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Ask Alexandrea Your Questions

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<p>
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/blogs/secretlife/earth-science/alexandrea-bowman/" title="Alexandrea Bowman">
   Click here for Alexandrea’s Profile.
  </a>
</p>
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<h2 style="color:#993300">
  Q: Jackenson Durand
 </h2>
<p>
  Do you think that Earth magnetic field has been contributing to our biodiversities creation and evolution?
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<h2 style="color:#993300">
  A: Alexandrea Bowman
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<p>
  Hi Jackenson,
  <br/>
  From what I have read the Earth’s magnetic field does protect life from harmful rays. I do not know enough about it to say whether or not it has contributed to biodiversity on a large scale. However, given that the Earth’s magnetism has created a protective shield and really helped prevent water and oxygen from leaving the Earth’s surface, I would have to say that life in general would not be possible on Earth without a magnetic field. I do not know how that has affected DNA / RNA, or if it had any impact on evolution.
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<p>
  Sincerely,
  <br/>
  Alexandrea
 </p>
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<h2 style="color:#993300">
  Q: Ken
 </h2>
<p>
  Subject: Geology and American Indian books
  <br/>
  Alexandrea:
  <br/>
  Hello. I have three questions for you:
  <br/>
  I recently finished “Reading the Rocks” by Marcia Bjornerud. I also enjoy watching “How the Earth was Made” on the History Channel. I have also read “Rising From the Plains” by John McPhee.
 </p>
<p>
  I am currently reading “One Vast Winter Count” by Colin G. Calloway. Last year I finished “1491” by Charles C. Mann who mentioned the “Winter Count” book. I also enjoyed the Ken Burns series “The West”.
 </p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>
    What would be a good geology book to read next?
   </p>
</li>
<li>
   What would be a good American Indian book to read next? You can include fictional stories, too. But, I would like a history book recommendation.
  </li>
<li>
   I have heard and read that “American Indian” is commonly used by the people who are descended from the people who were here in North America before Europeans to describe themselves – which is why I used it. Maybe you can also comment on your feelings about this. I like the term “First Nations” the best. It is used in Canada. What do you think?
  </li>
</ol>
<p>
  Sincerely,
  <br/>
  Ken Andrews
 </p>
<p>
  P.S.
  <br/>
  Thanks for sharing your story here. I found it posted on Facebook because I am a fan of NOVA.
 </p>
<h2 style="color:#993300">
  A: Alexandrea Bowman
 </h2>
<p>
  Hi Ken,
 </p>
<p>
  A good geology book to read – As I have read mostly geology texts – I am not sure about. If you are looking for just a regular book, I can do some research and look for one. As far as regular books go I really enjoyed “The Desert Smells Like Rain” by Gary Paul Nabhan, and of course there is Charles Darwin, “The Voyage of the HMS Beagle” – They both have some mention of geology in them. The first also describes Native American Culture along the Texas-Mexico border. The second book is Charles Darwin’s diary from the HMS Beagle. If you are interested in environmental books, “Collapse” and “Silent Spring” would be my top 2 suggestions.
 </p>
<p>
  For Native American books there is a long list of my favorites: “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee”, “Black Elk Speaks”, and “Lakota Woman” are all considered history / biography books. For fiction: “American Indian Myths and Legends” is my all time favorite. And then there is “Spider Womans Granddaughter’s”, which is a collection of contemporary short stories.
 </p>
<p>
  What each Native American chooses to be called is an extremely personal choice. I prefer Native American, but a friend of mine prefers “Red Skin” for himself, other friends of mine use First American or “Skin” or “Indian”.
 </p>
<p>
  You are quite welcome, I had a great time being on NOVA.
 </p>
<p>
  Sincerely,
  <br/>
  Alexandrea
 </p>
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<h2 style="color:#993300">
  Q: Joseph Connolly
 </h2>
<p>
  Subject: Native People in Science
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<p>
  Hello,
  <br/>
  It was fantastic getting to listen to your story. I am Native, Onondaga, and working the the field of Aerospace Engineering. I just wanted to say thanks for getting the younger kids involved, you are a true inspiration for them. I do some work with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and it would be wonderful if you had the time to come and inspire these kids as well. I just got back from the National American Indian Science and Engineer Fair that they host. It is a wonderful event. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
 </p>
<p>
  Nyawenh ha’
 </p>
<h2 style="color:#993300">
  A: Alexandrea Bowman
 </h2>
<p>
  Hi Joseph,
 </p>
<p>
  I would love to get involved. It is so great to hear from another Native American who is in a “scientific” field. I am a member of AISES, I have not had the time to make it to a conference though. I can find out if there is anyway for us to get in touch outside of this website.
 </p>
<p>
  Thank you. For so long I have been saying how important it is for the younger generations to be interested in topics like this and our culture too. And role models are hard to find.
 </p>
<p>
  Sincerely,
  <br/>
  Alexandrea
 </p>
<hr/>
<h2 style="color:#993300">
  Q: Sue Sylvester
 </h2>
<p>
  ALI!!! Congratulations!!! WOW! This is awesome!
 </p>
<p>
  We didn’t know that we were N.A. when we were growing up, either. But my French grandfather used to get drunk and talk about our family having the connection. Years later – in fact, seven years ago, my uncle told my sister and I that he’d done the research and we were N.A.! We are of the Algonquin Nation, through our French ancestors who came through Canada. But he threw it all out! (He was kinda eccentric…)
 </p>
<p>
  I’m still looking into it, when I have time away from job hunting. How were you DNA tested? I heard it’s expensive.
 </p>
<p>
  Best wishes,
  <br/>
  Sue
 </p>
<h2 style="color:#993300">
  A: Alexandrea Bowman
 </h2>
<p>
  Hi Sue,
 </p>
<p>
  DNA testing has gone down in price. I think my test was $110. And the only reason why I did take it was because they promised they could link family members through the DNA test. My cousin had taken it and I figured let’s see how good they are. And in fact they did link us as relatives and even sent us eachothers e-mail address (which of course we had). All I had to do was order the test, swab the inside of my mouth and send it in. I also had the choice to add the result to the research project that National Geographic did. It was definately worth it. You can e-mail me and we can certainly talk more about this.
 </p>
<p>
  Sincerely,
  <br/>
  Alex
 </p>
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</section>

