Brand New Jank!

Here's our latest parody! This one's for Britney Spears's hit "Hold It Against Me."

Our version is "The Planet is Warming," an anthem on climate change.

Hope you enjoy, and share it with your friends!

Regarding Arsenic

First off, let's just say that we are THRILLED with the response we've gotten on our Astrobiology video - it's been much bigger and quicker than we'd hoped.  And it's also been overwhelmingly positive.

The one major critique we've had (overlooking the few "lame" or "this suxx" comments, which are to be expected) has been best addressed in Eliza Strickland's Discover Magazine Blog (discoblog) entry here.

"... we have to take exception to the quick, unqualified mention of bacteria that can thrive on arsenic, and the video’s implication that this recent finding stretches scientists’ notions about what kinds of life can exist. Have they not been following the roiling controversy over whether that finding is valid?"

Our response, as posted on in the comments on the blog, is as follows:

"We’d like to defend our honor just a little bit in regards to the arsenic debate. Certainly, we know it is a very contentious subject, but we felt we couldn’t really do the whole controversy justice in the context of this parody, so we went with the brief mention.

Are we trying to say this is a comprehensive look at everything about astrobiology? Of course not, and we understand you weren’t implying that it was supposed to be. But if we can pique the scientific curiosity of even a few young people, and get them interested in pursuing this field, that’s a win for us. We’re strongly of the belief that this video, and more like it, could be integrated into a classroom setting.

But we hope that educators understand that a video like this isn’t a self-contained lesson. Certainly, it can be used as an engagement or enrichment piece – that’s what it’s designed for. But hopefully it can be used in a variety of ways – discussions of the definition of life, why certain places may be more suited to host life, even critical thinking about the scientific method through a discussion about the whole arsenic debate – why there’s a debate in the first place, the importance of an experiment’s design, peer review, etc.

With that said, we again thank you for featuring the video, and appreciate the constructive criticism. We’re always open for more discussion!"

With that said, does anyone else out there have thoughts on the issue?  Did we give the arsenic debate too short a shrift?  What are your thoughts on the arsenic debate in the first place?  For any educators, or potential educators out there, could you see yourself using this type of video in the classroom?  And what input does anyone have for new songs/videos as we go forward - topic/song suggestions, etc.?

As always, please keep the discussion civil.

- Jank

PS  Yes, we're also aware of the spelling error in the video - mea culpa.  For bonus points, who can pick it out and explain why it's almost right?