The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin And the Pursuit of Genius

Justin McHenry, Research Director for IndexCreditCards.com

I've always been a Benjamin Franklin fan, but I guess I've always admired the caricature of Franklin: from the rags-to-riches Poor Richard writing witty sayings in his almanacs to the benevolent old founding father who charmed the ladies in France.

Update and Comments about An Experiment to Measure The Absolute Motion of the Earth

Lance Osadchey

I was asked to respond to reader inquiries and to provide more details on the velador setup described in An Experiment to Measure The Absolute Motion of the Earth (The Citizen Scientist, 2 March 2007).

First, I wish to caution everyone to be careful with the components. A responsible adult should be in charge of the construction and use of the velador. In particular, the laser and camera are potentially hazardous.

Labrats Update by Shawn Carlson: Lesson Twelve

Did you know that you can extract DNA from living things in your kitchen? Well, it's easy to do using chemicals you already have around your home. This week, I'm going to show you how.

The Rocket Man

Augusta Dwyer

In his sleep, Juan Lozano often dreams that he can fly, but unlike most of us, it is a sensation he can compare to a real life experience. “And it is more or less the same,” he says about flying in his homemade rocket belt. “You have no outside reference. It's as if you were flying on your own.”

Pity the Poor Amateur Scientist!

Joanie Silk

It's getting tougher and tougher for amateur scientists to acquire critically important chemicals for experimentation. If they need diethyl ether for an extraction, forget it. Red phosphorus crystals for synthesis? Not a chance. Entire bacterial genera are no longer accessible.

This Week at Hilton Pond

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

Midwinter Window Birds (22-31 January 2007)

What could be more satisfying than sitting in front of a big picture window with a view of backyard birds coming and going? In the Carolina Piedmont, we watch birds a lot and sometimes even try to photograph them. The fruits of our recent efforts make up the photo essay for "This Week at Hilton Pond."

Quantum Mechanics Mini-Lesson

Shawn Carlson
Executive Director, Society for Amateur Scientists

Recently the following letter arrived at SAS:

Dr. Shawn,

I’m very confused about the properties of photons. When I used de Broglie’s equation, I found that a photon would have a mass inversely proportional to its wavelength, which I can’t understand because I thought photons were not supposed to have mass.