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21 November 2003

Dirt Cheap Science

by Mark Streitman

I try not to eat pizza (too many empty calories).  But if I'm somewhere that has free pizza (or cake), I always take a slice.  I'm addicted to free stuff.   Some people I know have even made a hobby out of getting free stuff.  However, I only like free when it's useful (or I'm hungry).  I especially like free (or very cheap) and useful science stuff.

The SAS has always been about how to do useful science experiments cheaply.  Some of the
SAS projects have been about how to build good, cheap instruments.  But with the advent of the Internet, the amount of free or cheap stuff has grown exponentially.   The name Dirt Cheap Science Tools and Information might be more accurate for this new column, but it doesn't sound as good.  

Over the next several months I'll be sharing some of my discoveries for free or cheap science stuff.  I'm presently working on a new version of the Foucault Pendulum that will be far easier to use thanks to a dirt cheap on-board computer.  In the past this would have taken thousand of dollars to develop; not anymore.  I've spend less than $50 on the development tools.

But what about real science?   That's what my first column's about.   I wasn't even looking for the two resources that I'm listing here, they were just given to me.   If anyone would like to write me and tell me about some other great and cheap resources out there, I'll list them in this column.

In the past, big technical databases were only accessible to professional scientists.  The organizations that ran them charged big bucks to access them too.  This has been changing over the years.  The Internet has been a great force in making large amounts of data available for free.  I could do a column on this subject alone.   A new tool for astronomy is available at the Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium site.

http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/hp/vo/du/index.html

It's called the Digital Universe.   Not only is it a professional quality (I'm not a professional astronomer, but it looks professional to me) database, but it has a really cool piece of software to view it with.  The software is called Partiview.  To use this program you download the software and the data separately.  It allows you to view the stars and/or brown dwarfs around earth in 3D (as best as one can on a 2D screen) or the entire Milky way galaxy.  It allows you to fly through space and see the different star formations, constellations and structures.  I have a fast computer and my guess is that it will be a lot harder to use if you have a older slow computer. It's an open-ended tool that allows the installation of different databases.  There are a number of features that beyond my very moderate knowledge of astronomy.  It's fun for any amateur scientist and useful the serious amateur astronomer  Check it out, it's FREE!  

Biology is one of these areas that  you wouldn't expect a lot of free stuff.    However at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute they have a catalog that looks like any other Internet store.

http://catalog.hhmi.org/index.= jsp

It looks like you're purchasing publications and teaching material.  But in the end it's free.  
I got a whole package of DVD and video lectures on Biological Clocks, Genomics, Safe Science and more. In addition, I got software on Hearts and Hypertension, the Virtual Cardiology Lab, The Virtual Immunology Lab,computer based lectures, virtual exhibits and much much more.  It's hundreds of dollars worth of stuff.  If you have an interest in biology, are a science teacher, a parent or have a budding doctor in the family, this site is for you.  

I have a lot of new stuff on my to-do list.    I keep telling my friends that I need to live to be about 500 just to be able do all the items on my present to-do list.  This adds another year or two onto it.

Mark Streitman is the president of the New Jersey chapter of the SAS. You can reach him at president@njsas.org