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Bdelloid Rotifer

William Dembowski, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS)

Although no larger than the largest protozoa, rotifers are multi-cellular animals composed of about a thousand cells. Often difficult to identify to a genus level,

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

Editorial: So You Think You Have an Eighth Grade Education? by Forrest M. Mims III

Mathematics Corner: Introduction to the Fourth Year of this Column
George E Hrabovsky

Wanderings with Ralph Coppola

Backscatter. Views and responses from TCS readers.

Eye on the Sky: The February Sky by Paul Curtin

Response to "Questions and Answers about Climate Change" by Forrest M. Mims III

Kevin T. Kilty

"What is going on here?" asks Forrest Mims (Editorial, TCS, 11 March 2005). Why do countless web sites all appear to present unbalanced views of climate change?". More.

NASA's Stardust Mission Safely Home

Help Wanted: NASA's Stardust Mission Needs Volunteers!

Astronomy Update

The Sperling Files: Sperling's 8-Second Law: All Total Solar Eclipses Last 8 Seconds

Norman Sperling

Everyone who sees a total solar eclipse remembers it forever. It overwhelms the senses … and the soul as well – the curdling doom of the onrushing umbra, the otherworldly pink prominences, the ethereal pearly corona. And, incredibly soon, totality terminates.

How to Create an Animation  of an Orbiting Object 

Jim Hannon

Norman Sperling suggested the development of computer astronomical animations in The Sperling Files: Creating New Astronomical Computer Graphics and Animations (The Citizen Scientist, 13 January 2006).

Polarized Crystals

Richard Haynes

Beautiful iridescent crystals of many materials can be seen through a microscope equipped with polarizing film filters. Seeing such crystal colors depends upon two properties of light: polarization and birefringence. A brief explanation for each follows.

 

Algorithms for Mental Conversion between the Fahrenheit and Celsius Scales

Robert A. Warren

Yes, quick mental conversions can be made between the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales, using the algorithms presented in this paper. But before these algorithms are presented, some background material is needed. More.
Updated 27 January 2006

Back Issues: Click Below
 
 

In 1992 and 1994 two discoveries were made that have had a major impact on the scientific community. These finds, the Schaefer and Hebior mammoths, were discovered and excavated in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, through the efforts and skills of a number of individuals. More.

Sideways Gravity in the Basement: Norman Scheinberg's Cavendish Experiment

John W. Dooley,

Physics Department, Millersville University

Norman Scheinberg is a professor of electrical engin- eering at The City College of the City University of New York. He built a Foucault pendulum in his basement just to see if he could get it to work. More
   
Copyright 2005 by Society for Amateur Scientists