Did you know that the stars in the night sky are mostly made of hydrogen and helium? You can thank Cecilia Payne for that groundbreaking discovery! Despite her work initially being dismissed by male colleagues, Cecilia Payne’s genius unlocked the secret composition of stars, reshaping our understanding of the universe.

But her journey wasn’t all starlight and brilliance, she had to fight against the odds as a woman in early 20th-century science. So, the next time you gaze at the stars and think "they are fireflies that got stuck up in that big bluish black thing", remember Cecilia Payne: astrophysicist, trailblazer, pioneer, and the woman who proved the stars are much more than just decorations in the sky.

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Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Payne-Gaposchkin
https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/43/1/1.27/203723?login=true
https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/cosmic-horizons-book/cecilia-payne-profile
https://www.ans.org/news/article-6028/cecilia-paynegaposchkin-the-woman-who-first-grasped-the-elemental-power-of-stars/

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Did you know that Lizzie Magie is the true inventor of Monopoly? Well, technically, she invented and patented The Landlord's Game, a board game initially deemed "too complicated" to achieve widespread popularity. Despite this, her creation started spreading across the U.S., with players crafting their own personalized versions of the game.
That is, until someone stepped in, declared, "Hey, I've got a great idea!" and patented what we now know as Monopoly.
Join us as we unravel the drama behind one of the most iconic board games of the last century. Meet Lizzie Magie: feminist, inventor, game designer, actress, writer, and passionate Georgist!

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Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Magie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord%27s_Game#cite_note-17
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance_(game)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_(game)
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1905-12-17/ed-1/seq-59/#loclr=blogadm
https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2022/09/elizabeth-j-magie/

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Earning both public recognition for her inventions and making "barrel-loads" of money (wink, wink!), Maria E. Beasley was an inventor extraordinaire. With 15 patents to her name and millions of dollars in income, she is best known for her barrel-hooping machine, her revolutionised design of the life raft, and anti-derailment modifications made to trains. How exactly did this 19th-century American engineer such a wide variety of inventions?! Follow us in episode sixteen of The Inventing HerStory Podcast to learn all about Maria's trailblazing career in a male-dominated field, and how her legacy continues to impact modern engineering today.


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Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_E._Beasley
https://www.stmarys.sa.edu.au/women-in-stem-maria-beasley.html
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-champaign-daily-gazette-woman-and-ho/90478469/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-inquirer-she-has-a-barrel-mrs-mari/90480777/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-newton-enterprise-a-lady-inventor/90479179/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_E._Beasley#Barrel-hooping_machine
https://intrans.iastate.edu/news/maria-beasley-engineering-dynamo/
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/002314379/publication/US245050A?q=pn%3DUS245050
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/002326239/publication/US256951A?q=pn%3DUS256951
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/002673142/publication/US604513A?q=pn%3DUS604513

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Eva Ekeblad, also known as the "potato pioneer", was (one of) the first female chemists in Sweden. She experimented with using potatoes in many cooking and household applications including making potato bread, potato starch, dying yarn using potato starch, and most notably, liquor distilled from potatoes! During a time when potatoes were new and not yet popular in Sweden (believe it or not), these discoveries made a huge impact. Historians even credit increasing popular use of the potato with preventing famine in Europe! Follow us in episode fifteen of The Inventing HerStory Podcast to learn all about the history of the potato and Eva Ekeblad's use of the potato which contributed to their popularity in Sweden still today!


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Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br%C3%A4nnvin
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-distill-vodka/
https://popularhistoria.se/vetenskap/eva-ekeblad-gjorde-sprit-av-potatis
https://skbl.se/en/article/EvaEkeblad
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eva-Ekeblad
https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=16806


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Known as the "Mother of Aquariophily," Jeanne Villepreux-Power invented the aquarium, allowing for groundbreaking studies of marine life in their natural habitats. But how did this invention come about?! Discover her remarkable journey from a seamstress in rural France to a self-learned naturalist whose innovative methods laid the foundation for modern marine research, not to mention aqua farming. Follow us as we explore the life and drama-filled journey of Jeanne Villepreux-Power in episode fourteen of The Inventing HerStory Podcast!

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Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Villepreux-Power
Jeanne Villepreux-Power | French Naturalist, Inventor of Aquariums | Britannica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonauta_argo
https://www.britannica.com/animal/nautilus-cephalopod
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_use_by_non-humans
Oinuma, C., (2008). "Octopus mercatoris response behaviour to novel objects in a laboratory setting: Evidence of play and tool use behavior?" In Octopus Tool Use and Play Behavior
https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=26020

Listen to Artichoke's song Jeanne Villepreux!

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Not only the mother of a famous Hollywood star, Judith Love Cohen was working on stars....or at least as an electrical engineer working for a supplier to NASA! Among her greatest accomplishments, was her work on the Apollo abort guidance system which helped safely guide astronauts back to earth during the disastrous Apollo 13 mission. Learn all about what went wrong during this disastrous mission, the role of the abort guidance system during the mission, as well as Judy's other contributions to science including her series of inspirational children's books.
Tune in to learn about Judy's work with Apollo 13 during episode thirteen of The Inventing HerStory Podcast!

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Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-30_Minuteman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_and_data_relay_satellite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Abort_Guidance_System
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Love_Cohen
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-06-cl-7284-story.html

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Using bacteria to give nutrients to crops rather than fertilizers, Maria Esperanza Martinez-Romero is making big steps toward creating sustainable farming practices. Her discoveries on nitrogen fixation in plants by bacteria is currently being implemented in Mexico and Peru. Known for her innovative work with bacteria, Maria has been instrumental in uncovering the complex relationships between microbes and their environments. Tune in to learn how bacteria might just be the key to solving some of our biggest environmental challenges, plus the parallels between plant bacteria and our own gut bacteria in episode twelve of The Inventing HerStory Podcast!

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Sources:
https://www.forwomeninscience.com/article/24
https://www.ccg.unam.mx/en/maria-esperanza-martinez-romero/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanza_Mart%C3%ADnez-Romero
Cocking, E. C. (2003). Endophytic colonization of plant roots by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Plant and Soil, 252, 169-175.
Buchanan, B. B., Gruissem, W., Jones, R. L. (2015a). Symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Buchanan, B. B. (Ed), Gruissem, W. (Ed), Jones, R. L. (Ed), Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants. (2nd ed., 718-735). John Wiley & Sons.
Bowsher, A. W., Evans, S., Tiemann, L. K., & Friesen, M. L. (2018). Effects of soil nitrogen availability on rhizodeposition in plants: a review. Plant and Soil, 423, 59-85.
Pankievicz, V. C. S., Delaux, P. M., Infante, V., Hirsch, H. H., Rajasekar, S., Zamora, P.,... & Ané, J. M. (2022). Nitrogen fixation and mucilage production on maize aerial roots is controlled by aerial root development and border cell functions. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 977056.

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From her dazzling career as a Hollywood actress to her contributions to wireless communication, Hedy Lamarr's brilliance extended far beyond the silver screen. Her invention that used frequency hopping for a torpedo guidance system during World War II laid the groundwork for technologies we use today, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Inspired to help the war-cause through her invention, Hedy's inspiration drew from several different aspects of her life, including piano-playing! Join us as as we explore wireless communication with Hedy Lamarr in episode eleven of The Inventing HerStory Podcast.

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Sources:
https://www.forwomeninscience.com/article/24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency-hopping_spread_spectrum
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hedy-Lamarr

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