The vinegar and baking soda volcano is a science fair classic, but making science fun for your kids can mean a lot more than making a mess of your kitchen.

If science at school doesn't sit with your children, there are plenty of fun and even delicious ways to get them excited about biology chemistry and physics — without a single worksheet.

Image: FLICKR, NASA/BILL INGALLS

Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on making change happen for others, that they forget that continually changing themselves and their company is equally important. Some get stuck in a rut and get run over by competitors with new technology, like Eastman Kodak, and others get pushed into a crisis, like Apple did, before they reinvent themselves into a new market.

Rewind to February of my freshman year in college. I’m sitting in front of my laptop, searching “best places to intern” in an effort to kick start my internship hunt. I see the same tech companies appear in every list across the web and proceed to read all about how great the engineering interns have it. At that moment, I started to wonder if I should’ve taken that introductory computer programming class in the fall. Did I miss my chance to work in tech?

Image: http://blog.linkedin.com

Silicon Valley is invading Washington, D.C., casual clothing style and all. In a newly released video from the White House’s YouTube channel, we shadow Mikey Dickerson, a former Google engineer who is the new administrator for the U.S. Digital Service team.

In this video we see Dickerson, once hired by the government to repair the flailing Healthcare.gov website, taking meetings and press conferences all on his very first day at the White House.

Is it rude to think about how to leave someone the first time you meet him? Perhaps. But in the risky world of angel investing, top angels think about the exit the first time they meet the entrepreneur.

Angels want to know that the CEO of the business they are investing in understands which companies could acquire them and why. They want to know the role they and other investors like venture capitalists (VCs), will play in an exit. Starting the relationship on common ground decreases the chance of an exit derailing later.

The world is starting to get a better idea of what the U.S. military's proposed new space plane might look like.

This week, aerospace firm Northrop Grumman released artwork depicting its conception of the XS-1 space plane, which it's designing under a $3.9 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Image: Artist's concept of the space plane being designed by Northrop Grumman, with help from Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic, for DARPA's XS-1 program. Credit: Northrop Grumman

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) turns 98 years old on Monday (Aug. 25), and to celebrate, the agency is throwing open the doors to all national parks, and inviting people to visit for free.

Many parks will host special events this weekend to celebrate the anniversary, including lecture series and concerts, and some will even serve a birthday cake to visitors. It may be the perfect chance to check out some of the least-visited national parks and to take advantage of tours at parks like Grand Teton and Yellowstone, which usually cost around $25.

Image: El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Fenners

Crowdsourcing is one of the most popular and effective ways that businesses and even governments are facing challenges that they come up against today. It is an extremely effective way to gather the most information possible and get the most innovative solutions. On the opposite side of that, we have many organizations that are continually trying to do more with less. This is why we have also seen a rise in the popularity of Lean Management solutions, or the Toyota Production System. What many don’t realize is that, on a very fundamental level, these two system go hand in hand.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

From Steve Jobs to Larry Ellison, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, some of the world’s most successful founders are college dropouts. In fact, the average net worth of billionaires who dropped out of college is about three times more than the average net worth of billionaires with Ph.D.s ($9.4 billion vs. $3.2 billion).

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market-research data. They don’t realize that business projections with no third-party validation have no credibility with investors.

Some companies know exactly how to make their employees happy, and Twitter is at the top of the list.

The social media giant ranked No. 1 out of 25 companies with the best culture and values, according to a new report from job community site Glassdoor.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

According professional association UKBI there are currently around 3,000 incubators in the United Kingdom, supporting more than 12,000 innovative businesses.

For those lucky enough to be selected, a good incubator programme can make a huge difference to a young company’s chances of survival by providing help in key areas such as business planning, marketing, management team creation and attracting investment.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was signed into law in April 2012 and rules for small businesses to raise funds from non-accredited investors.  This was due from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by December 2012. Those final rules are now over 500 days past due; the nascent “crowdfunding” industry is growing impatient.

Few people talking about jobs and innovation in Wichita have heard of Tom McGuire and his wildly inventive friends. And his milling machine, made by hand. And his 3-D printers.

And how some of his devotees have crashed homemade radio-controlled airplanes on the Wichita State University golf course.

Image: From left, John Harrison, Jens Torell, Dominic Canare and Tom McGuire are founders of MakeICT, a nonprofit group of engineering-educator-artist-musician innovators. They teach workshops about using 3-D printers and soldering irons.TRAVIS HEYING/THE WICHITA EAGLE

We all know there is no one right way to start your business -- certainly no failsafe blueprint to success. However, there are several common pitfalls that unnecessarily trip up many entrepreneurs on their road to success, a few of which I fell victim to myself while founding Educents. Now, there is value in learning from your mistakes but here are some rookie mistakes that don’t need to be made. Trust me, we all make plenty of completely original mistakes on our own that we can learn from.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

The standard business pitch has not changed in decades.

The process usually entails face-to-face interaction at the offices of one of the companies. The company that is seeking a partnership will create a presentation, a.k.a. "pitch deck,'' containing relevant and concise information about the business. During the presentation, the person delivering it will be peppered with questions from the listeners looking for holes in the arguments. Most presenters will steer the conversation back to the deck and conclude with a specific request to the company.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

North Dakota is among the top five states for entrepreneurship - in fact, it is number one.

According to a report by the State of Entrepreneurship Index, or SEI, North Dakota ranks number 1 ahead of California, New York, Kentucky and New Hampshire.  Bruce Gjovig is CEO and Entrepreneurship Coach for UND's Center for Innovation Foundation.  He says it comes as no surprise because entrepreneurs want to be where the opportunities are - and there are many in North Dakota.  He says that doesn't occur by accident.

This post on crowdfunding success tips answers the following questions for people or businesses thinking about using crowdfunding to raise funding:

“What are the common elements behind wildly successful crowdfunding campaigns?”

“Which platform is the best fit for my business or project?”

“What should I offer funders or investors?”

The Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Economic Council request public comments to provide input into an upcoming update of the Strategy for American Innovation, which helps to guide the Administration’s efforts to promote lasting economic growth and competitiveness through policies that support transformative American innovation in products, processes, and services and spur new fundamental discoveries that in the long run lead to growing economic prosperity and rising living standards. These efforts include policies to promote critical components of the American innovation ecosystem, including scientific research and development (R&D), technical workforce, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, advanced manufacturing, and others. The strategy also provides an important framework to channel these Federal investments in innovation capacity towards innovative activity for specific national priorities. The public input provided through this notice will inform the deliberations of the National Economic Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which are together responsible for publishing an updated Strategy for American Innovation.

The digital industry is ruining the art of community management. While I refuse to think it is the dear professionals I have worked with over the years, I’m afraid we’re just as much at fault as the people who are lying about the fact that they actually have digital skills.

Image: http://memeburn.com/