Monday, August 5th, 2019

This August: Biohack the Planet

Biohack the Planet (BioHTP) will take place at the tail end of August—it is not to be missed!

BioHTP is a conference for people who are hacking science and biotechnology. Even “I” will be there so you will get the chance to meet me alongside so many important movers and shakers from around the world!

The conference will take place on Labor Day weekend August 31st- September 1st. in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets include a free T-shirt and open bar on Saturday night. You can purchase tickets here.

Some of the Speakers who will be there include:

Todd Kuiken, Ph.D., NCSU

Jessica Polka, Ph.D., Director ASAP Bio

Rob Carlson, Ph.D., Bioeconomy Capital

Aubrey de Grey, Ph.D., Founder SENS research institute.

Hamilton Morris, Chemist and host of Vice TV Show Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia

David Hewlett, Actor and Science Educator, Stargate Atlantis/SG-1/SGU, Shape of Water

Kristen Brown, Journalist, Bloomberg

This year BioHTP will be doing a poster session to allow scientists, companies and biohackers to show off the results of their latest research.

Visit their website for more information.

http://biohacktheplanet.com

Submit Talks At

https://forms.gle/DeV4qtPUR5Z8vK778

Friday, July 12th, 2019

E-Squared Receives Award

Our printer, Raven Printing, submitted Issue #4 of E-Squared to Division I (Magazines, Periodicals, & Publications) and we are overjoyed to hear that we were awarded the Division I Silver Award / “Best of Category” by the Printing & Imaging Association of MidAmerica.

Honestly, it is little moments like these that keep that light—that sometimes gets really dim—glowing, as a single business owner. Looking back over the last year, I moved myself halfway across the country, had to reestablish my business here in the Midwest, had to find work to sustain it all, and then as I was about ready to submit Issue #4 for print, I lost my printer.

While it took months to find another one, I am eternally grateful to have found Raven Printing. It was an achievement in itself to find a printer that was affordable, could maintain quality, and that was communicative and easy to work with. Raven Printing is based out of Kansas City, Missouri and they are honestly the best printers I have worked with to date.They are truly a pleasure to do business with and I would recommend them to anyone in need of printing.

“We were so honored to receive it, the award is actually out of all of the printers in our division in a 4 state region and we were up against some phenomenal work so you should be extremely proud of the quality of your magazine! We are just the production piece of the puzzle, the real success is in your work creating it.”—Raven Printing

You can visit Raven Printing LLC here.

Tuesday, June 11th, 2019

Making the Impossible Possible w. Dr. Edward Ackad

Venture down the stairs to the basement of Science East and you might bump into Dr. Edward Ackad, associate professor in the Department of Physics at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE). Outside of teaching quantum mechanics, Ackad researches computational nanophotonics and biophysics. What is that, you might wonder? A quick search online will not turn up a whole lot of information, and that is because Ackad’s research is relatively new with many of his projects being “firsts” in his field.

For over a decade, Ackad has been modeling that which we cannot see with the naked eye in order to understand more about the behavior of things like nanoscopic clusters and proteins. Out of the three main divisions of physics–experimental physics, theoretical physics, and computational physics–Ackad’s research falls into the latter, and with a suite of tools, he creates models and simulations that can be viewed first hand. Watch a video on how irradiated clusters explode and then implode; physically hold a 3-D printed enzyme in your hand and find the active site; and, “walk through” a protein in virtual reality–Ackad’s research undoubtedly opens up new possibilities for exploratory learning and those not spinning in physics circles might even find it difficult to leave his lab. “One of the goals of my research is to generate theoretical models and bring the costs of experimental research down,” he said. By embracing these emerging technologies, Ackad is able to search for answers to complex problems that have been previously deemed impossible or inaccessible, largely due to financial constraints.

