smashthecis-stem

[smashthecis-stem]

The Future of Fellatio?

Kuang-Yi Ku, the creator of the Fellatio Modification Project, is a dentist and artist from Taiwan currently studying in the Netherlands.  I (Ed, hence the #SexEd genius!!!) had the opportunity to attend a workshop on “Sex and Dentistry Skills” with Kuang-Yi as part of MOUTHY with Science Gallery London. 

In the slightly terrifying...

... setting of LonDEC, King’s College London, Kuang-Yi Ku told us all about his project, exploring the diversity of sex and gender, the individual preferences and experiences with oral sex and the influences of the LGBT+ community on his work.  I then got the opportunity to make the oral retainer.... so here goes...

First I had to re-live the oh so traumatic experience of having a mould of my teeth taken (#BracesMemories)

Once the mould was taken, I filled it with plaster to get a copy of my teeth and hard palate...

Ta-Da! 

Next, Kuang-Yi showed us all how to make the modifications for the retainer...

Firstly a mould is made using a soft putty mixed with a catalyst to make it set hard. Whilst this putty is soft you can create indentations. Then this mould is filled with a jelly substance which sets with a flesh like feel. 

A retainer, very similar to retainers used in orthodontic treatment is then made for the modifications to be added to.

This is then cut down, the modifications anded and...

Ta-da!

Thank you so much to Kuang-Yi Ku, Science Gallery London and LonDEC for putting on this amazing workshop!

You can check out Kuang-Yi’s work here

and Science Gallery London here

[smashthecis-stem]

Today I went to a workshop with MOUTHY (Science Gallery London) on Dentist and Artist Kuang-Yi Ku’s ‘Fellatio Modification Project’!  

Blog post and more pictures from the workshop coming soon!!

[smashthecis-stem]

It’s our 2 year anniversary of QSOTM!

[smashthecis-stem]

Queer Scientist of The Month: Bruce Voeller

Our Queer Scientist of the Month for August 2016 is Bruce Voeller, a biologist and gay rights activist. 

Voeller came out at the age of 29, and became the President of  the New York Gay Activists Alliance and founding director of the National Gay Task Force, which is now known as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The (then) National Gay Task Force achieved the first ever discussion of Lesbian and Gay rights within the White House.

Voeller focused mainly on research into AIDS. He coined the name AIDS, standing for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, to replace the widely used but highly inaccurate name, GRIDD, Gay Related Immune Defence Disorder.

Voeller died of an AIDS related illness in 1994.

[smashthecis-stem]

The Department of Extraordinary Embroidery is delighted to present further proof that Science + Art = Awesome. Plainville, CT-based artist Alicia Watkins creates cross-stitch illustrations of bacteria, germs, viruses and microbes. Ordinarily you wouldn’t want to come into contact with any of these microscopic beasties, but these embroidered versions are 100% delightful instead of infectious.

Watkins sells her sciencetastic needlework via her Etsy shop, Watty’s Wall Stuff and Cross Stitchery. Head over there to check out many more examples of her crafty geekery, including lots of cross-stitch patterns and kits.

[via Colossal]

[smashthecis-stem]

Nuclear Chain Reaction

[smashthecis-stem]

Arcyria stipata (slime mold)

[smashthecis-stem]

It’s nearly been two years since we started #QSOTM

Check out the scientists from the last 2 years on the tag and we’ll be making an anniversary post next month!

It’s been a year since we started QSOTM! 

We haven’t been able to post a Queer Scientist every month this year as we have both been very busy with exams and lab work.

We hope you have enjoyed reading about the 9 Queer Scientists we have featured in the past 12 months! You can see them all here!

[smashthecis-stem]

Queer Scientist of the Month: Audrey Tang

Our July 2016 Queer Scientist of the Month is Audrey Tang, a free software designer from Taiwan. Tang dropped out of high school and began working in several software companies by the age of 19. She first began learning Perl aged 12 and is best known for her work with Pugs, an interpreter for the Perl 6 programming language. 

She has contributed to many Free Software Programmes and has been described as “one of the greats of Taiwanese computing”.  

Tang came out as transgender in 2006.

As well as her work in software design, Audrey Tang is also an advocate for  self education and individualist anarchism.

