The Why Files goes Hollywood, snags a Pixie nomination

The Why Files, a popular science Web magazine produced at UW–Madison, has been nominated for a Pixie Award “honoring achievement in online and broadband motion picture production.”

Nominations for what is considered by some to be the Internet’s equivalent of the Academy Awards were announced this week in Hollywood by the Directors Board of Broadband Motion Pixure Arts and Sciences. Pixies are among the top awards recognizing artistic endeavors that include animation, film and Web site design.

The Why Files (http://whyfiles.org) was nominated in the “Web design incorporating motion” category for a series of interactive animations that allow users to play with lightning, build their own tornados, make snowflakes and hit a baseball. The animations represent the work of Why Files designer and illustrator Sue Medaris, and UW–Madison Space Science and Engineering Center programmer Tom Whittaker.

“We’re pleased and flattered to be nominated for an award that recognizes the efforts of those who work to make the Web come alive,” says Terry Devitt, Why Files editor and project coordinator. “It’s really an award that recognizes the successful marriage of technology and art, and as a Web site that seeks to extend science to everyday experience, we couldn’t seek higher praise.”

Formally known as the Directors Board Awards for Achievement in Broadband Motion Pixure Production, the Pixie Awards include categories for best actor and actress in an i-feature film, best director of an i-feature film, best original score or song for an i-feature film or animation, best i-documentary and others.

The Web site design category recognizes the use of motion in a page design. The Why Files Interactives, the page nominated for the Pixie Award, allows users to drive tornados across a Wisconsin landscape, direct lightning bolts and build customized snowflakes – all true to the underlying physical principles that govern these natural phenomena.

Collaborators in production of the animations include Steve Ackerman, a UW–Madison professor of oceanic and atmospheric science, and Darrell Schulte, Why Files webmaster.

Winners of the 3rd Annual Pixie Awards will be announced in September.

The Why Files, produced under the auspices of the UW–Madison Graduate School, seeks to explain the science behind the news. Established in 1996 within the National Institute for Science Education with support from the National Science Foundation, The Why Files publishes a new illustrated feature on some aspect of math, science or technology each week. It has received numerous awards, including the nation’s top science writing prizes.