Currently Ackad is researching human cytochrome P450, an enzyme that plays a major role in drug detoxification in your body. Collaborating with Maria Kontoyianni from SIUE’s School of Pharmacy, they are working on modeling the various geometric configurations of P450. “Determining the various states of P450 will enable us to understand more about the effects of drug metabolism and drug-drug interactions.” Alongside numerous other projects, Ackad has been researching HCV NS3/4A, a viral nonstructural protein produced by the hepatitis C virus in addition to nanoparticles for which no models exist to date.

See more of Dr. Ackad’s work here. Read more about Why Physics Needs Art by clicking here.

Image of a 3-D printed Cytochrome P450:

Monday, May 27th, 2019

Mara G. Haseltine Launches “The Rococo Cocco Reef”

To kick off Ocean Week 2019, Environmental Artist Mara G. Haseltine will be launching her newest breakthrough in innovative eco-friendly Reef Design, The Rococo Cocco Reef.

The Rococo Cocco Reef is multi-dimensional, a living artwork, educational tool, eco-touristic dive site, habitat for fish and coral to thrive, a reef break, and carbon sink that attenuates waves protecting shorelines endangered by rising sea levels due to climate change. It will be created utilizing substrates composed of minerals found in coral reefs that coral larvae are naturally attracted to using primarily different forms of calcium carbonate, therefore making it the perfect marriage between design and function.

“The Rococo Cocco Reef’ is a breakthrough project for me. It will become a carbon sink on a grand scale, sequestering greenhouse emissions and depicts one of nature’s most efficient carbon sinks on a microscopic scale. A perfect marriage between form, function, and materiality.”–Mara G. Haseltine

At the Launch, Haseltine will give a talk about her microscopic inspiration for the design of The Rococo Cocco Reef, which she hopes to make a global prototype for sustainable reef restoration and marine building practices. She will discuss her microscopic marine muses for this massive sculpture and their role in regulating our shared biosphere. Also, she will reveal her top picks for innovative eco-friendly reef restoration and how she plans, to use them in conjunction with each other. Collectively, they could replace traditional toxic marine building and restoration materials, which utilize plastic, epoxy, and cheap concrete. Gaelin Rosenwaks will join Haseltine in this presentation. Rosenwaks is the Founder of Global Ocean Exploration, is a marine biologist, and will screen her documentary short, “Coral: A Glimmer of Hope” set in Palau. Her documentary explores the mysteries of coral species that may contain a secret of adaptation for survival. After the talk and screening, there will be Q & A followed by a reception. The event will be held at Automatic Studios at 6 pm on Saturday, June 1 (52 Bridge St. / Brooklyn NYC).

In addition, Haseltine will be exhibiting work for Oceans Week 2019 at The Explorer’s Club Headquarters in NYC June 3rd-11th with her sculpture Radiolarian Skeleton and also exhibit on the Japanese International Peace Boat in a print from her The Rococo Cocco Reef in conjunction with the United Nations for World Oceans Day June 8 on the West side of Manhattan.

Thursday, May 16th, 2019

Biodesign Challenge Summit 2019

On June 20 and 21, Parsons School of Design and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will host the Biodesign Challenge Summit—an event that brings together finalist teams with leading voices in art, design, and biology.

This year’s Summit will feature 36 finalist teams from 9 countries that will come together to present projects and compete for prizes in front of 50 esteemed judges from across academia, the arts, and industry and over 400 audience members. The summit is an education-based competition that partners students with artists, designers, and biologists to envision future applications of biotechnology. Over the course of two days, finalist teams showcase projects to compete for prizes, including the coveted Glass Microbe. Teams were chosen from over 500 students from nine countries who worked throughout the academic year to develop their visions for the future of biotech.

An opening reception and exhibition, LIFE IN REPLY, will be held in the Parsons Making Center on the evening of June 20 (7 pm – 9 pm).

You can register here.