Visit Neil's Cosmic Office!

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<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/blogs/secretlife/space-science/neil-degrasse-tyson/" title="Neil deGrasse Tyson">
   Click here for Neil’s profile.
  </a>
</p>
<p>
</p>
</section>

We won a Streamy!

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<p>
  So guess what? We just won an award… the Streamy, which celebrates the best in web television programming. “Secret Life” won in the category of
  <a href="http://www.streamys.org/2010/04/07/and-the-winners-of-the-2010-streamys-craft-awards-are/">
   Best Reality or Documentary Web Series
  </a>
  .
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<figcaption>SLoS is Streamy-licious!
        
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  We were up against some pretty stiff competition too, including a web series by David Lynch (whom you may better know as the creator of “Twin Peaks” and “Blue Velvet”). And now after the Streamys, the SLoS team is better known as the creators of “Secret Life”!
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<p>
  And to think, at this point last year, we were just a few crazy kids with a dream… a sick, twisted dream that we put aside so we could make “Secret Life.”
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<p>
  Many thanks for being a part of our community and we hope you’ll keep coming back. PLEASE!
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</section>

Showing Up

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<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/blogs/secretlife/physical-science/rich-robinson/" title="Rich Robinson">
   Click here for Rich’s profile.
  </a>
</p>
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<figcaption>Rich Robinson in our studio.
        
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<p>
  When Rich Robinson came to our studio, one thing was abundantly clear—the man was wearing an
  <em>
   amazing
  </em>
  purple shirt. We all loved it so much that we’re getting a bunch of them for our team in the “Science on the Web” bowling league (it can only help—at least we’ll look good…).
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<p>
  As we spent more time with Rich, some much deeper truths did emerge:
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<p>
  •   For Rich, science is something everyone can do—it isn’t limited to natural born geniuses. And he attributes much of his own success to his willingness—since he was a young boy—to always “work a little bit harder.”
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<p>
  -•   Rich talked a lot about the moment when his photographic subjects “show up” and reveal some truth about themselves. We’ve been behind the camera for dozens of interviews, and there’s never any doubt when someone is sharing something real or just going through the motions.  On the set, it felt like Rich was “showing up” big time. We hope that comes across in the videos.
 </p>
<p>
  After you watch Rich’s videos, be sure to check out his links to learn more about his science and some of his favorite photographers, too. (And if you’re reading this on the homepage, go to
  <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/secretlife/scientists/rich-robinson/">
   Rich’s individual page
  </a>
  on our site to find those links.)
 </p>
</section>

