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GALLERY
This
photograph shows the moon at the peak of totality during the total lunar
eclipse of 27 October 2004. During a lunar eclipse, the moon is in the
earth's shadow. The faint, copper-colored hue of the moon during totality
is caused by sunlight filtering through the atmosphere that forms a thin
film around the earth.
More.
COLUMNS
Classics: "The
Amateur Scientist" Classics: The Effects of Gravity on Plant Growth
Shawn Carlson
Forrest
Mims' World of Science
by Forrest M. Mims III
Editorial: George
Hrabovsky and his world of books by Forrest M. Mims III
Mind of a Theorist: The
Return of The Theorist!
George E. Hrabovsky, President, MAST
Puzzle
'Toons by Brian Mansfield
Wanderings
with Ralph Coppola
Mathematics Corner: What
IS the Riemann Hypothesis?
George E Hrabovsky, President. MAST
Curious Eye: Not
Just Blowing Smoke
by Diane Hrabovsky
Eye on the Sky: Eye on the Sky October/November
2004 by Paul Curtin
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NEWS
Mount
St. Helens from space
Do science and
engineering careers require a college degree? No!
Credit where credit
is due
Wanted:
Contributions to The Citizen Scientist
Backscatter.
Views and responses from TCS readers.
FEATURES
Remembering
Mount St. Helens
Sheldon Greaves
I grew up in Salem, Oregon, which is located just off the spiney
backbone of volcanoes that makes up the Cascade Range. From the roof of
our home on clear days we could see three ancient volcanoes marching back
into the distance: Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, and, on the very horizon,
Mt. St. Helens. More.
Asian
lady beetles: Do they or don't they?
Richard
Haynes
Sitting in my office-laboratory last spring,
I felt what seemed like a pinprick. Brushing at the spot, I saw a little
yellowish beetle fly away.
The attack was not personal. No skin was broken, though the place smarted
for a while. This beetle was probably hunting for moisture after hibernating
in the ceiling. It and its relatives were just beginning to stir, and,
as the day warmed, a small army of the tiny animals rained down from between
the ceiling tiles. The vacuum was busy that day. More.
Classics: "The
Amateur Scientist" Classics: The Effects of Gravity on Plant Growth
Shawn Carlson
I remember my mother's father as a wild-eyed, high-intensity, crazy man.
His was born George Donald Graham. His friends called him Don, but I suspect
that just about everyone else called him "that G.D. Graham," as my father
did. That G.D. Graham got himself kicked out of college in the 1920's
for recruiting prostitutes to pose nude for his art class, and his life
only got wilder from there. He had been a wandering artist (some said
bum) during the Depression. He made money as a prospector of rare minerals
only because he'd never think twice about trespassing on private land.
He was a brilliant but unsuccessful inventor, as well as an unapologetic
atheist, an occasional pornographer, a frequent huckster and, at one time,
the youngest taxidermist in the state of Kansas. And I am absolutely certain
that he, like many great American geniuses, was also an undiagnosed manic-depressive.
More.
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PRODUCTS
The
Sun and Sky Monitoring Station by Forrest M. Mims III.
An excellent product for beginning scientists,
seasoned amateurs (or even professionals) looking for a new challenge,
or someone trying to come up with a reasonably self-contained science
fair project. Briefly stated, this kit gives one the instrumentation needed
to track accurately the total sunlight in a given time period, measure
haze and water vapor in the atmosphere.
Click
here to order.
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29
October 2004