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TCS Updated August 1 2008


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California Dragonflies

Denise D. Greaves, PhD

Several species of Odonata have taken up residence in and around some groundwater recharge ponds along Penitencia Creek in San Jose, California, a bit west of Alum Rock Park. The bright orangish-red creature in Fig. 1 is a flame skimmer (Libellula saturata), and the dragonflies in Figs. 2 and 3 are variegated meadowhawks (Sympetrum corruptum).

Editorial: Contrail Science
by Forrest M. Mims III

Forrest Mims' World of Science
by Forrest M. Mims III

Backscatter. Views and responses from TCS readers.

Eye on the Sky: The August Sky by Paul Curtin

Wanderings with Ralph Coppola

Mind of a Theorist: Introduction to Physics by George E. Hrabovsky

Joint Review of Superstring Theory: The DNA of Reality and Mathematica Version 6.

George E. Hrabovsky, President, MAST

Superstring Theory, The DNA of Reality

A few weeks ago Shawn Carlson asked if I would review some material sent by a noted physicist on string theory for the lay public. While a readily assented, I did not hold out much hope for the material, as my experience of string theory for lay people is not very high, with one previous exception.

Recognition for The Citizen Scientist

Amateur Scientist Discovers 1,500th SOHO Comet

Major Hummingbird News

New Product Allows Cameras, Cell Phones and Other Gear to be Carried on a Belt

Wanted: Contributions to The Citizen Scientist

Replication of “An Experiment to Measure the Absolute Motion of the Earth,” Part 2

Lance Osadchey, C. Michael Edwards, and Pat Kirol


Dr. Lance Osadchey's article "An Experiment to Measure The Absolute Motion of the Earth" (The Citizen Scientist, 02 February 2007) was followed by various letters in "Backscatter," a major article by C. Michael Edwards ("A Progress Report on Replicating An Experiment to Measure the Absolute Motion of the Earth," 6 July 2007) and the record number of views (8,092 as of this writing) for any topic on the Society for Amateur Scientists Forum.

Poorman's Space Program

Designing Near Space Experiments (Part 2)

Paul Verhage

In Part 1, we discussed data loggers suitable for a BalloonSat. Now it's time to discuss sensors.

This Week at Hilton Pond

Bill Hilton Jr.
Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
York, South Carolina 29745 USA

Hummingbird Jubilation, Tinged With Sadness (22-30 June 2008)

During our 25 years of hummer study we've had our share of "hummingbird jubilations," including several of our banded birds being recaptured at other locales. None of these, however, matches the excitement we experienced "This Week at Hilton Pond" when we got word of the unprecedented long-distance recovery of a ruby-throated hummingbird we banded earlier this year. Yippee!

Amateur Scientist David Gowen Discovers Two New Plant Species

Amateur botanist David Gowen (see "Editorial" in this installment of The Citizen Scientist), is a retired carpenter who recently discovered two new species of plants never before described by science. Gowen's discovery is all the more remarkable, for he found the plants at Lime Ridge Open Space near downtown Walnut Creek, California. On 12 June 2008 Save Mount Diablo posted an article and a media release about Gowen's discovery on the organizations web site. This discovery is so important that most of the media release is posted verbatim here. Editor.
   
Copyright © 2007 by the Society for Amateur Scientists