Awesome Stuff Women Did

Because women have done more in the past 10,000 years than just pop out babies and make sandwiches.

DISCLAIMER: We make no claim that all women featured here are saints. They did awesome stuff; the women themselves might not have been. Keep that in mind before sending angry notes.

blu3rsx: “16-Year-Old Egyptian Scientist Finds Way to Turn Plastic Waste Into $78 Million of Biofuel!” What Azza proposes is to break down the plastic polymers found in drinks bottles and general waste and turn them into biofuel feedstock. (This is the bulk raw material that generally used for producing biofuel.) It should be noted that this is not a particularly new idea, but what makes Azza stand out from the crowd is the catalyst that she is proposing. She says that she has found a high-yield catalyst called aluminosilicate, that will break down plastic waste and also produce gaseous products like methane, propane and ethane, which can then be converted into ethanol. Can I be there when she accepts her Nobel Prize?  This woman has a hand I would very much like to shake.

blu3rsx:

“16-Year-Old Egyptian Scientist Finds Way to Turn Plastic Waste Into $78 Million of Biofuel!”

What Azza proposes is to break down the plastic polymers found in drinks bottles and general waste and turn them into biofuel feedstock. (This is the bulk raw material that generally used for producing biofuel.) It should be noted that this is not a particularly new idea, but what makes Azza stand out from the crowd is the catalyst that she is proposing. She says that she has found a high-yield catalyst called aluminosilicate, that will break down plastic waste and also produce gaseous products like methane, propane and ethane, which can then be converted into ethanol.

Can I be there when she accepts her Nobel Prize?  This woman has a hand I would very much like to shake.

femaleartists: Swoon (Born 1977) “SWOON is a street artist from New York City who specializes in life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts of figures. Swoon studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and started doing street art around 1999. Swoon does not release her real name to the public to avoid prosecution for the crime of “vandalism” associated with street art.” “Swoon’s worlds are often populated by realistically rendered cut-out street people, often her friends and family. Riding bikes, talking on a stoop, going grocery shopping - these people traverse a cityscape of her own unique invention. Bridges, fire escapes, water towers and street signs create crisscrossing shadows and spaces through which her figures move. Inspired by both art historical and folk sources, ranging from German Expressionist wood block prints to Indonesian shadow puppets, Swoon uses cut paper to play with positive and negative space in a conceptually driven exploration of the experience of the streets.”

femaleartists:

Swoon (Born 1977)

“SWOON is a street artist from New York City who specializes in life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts of figures. Swoon studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and started doing street art around 1999. Swoon does not release her real name to the public to avoid prosecution for the crime of “vandalism” associated with street art.”

“Swoon’s worlds are often populated by realistically rendered cut-out street people, often her friends and family. Riding bikes, talking on a stoop, going grocery shopping - these people traverse a cityscape of her own unique invention. Bridges, fire escapes, water towers and street signs create crisscrossing shadows and spaces through which her figures move. Inspired by both art historical and folk sources, ranging from German Expressionist wood block prints to Indonesian shadow puppets, Swoon uses cut paper to play with positive and negative space in a conceptually driven exploration of the experience of the streets.”

A great traceuse of the Mexican parkour group Monos Urbanos (Fernanda “Kat” de la Torre)

(Eilis O’Connell)

(Eilis O’Connell)

At age fourteen, invented a device to demonstrate when packaged food had gone out of date, which won the 42nd Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2006. The judges said it involved “a highly innovative and creative use of experimental biology” and that it was “very impressive” and “a novel use of technology”. (Aisling Judge)

At age fourteen, invented a device to demonstrate when packaged food had gone out of date, which won the 42nd Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2006. The judges said it involved “a highly innovative and creative use of experimental biology” and that it was “very impressive” and “a novel use of technology”. (Aisling Judge)

A Burmese opposition politician and former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, this woman was under house arrest for over 15 years in order to be easily observed by the military junta leading Myanmar.  Has recieved multiple awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and recognized as the foremost leader of the peaceful revolution against the military junta of Myanmar, leading the Burmese Democracy Movement. (Aung Sun Suu Kyi)

A Burmese opposition politician and former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, this woman was under house arrest for over 15 years in order to be easily observed by the military junta leading Myanmar.  Has recieved multiple awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and recognized as the foremost leader of the peaceful revolution against the military junta of Myanmar, leading the Burmese Democracy Movement. (Aung Sun Suu Kyi)

Scientists Discover a Cost Effective Way to Produce Hydrogen from Urine ↘

Do you love the adventure of a road trip, but could do without the constant gas station pit stops to refuel and – ahem – release? Well, chemists have found a way to combine refueling your car and relieving yourself by creating a new catalyst that is able to extract hydrogen from urine. The process which was discovered by Gerardine Botte of Ohio University focuses in on a catalyst that would have a variety of applications, including fuel for hydrogen powered cars and cleaning up municipal waters.

