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19 September 2003

Wanderings

by Ralph J. Coppola
r_j_coppola@hotmail.com

Recently, as I was driving toward some rain clouds I was fortunate to observe a special type of rainbow. At first it was just a splash of colour, but soon it grew in size until it was a full ground to ground arc. As passing vehicles kicked up road spray, the rainbow seemed to originate on the hood of my car. Then a secondary rainbow appeared above the first rainbow. The primary one had the normal ROYGBIV colour distribution but the secondary rainbow was a mirror image of the primary one and had a VIBGYOR distribution. See … rnbw.gif.

Red Sprites and Blue Jets are upper atmospheric optical phenomena associated with thunderstorms.

WOOFING ..…. No, it's not a method of communicating with the family pet. Woofing stands for World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. The International WWOOF Association is dedicated to helping those who would like to volunteer on organic farms internationally.

The Delft Institute for Earth-Oriented Space Research (DEOS) hosts a collection of Mean Sea Surface and Gravity Anomaly Maps.

Peltier coolers are interesting semiconductor devices. You might find one here for your projects?

Who's getting it right and who's getting it wrong in the debate about Science Literacy?

Do you wish to join a network of solar observers? Check out the CV-HELIOS Network.

The Solar Terrestrial Dispatch web site contains an Hourly Auroral Activity Report

Use NOAA's Sunrise/Sunset Calculator to find your local times.

Is anyone interested in a 5mw 532nm green laser pointer?

The Dog Genome Project is a collaborative study involving scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Oregon, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. It is aimed at producing a map of all the chromosomes in dogs. Such a map can be used to locate the genes causing disease and those controlling morphology and behaviour.

The Discovery Channel has coverage of Team O Canada's record breaking amateur rocket launch. To view this you will need Windows Media Player.

The Society for Technical Aeromodel Research (STAR), an affiliate of The District Of Columbia Radio Control Club, has successfully flown a model aircraft from Newfoundland to Ireland, a distance of about 1950 mi.

The Kids Room

The Sourcebook for Teaching Science: Strategies, Activities, and Internet Resources, provides new and experienced teachers with a wealth of useful teaching strategies, resources, lessons, activities, and ideas to enhance science teaching and learning.

In 2001, Science Kit & Boreal Laboratories purchased Edmund Scientific. Science Kit, located in Tonawanda, New York, is a leading supplier of educational science products and the largest builder of science kits in the world

The Do Science Web Site has great science activities for parents, students and even people that go out to eat in restaurants.

From The Far Side

The Museum of Unnatural Mystery is the brainchild of Lee Krystek. The museum explores the fringe edges of science and at the same time uses those subjects to get people interested in the more mundane aspects of scientific work.

Was Nigel Stubbingwicke part of a conspiracy to sabotage the expedition searching for a living specimen of the Mokele-Mbembe or Apatosaurus?

Robert Park's Seven Warning Signs of Voodoo Science.

Lawrence S. Lerner's review of Robert Park's book … Voodoo Science: The Road From Foolishness to Fraud