Oh come all ye tinkerers, nerdy and philanthropic, come ye oh co-ome ye to American Maker. From the folks who run Make Magazine and Maker Faire, American Maker will honor someone whose tinkering has the potential for greater social good. According to event organizers, "American Maker is a live, day-long program that highlights grassroots innovation in local communities around the country." A panel of judges will select their favorite Chicago "maker," whose project can benefit......

Scientists at Fermilab's Dzero division have discovered a new subatomic particle. The Omega-sub-b is a "an exotic relative of the much more common proton." Oooooh, exotic! Omaygs, as I like to call it, is made of three quarks: two strange quarks and one bottom quark. (Quarks are classified by flavor: up, down, charm, strange, top and bottom, which can be arranged in a variety of hilarious gay porn titles.) Out of around 100 trillion "collision......

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/odd_stuff/How_Do_You_Use_a_Space_Toilet'; Is it us, or does the work week after a three-day weekend actually feel longer? Never fear, it's halfway over, but that still doesn't cure our Hump Day Blues. And we're not the only ones having a long week: three unlucky astronauts on board the International Space Station are currently without a fully-functioning toilet. We'd go into details but, um, no. There's hope that the astronauts from the shuttle Discovery can......

We've all got a bad case of the Fridays--perhaps because we're so pysched for the Media Slam this weekend. We need some awesome stuff to get us through the rest of the afternoon.... "Father | Older son | Younger son | Party People". Talk about "one man's trash...": Old Chicago Lager Beer can, crazy cute compact depicting Chicago landmarks, and while we're not totally sure what a baby calculator is, it does look interesting. Looking......

Most high schools teach bio in ninth grade, chemistry in tenth, physics in eleventh and cupcake decorating in twelfth, but several Chicago-area high schools are adopting the Physics First model, which teaches physics freshman year. The thinking behind PF is that physics is more exciting than bio and chem (so true) and that students should all be exposed to physics before they graduate. Supporters say physics is a good foundation for chemistry and biology. Physics......

Oh my god, nerdgasm. The MSI is planning a 40-foot artificial tornado that visitors can stand in. Dibs! Those bad boys don't come cheap, though. The Museum announced its plan for the 'nado as part of its $205 million fund-raising effort. So far, the MSI has raised $128 million, according to its press release. See that little kid or whoever standing in the tornado? That is me the day this opens. The funds will also......

Photo by Chloeloe A judge threw out Kevin Jones's confession in the case of Blair Holt's murder. According to the ruling, the state failed to demonstrate that Jones understood his Miranda rights. [S-T] Nelly Vasquez-Salazar has been charged with murder for allegedly stabbing her 6-year-old daughter Evelyn to death because she believed the child was possessed by a demon. [Daily Herald] The U of I is getting a $208 million supercomputer. In related news,......

Our lame science fair projects always consisted of withered lima bean plants gasping for water, so that’s probably why we were never chosen to exhibit at the city's Chicago Public Schools Student Science Fair, currently running now through Sunday at the Museum of Science and Industry. Elementary and High School students will be competing in sixteen specialized categories such as Botany, Chemistry, Electronics, Environmental Science, Mathematics, and Physics. Entries – which can be a project,......

This Thursday, The Glass Experience opens at the Museum of Science and Industry. We are super excited to see work by artisans like Dale Chihuly and Tiffany, among others, and maybe Benjy can go pant at the pieces by Frank Lloyd Wright. Glass pieces from renowned schools and studios from around the world will also be on display. Admittedly, all we really know about glass is that they use special glass for stunts in movies,......

There's something kind of great about the way this row in our Flickr pool lined up. Photos from Katherine of Chicago, Katherine of Chicago, Chilene, Timo3K, JoeM500, and fjsjr. Local outfit Coudal has unveiled a betting pool for the 2008 Tournament of Books. Place your bets with Coudal, and all the money goes to First Book, an organization that gives new books to kids. Other companies are offering matching contributions, so bust out your......

