Science Fun (part 1)

It's not every day that the human gets a day off from work, and definitely not every day that the science lab is set up for business.  And, if you haven't met me yet (don't worry, the human has been really really slow about introducing me to the world), I'm Vega.  Jaime Luciana Vega.

And we (meaning Shep, myself, and the human), have been planning space adventures.  Hence Shep's new stash of space toys, and my stash of activity books.  Now for the human to get logistics under control.  Maybe start the Space Tourism Bureau?

I'm not the only new inhabitant of (well, I want to call it the SR2 Normandy.  Raise your hand if you get the reference), but I'll go with 'The Presidium' because it sounds better than 'The Madhouse with a giant cat'.  Meet Liz, the lizard, current perching on Nora.  Next thing you know, there'll be an octopus in the neighborhood.

My new activity books are mostly made from official NASA printables, shrunk down to 1/3 scale.  All except the 'My First Outer Space' coloring book.  That one was made from Dover free samples.  We've got a nifty little 'Space Tech' activity pad, and a little 'What we need to colonize Mars' activity book.  And then we've got some color books on the latest and greatest NASA gear:  the Space Launch System and ORION.

Doll Sized:

Outer Space coloring book

NASA activity books and Assembly instructions

Orion and Space Launch System coloring books

Human Sized:

NASA Space Tech Fun Pad

NASA Surviving and Thriving on Mars

and other coloring books from NASA

Lily at iGEM

Lily here.  I didn't go to Vermont last fall, but I got to have my own science adventure with the human.  You see, the human was a judge at the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition, better known as iGEM, and I came along as her mascot.  I did not have a biology themed dress, but no one minded.  Except the human.

Ready for judging, with all the resources and references

So what happens at iGEM?  Well, first off, schools (high schools, colleges, and universities from around the world) form teams of students.  Then each team gets a box of various bits of DNA and are told to make a critter (usually a bacteria or yeast, but sometimes algae) do something cool.  And if they don't have the right DNA in the kit for what they want to do, well, they can give a company like IDT (Integrated DNA Technologies) the sequence of DNA they want, and IDT gives them back the physical bit of DNA.

Someone had made bacteria eat crude oil.  They won best high school poster.

They have one summer to do this.  Then, in the fall, usually in late October/early November, all those teams meet up in Boston and have a Giant Jamboree.  Over 300 teams, thousands of students.
It was great fun.  Also pandemonium.  But great fun.

DIY microfluidics for bio experiments

So what counts as 'something cool'?  Well, anything really.  Biofilms that suck up nanoparticles.  Eating crude oil.  Checking antibiotic resistance.  Curing cancer.  Advancing the basic science behind genetic engineering.  It's really the best.  I can't wait to go back again this year.

Playing with a 3D printed hand held centrifuge

For Science!

Kana here.

The good news:  the human has a real job and a real paycheck, so we get more toys.  YAY!
The bad news: the human has much less time to actually spend with us...  BOO.

And that is why it's been so quiet over here for the last month or so.  That said, the human is still making things for us.  It just takes longer.

What happened this time was that the human discovered a source of science themed novelty prints  And then inflicted them on us.  (OK, so at least half of that was Lily begging for a Ms. Frizzle cosplay, but that shouldn't involve the rest of us.)  There will be a proper photoshoot as we set up a massive doll-scale science fair in the coming weeks, but for now, the quick and dirty photoshoot in the parlor will do.

Most of us are wearing periodic table applique t-shirts with somewhat coordinating skirts or shorts.  Cauthrien's shorts have contrast cuffs, which are super cute.  I got the nice black-and-white dress, which despite having rather large-and-out-of-scale print, looks pretty darn good on me.  Also, Shep and I match.  Kind of.

Take chances!  Make mistakes!  Get messy!

And of course Lily got what she wanted.  Except the actual frizzy hair.

Because we're feeling super generous (and because misery loves company), we're providing the pattern for what I'm generously calling 'The Frizzle Dress'.

The Frizzle Dress

The pattern has the bodice, collar, and placket pieces.  The waistband is 1.25" wide by however long the waist is (about 12.5", but cut 13" to be sure and trim it back.)  The skirt is a straight skirt 7" long by the width of the fabric.  The human used the sleeve piece from Molly's blouse pattern (here) for Lily's dress and the sleeve from a free BunnyBear pattern (here) for mine.  The cuff is from Samantha's patterns.

I think we're all assuming that if you're using the human's patterns, you kinda-sorta know how to sew already.  The hardest part with this dress is the placket.  Just make a faux one if you want.  Just follow any of the Kirsten or Samantha dress patterns for how this should go together.

See you at the science fair!

The Astronomy Display (Free Science Printables)

Astronomy models for the lab

With the introduction of the astronomy science project display from AG, we (Kana, Shep, and I all agree on this) have decided to make our own science project.  It's not quite up to the human's standards of science projects yet, but she has her own problems at the moment and can't make us that working computer setup yet.

In this case, we're expanding on the astronomy theme from AG with a model of the structure of the sun, a lunar globe, and a star chart.  These were originally from Canon Creative paper projects (here), but the human resized them.  I'd recommend a heavy paper (matte photo paper, maybe cardstock) for this.  The human used plain copy paper, but it's on the flimsy side.

Construction tips:
You will want a pair of very small, very sharp scissors.  And about 2-3 hours of free time to make each globe.
Use a toothpick to apply the glue to all the little tabs.  There are a lot of little tabs, especially on the globes.

Model of the sun and a mini science book

The model shows the cut-away of the interior of the sun, and all its layers.  It's the hardest and most complicated of the three to make, mostly with all the little slices of the interior layers.  The little science book has 16 pages of text and glossy pictures.  (Some of the text ended up being white-on-white.  Oops.)
Model of the Sun
Science Book
Instructions

Lunar globe with facts inside

The lunar globe shows all the named features of the moon, and opens up to reveal little cards with extra information about the moon.  This is going to be simple compared to the solar model.
Lunar Globe
Instructions

A star chart for the Northern Hemisphere

The star chart is the easiest of the three projects.  It really spins around, and you can see what constellations are in the sky at any time of the year.  It's set for a latitude of 35 degrees N, so constellations are going to be different if you're at a different latitude.
Star Chart
Star Chart Instructions