|
12 November2004 Wanderings Ralph J. Coppola Come join us on theWanderings Chat Room. (See info and instructions.) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ===== FeatureThe Science Project site opens a new age of collaborative science projects for grades K through 12. Wanderings Newt Gingrich comments on amateur science and gives a plug for Shawn Carlson and SAS in his The Age of Transitions . Most of us are aware that C. L. Stong, an early columnist for Scientific American's "The Amateur Scientist" column, published a collection of selected projects in his 1957 book, "The Scientific American Book of Projects for the Amateur Scientist." But how many of you are aware of the other book that he co-authored with James E. Hammesfahr? The topics that are covered in Creative Glass Blowing include tools of the glass blower, basic operations for both solid glass and glass tubing and the fabrication of novelty and scientific glassware. East Carolina University's Glassblowing Services provides an online glassblowing tutorial . Teralab Glass Blowing for Vacuum Devices is another online tutorial. Hot Glass Bits --- Mike Firth's furnace glass working site. How to collect and preserve spider webs . Check out Neil Fraser's page and see how he constructed a 3D Computer Mouse . Interested in holography? If so, have a look at Colin Kaminski's DIY holography page. Hubert Roussel has an interesting web page that includes, among other DIY projects, a section on making holograms using an ordinary laser pointer. Unfortunately, the page is in French. For those of you who are not fluent in French, try using an online translator like Babblefish.com to produce a rough translation. With a little bit of reading between the lines and a wee bit of luck, you might be able to figure out what he is writing about. Give it a try. Bonne chance! Mathematics professor Jason Brown of Dalhousie University believes that he has solved the mystery of how The Beatles constructed the opening chord of “A Hard Day's Night”. Listen to the CBC interview with Prof. Brown , in Real Audio. Winter is on its way, and, in some parts of the country, this means frozen rivers, lakes and ponds. Researchers have found that most people who fall into cold water die from drowning and not hypothermia as commonly thought. See Survival In Cold Waters from Marine Safety Directorate of Transport Canada. Read about the attempts to save the Wollemi Pine , one of the world's oldest and rarest plants dating back to the time of the dinosaurs. You can download a free monthly sky map from the Skymaps.com web site. The Aurora Sentry is a collection of real time data designed to assist in determining whether an aurora is occurring or will occur in the near future. NASA's Solar System Dynamics WWW Site provides data of all known bodies that orbit around the sun. The aim of the European Rivers Network is to link groups and people who are working for the protection their rivers. They maintain an extensive list of links to related web sites. Sciencebase.com is aimed at everyone who has an interest in chemistry, physics, biomedical research and other sciences. The Science Blog encompasses subjects ranging from Computers & Electronics to Bioscience & Medicine. M. C. Escher is famous for his fantastical drawings that have managed to stretch the laws of logic and perception. Gershon Elber, a professor with the Israel Institute of Technology, has managed to make real life 3D models of some of Escher's more famous illusions. He started by putting together computer models of the drawings, and then he used a 3D printer to make real world versions. See the GOOGLE collection of Optical Illusions. For those of you who may wish to build a boat and sail the seven seas, a printout of The American Practical Navigator will definitely be an asset to you. The Kids RoomThe Science Projects Page shows you how to isolate DNA from strawberries and other fruit. Have fun learning Physics with Physics Toys . Kinetic City: Mission to Vearth is an after-school standards-based science program in which kids complete activities in conjunction with a dynamic web site. Fun Things for the Young-in-Spirit is a selection of projects that requires a minimum of materials, equipment and effort. Some of the projects are science oriented, while others are just fun. The National Student Research Center envisions educating children around the world to become humanitarian and ecological 21st century citizens in an ultimately diverse and highly interdependent, science and technology based, global community. The mission of the Youth Science Center is to provide science, technology, and math enrichment to youth in order to prepare them for the future. The World Year of Physics 2005 has a collection of interesting Classroom Projects. The Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design page, of the University of Idaho Mechanical Engineering department, contains a collection of hardware prototype that were designed and constructed by the senior students. From The Far Side Anti gravity? | |||||
Copyright 2004 by Society for Amateur Scientists |