Alan Sage

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<p>Get to know vegetarian scientist and rapper Alan Sage in these videos, interviews, and blog posts as part of the <a href="https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/nvslos/"><b>Secret Life of Scientists &amp; Engineers</b></a> collection.<br/><br/>Alan Sage studies plants for a living, keeping his professional philosophy consistent with his personal philosophy of not killing animals. In four videos from the <a href="https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/arct14.sci.nvalansage/the-secret-life-of-alan-sage/"><b>The Secret Life of Scientists &amp; Engineers</b></a>," he explains that plants may have the capability of some semblance of thinking.<br/><br/>“A plant lab was perfect for me because I didn’t have to deal with gruesome killing.”</p><h4>Science:</h4><p>Alan Sage is a vegetarian scientist who channels his obsessiveness into biological research.</p><h4>Secret:</h4><p>Alan is a rapper who raps about life and philosophy and not eating things with eyes.</p><h2>Defying expectations</h2>
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<p>Alan Sage's vegetariansism leads to his getting a letter from a Beatle.</p><h2>A vegetarian scientist?</h2>
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<p>Alan's research looks into how the "root memory" of plants may have an impact on future Alzheimer's treatments. In his spare time, Alan writes poetry and raps fiercely.</p><h2>30 Second Science with Alan Sage</h2>
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<p>We give Alan Sage 30 seconds to describe his science.</p><h2>10 Questions for Alan Sage</h2>
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<p>We ask Alan Sage 10 questions and he tells us that Leonard Cohen makes him "morbidly depressed."</p>
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<h3><b>Got nutrients?</b></h3>
<p>Alan Sage mentioned an interesting reason for refining his vegetarian diet. He said he noticed that fish have eyes and quit eating them. That interesting way of looking at food made me wonder about what it is vegetarians actually should eat.<br/><br/>From 1954-1992, the FDA recommended the four basic food groups: meat proteins, beans, eggs, and nuts; dairy products; grains; and fruits and vegetables. The FDA uses the food pyramid, which recommends proper portioning of food. I have taught both ways, but I didn’t know much about vegetarian eating. How do vegetarians maintain their nutrient intake without eating meat and sometimes other foods, depending on the kind of vegetarian one becomes?</p>
<h3><b>Silence of the tomatoes</b></h3>
<p>As a youngster, Alan put up a fight against biology class dissections. He ate fish until he was about four years old, when he realized fish had eyes. As an adult, he discovered that plants react to glutamate, a neurotransmitter in the human brain, and this discovery tells us that plants have some evolutionary similarity to humans. His interpretation: Plants can think.<br/><br/>I wondered what it might mean to vegetarian philosophy if, through due scientific process, the notion that plants can think (and feel?) became a given. What would it mean to committed vegans and vegetarians?</p><p>If plants feel as animals do, will we start to think that eating things without eyes is discrimination against those that do?</p><p>These questions get to the very heart of why people are vegetarian in the first place. So, I asked this question on my Facebook page: “Are you a vegetarian? Or vegan? Or are you decidedly NEITHER? Why?”</p>
<h3><b>Vita meta vegiman</b></h3>
<p>It’s hard for me to imagine Alan as a youngster, willingly eating his veggies. My sister and I, loathe to eat our greens, used to push them around surreptitiously (and in revolt) until there were enough pockets of plate peeking through to make it appear as though we’d taken the required few bites. While I was pursuing the “Hamburglar” and all his meaty riches and happy meal toys, Alan was actively refusing all his tricks.<br/><br/>Popeye ate spinach for strength, but there’s no denying the many cognitive benefits of a diet rich in veggies. A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/health/research/18aging.html">New York Times article</a> recently reported that a diet laden with greens can help slow the rate of mental decline. A 2006 <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/23/health/webmd/main2117161.shtml?tag=currentVideoInfo;videoMetaInfo">study</a> touted the same. Alan’s choice at a young age to become a vegetarian might mean he’ll maintain his smarts and brain function to a ripe old age. And that will buy him more time to earn a Nobel Peace Prize, something a great many Intel finalists aspire to and achieve. Keep eating those veggies, Alan!</p>
<h3><b>Two sides of the same coin</b></h3>
<p>Although you might not know it from his videos, Alan Sage didn’t much like science until fairly recently. A creative juggernaut—in addition to his raps, he’s written many poems and several screenplays—Alan was sure he was going to have a career in the arts.<br/><br/>In fact, Alan had a healthy disdain for science that went far beyond his dislike of “gruesome killings.” Here’s a section from his interview where Alan describes the transformation in his thinking that led to his embrace of science:<br/><br/>“I think initially I was turned off by science simply because it didn’t seem beautiful or artistic. It didn’t seem like it was a creative process. You know, when you write a poem, you’re very much expressing your own universe through that poem. And science seemed like the polar opposite. While art is totally living in your own world, and being totally removed from the world, science is being totally involved in the world and paying attention to every single detail meticulously. But in a sense, I’ve come to see that they [art and science] are two sides of the same coin. When you’re working as a researcher, you’re looking at the world through so fine a lens that it almost becomes another world, just like with art. And in that sense, it’s very artistic. I mean, for example, a plant biologist very much lives on the plant’s schedule. You know, when he can go on vacation depends on when his plants have reached a certain time in their growth when he can no longer do experiments on them. So as a scientist, you’re not living in a world you created, but you’re also very much living in a different world. You’re living in the world of whatever you’re studying.”</p>
<h3><b>Raising a scientist</b></h3>
<p>You don’t have to be a scientist to raise a scientist. But you might have to sacrifice some sleep. Our case in point is Alan Sage.</p><p>According to Alan, he didn’t really have a “science-y” childhood. His dad is an English teacher and his mom is an organist.<br/><br/>So while they exposed Alan to a wide range of great experiences, they, as Alan put it, “couldn’t help with problem sets.”</p><p>Of course, if you’ve watched Alan’s “Vegetarian Scientist?” video, you know that one of the experiences Alan’s folks exposed him to was the NYC Transit Museum. To feed Alan’s passion for anything and everything relating to the New York City subways, his dad took him to the museum over 1500 times during a five-year period! And Alan’s mom was a willing co-explorer whenever she and her son actually rode the subway to get from one place to another. As Alan explains:</p><p>“On the New York City trains, you can walk between cars. And I would drag my mom to walk me between those cars, so I could touch the little things connecting the cars, and it was really a totally sensory experience.”</p><p>So Alan’s parents have clearly always been very, very devoted to him.</p><p>But the story that really got me happened during Alan’s high school years. At that point, he’d discovered his love for science and was spending long hours at a lab to complete his work for the Intel Science Talent Search. Alan would often get home from the lab at 9 or 10 at night and still have to complete his homework for his classes the next day at New York’s Stuyvesant High School. How did he do it? Alan tells the story:</p><p>“My mom and my dad were both really supportive through this whole process. My mom would sometimes stay up till 3 or 4 AM while I finished my homework. Otherwise, I don’t know how I would have made it. I probably would have just fallen asleep on the desk every night.”</p><p>Now you can argue that parents shouldn’t make their kids stay up all night to finish their homework.</p><p>But you can’t argue with the parental love that helped a child like Alan pursue his passions.</p>
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<p data-block-key="iu7na">Alan Sage was a finalist in Intel’s Science Talent Search and is currently studying Biology as an undergraduate at Yale University.</p>