Sunday, April 28th, 2019

Updates on Issue #5

UPDATES FROM E-SQUARED

E-Squared is currently in the midst of preparing Issue #5 for publication. As a one-person operation, I thought it was time to bring you up to speed with what I am currently doing…

As we celebrate the arrival of Spring in the U.S., I am wrapping up another semester of teaching at the University. By next week, my students and I will finalize a collaborative sci-art project pertaining to blood cells and in two weeks, I will give final exams in my Human Disease course.

In addition to my classroom full of students, I have been taking a programming and web development course to improve my skillset in that area. I am also writing and publishing for another organization. And, yes, I still have my own art practice! You can find my artwork on display at Recess Brewing in Edwardsville and just around the corner in May, I will be teaching a course in botanical illustration at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

All things considered, I am very eager to release Issue #5 into the world and see it in your hands, but I thought that I should inform you of all that is on my plate and let you know how much I greatly appreciate your patience.

This Friday, pre-orders for Issue #5 will open. A single issue of E-Squared retails for $35, but during this pre-order window, issues only cost $25. And, a gentle reminder that if you wish to pre-order, please select the correct country in which you reside (=destination for the magazine). Alternate destinations are always an option.

To track the progress of Issue #5, follow E-Squared on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
If you have any questions, please do no hesitate to e-mail me at info@esquaredmagazine.com.

Yours truly,

Emily A. Dustman
Founder & Director
E-Squared Magazine

Monday, April 8th, 2019

Leonardo Ricci: An Innovator of His Time

“True architecture is not about taking a piece of paper and designing forms and patterns. True architecture is about imagining a space and the movement of those who will live there.”––Leonardo Ricci

A leading figure in the Italian architectural scene of the Second World War, Leonardo Ricci rejected the idea of traditional architecture––he firmly believed in constructing buildings that stimulated new relationships in society and promoted interactions between the community and their landscape. Though most well-known for architecture, Ricci was also a writer and existentialist philosopher. He was born on June 8, 1918 and later went to school for architecture at Università degli Studi di Firenze (Italy).

To celebrate the centenary of Leonardo Ricci’s birth, an exhibition, Leonardo Ricci 100. Writing, painting and architecture: 100 side notes on the Anonymous, has been organized. The exhibition will open in Florence, Italy at the at the Refettorio di Santa Maria Novella on April 12 and will be open until May 26 2019. The exhibition features over 60 original pieces among paintings, drawings, sketches, photographs, and models. There will also be video and audio documents and magazine excerpts showcasing his theoretical research, artistic production, and design activities.

Curated by Maria Clara Ghia, Ugo Dattilo, and Clementina Ricci, the exhibition guides visitors through excerpts from Anonymous (20th Century), an existentialist book written by Ricci in the United States in 1957, “not a learned book for specialists but open to all,” as he called it. The location for the exhibition is quite spectacular: it’s the fourteenth-century Refectory of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The exhibition design, conceived by Eutropia Architettura, offers an open, varied yet profoundly organic path that mixes the textures of the disciplines practiced by Leonardo Ricci.

Casa Balmain (1957-1959 Marciana - Isola d'Elba) — Casa Balmain (1957-1959 Marciana – Isola d’Elba)

Friday, March 22nd, 2019

Making a Positive Impact with Jennifer Doudna

“CRISPR is a surgical tool for changing the code of life. Our goal is to deploy this enabling technology to have a positive impact on the human condition.”–Dr. Jennifer Doudna

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Department of Chemistry will host the 2019 Jean Dreyfus and 43rd Annual Probst Lecture series on Mar. 26 with Dr. Jennifer Doudna as the guest speaker. A Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California Berkeley, Doudna is world renowned for her fundamental work on CRISPR-mediated genome editing.

One of the most monumental discoveries in modern biology, CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotes. In conjunction with Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9), it can be utilized to permanently modify genes in living cells and organisms at precise locations. The system is considered to be one of the most significant discoveries in the history of biology and Doudna is co-inventor of the technology. She will be presenting a public lecture, “The Future of Genome Editing,” on this simple, yet power tool that holds great promise for clinical and research applications.