At last, my childhood dream of in-car toilets may yet become a practical idea!!!  And it could save the world too!

Ultramarathoner and extreme athlete. Holds the course record for both men and women at the Lost 118 and Philedelphia 100. (Jamie Donaldson)

Ultramarathoner and extreme athlete. Holds the course record for both men and women at the Lost 118 and Philedelphia 100. (Jamie Donaldson)

spandexandsportsbras: Ok, so this morning I wasn’t in such a great mood due to things at work, but then at lunch time, while reading USA Today, I stumbled over this story. Now I am so pumped up by this woman and her efforts, nothing at work is going to bring me down today! Justine Siegal, 36, this week became the first woman ever to pitch batting practice to Major League Baseball players. First for the Cleveland Indians and then just yesterday, to the Oakland Athletics. That would be a cool enough story right there. But then I read her bio. Justine has been playing baseball since she was 5 years old. She has never played softball and when they asked her to switch to softball when she was 13, she told them no. “The baseball coach didn’t want me on the team. I played anyway.” Since then, she has devoted her life to baseball in every shape and form. She was the first woman to ever coach college baseball, the first woman to ever be a first base coach for a professional baseball team (albeit minor leagues), and she has set out to be a role model for girls and women who want to either play baseball or just live their dreams. She is the founder of the site and organization BaseballForAll which promotes playing baseball for EVERYONE but especially for giving opportunities to girls and women. She was responsible for putting together the WBL Sparks, the first all-girls baseball team to play in the Cooperstown (home of the Baseball Hall of Fame) Dreams Park tournament, where the Sparks finished 39th in a field of 104 teams, beating out 65 boys teams in the standings. I have a couple more posts on Justine Siegal and her efforts coming up.

spandexandsportsbras:

Ok, so this morning I wasn’t in such a great mood due to things at work, but then at lunch time, while reading USA Today, I stumbled over this story. Now I am so pumped up by this woman and her efforts, nothing at work is going to bring me down today!

Justine Siegal, 36, this week became the first woman ever to pitch batting practice to Major League Baseball players. First for the Cleveland Indians and then just yesterday, to the Oakland Athletics.

That would be a cool enough story right there. But then I read her bio. Justine has been playing baseball since she was 5 years old. She has never played softball and when they asked her to switch to softball when she was 13, she told them no. “The baseball coach didn’t want me on the team. I played anyway.”

Since then, she has devoted her life to baseball in every shape and form. She was the first woman to ever coach college baseball, the first woman to ever be a first base coach for a professional baseball team (albeit minor leagues), and she has set out to be a role model for girls and women who want to either play baseball or just live their dreams.

She is the founder of the site and organization BaseballForAll which promotes playing baseball for EVERYONE but especially for giving opportunities to girls and women. She was responsible for putting together the WBL Sparks, the first all-girls baseball team to play in the Cooperstown (home of the Baseball Hall of Fame) Dreams Park tournament, where the Sparks finished 39th in a field of 104 teams, beating out 65 boys teams in the standings.

I have a couple more posts on Justine Siegal and her efforts coming up.

Founded the Green Belt Movement, an indigenous grassroots non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya that takes a holistic approach to development by focusing on environmental conservation, community development and capacity building, including empowerment for women, eco-tourism, and just economic development.  Organized women in rural Kenya to plant trees, combat deforestation, restore their main source of fuel for cooking, and stop soil erosion, while training them in forestry, food processing, bee-keeping, and other trades that help them earn income while preserving their lands and resource. Over 40 million trees have been planted due to their efforts.  Motivated and organized communities in Kenya to both prevent further environmental destruction and restore that which has been damaged.  Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004  (Professor Wangari Maathai)

Founded the Green Belt Movement, an indigenous grassroots non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya that takes a holistic approach to development by focusing on environmental conservation, community development and capacity building, including empowerment for women, eco-tourism, and just economic development.  Organized women in rural Kenya to plant trees, combat deforestation, restore their main source of fuel for cooking, and stop soil erosion, while training them in forestry, food processing, bee-keeping, and other trades that help them earn income while preserving their lands and resource. Over 40 million trees have been planted due to their efforts.  Motivated and organized communities in Kenya to both prevent further environmental destruction and restore that which has been damaged.  Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004  (Professor Wangari Maathai)