We're celebrating by making you a list of things that are awesome. What's the difference between MySpace blue, Facebook blue and Twitter blue? Better consult the Web 2.0 Colours of 2007. Can this really be the first half-goat, half-sheep? The SciTech Hands-On Museum in Aurora has a new director, 1999 genius grant winner Shawn Carlson. Carlson created the Labrats program to encourage and nurture kids' interest in science. Mr. Landocalrissian Butler led police in a......

We loved the Museum of Science and Industry even prior to having our kid (the submarine! the Omnimax! Clarence Darrow’s ghost!), but MSI’s "Idea Factory" is, arguably, the best kid-centered exhibit in Chicago. Since the museum has closed this exhibit for repairs until the end of March, we wondered how toddler-friendly the rest of the museum would be. In short, not much. Let’s start with what we loved. Bring four quarters to purchase a “Net......

Here are some things to do this evening to consider bringing your voter receipt. Politics: The local chapter of Drinking Liberally is hosting a Super Fat Tuesday party at Sheffield's this evening starting at 7 p.m. Stop in, order a pint or two and watch the results roll in from throughout the country. Seriously, it's politics and alcohol. What could go wrong? Art: Chuck Walker's latest exhibit "Through a Glass Darkly" just opened a run......

Behold "The Popsicle." The massive ice sculpture that's being billed as "Paintings Below Zero," which is part of the "Museum of Modern Ice", was officially unveiled in Millenium Park Friday. Canadian artist Gordon Halloran, who started as an abstract painter, created the work out of large pieces of colorful ice, and according to the Sun-Times, "he and a team of six have been working 12 to 14 hours a day since mid-December to ensure the......

The Museum of Science and Industry is raising its prices. Adult Chicago residents will now pay $12 (up from $10), adult non-Chicagoans $13 (from $11), Chicago children $8.50 ($6.25), non-Chicago children $9 ($7), Chicago seniors $11 ($8.75), and non-Chicago seniors $12 ($9.50). But fear not, oh ye of little funds. The MSI is free the rest of January, as well as February 29 (Hotcha! Leap year! Ahem, celebratory performance of the Pirates of Penzance...); June......

Mattell will make a collectible Barbie based on locally-based sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha (Barbie Dream Gamekeepers not included). For the curious: the man whom the Bishop Ford Freeway is named after. Mayor Daley open to the idea of closing half-empty schools. Gary, Indiana's "punk fucking rock" potato chip factory. 'Tis the season for catching Norovirus. Owls are nesting in a South side park. The Marx Brothers classic Duck Soup is screening at the Siskel......

The Museum of Science and Industry announced today that a fully-functional, three-story "green" home will be built just east of the museum on its Jackson Park grounds in Hyde Park this spring. The foundation is currently being laid, and it will be open to the public from May 8, 2008 through January 4, 2009. The 2,500-square-foot home will exhibit some of the latest environmentally-friendly technologies and offer a primer on incorporating these innovations into......

Georgette Watson, the 46-year-old principal of Brentano Math and Science Academy in Logan Square, died yesterday while she was having a root canal. According to reports, she was anesthetized, but it's not clear yet if she was under general or local anesthesia. She stopped breathing 40 minutes into the procedure, and despite efforts to revive her, she died. Her autopsy is scheduled for today, but she appears to have had a heart attack. Watson, who......

You know we love animal stories. But we're a tiny bit freaked out by glow-in-the-dark cats? Mah genetic manipulation! Let me show it to you! [video] Scientists in South Korea say they've cloned Turkish Angora cats and added a gene that makes their skin glow red when under a UV light. According to the AP report, this means "other genes can also be inserted in the course of cloning." Freaky deaky or hoax? Well, there......

