Another Gem of an Idea from Mark Valentine

Editor,

Another concept you might be able to use is a makeshift digital microscope, which can be made by simply placing a drop of water on the camera lens of a digital phone. I took some interesting images of an inch worm, but I don't know how to share them electronically. However, you can probably find lots of interesting subjects given your unique location.

Cell phones are as common as pocket knives were 100 years ago. Interesting how they became the most effective weapon against terrorists armed with knives on United Flight 93 on 9/11. I think they make great instruments for amateur science, too.

Mark Valentine

Great idea Mark. And it works. The software for my cell phone does not work, so I can't post any images made in this manner. Readers, please try out Mark's idea and send some sample photos to editor[@]sas[dot]org. Editor.

Window flow: Glass vs. Lead

Editor,

In reply to Allan Rydberg's observations of his stained glass window, yes, Allan, I agree that it was the lead came that was flowing and not the glass.

As Robert H. Brill, a research scientist at Corning Glass, points out in his paper Does Glass Flow? No, It Doesn't Flow!, "Estimates of the viscosity of glasses at room temperature run as high as 10²⁰ poises. . . [while] the viscosity of metallic lead has been estimated to be about 10¹¹ poises." That is, lead is a billion times more fluid than glass.

The windows in my church are made from a grid of 16 4 x 6-inch pebbled glass panes joined with lead came. The church is about 40 to 50 years old, and many of the window grids are buckling. Again, it's the lead, not the glass, that is deforming.

Actually, the urban legend states that any glass, such as the windows in old buildings, will flow, not just stained glass windows.

If you want to “see” a supposedly solid substance flow, check out The Pitch Drop Experiment .

Ralph J. Coppola

Amateur Scientists

Shawn Carlson was recently quoted about amateur science in The Christian Science Monitor (Gregory M. Lamb, 'Citizen scientists' watch for signs of climate change,10 April 2008). Paul Deisler sent Shawn a note about the article, which he has allowed us to print here. Editor.

Dear Shawn:

I was especially delighted by the content of the article and the blog  it referred to on amateur scientists who made major contributions to science. Three I knew of, but I had not heard of Robert Evans and  Henrietta Swan Leavitt, yet their contributions are known to many and are an integral part of our better understanding of our Universe.

Two other women, in particular, bear mentioning as well (and I imagine there are many more that are unsung):  Marie Curie and Lise Meitner.  Both had extreme difficulty in acquiring scientific educations and both, especially Lise Meitner, suffered greatly (first, as a woman seeking an education in the Germany and Austria of  her day and, second, under Hitler, for having been born a Jewess -- 
despite her conversion to Catholicism). Marie Curie's great achievement is well known, her separation of radium. Lise Meitner may be less known. She correctly interpreted the experimental results of Otto Hahn, becoming the first person to recognize that atomic fission had occurred (1939). He received the Nobel Prize. She received not a mention.

Much of the science we take for granted today came from amateurs: Newton, Lavoisier, and many others before and after them who had no Ph.D.s in science but were simply interested in the natural world and used their native intelligence to find things out.

Thanks for reminding us that curiosity intelligence and persistence are core qualities for scientists to have.

Paul Deisler

The Galilean Cannon

Editor,

Years ago, while playing ball, with my 16-month old foster son, I remembered reading about “The Galilean Cannon” in an old issue of Science Probe! (A. K. Dewdney, July 1992, pp. 97-100).

So I rounded up one of the dog's tennis balls and a basket ball, both of which would bounce up around 70 cm when dropped, from belt level, to the living room floor,.

I then placed the tennis ball in contact with the top of the basket ball and dropped both simultaneously.

The basket ball rebounded to around its normal 70 cm, or so, --- BUT --- the tennis ball struck the ceiling before bouncing around the living room. The little guy loved it, but the dog took off to safer quarters. I repeated the experiment several more times before my wife put an end to our scientific experimentation and before I wrecked the room :-)

Some day I'd like to get a collection of a half dozen, or so, balls, of various sizes, and make some collars that will allow the smaller ball to balance on a larger one while still making contact with the larger ball. Then I'd drop the whole assembly on the driveway. I wonder what altitude the smallest ball will reach.

The Astro-Blaster , from Edmund Scientific , is a commercialized version of the experiment.

Ralph J. Coppola

OK, readers, it's your turn. I tried this experiment using ball bearings when I edited A.K. Dewdney's article for Science Probe!, and it worked as described. Please send your results--or maybe even an article-length report, to editor[at]sas[dot]org. Use caution when trying this experiment. Editor.

Correction: "Praying Mantis" is a Mantis Fly

Editor,

The mantis picture in the recent issue of The Citizen Scientist ("Gallery," April 2008) is a mantis fly, an insect that is similar to the praying mantis, but it is classified in a different order, Neuroptera. The mantis fly has clear wings like a lacewing, while the praying mantis has smooth, leathery-like fore wings. However, the wing design of the praying mantis depends upon the species. Also, the praying mantis can turn its head 180 degrees.

Nevertheless, nice picture.

Michael Reed

Thanks very much for the correction. Editor.

A Lake Algae Control Experiment  

Editor,

Long Lake in Washington was toxic in 2003, but free of toxic algae in 2004, 2005 and 2006 after plankton releases each year.

In 2006 the Kitsap County Health District [was notified before] I released plankton into toxic Kitsap Lake and into red tide paralytic Hood Canal.

I grow plankton by dipping water into a glass jug or tank with bubbling air, light, and 1/4 tsp/gallon and garden fertilizer. After 40 days the water becomes green. I can take away half the water each day and replace it with fresh or well water (not city water!).

I pour some of the green plankton into streams that flow into a toxic lake. I also pour plankton into streams that flow into Puget Sound. The plankton absorb pesticides and chlorine, and they all die when they reach salt water and are buried under sediment

Glen Hemerick 

"Science is Evil!"

Editor,

DO NOT send me the TCS I will put it in TRASH! SCIENCE I've discovered is EVIL!

[Name withheld]

This was received from a person who submitted material copied from multiple sources. Editor.

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