Dragon Con Science Track

But how do they smell?

The Changing Face of the Pug—and the Project to Remake It Years of intensive breeding has left pugs with a significantly shortened life expectancy. Can the damage be undone?

Participate in a study measuring science identity

My name is Vaughan James, and I am a PhD student at the University of Florida. As part of my dissertation, I am developing a measure of science identity (the way that a person feels that they relate to science and scientists) to be ultimately used in informal science environments like the Dragon Con Science Track.

An important part of the measure creation process is testing the measure with members of the intended audience – which includes you! If you are an adult aged 18 years or older, I invite you to take part in this study, which is an online survey that should take about 15-25 minutes of your time. All of your responses are confidential, and compensation is being offered for your time and effort.
If you have any questions about the study, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] .

To participate in the study, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bdbpD0PCB4IvDwO

Either that, or they spring up from the ground fully formed!

ELODIEUNDERGLASS Addition 12/12/14 A news article published yesterday in Science discusses s*x ratio in humans.  Why women’s bodies abort males during tough times Males are more likely to die than females while in the...

An itchy solution...

A Pivotal Mosquito Experiment Could Not Have Gone Better An extremely common microbe can stop the insects from spreading the virus that causes dengue fever.

I wanted to let folks know that, as we're diving into planning this year's science track, we'll be using the Dragon Con Discord as part of it. If you've not given it a try, head on over to https://discord.com/invite/dragoncon , sign up, and come say hi in the -track-discuss channel!

Join the Dragon Con Official Discord Server! The Official server of Dragon Con, the largest multi-media, pop culture convention. | 6,791 members

These colors are unreal!
.. like, literally. Not real. They don't exist.

Magenta: The Color That Doesn’t Exist And Why I’m sure you recognize magenta — it’s that color that’s a mix between purple and red. It’s sort of pinkish-purple, and looks something…

That's one heck of a snooze button!

Did Dinosaurs Sleep at Night? Even Tyrannosaurus rexes needed to nap sometimes. A still-growing fossil record is showing how dinosaurs used to doze.

Get in shape!
Any shape is good!

Emory chemists invent shape-shifting nanomaterial Discovery holds potential for biomedical applications

Half duck, half beaver, half night light:

Shining a (UV) light on the glow-in-the-dark platypus The fur of the platypus—an Australian species threatened with extinction—glows green under ultraviolet light, a new study finds. This is the first observation of biofluorescence in an egg-laying mammal (monotreme), suggesting this extraordinary trait may not be as rare as previously thought.

Dust to dust:

Ancient DNA lab maps little-explored human lineages Emory scholars study genetics of deep past to better understand modern-day populations of the Americas

A huge THANK YOU for everyone who viewed our online events, hung out here and on Discord, and made this year's virtual convention awesome. An even huger THANKS!!! to the experts who gave of their time and expertise to be part of our events, and to the volunteers who made it all happen. We're so excited for this community and what this year's going to make possible going forward. We ❤️ you all!

Attention attendees: You may have noticed that all of our premieres for this weekend have shifted two minutes into the future. This sort of chronoalignment is no cause for alarm. Please keep all appendages inside the track for the duration of the con.