Posts Tagged ‘Brian Malow’
The Secret Life of Flies
February 22nd, 2010
If you know me, you know I like my insect photography. I primarily shoot (and release) live insects. But who amongst us hasn’t seen a dead bug posing while reposing in death and felt the need to capture that macabre Kodak moment? If my eyes are the only eyes of the universe to observe this detail, am I not obligated to record it?
Anyway, that’s how I feel about it. So, I’ve shot a few dead flies.
But this guy at Muhr Photography takes it to a new level, combining real live dead flies with simple line drawings. And I think they’re hilarious. I applaud the idea and the execution. I’m jealous!
After you start the slideshow – click the icon in the lower left corner to make it bigger so you can see the titles (in some cases, it helps you appreciate the image). Or you can see this gallery and others here.
Giant Insect Ambassadors for the Rainforest
October 21st, 2009
For our newest video for Time.com, I visited an old friend, Norm Gershenz of SaveNature.org, to discuss some of their programs for raising awareness and saving precious habitats that are home to strange and beautiful creatures like the giant thorny phasmid.
Find out more about the Insect Discovery Lab and how you can bring it to your Bay Area classroom.
Science Comedian Riffs on Hydrogen and Helium at Ignite
April 28th, 2009
Our Ignite presentation is up on YouTube and the O’Reilly Media Ignite Show page.
Tara and I created the presentation – with me doing most of the writing and her doing most of the graphics. Our friend Michael Capozzola hand-drew the final slide for us (primitive technique but effective!).
We attempt to tell a 14-billion year story in five minutes: “A Tale of Two Elements” takes us from the Big Bang to the Earth and touches on a problem that many people are not aware of – the helium shortage (a local problem). Enjoy!…
What is Ignite?
Science Comedian Essay in Symmetry Magazine
March 31st, 2009
A few months ago I was asked to write an essay about being a science comedian for a really cool publication – Symmetry Magazine – and it finally came out today!
Symmetry is “a magazine about particle physics and its connections to other aspects of life and science” – and it’s put out jointly by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, two national labs funded by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy.
It’s available in print and online editions – and anyone can receive a free subscription to the print version simply by filling out a form. That’s a benefit of it being paid for by our tax dollars.
Symmetry is a great science magazine for the layperson, giving fascinating glimpses into the world of subatomic particles and gigantic particle accelerators and the people who attend to them.
The current issue is particularly good!
Ahem.
The picture was taken by my friend John Gilbey during a session at SciFoo 2008 entitled “Seducing the Public With Science.”
Year of Science – JetBlue and Cell Phones
March 16th, 2009
In conjunction with the COPUS Project’s Year of Science – and the March theme of Physics and Technology – I offer up a bit of humor on bad website usability on the Jet Blue website and also a couple thoughts on cell phones – loud users and shrinking sizes.
Do you think we’ll live to see implantable cell phones?… or the end of obnoxiously loud cell phone talkers? When will they realize that technology is here to relieve the strain on their voices?
Comedy.com Brian Malow Videos
February 23rd, 2009
Comedy.com has some videos of me on stage at the San Francisco Punch Line Comedy Club, from about two years ago, I think. If you follow the links to their website, you can also rate the video…
Brian Malow – Exit Strategy link:
http://www.comedy.com/video/brian-malow-exit-strategy
Brian Malow – Canine Lives link:
http://www.comedy.com/video/brian-malow-canine-lives
Brian Malow – Bed, Bath and Beyond Repair link:
http://www.comedy.com/video/brian-malow-bed-bath-beyond-repair
Science Comedian, Lincoln, and Darwin on Time.com
February 16th, 2009
If you know me, you probably know I’ve always had a thing about Abraham Lincoln. Nothing kinky. It goes back as far as 2nd grade – at least that’s my oldest surviving writing about Abe.
Now, combine that with my obvious respect for Charles Darwin – who shares his birthday with Lincoln (February 12, 1809) – and you’ll know how excited I am to have tied it all together in a video piece celebrating their birthdays – and also the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species.”
I wrote the piece and it was produced by Craig Duff – and today it’s featured on the front page of Time.com – as a “Must See” video about Lincoln and Darwin.
“Lincoln and Darwin – Birthdays and Evolution”
Check it out, let me know what you think – and please feel free to forward it to EVERYONE!
* Update 2/23/09: Although it was only a “Must See” video for a short time, now it’s displayed as one of the most popular videos!
Science Comedian on Public Radio
January 14th, 2009
Roman Mars of KALW, a San Francisco public radio station, produced a piece on me that aired yesterday on the show Cross Currents:
“The Bay Area is home to some of the smartest people on the planet. So, it makes sense that our brainy nature would demand the occasional brainy entertainment. That’s where Brian Malow, the science comedian, comes in. Malow stopped by KALW to tell Roman Mars why he thinks science is so funny.”
If you have five minutes, you can hear the segment on their website:
Brian Malow, the Science Comedian.
My thanks to Holly Kernan and Roman Mars of KALW!
Cross Currents airs at 5pm (Pacific), on FM 91.7, and streams live from the KALW website.
San Francisco Chronicle Features Science Comedian
January 9th, 2009
The San Francisco Chronicle ran a feature story on me today (the print version actually appears in the Datebook section, Sunday, January 11, 2009):
Making Science Funny: Brian Malow
It’s written by Nick Thomas, who we love! Last year, Nick did a Q&A with me for Nature:
In addition to being a prolific freelance writer, Nick is Associate Professor of Chemistry at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama.
The article comes out in time to promote my upcoming Bay Area shows – Tuesday at the San Francisco Punch Line, and Wednesday in Sunnyvale at Rooster T. Feathers. Also, a week later at the Sacramento Punch Line on January 22.
P.S. The book I’m holding is Cosm by Gregory Benford, one of my favorite reads of 2008.

