Good day fellow bioforms
I’m so excited to be part of the BioBus project. We have just finished our first full road-day on the way to Champaign / Urbana, IL where we will be opening the BioBus at various schools and universities to teach the peoples HOW THE CELL WORKS! My whole body (I know, this is crazy) is like a million tiny individual lifeforms all working together to make me a person. I think yours is, too, but you might want to ask your doctor about that. After several rain-delayed days, we finally hit the road. Our official starting point and time: Rubulad, 11:10 am. We sat up last night talking to the live-in Rubuladers about the fascinating process of staining a cell, while one of them was in the process of creating a beautiful work of art – it’s amazing how many parallels there are between art and biology. We also spent a decent amount of time talking about the slime mold. Check it out: a slime mold is a bunch of separate one-celled life forms that, at a certain point in their life cycle, COME TOGETHER AND FORM A MULTICELLED LIFE FORM. Just like me. But don’t take my word for it – come aboard the BioBus and find out! You will actually get to harvest cells from your own body and view them under a microscope. Now I don’t know all the technicalities involved – I leave them up to Dr. Ben – but I do know that I am cells, and you are cells, and we are all cells. This bus? It is a cell. But unlike you and I, it is not made up of invidual cellular bits of live all working together. It is made of metal and wood and grease. So it is not really alive. But it’s the BioBus and it rocks! Even with a new paint job? Nope it’s still not alive, despite how it gleams in the midday sun!
We leave bright and early from this lonely truckstop in middle-of-nowhere PA for the golden shores.. er, plains.. of Illinois! See you soon!
Love,
Ric
P.S. He doesnt have opposable thumbs so he can’t actually write blogs himself, but I’d like to introduce our BioBus mascot, Elliot the Dragon. He also doubles as the guard-dragon when we are away from the bus, and keeps a lively discussion on the road. He make take part in classes, as he is very good with children and quite knowledgeable in cellular biology (as a dragon he was not allowed to enroll at Colombia, but spent several years auditing classes and is petitioning for an honorary degree. We’ll see.)
Hi! i hope elliot the dragen will be on The bus at LEAL tomorow. I am in3rdGrade and I come at 1;30Pm,
MAGNUS
Thanks! Your bus is VERY COOL!
I lerned a lot about what is a life/alive. I am not sure I remember correctly but if you can reproduce, need energy, and react to your evironment, then you are alive. Is that right? Plese answer!!!!! If you are alive, you have cells.
Thank you!
Magnus (again!)
PS. Elliot is not alive. But he is cute anyway
Hi Magnus -
Yes, that is a really good definition of life, and yes, everything alive is made out of cells!
It was really great meeting you and your classmates. I hope you keep thinking about life and cells and that you will write what you find here on the blog!
Elliot and Ric went back to New York City yesterday, but the BioBus will be at the Orpheum Science Museum (http://www.m-crossroads.org/orpheum/programs.html) tomorrow morning. You might want to ask your parents to take you there if you or your friends want to see the BioBus again.
Thank You,
Dr. Ben