UIC's Dr. David Featherstone and his colleagues have isolated a gene in fruit flies that, when mutated, makes them bisexual. And not because they want to be on TV. Because their synapses work differently! Featherstone et al published their findings in an article ("A glial amino-acid transporter controls synapse strength and homosexual courtship in Drosophila") in this month's Nature Neuroscience journal, which doesn't give its articles away for free online sadly. But apparently the researchers......

There are good ideas and there are great ideas. Doctors at Loyola University Medical Center have devised a way to make sure surgical sponges don’t get lost in people anymore. Hooray for medical technology! They’re going to put bar codes on the sponges, and a nurse will scan the sponge before it goes in and the system will tell the nurse if any sponges have been left inside. That all seems a little too complicated.......

One of the races that we've been watching this winter is the Democratic Primary in the 3rd Congressional District. Incumbent Dan Lipinski is hoping voters will send him back to D.C. for a third term, but he's facing a tough challenge from Mark Pera, an assistant county prosecutor from Western Springs. That challenge may have gotten a little tougher yesterday when Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool endorsed Pera. If you don't remember the 2004 general......

To the shock of no one, being an astronaut is amazing. So says Lombard native Daniel Tani, who's currently on his second mission in space. Tani's living in the international space station, building and repairing ... stuff, and taking spacewalks that make him think about how fragile the earth is. You can watch some video updates here. We recommend the Thanksgiving one — wait until they go through all the different astronaut food they eat.......

We usually wait until later in the day to post things that are awesome, but the Sun-Times says today's weather is "lifeless." Maybe everybody just needs an injection of stuff that doesn't suck. We're gaga for dinosaurs, so news of this mumified dinosaur made our nerd senses tingle. Even better? Phil Manning, a paleontologist at England's University of Manchester who is leading the examination, told Wired, "When I first saw it in the field, (I......

Wonder where "celebrities" shop in Chicago? Expensive places. Ask Ellie gives some tough-love advice on how to get over a work crush. "This is getting beyond a crush to an unhealthy obsession." Burn, lady! How about something a little nicer? Sheesh. If you've been working on writing an episode of CSI or Bones (which...is secretly great), have we got a mystery-solving method for you: A Canadian scientist uses isotope analysis on teeth and bones......

Two weeks ago, in what was considered a rare act of humility, Japanese Emperor Akihito apologized to his countrymen, taking responsibility for a bluegill infestation that's wreaked havoc on Japan's ecosystem by bringing home a pair of the fish from a trip to the States nearly fifty years ago. "Bluegills are the ones I brought back from the U.S. some 50 years ago and donated to a Fisheries Agency research institute", Akihito said. "In those......

To the five people checking the site today, specifically my father: Please enjoy the above video of John Denver and the Muppets singing "Where The River Meets the Sea" from Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Can you watch this without choking up? We cannot. Anyway! It's been so stupid-cold the last few days we've barely left our warmth cocoon on the couch (tip: the fuzzy robe makes a huge difference), but if you haven't......

We were visiting our mechanic at Gateway Auto this morning -- dropping off our own slightly ill vehicle -- and noticed a bright yellow 1967 Ford pickup truck in their lot. We commented upon how cool it looked, and the owner told us it was in to be converted to run on vegetable oil. Yup, vegetable oil. Basically, once they are done adding a new fuel tank and filter system, the owner of the truck......

Here at the Chicagoist offices, several reality shows are popular among the staff, but our devotion for the majority of programs pales in comparison to our love for the crème de la crème, Project Runway. Bravo's hit show returned last night for its fourth season of designing, measuring, catwalking strutting and drama, with two Chicagoans vying for the chance to take it home at New York City Fashion Week. The first episode was the usual......

Many Wicker Park commuters are feeling a little less caffeinated these days since Half & Half (under the Damen Blue Line stop) closed up shop. Owner Debbie Sharpe told Metromix that the quality of the building is to blame. The good news is Sharpe also owns the Goddess and Grocer down the street, and Half & Half's delicious commuter sandwiches and pastries will be available for purchase there. LTH commentors prophecy its space may become......