[smashthecis-stem]

Hey all! I know this isn't the sort of thing we usually post but a friend has started a gofundme for their Top Surgery. Top Surgery is the removal of breast tissue to create a flatter chest and would relieve a lot of dysphoria for them. Please give what you can, the minimum donation is £1 but even this will make a huge difference. You can read more about Alex and donate on the following link. Thank you very much https://www.gofundme.com/258sj93g

[smashthecis-stem]

Queer Scientist of the Month: Mary Ann Horton

Our April 2016 Queer Scientist of the Month is Mary Ann Horton!

Horton is a transgender computer scientist and software developer, as well as a trans educator and activist. She has worked at Bell Labs in Columbus, Ohio, which was founded by Alexander Graham Bell. While in Columbus she founded the Crystal Club, the first trans support group in the city.

Horton has had a huge involvement in gaining trans rights in the workplace. Thanks to Horton, the company Lucent became the first company to add trans-inclusive language to its Equal Opportunity policy. Her later work lead to other companies, including Apple and Xerox, adding similar language to policies in order to protect trans workers from discrimination. She has also campaigned for the coverage of trans health services by employers. 

In her activism Horton has criticised the idea that trans people have to ‘pass’ as their gender in order to be considered valid. She argues that “sometimes it’s important to be visible as a transgendered person, so that society realises we do exist”.

In 2001, she was awarded the Trailblazer “Outie” Award from Out & Equal Workplace Advocates.

Horton currently works as a Senior Programmer for Sempra Energy, where she has been since 2007.

You can find her website here!

[smashthecis-stem]

Yesterday the creator of the webcomic @assignedmale, Sophie Labelle, put on a talk with King’s LGBT+ as the last stop of her European tour.

I firstly want to thank her for getting in touch with me (Ed) and letting us hold such a great event.

Sophie spoke about how seeing trans activists wasting energy on explaining the same concepts over and over inspired her to create the comic as an educational tool, as well as how it evolved as it grew popular with trans youth. She also discussed life as a full time cartoonist, her future tour plans, and using humour and sarcasm to battle transphobia.

You can read Assigned Male here in English and here in French!

[smashthecis-stem]

Queer Scientist of the Month: Angela Clayton

Our March 2016 Queer Scientist of the Month is nuclear physicist Angela Clayton!

Clayton, whose interest in criticality, safety and health physics saw her working to improve the safety of nuclear reactions, was also an active trade unionist and trans rights advocate.

Her work in LGBT campaigning included close involvement in the Gender Recognition Act 2004, which allows trans people to legally change their gender marker and acquire a new birth certificate. Clayton also served as the vice-president of Press for Change, a UK campaign group who focus on legal trans rights, and as the first ‘trans observer’ to the Trades Union Congress LGBT Committee.

In 2006 Clayton was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her “services to gender issues”.

[smashthecis-stem]

Forgot to make a post about it but

Ed is at NUS LGBT+ Conference 2016 this week and will be tweeting about it using their personal twitter on the hashtag #NUSLGBTPLUS16

On another note, if you’re on conference and have seen this post follow us, you won’t be disappointed ;) :)

[smashthecis-stem]

Visualising numbers (100, 243 and 12) by splitting them into all possible factorisations. [code]

[smashthecis-stem]

Queer Scientist of the Month: Ben Barres

Our February Queer Scientist of the Month is Ben Barres, a neurobiologist and the first openly transgender scientist in the US National Academy of Sciences.

Barres’ research focuses on neurons and glial cells. Glial cells are non-neuronal cells found in the Central Nervous System that protect and myelinate neurons as well as destroying pathogens and dead neurons. He discovered that neurons did not only just “clean up” the CNS, as was previously thought, and that in reality synapses could not form without glial cells. Barres also began the questioning of why glial cells prevent axon regeneration, a large problem when dealing with damange to the central nervous system.

Barres has documented sexism in STEM fields, especially before his transition. He notablably stated that before his transition, he lost a scolarship to a man with one publication whilst he had 6. On one occasion, it was claimed that “Ben Barres gave a great seminar today, but his work is much better than his sister’s work” when someone thought work published under Barres’ birth name was written by his sister. 

[smashthecis-stem]

Special Nano Coating Makes Water That Can Be Shaped and Sliced

Scientists have figured out a way to turn liquid into a new type of material that can be sliced and molded into different shapes. In the video above, from New Scientist, the substance yields like Play-Doh under the pressure of a knife and acts like water when presented with another liquid globule with which it can merge together.