First off is the SEED Magazine Mathematicians slideshow. I always imagined mathematicians toiling in relative obscurity in dusty corners of a campus' oldest building. But in this SEED slide show, the practitioners of the field get the high art treatment with intriguing portraits and audio narration describing the allure of the field. One person's inspiration was a dramatic pause in a conversation from her childhood, and another compares his work to a secret garden in which he grows beautiful theories. Creative minds find inspiration in and draw connections to everything. Please click through the link to the show, especially because I can't repost the entire show here.

The next highlight is this post from the Brooklyn Museum about sun bleaching an Arshile Gorky print from the museum's collection. The post shows the process step by step, including before photos, process photos and the "after" result. The museum has taken a routine conservator's task, brought it into the sun (literally and online, of course) and made it a fascinating glimpse into the behind-the-scenes work of a large institution.

A British scientist and student in science communication came up with an intriguing project to get people talking and thinking about the impact of science in their lives. Dr. Tim Jones' simple concept was to ask people to draw what they think is important about science. He stitched the drawings together (with a nod to the "exquisite corpse" methods of the surrealists, hence his title) and created a video with the participants talking about their drawings.

There are many things that I like about this project -- the thought of getting the public involved in the conversation about science, the art, and the variety AND similarity in response. My favorite part, though, is the 14-year-old's drawing. His free-form links between the various parts of science that affect his life end up being more profound and real to me than, say, the scientist's representation of the scientific method.

I like the basic way that he's gotten folks to consider the impact and importance of science in their lives. I'd love to hear how they prepped their "artists" before drawing and interviewing. The project reaffirms my belief that the simplest things are often the most effective, and frequently the most intriguing.

Jones (@physicus) is taking his project wide and calling for submissions for the next version of The Exquisite Corpse of Science. Join his efforts, and comment or tweet back at us (@the_leonardo) if you do. We'd love to see what you come up with.

Adding to the list of gadgets that you never knew you needed in life is this Chalkbot, a machine that "prints" road chalk messages for the Livestrong Foundation and Nike.

It's making the rounds of France during the year's biggest bike race -- check out the photo gallery. The content of the uniformly heart-warming messages show a deep concern for cancer victims and survivors. Beyond that, though, the mechanics of this thing are pretty cool.

Aside from the canisters of chalk and the hydraulic release system, it looks like there's a pretty beefy internal tech system. It would be interesting to see whether the text messages are translated directly to the road chalk or if they go through a human screener first.

The Leonardo experimented with SMS art during BODY WORLDS when Brooklyn-based artist Paul Notzold created "The Only Certainty: Death and TXTs," a flash skeleton projection that changed positions and thought bubbles based on text messages from visitors.