.  Which means we can pay to see Body Worlds.  Which is awesome.  This trip is currently scheduled for Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Following this discussion, Claire W led us in an experiment to calculate the speed of light using marshmallows and a microwave.  I was deemed “unusual” for my lack of culinary appreciation for marshmallows, a judgment which has been made many times before by others and is likely apt.  You can read about how the experiment works here.  Yang (our president) also demonstrated how microwaves tend to spark if turned on with nothing in them.

In the future, we’d like to do more activities like this.  If you have any ideas, please let one of the members of the board know.  (Commenting on this blog works just fine, as do email and shouting at us from across Merion green.)  It doesn’t have to be an experiment.  It can be a science-y game or something you think the club members would like to watch (like an episode of Mythbusters, which will totally happen as long as I’m still in the club).

Speaking of games, please procrastinate by writing a few definitions for Science Apples to Apples.  The sooner we get them written, the sooner we can play.  Obviously.

Since the meeting before Fall Break was short and I was busy, I figured I’d just do that and last week’s meetings together.  So no graphs this week, because I don’t feel like making two.

The results of the field trip surveys are all in, and we have finally nailed down our trips for this semester:

Sunday, Nov 8th - Philadelphia Zoo
Sunday, Nov 15th - Franklin Institute

We have begun brainstorming for the science version of Apples to Apples, a process which almost made my writing hand fall off, which would’ve sucked as I’m intending to enter the medical profession.  So don’t let my sacrifice be in vain. Head over to the wiki and write descriptions for a few words, or add words you think have been unfairly left out.

And speaking of the wiki, remember that you can always add fascinating science news to the discussion pages.  I know I get really excited when people tell me about cool science stuff I didn’t know about previously.  This is a club where people will actually listen when you start talking about gene splicing or carbon dating in great detail.  They may even ask you questions about it that you can then answer and feel smart.  If you’re lucky, they may start telling you about the new species of ant that was just discovered and what makes it different from the many other species of ants.  That doesn’t always happen out there in the real world, so make the most of it while you can.

Empirical Data (The Minutes):

Observations:

The members began by introducing themselves and saying what test was currently stressing them out the most. Chemistry and developmental biology seemed to be the winners. The topic then moved to the results of the fieldtrip poll. The Franklin Institute won by a large majority. Expect an email soon with a new poll to decide the dates of our two fieldtrips. (The zoo will probably be the first trip, as no one really wants to walk around outside in December.)

We spent some time discussing the budget again, though the majority of the conversation was held after the meeting by the members of the executive board. We determined that the pizza party on Thursday night and the two trips will just be covered by our budget. We’d like to encourage interested members to buy DNA bracelets as part of our fundraiser. Ask Camille at the next meeting if you’d like one (and we’ll try to remember to bring it up).

The Ig Nobel Prize Pizza Party is confirmed for tomorrow night, October 1^st at 7:15. Please see the previous post for details.

We then talked about some of the science news that had been posted on the wiki. If you’ve joined the wiki, yay we’re excited! Now if you start posting cool science stuff to discuss, we’ll be even more excited. We may even hug you or invite you to join us in dancing a celebratory hornpipe.

The meeting concluded with the now traditional playing of SET.

Conclusions:

Please come to the party tomorrow night. Think about when you’re available for fieldtrips. Join the wiki and post sciencey awesomeness!

The meeting of SPNS held on September 22, 2009 ended with me (Claire C) becoming secretary, so I’ll be updating the blog each week with a summary of the recent meeting. If in reading this, you suddenly think, “Oh, I meant to say/ask something important/brilliant/funny during that conversation!” then feel free to leave a comment. I’ll make a point of bringing it up at the next meeting, or making it known to those in charge.

I’ll also try to make this appealing to science people.

Empirical Data (The Minutes):

The Minutes of 9-22-09

Observations:

During the meeting, the members were seen to converse on a number of topics, spending the most time on the budget. We determined that we have enough money for two fieldtrips this semester, one of which will definitely be to the zoo. A poll was emailed to all members to vote on the second trip: the Mutter Museum, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, or the Franklin Institute. We may have to ask participants to pay their own travel costs. Though we did not get a table at Plenary, Camille will still be excepting orders for DNA bracelets as a fundraiser.

We decided to have a viewing party for the Ig Nobel Prizes webcast on October 1 at 7:15 (location TBA). Plans for sustenance are being discussed, most likely of a pizza nature.

After getting the administrative stuff out of the way, we discussed science, our true purpose as a club. (And is there a nobler purpose known to man?) Much of what we discussed is posted over at the wiki. Speaking of the wiki, join the wiki! Claire W explains how to join on the main page. Really, I joined the wiki, and I feel like a mentally healthier person because of it. I just read the levitating mice article and the mental images I have right now are providing me with significant amusement.

Claire W proposed that we create a science version of the game Apples to Apples. Reception was enthusiastic.

We finished off the meeting by playing SET (which can be played online solitaire-style here, and multi-player here–thanks, Other Claire!). This prompted complaints about the lighting in Denbigh’s TV room. We’re currently considering moving to another room with better lighting, so there may be an email with a different location listed for the next meeting.

Conclusions:

Join the wiki! Vote for your fieldtrip preference. Join us on October 1 to watch the Ig Nobel Prizes and enjoy amusing, thought-provoking research (and food).

The Society for Physical and Natural Sciences is a club for Bryn Mawr and Haverford students who like science — whether science majors, potential science majors, those who like science but have no desire to major, or those who might like science in an alternate universe. ;)

We meet on Tuesday evenings at 9:30 p.m. in the Denbigh TV room, where we discuss life as a science student, articles on topics of interest to our members, and crack cheesy science jokes.

There is also some probability that there will be food. :)

If you have questions about the club, our lovely president, Yang Gao (ygao@bmc), is the person to ask!

If you have questions about the blog (e.g., “why does this blog suck?”), your friendly local webmaster, Catherine Miller (cbmiller@bmc), would be delighted to answer them.

In the future, we’ll use this blog to post articles for discussion, information about club activities, and amusing science links around the web.