Doudna has been included in Time: 100 Most Influential People in 2015 and awarded Time: Person of the Year in 2016. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous prestigious fellowships and awards such as the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the 2016 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science.

For additional information on the lecture location and times please visit: https://www.siue.edu/artsandsciences/chemistry/probst.shtml or contact SIUE’s Chemistry Department.

Wednesday, March 13th, 2019

Marching into Spring with Jarryd Lowder

Knee deep in the realities of climate change, I know that a little humor along the way is a huge relief from all of the doom and gloom that we are bombarded with on a daily basis. Of course, it is important to understand the consequences of climate change, but my god, if you are going to instill hope in humanity, stop with all of the fatalistic outcomes–I can hardly stand to look at the news these days!

So, I have a proposal…why don’t we waltz into spring with the knowledge of our already altered water cycle–and therefore weather patterns that we are all experiencing around the globe–and work towards some adaptive goals. Let us realize the current state for what it is, smile here and there, and continue on a path of optimism where you will meet people like Jarryd Lowder.

Hailing from Iowa, Jarryd Lowder now resides in Switzerland after having lived in New York City for nearly two decades. Lowder is an talented artist of many forms–he is a photographer, journalist, teacher, videographer, designer, tech-based artist, musician, and A/V technician. His new project, Monstercast, is an ongoing series of images that employ the phenomenon of pareidolia, or the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern (think, the Man in the Moon or the Moon Rabbit). With his work, Lowder’s creates “monsters” from Doppler weather radar maps.

“It’s a universal human perceptual ability, an example of which would be a child identifying clouds as being shaped like animals. When viewing weather radar maps, I see how the shapes and colors of the precipitation take on figurative forms,” stated Lowder. With his phone, he snags screen shots and then draws on top of them using very limited drawing tools. In the beginning, his renderings depicted the local Alpine weather in Switzerland, but he has since branched out, looking for interesting radar images from around the world.

While living in NYC, Lowder taught Video, Sound and Music classes to graduate students in the MFA Computer Art department at the well renowned design college, SVA NYC (formerly known as School of Visual Arts) for 15 years. Within the field of art & music, he has done live audiovisual performances, live music and video art which has been shown in the US and other countries such as Spain, Austria, Japan, Finland, Korea, Germany and the Netherlands. Learn more about him here: http://www.jarrydlowder.com/

Thursday, February 7th, 2019

The Art + Science of Dessert

Photo courtesy of Eric Nemens

As a concept restaurant, The Chocolate Pig specializes in creative and contemporary plates. Tyler Davis, better known as “Chef Tai,” was recently named executive pastry chef at The Chocolate Pig and his desserts are sure to transport you to another world.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Chef Tai one-on-one. As order after order came in, he described the ingredients and processes involved in creating his plated works of art. With a few spritzes and dusting of powdered sugar, he debut his new dessert, “Snow Globe,” featuring pain d’epices, chestnut crémeux, and gingerbread ice cream. Watching Davis carefully assemble and embellish desserts right before my eyes, I saw a spectacular convergence of art and science. Being a chef is not as easy as it may appear to an outsider looking in. In order to achieve the desired results, it takes numerous failures and successes. A successful chef will possess a vast knowledge base of food chemistry and be able to reach the creative climbs of the imagination. Chef Tai’s desserts certainly reflect an individual who has put in countless hours and effort to arrive at a destination of great expertise in both the arts + sciences.

Davis has created a menu that is undeniably a work of art. His current dessert menu is inspired by his nostalgia-filled childhood and features sweets with names like Milk & Cereal, Peanut Butter Bomb, and Affogato Caviar. Before his current position, he worked at a number of reputable St. Louis restaurants and even started his own dessert business, Alchemy Artisan Bakery. He has garnered national attention for his appearance on the Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship and he was also nominated for Feast Magazine’s Top Pastry Chef of the Year.

You can follow Chef Tai on instagram @iofthetyler