Calling all past and present Ph.D. students! Have you ever felt the urge to convey your graduate work through interpretive dance? Well now's your chance; Science's 2013 "Dance Your Ph.D." Contest has officially begun! The rules are pretty straightforward. You must be a Ph.D. or be working towards one; the Ph.D. must be in a science-related field (the competition's definition of "science-related" is pretty flexible, check out the FAQs for details); and you must — obviously — be in the dance. A $500 dollar prize will be awarded to the best dances in the categories of physics, chemistry, biology, and social sciences. The grand-prize winner will receive an additional 500 bucks, plus another prize that has yet to be announced (previous years' winners have been awarded travel and accommodations to the TEDxBrussels conference to be recognized for their achievements). Here's how to enter: 1. Turn your Ph.D. thesis into a dance (you can check out last year's winners to ignite your creative spark) 2. Post the video at Vimeo.com 3. Send the video link to the good folks at GonzoLabs by October 1st. The Dance Your Ph.D. competition has been going on since 2007, and is the brainchild of Science Contributing Correspondent John Bohannon, principle investigator over at the GonzoLabs. There, you'll find more info on the competition and loads of videos from past contestants. You can also check out the competition on Facebook. The dance featured up top is by Joel Miller, 2011's grand prize winner and first place entry from the physics category. The title of the dance is "Microstructure-Property relationships in Ti2448 components produced by Selective Laser Melting: A Love Story." It's about titanium hips, and you can read more about it here. Read more...    
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What you're looking at could be a planet being born some 176 light-years away from Earth. It’s a small planet, only 6 to 28 times Earth’s mass. But that’s not even the best part. This alien world, if we can confirm it, shouldn’t be there according to conventional planet-forming theory.Read more...    
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Redditor Sartro quizzed his Father right after the season finale of Game of Thrones on the names of each character. The results are priceless. Read more...    
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Have you ever dyed Easter eggs and thought that a slightly-different-colored egg wasn't worth the trouble? How about an egg filled with crystals? Try out a chemistry experiment that lets you turn eggs into geodes.Read more...    
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A new display at the American Museum of Natural History includes some of the oldest fossils on exhibit. Called trilobites, some of these extinct marine arthropods are more than 500 million years old. (Just as one comparison, Tyrannosaurus rex lived from about 85 to 65 million years ago.)Read more...    
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Earlier this year, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson made an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast to talk black holes, multiverses, and extremophiles. So, naturally, someone mixed the interview audio into a funky rap about the Universe.Read more...    
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Just how many rivers are there in the United States? Based on this map, a hell of a lot more than you might think.Read more...    
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Plus Dominic Cooper is weirdly confused about the role Howard Stark plays in The Winter Soldier. There's a Pacific Rim featurette, an R.I.P.D. trailer, and a World War Z clip. David Goyer explains how Man of Steel could pave the way for Justice League. Harry Potter's Emma Watson may have found a new fantasy franchise. Spoilers!Read more...    
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Have you been waiting for more details on Neill Blomkamp's new movie Elysium? Well hang on — this video is going to make your eyeballs explode. Loaded with new footage, this trailer sets up Matt Damon's dystopian hellhole and then blows it away. Get ready to be excited people because Neill Blomkamp is back! Read more...    
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Today the UN released a chilling and very specific number of people who have died in Syria since violence broke out there in March 2011. 92,901 people are dead as a result of the Assad government crackdown on rebels. To get a number this exact, you need to use science. Call it the demographics of death.Read more...    
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Cut off part of an amphibian, and it'll regrow. But humans and other mammals can only regrew the very tips of our fingers and toes, if they're cut off. But the mechanism that makes that small feat happen could be the key to unlocking the secret of full limb regeneration in humans.Read more...    
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The hero of Mur Lafferty's Shambling Guide to New York doesn't wear tight pants, tote a crossbow, or have the most special power ever. She doesn't fall in love with any magical creatures, or have everybody smitten with her. She's just a travel book editor trying to finish her supernatural guidebook on time, and we love her.Read more...    
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Throw away your anatomy books, everyone, because they're now officially out of date. A professor at the University of Nottingham has discovered a layer in the human cornea that was previously unknown to science. Read more...    
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The new apocalyptic comedy This Is The End is a treasure trove of dick jokes. But science fiction and fantasy have a long and proud history of wang-based humor. Here are the greatest dick jokes (intentional or unintentional) from throughout the history of science fiction and fantasy movies. Read more...    
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These are the top 10 countries to request user data from tech companies in 2012. Guess who's leading the pack?Read more...    
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You have now.Read more...    
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io9 Daenerys' whole storyline on Game of Thrones is messed up | Gawker Child Cries After Expecting to Meet Iron Man, Getting RDJ Instead | Kotaku Don't Expect A Lot Of Third-Party Characters In The Next Smash Bros | Jezebel We Want Cute Plus Size Clothes, and We Fucking Want Them YesterdayRead more...    
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From an evolutionary perspective, human menopause doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense. Searching for an explantion for this somewhat uniquely human process, a group of Canadian researchers used computer models to show that menopause is an unintended outcome of natural selection — and men's sexual preferences might actually be to blame.Read more...    
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This happens all the time. A character, or an entire civilization, are built up as being unstoppable and crushingly awesome. And then... the enwimpening. The most unstoppable force in the universe has a really simple weakness. Or the greatest fighter turns out to crumble under pressure. What's your least favorite example of a powerhouse being depowered?Read more...    
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In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States has declared that isolated chunks of human DNA cannot be patented. And thank goodness for that. But it's a ruling that comes with a compromise: Moving forward, companies can still patent synthetic genetic material. Read more...    
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On PBS's website there is an Independent Lens doc about the origins and staying power of the female super hero archetype. I've only seen clips of it but it looks good. The movie is available on the site until tomorrow.Read more...    
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The risk of flood is on the rise, and experts agree: society isn't ready for what lies ahead.Read more...    
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Everybody is trying to arrange a True Death for dear old Bill Compton on True Blood, it seems. Meanwhile, Bill has found time to wash his face, put on a clean henley, and walk around with a brand new shit eating grin. Welcome, Bill Compton The Worst 2.0. And two other clips show some quality Pam-and-Eric bickering. Read more...    
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Last week's Game of Thrones season finale ended with a scene full of racial imagery that seemed kind of messed up. But actually, argues comedian Aamer Rahman, Daenerys' whole storyline has been problematic from the very beginning. Here's why.Read more...    
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A new documentary, Pandora's Promise, has scientists and politicians arguing over the future of nuclear power. It's a movie about how prominent environmentalists went from being anti-nuclear power to favoring it — largely because the alternative, fossil fuel, is so damaging to our ecosystems.Read more...    
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