Redeeming Science Tweets from Superbowl Sunday

Crab Nebula, as tweeted on Sunday from @NASA

Was your Sunday occupied with snacks and commercials or some type of Sports Thing? Or maybe you were just catching up on Season 3 of Sherlock? Or maybe you were celebrating the Year of the Horse or maybe catching up on some rest after a rousing festival of Imbolc, ushering in (hopefully!) the beginning of spring.

Twitter may have been overwhelmed by some bigots having issues with some of the commercials, but here’s some of the science or science fiction appearing on Twitter that you may have missed.

Over @NASA on twitter, February 2 was declared to be #SupernovaSunday. Fourteen gorgeous images included funny tie-ins to the game or the half-time show and were extremely inspiring.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, @neiltyson, joined in on the fun of mixing science with sports. If you didn’t already know about the Coriolis force, he may have prompted you to at least check with Google or Wikipedia.

Two of my favorite tweets from @neiltyson

But one of the most enjoyable exchanges on Twitter may have been this series prompted first by Sir Patrick Stewart @SirPatStew, also known as Captain Jean Luc Picard. First, he and Ian McClelland posed in the jerseys of the American teams in competition for the day, along with a “proper” football. But then Patrick Stewart posted a selfie featuring his one-armed plank.

The plank of power from Sir Patrick Stewart

Then this exchange between him and fellow Star Trek cast member Wil Wheaton, @wilw, ensued.

The full conversation

Well played, gentlemen, well played.

-30-

Cat Ellen

Cat Ellen is a technical writer by trade, an occasional copy editor
and beta reader, and has a passion for teaching ATS bellydance and
numerous textile arts, notably drop spindle and card weaving.