The Guild of Scientific Troubadours

The Guild of Scientific Troubadours

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Scientific illustration of Abraham Lincoln's face compared to a sampling of "Old American" family members.

Science Art: Lincoln’s Measurements, compared with “Old Americans,” 1953 (detail).

24 March 2025 grant 0

This is part of a graphic from a 1953 issue of Natural History, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History’s magazine. The article it’s illustrating is about taking a life mask… Read the rest “Science Art: Lincoln’s Measurements, compared with “Old Americans,” 1953 (detail).”

Scientific illustration of a tangled ball of pink worms (called blackworms) against a black background.

Science Art: Ball-shaped blob of California black worms, 2023.

11 August 2024 grant 0

This is a biological photo that is also a mathematical photo. It’s a ball of worms that Georgia Tech researchers were studying, because, as it says on the National Science Foundation… Read the rest “Science Art: Ball-shaped blob of California black worms, 2023.”

Living skin helps robot smile in a way that is not at all creepy.

30 June 2024 grant 0

Glistening and pink like extruded edible protein, sure… but at least it’s friendly! NPR uncovers the living skin used to cover robots with a (supposedly) more approachable… Read the rest “Living skin helps robot smile in a way that is not at all creepy.”

Locusts raised in a centrifuge have stronger skeletons.

20 January 2024 grant 0

Science Magazine gets heavy with insects that, when brought up in the “hypergravity” of a spinning centrifuge, grow stronger exoskeletons as a result:

When a person exercises

… Read the rest “Locusts raised in a centrifuge have stronger skeletons.”

SETI talked for 20 minutes with a whale.

28 December 2023 grant 0

Mashable has an alien communication story with an aquatic twist. SETI and the Alaska Whale Foundation practiced for first contact by spending 20 minutes “conversing” with… Read the rest “SETI talked for 20 minutes with a whale.”

Micro-napping champions: chinstrap penguins

1 December 2023 grant 0

Yes, you read that correctly. Science News reports on an unusual distinction in the natural world. Chinstrap penguins manage to net a total of 11 hours of restful sleep every day, thanks … Read the rest “Micro-napping champions: chinstrap penguins”

Scientific illustration of a camouflaged wood duck by AH Thayer.

Science Art: Male Wood Duck, by Abbott H. Thayer, 1904.

9 April 2023 grant 0

This is half of one color plate from a book intended to show how “showy” coloration can actually make some creatures harder to spot in their natural habitats.

This is a male wood… Read the rest “Science Art: Male Wood Duck, by Abbott H. Thayer, 1904.”

SONG: Whispering Secrets to Me

24 January 2023 grant 0

SONG: “Whispering Secrets to Me”.

ARTIST: grant.

SOURCE: Defector 15 Nov 2022, “Turtles Have Been Vocalizing All This Time. Why Did We Not Listen?,” as used … Read the rest “SONG: Whispering Secrets to Me”

Studying lizard lungs to build replacement human lungs.

29 December 2021 grant 0

Princeton researchers are looking at the fast-growing lungs of ordinary, common lizards called brown anoles to find way to quickly create replacement lungs for humans in need of transplants… Read the rest “Studying lizard lungs to build replacement human lungs.”

Grape seed extract extends mice lifespans (and health) by 9 percent.

6 December 2021 grant 0

New Scientist reports on a Nature Metabolism study that found a chemical found in grape seeds helped bodies weed out weaker “senescent” cells, leading to better overall health… Read the rest “Grape seed extract extends mice lifespans (and health) by 9 percent.”

Scientific illustration of triops, a trilobite-like crustacean with three eyes.

Science Art: Triops longicaudatus, by Steve Jurvetson, 2005

19 September 2021 grant 0

This is a triops, a three-eyed critter something like a trilobite (though it’s not actually one of those at all). From the Wikimedia Commons description:

This relic from the Devonian

… Read the rest “Science Art: Triops longicaudatus, by Steve Jurvetson, 2005”

Viable sperm sent on a postcard

6 August 2021 grant 0

New Scientist opens a new, fertile field of biological research with the discovery at Japan’s University of Yamanashi that it’s possible to freeze-dry viable sperm and stick… Read the rest “Viable sperm sent on a postcard”

Sending baby squid to the space station.

3 June 2021 grant 0

BBC reports on a NASA project that’s transporting cute little cephalopods into orbit, launching 128 baby bobtail squid and 5,000 tardigrades to the International Space Station… Read the rest “Sending baby squid to the space station.”

Really old poop yields really new microbes – and new medical treatments.

14 May 2021 grant 0

Omaha digs deep for a story on how millennia-old feces has reintroduced us to some long-lost germs in the human gut biome – that might be able to help heal modern humans:

Previous research

… Read the rest “Really old poop yields really new microbes – and new medical treatments.”
A scientific illustration of sperm entering egg using acrosome to get through the jelly coat and past the plasma membrane

Science Art: Acrosome Reaction Diagram

9 May 2021 grant 0

Happy Mother’s Day!

Wikimedia Commons user LadyofHats made this image of motherhood. And fatherhood, I suppose. Technically, this fertilization is happening in a sea urchin, … Read the rest “Science Art: Acrosome Reaction Diagram”

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Honorary Troubadours
  • Jonathan Coulton, Contributing Troubadour for Popular Science.
  • Laura Veirs, who knows her way around a polysyllable.
  • Thomas Dolby, godfather of scientific pop.
  • Squeaky, fact-based rock about fusion containment & rocket science.
  • Cosmos II, a.k.a. Boston University astronomer Alan Marscher.
  • Dr. Fiorella Terenzi, astrophysicist who makes music from cosmic radio sources.
  • Dr. Jim Webb, astronomy professor and acoustic guitarist.
  • Artichoke, the band behind 26 Scientists, Vols. I and II.
  • They Might Be Giants, unrelenting proponents of scientific popular song.
  • Symphonies of Science, the people who make Carl Sagan and others sing.
  • Giant Squid, doom metal about the sublime horrors of marine biology.
  • Gethan Dick,6 scientists, 6 musicians, 1 great album
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