Where Does Science Come From?

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<p>
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/blogs/secretlife/physical-science/stephon-alexander/" title="Stephon Alexander">
   Click here for Stephon’s profile.
  </a>
</p>
<p>
  So I wondered…. Where does science come from?
 </p>
<p>
  Does it come from Bill Nye the Science Guy? After all, “science” is right there in his name.
 </p>
<p>
  Or does it come from Google? When I do a Google search for “science,” I get over a billion results. That has to be the mother lode of all scientific thought, right?
 </p>
<p>
  Good guesses, my friends, but no cigar.
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<p>
  These answers can’t be right, because, as remarkable as it may seem, science existed even before Bill Nye the Science Guy and Google were twinkles in their parents’ eyes.
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<p>
  Adrift in a harsh, unyielding universe and searching for answers, I looked for help from our new scientist, Stephon Alexander. And he told me where he had found science:
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<p>
  “The roots of me becoming a theoretical physicist started back in the island of Trinidad. I grew up in a village close to Venezuela. So it was on the southern coast of the island, and there was very little light pollution. And as a kid, we believed in things like ghosts, and we called them ‘jumbies’ in Trinidad. So if you’re a kid out at night, and no one has ever told you that the Moon is a moon—a piece of rock in outer space—you might think that it could be a jumbie trying to follow you. That was my big question. Why is this thing, whenever I run away from it, it just continues to follow me? Or why doesn’t it ever come and try to get me? So that kind of question, a natural inquisitiveness, I had, wondering about things, especially the night sky. You know, looking at little insects and trying to distinguish, ‘Okay, what makes this alive when a piece of twig isn’t alive?’ So I used to wonder about these things. And that natural environment of Trinidad, without the light pollution and noise pollution, really provided a good setting for that.”
 </p>
<p>
  I finally had my answer.
 </p>
<p>
  Science, it turns out, comes from Trinidad.
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</section>

