All day long I’ve been reading about my online friends gearing up for a snow day – or more than one – as a result of the storm that’s expected to slam the East Coast. Supplies at retailers have been wiped out in anticipation of days on end of being housebound. And parents (especially those […]
Continue ReadingThese days, much of my geekery trends towards gastronomy. I’m a kitchen witch, a recipe tweaker, a whip-it-together-in-thirty-minutes-and-it’s-divine gourmet, but such was not always the case. Just ten years ago, before I met my husband, I had a fear of cooking, and a distinct lack of kitchen confidence. My meals of choice were often bought-in […]
Continue ReadingWhen I was little, I categorically refused to eat Hoppin’ John. At some point I got into my head (I think my dad helped), that Hoppin’ John was not in fact black-eyed peas, but some dude named John’s actual eyes. As a replacement to the annual tradition of eating black-eyed peas my mom cleverly replaced […]
Continue Reading“Mathematics is the gate and key of the sciences. …Neglect of mathematics works injury to all knowledge, since he who is ignorant of it cannot know the other sciences or the things of this world.” –Roger Bacon Math is one of those quintessentially geeky things that are often taught so badly that even some of […]
Continue ReadingIt’s that time of year again, when old calendars hit the recycling bin and humans hit the gym. Yes, brace yourself for the annual flood of blog posts demonizing food and canonizing exercise. Or, as I prefer to call it, the season of shrinky self-destruction. But this New Years Resolution post is not like the […]
Continue ReadingLooking for something larger than life that will thrill the entire family this holiday? A tool that is a gateway for magnifying thought, an inspirational device used by poet laureates and Ivy League professors, preschoolers and Ph.D.s, not to mention geek Grinches and Whos? It fits in the palm of your hand, but has infinite […]
Continue ReadingGeekMom Editor Kathy Ceceri recently shared some of her “home laboratory” adventures with a visiting reporter from the New York Times. The article, Home Labs on the Rise for the Fun of Science, goes on to discuss USB microscopes, DNA extraction kits and infrared thermometers in greater detail, saying that they are just some of […]
Continue ReadingQ: What do you get when you combine one crazy scientist lady, a group of hungry museum professionals, and a few strips of stainless steel? A: Science Lab Cookie Cutters Ok, so it’s a terrible riddle, but a freaking awesome set of cookie cutters. The idea was born in the mind of Sherry Marshall. She […]
Continue ReadingOur family celebrates the holidays with science! For each night of Hanukkah, we do a different experiment. This year, we used two fabulous books for inspiration: The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists and The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science: 50 Experiments for Daring Young Scientists. The experiments we picked […]
Continue ReadingThis season’s hottest gifts run the gamut of motion sensitive gaming systems to harmonizing toothy creatures with inexplicable appeal. But now that Black Friday is done, Cyber-Monday wrapped, and the prices back up to what we normally pay, there is still a chance to save some money and get some great gifts for those left on […]
Continue ReadingLiving in California for eight years helped me hone my cooking chops. We knew many couples that loved to cook and were often invited over for a potluck or a meal with items cooked from their garden. These meals often introduced my limited palate to delicious items I was unfamiliar with. Having been a picky […]
Continue ReadingWhat you’ll need Bones–drumsticks and wishbones are perfect A bowl or jar that has a lid and is large enough to hold the bones Enough vinegar to cover the bones What to do Make sure the bones are clean. No meat. Leave them out for a day or so to dry out. Put the bones […]
Continue ReadingFact: Left-handed people actually have shorter lifespans and are more likely to die from accidents than right-handed people. (EEK!) Fact: As many United States presidents since World War II have been left-handed as have been right-handed. (YAY!) Fact: You CAN teach your opposite-handed child how to tie her shoes, draw, crochet, peel carrots, or any […]
Continue ReadingWe are a family of recyclers. We recycle everything we can — from your typical plastic, newspaper, glass, magazines, and cardboard to used clothing and toys. If someone can reuse it in some way, then it gets donated rather than trashed. When our local recycler quit taking cereal and paperboard boxes they went to our […]
Continue ReadingIt’s November. The time for ice cream is past–or has it? In my opinion, the best ice cream flavors are hitting the market as I type: Edy’s seasonal flavors like Pumpkin, Egg Nog and Peppermint; Ben and Jerry’s Pumpkin Cheescake and Snickerdoodle Cookie; all the seasonal flavors at Baskin-Robbins or TCBY (one near me has […]
Continue ReadingIf you’ve already followed Jennifer’s advice about dealing with your Halloween haul and you still have candy leftover, perhaps it’s time to donate that candy to science. Candy Experiments is a fabulous website full of fun, easy science experiments you can do with all sorts of leftover Halloween candy. Did you know that you can […]
Continue ReadingGeekMom is thrilled to bring our readers another column by Kari Byron, the female face on the hit Discovery Channel show MythBusters and host of the Science Channel’s new Head Rush. Kari sends us regular updates on life as a MythBuster Mom. Science is hot right now. Everywhere I travel parents are in a panic […]
Continue ReadingThe next time you want to brag about your geek kid to a friend or neighbor, try this one, “Oh yeah? Well, my kid’s name will be on Mars next year!” And you won’t be stretching the truth. While digging around on the NASA website for materials for my son’s classroom, we stumbled upon this […]
Continue ReadingOne of the things I geek out about is creative cooking, and one of my favorite things to make in the Fall is pumpkin pancakes. Sometimes I add semisweet chocolate chips and sometimes pecans. Every once in awhile I go crazy and make them from scratch. I am always looking for new pancake recipes and even dabbled […]
Continue ReadingWhile at Maker Faire New York, I happened upon this mathematically magical way to cut a bagel, as shown by George Hart of the Museum of Mathematics. It was a little hard to follow even seeing it in person. Luckily, there are detailed instructions on the Museum of Mathematics website. Here’s a helpful hint: The […]
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