Read: Immunity for kids
Pulsing around inside us, in the blood stream in our veins, are red blood cells, white blood cells, nutrients, oxygen. The red blood cells carry oxygen, and that’s pretty much it. The white blood cells are the Swiss Army knives of the body; they’re more than just one kind of cell and are the soldiers and sentinels in our bloodstream, waging war on infection, acquire immunity against certain diseases and generally keep us healthy. While it’s said immunologists are born, not made, at least the rest of us can learn the basics about how this exquisite system works. Interactive immunity is a beautifully illustrated, interactive, online book about immunity which, while aimed at kids, is really accessible to all. Enjoy this choose-your-own adventure of the science behind immunology.
Listen: de Grasse Tyson & Colbert
If you were lucky enough to watch the epic TV series Cosmos in the 1990s, you’d be familiar with Carl Sagan and the journey he took us on from the origins of our universe, our ideas about where we came from, and our place in it. Sagan passed away in 1996, and the astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson is proving to be a worthy successor. In this video, one of my personal deities Stephen Colbert, interviews his personal deity Neil de Grasse Tyson in a glorious, hilarious rambling conversation about science, life, the universe and everything. Treat this clip as a radio program. Start the ironing or a slow-cooked roast or a stew, and put this on in the background to enjoy the contrast of the pleasurable mundane with the sublime.
Watch: A toy train in space
From war and torment within our bloodstreams, to astrophysics to this: a father, his son and Stanley, a toy train. Ron Fugelseth gives the ultimate nerd gift: sending his son’s toy train into space and back again. We can all reach the stars. I want to believe.
