Through a collaboration with NASA and the SETI Institute, Girl Scouts can now earn badges in space science, from astronomy to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

“Part of science literacy is understanding our place in the big world, in the solar system, in the universe," Pamela Harman, the director of education at the SETI Institute, told Air & Space Magazine. "Once we realize that, I think it’s easier to think about protecting our planet.”

From Air & Space:

Girl Scout cadettes (grades 6-8) can earn the space science researcher badge by investigating properties of light and observing the night sky; seniors (grades 9-10) can obtain the space science expert badge by classifying stars and studying their life cycles; and ambassadors (grades 11-12) seeking the space science master badge will explore exoplanets through activities such as designing a habitat for an alien world.

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With the help of her mom, a Girl Scout in Colorado has turned Samoas into "Momoas." Cookie sales have skyrocketed for fifth-grader (and "Top Cookie CEO") Charlotte Holmberg of Highlands Ranch since she and her mom started gluing a shirtless photo of beefcake Aquaman star Jason Momoa on Samoa boxes. Charlotte's mom, a marketing professional, was inspired by a meme photo she saw on the internet of Momoa and started designing new box art.

This one's for the ladies. (and the fellas) #elfontheshelf2018 #nottheelf pic.twitter.com/Tk2egiE15S

— Matt Hayduke (@mightybajah) December 13, 2018

KUSA:

...so her and Charlotte got to work printing out the pictures and gluing them on dozens of boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

They put it on Facebook, and you can guess what happened next.

"The moms are getting really excited and they're saying that they need them," Charlotte said.

Even other Girl Scouts are hitting up Charlotte, asking to buy some. Now you know why they call her the Top Cookie CEO.

They say Thin Mints are the most popular Girl Scout cookie. That might now be a thing of the past.

A statement has not been issued from Momoa.

images via Girl Scouts of Colorado

(Vice) Read the rest

A restorative art project that teaches girls how to create a nose with mortuary wax

To show that mortuary science is a field for anyone, reps from the Mid-America College of Funeral Services in Jeffersonville, Indiana spent a day with local Girl Scouts. The event was presented as part of Spark, an event series that "allows girls to meet women working in STEM fields."

News and Tribune:

Teachers and students from the college answered the Girl Scouts' questions about restorative art and gave them a quick tour of a reconstruction lab, where they learned about the embalming process and uses for various tools. The kids also received a crash course on how to sculpt body parts such as noses with mortuary wax, which is often used in funeral services to return bodies to a natural appearance...

Gohmann encourages more women and young people to enter STEM fields such as mortuary science, and she wants them to understand what funeral services involve to remove its stigma.

"In the past, you think of funeral directors being dour old men, and it's not," she said. "We're young women. We're grandmothers. We're mothers."

Screenshot via News and Tribune Read the rest

Do you live in New York City? Do you like cookies? Are you into cookies so hard that you carry cash with you, just in case the opportunity to buy cookies arises while you're going about your day?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, read on.

The girls of Girl Scout troop 6,000 all have one thing in common: They all live in homeless shelters in New York City. Troop 6,000 came into being back in March of 2017 thanks to a partnership between the Girl Scouts of Greater New York and New York City's Department of Homeless Services. Currently, troop 6,000's membership includes kids from 15 different homeless shelters in the NYC area. This year, the girls of the troop are selling Girl Guide cookies for the first time:

From Eyewitness News 7 NY:

"The biggest impact that we see and when you talk to the girls you'll hear them say, is that they belong to something, they have a sisterhood within the other Girl Scouts," said Meredith Maskara of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. "They talk to other girls who may be in their same situation who feel alone, and they feel like they have a stronger sense of community and belonging overall."

Buying any Girl Scout cookies, which are the crack cocaine of sugary treats, is a win. Buying them from troop 6,000? That's way more cool: not only will doing so help to grow the bonds of friendship and belonging in a group of disenfranchised children, the cash you fork over will also help those kids to take part in amazing experiences that may have been all but unattainable to them, otherwise. Read the rest

It's Girl Scout cookie season again which made me think of this box I've been hanging onto since the year 2000 or so. Just an innocent box of Tagalongs, right? Well, not so fast. Look a little closer and I think you'll agree something else is going on: lesbian subtext!

Years ago, LGBT activist and sex advice columnist Dan Savage wrote about the questionable box in Savage Love:

Hey, Everybody: If you haven't bought a box of Girl Scout cookies this year, I suggest you pick up a few boxes of Tagalongs Peanut Butter Patties pronto -- these boxes are sure to be collectors' items one day. Pictured on the front of the box are two Girl Scouts up to their chins in water, nose to nose, looking deep into each other's eyes. "Go for it!" is written above their heads. I [heart] subtle and subversive homoeroticism, and despite the braces one of the girls has in her mouth -- sure to get in the way of any late-night "going for it" back at the cabin -- this photo qualifies as teenage lesbian erotica in my book.

If unsubtle homoeroticism is more to your liking, you need only flip over the box, where the text reads: "I just love water sports! Our teachers are complete pros! Jamilia and I actually synchronized our strokes ..." [My italics.] Okay, let's stop and examine the first three lines: The Girl Scouts pictured on the box are only shown swimming -- no one is shown on water-skis, playing water polo or snorkeling.

U.S. Girl Scouts as young as 5 years old will soon be able to earn their first-ever cybersecurity badges. 18 of these merit patches will be launched by the Girl Scouts of the USA starting in September, 2018. Read the rest