Stephon Alexander

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<p>Meet physicist and associate professor Stephon Alexander in these videos, blog posts, and interviews from "<a href="https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/nvslos/"><b>The Secret Life of Scientists &amp; Engineers</b></a>." Stephon is fascinated by big questions in theoretical cosmology, quantum gravity, and particle physics. He's also an accomplished jazz saxophonist.</p><p><br/>“Dare to think the unthinkable.”</p><h4>Science:</h4><p>Stephon Alexander is a theoretical physicist who thinks about the connection between big things and small things.</p><h4>Secret:</h4><p>Stephon is a jazz saxophonist who loves to improvise music and ponder the physics of emotion.</p><h2>A Real-Life Superhero</h2>
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<p>Stephon Alexander's 10th grade Physics teacher changes his life forever.</p><h2>A Real Horn Player</h2>
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<p>Stephon Alexander makes the leap from Kenny G. to John Coltrane and never looks back.</p><h2>30 Second Science with Stephon Alexander</h2>
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<p>We give Stephon Alexander 30 seconds to describe his science and he talks about big things and small things.</p><h2>10 Questions for Stephon Alexander</h2>
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<p>We ask Stephon Alexander 10 questions and he chooses Coltraine over Einstein.</p>
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<h3><b>The very big and the very small</b></h3>
<p>Stephon studies the connections between things that are enormous—like universes—and things that are teeny—like neutrinos. I already know of one shared feature: their size is incredibly difficult for me to wrap my mind around. The observable universe is apparently 92 billion light years across. But how big is that, really? In my head, that means about the same as if it were 92 million, or 92,000, or 9.2 light years across.</p><p>A neutrino—which is a particle, like an electron, except with neutral charge—has mass, but the number is <a href="http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/07/neutrino-mass-less-of-a-mystery-thanks-to-deep-space-imaging.ars">debated</a> : it’s somewhere between 0.05 to 0.58 electron volts. Huh? What’s an electron volt?</p><p>It all looks teeny here... but it’s enormous.</p><p>I’m not the only one who struggles with conceptualizing the very big and the very small. Luckily, my neighborhood science museum—the <a href="http://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a> , in Manhattan—has a fabulous exhibit to help us out. It’s called the “ <a href="http://www.amnh.org/rose/scales-moreinfo.html">Scales of the Universe</a> .”</p><p>The exhibit spirals around an 87-foot planetarium, called the Hayden Sphere, which becomes a reference point for all of the objects around it. For instance, you might stand in front of a 10-inch globe with the big dome behind it. The exhibit text tells you that if the dome were the sun, then the globe would be the earth. If the dome were a raindrop, the globe would be a red blood cell. If the dome were a red blood cell, the globe would be a rhinovirus. And if the dome were a rhinovirus, then the globe would be a hydrogen atom.</p><p>Pretty cool way to think about size, right? Plus, if you walk up the spiral path that leads to the planetarium, you’ll see a timeline of the earth’s history, beginning with the Big Bang and ending with present day. On this scale, the era of human existence spans the width of a human hair. So next time you’re in the Big Apple, make sure to stop by. It’ll blow your mind.</p>
<h3><b>Where does science come from?</b></h3>
<p>So I wondered.... Where does science come from? Does it come from Bill Nye the Science Guy? After all, “science” is right there in his name.</p><p>Or does it come from Google? When I do a Google search for “science,” I get over a billion results. That has to be the mother lode of all scientific thought, right?</p><p>Good guesses, my friends, but no cigar.</p><p>These answers can’t be right, because, as remarkable as it may seem, science existed even before Bill Nye the Science Guy and Google were twinkles in their parents’ eyes.</p><p>Adrift in a harsh, unyielding universe and searching for answers, I looked for help from our new scientist, Stephon Alexander. And he told me where he had found science:</p><p>Young Stephon...</p><p>“The roots of me becoming a theoretical physicist started back in the island of Trinidad. I grew up in a village close to Venezuela. So it was on the southern coast of the island, and there was very little light pollution. And as a kid, we believed in things like ghosts, and we called them ‘jumbies’ in Trinidad. So if you’re a kid out at night, and no one has ever told you that the Moon is a moon—a piece of rock in outer space—you might think that it could be a jumbie trying to follow you. That was my big question. Why is this thing, whenever I run away from it, it just continues to follow me? Or why doesn’t it ever come and try to get me? So that kind of question, a natural inquisitiveness, I had, wondering about things, especially the night sky. You know, looking at little insects and trying to distinguish, ‘Okay, what makes this alive when a piece of twig isn’t alive?’ So I used to wonder about these things. And that natural environment of Trinidad, without the light pollution and noise pollution, really provided a good setting for that.”</p><p>I finally had my answer.</p><p>Science, it turns out, comes from Trinidad.</p>
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<p data-block-key="cyw6g">Stephon is a theoretical physicist who teaches at Haverford College.</p>

Tom Miller

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