Science Merit Badges
Published on Feb 16, 2007 at 2:14 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amusement.
OK, this is just something fun I saw over at Jane’s site and also at Cat Dynamics. She had a link to the Order of Science Scouts merit badges. It isn’t really astronomical, but I thought that it was amusing, so I decided to see which ones I might qualify for.
First, we’ve got the “Talking Science” merit badge. I routinely give public talks, and just plain love talking about science, so this one is easy.
Next, we’ve got the “MacGyver” badge. I think most of us have cobbled together some gadget based upon our scientific knowledge.
Then, there’s the “TV” badge. I’ve been interviewed several times by local TV stations on topics related to astronomy. Does that count?
The “I blog about science” merit badge is obvious.
For the “Arts and crafts” badge, would building your own radio just for fun count?
The “I’m pretty confident around an open flame” badge comes from lots of use with lab burners. Besides, I’ve also had fire extinguisher training.
This one is called the “inappropriate nocturnal use of lab equipment in the name of alternative science experimentation / communication” badge. Huh? Didn’t the college buy all this stuff in the lab just for me to play with???
The “Destroyer of quackery” badge goes along with the science talking badge, I think.
This is the “My degree inadvertently makes me competent in fixing household appliances” badge. Pretty much if you understand electricity, you feel confident in tackling anything. Oh, wait. That says competent, not confident. Hmm. I wonder if I really qualify for this or not.
I qualify for all three levels of the “has frozen stuff just to see what happens” badge. Level One is for using a freezer, Level Two for dry ice, and Level Three for liquid nitrogen. I should point out that if there were a Level Four for liquid helium, I’d get that, too. Of course, for my Master’s Degree, I did cryophysics before moving on into astrophysics.
I don’t handle radioisotopes much any more, but I did for an advanced undergraduate research project and in graduate school, so I should qualify for the “I work with way too much radioactivity, and yet still no discernible superpowers yet” badge.
It depends upon who you ask as to whether I qualify for the “computer language” badge. I know Fortran, Basic, C, C++, Pascal, and Assembly. I am not so fluent in recent years, but I used to be quite the programmer.
This is the “Dodger of monkey poo” badge. I work at a college. I deal with college administrators. That surely makes me a candidate for this badge!
As for the “I will crush you with my math prowess” badge, weren’t you listening? Astrophysics. Duh.
I routinely study things just for the fun of learning about them, so I guess that means that I should be able to get the “I’ve done science with no conceivable practical application” badge.
The “I know what a tadpole” badge is pretty much self explanatory.
This one really suits me. It is the “I’m a scientist who is fundamentally opposed to administrative duties” badge. I can extend that to being opposed to any and all paperwork. Heck, I still haven’t finished filing all the paperwork to get reimbursed for my trip to the AAS conference in Seattle in early January. I hate filling out forms!
This is the “used a dental drill and I’ve never been a dentist” badge. Well, those dental tools are just way too useful to limit to just mouths!
I most definitely qualify for the “Experience with electrical shock” badges, all three levels! It’s amazing how many times one person can get zapped in a laboratory setting (and outside of the laboratory, too).
So, how many of these badges do you qualify for? Check them out.
-Astroprof
Jane on February 16, 2007 at 3:12 pm: 1
Hey, given the radioisotopes badge and the three electro-shock badges, do you glow in the dark, yet?
I’m scared to ask about the dental drill.