Tim's blog

Light Pollution

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:12:04 +0000

Have you ever heard someone talk about "Light Pollution" before? It doesn't mean that lights are putting out harmful chemicals into the air, but rather that modern lights block much of the night sky from being visible to us down here on the ground.

Lights at night can impact both the biology and ecology of species in the wild. Some examples include:

the disorientation of sea turtle hatchlings by beachfront lighting
nesting choices and breeding success of birds
behavioral and physiological changes in salamanders
disturbances of nocturnal animals
altered natural light regimes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

There's an organization dedicated to documenting the trend of increased light pollution around the world. GLOBEatNight.org works hard via their website to have everyday visitors document visible stars at their locations. It's even possible for regular Joes like you and me to submit data! How cool is that?!

Hybrid Super Shark Terrorizes Australian Coastline

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:09:24 +0000

No, not really. If this were a tabloid, that might be the headline. Since this is a science-related blog, the more appropriate headline would be "Scientists Find Sharks Adapting To Climate Change Off Australian Coast." Whew, better.

This bad boy may not look out of the ordinary to us, but to researchers in Australia, it's evolution in action. With the melting icecaps, the tropical waters around Australia are cooling down. The Australian black-tip shark can only live in warm tropical waters. However, the common black-tip shark can live in cooler waters. Introducing: offspring.

Can This Wristband Make You Healthier?

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:06:27 +0000

Jawbone, a company known for creating portable speakers and wireless mics has created what they are calling a revolution in health: The UP Wristband.

This wristband, in conjunction with an App accessible by iPhone, iPad, or iTouch, is capable of monitoring what you eat, when you ate it, whether it makes you feel full, how you are sleeping (gives you a sleep score), as well as your activity level during the day (think pedometer and GPS).

What do you think? Would this force you to keep better track of your nutrition? Is the ability to track your "quality of sleep" bunk science? Check out their website and see for yourself!

Don't Hate The Player, Hate The....Shoes?

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:53:39 +0000

Does the type of shoe a player wears on the field or court make a difference in his/her ability to play the game? For years, Nike and Reebok have been saying their basketball shoes allow you to run longer, jump higher, etc. But where's the research?

Nike has recently designed some fancy new shoes for a soccer player, Christiano Ronaldo, that they say has an effect on the ability of other players to defend him. According to Nike, the shoes mimic an optical illusion that makes the shoes look different from alternate angles. This matters because many defenders look at a players feet to determine his path and where he might take the soccer ball.

Look at the design below-do you think this can improve one's ability to get through defenders?

Crater On Earth Helps Us Understand Craters On Other Planets

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:11:33 +0000

Introducing the Barringer Meteorite Crater in Arizona. About 50,000 years ago, this area was struck by an iron meteorite and scientists have been studying this area to gain valuable information about crater formation. Scientists and researchers examine the impact and debris field to determine things like composition, trajectory, and from that data scientists are making projections about craters on other planets.

Wait.....astronauts wear their underwear for HOW LONG?!

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:26:57 +0000

Have You Been To Khan Academy Lately?

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:45:01 +0000

With over 2700 videos and 240 math practice exercises, you could be learning more today about a topic that interests you. Just ask any of the YES Staff about it and you'll find it's an addicting website.

Points are just the beginning. Earning badges and points for watching videos and reviewing basic and advanced math skills is making many of us more engaged into our learning.

What's your points total? I challenge anyone reading this to compare your points total and see where you rank compared to other teens in the YES program! Add it in the comments section, then go to Khan Academy to earn more energy point and badges!

If I get enough people commenting, I might even share MINE!

What Can't Go Up, Must Go Down

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:12:24 +0000

In an area of Mexico City where you cannot build higher than the level of famous churches, architects are strategizing about the best way to create new skyscrapers. They think the best thing is to build DOWN - an Earthscraper, if you will.

Would you live 65 stories underground? Is that still the Penthouse or would you call it The Dungeon? What about if there's a fire or an earthquake?

See the full story here.

Who Wants To See An Asteroid?

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:46:00 +0000

I DO I DO!

This asteroid (2005 YU55) will pass by Earth TONIGHT roughly 200,000 miles from our planet. FYI - that's closer than the moon! There's no immediate danger of this thing hitting us, which is good because it is roughly the size of a city block traveling at over 29,000 MPH. Astronomers are excited about getting the chance to study an asteroid that is so close.

If you want to see it tonight, check out this link to NASA; they will be updating it all night with the best spots for viewing.

Amateur Photographer Captures Volcanic Eruption

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:34:43 +0000

A volcanic eruption is one of the most powerful forces of Nature on our planet. This photographer happened to capture the rare electrical storm that resulted as volcanic ash spewed into the sky. This is taken in Chile of the Cordon del Caull volcano.

Ash clouds can generate powerful electrical fields producing intense and frequent lightning discharges, which can interfere with radio communications and damage electrical installations, or start fires in buildings and installations.

Chile is one of the most active volcanic areas of the world. In 2008, Chaiten, Chile was destroyed by an eruption that created similar electrical storms. Check out these photos!

Astronomy Component: Week In Review

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:45:17 +0000

This past week in Astronomy group, we reviewed a brief history of rockets, including important inventions and inventors along the way. We performed an assessment of existing knowledge about rocketry by having the teens design and build paper rockets which were then launched using the air pressure of a 2-liter bottle. "Stomp Rockets" is not only a popular activity for kids, it can provide an accurate assessment of a teens design/build capacity, ability to modify a design, achieve a goal, modify the angle of trajectory to effect the flight path of a rocket, etc. I was thoroughly impressed by the distances teens were getting as we fired our rockets on Science Corner.

I can't wait for SciFest this weekend. Many of the events directly relate to Astronomy, so hopefully this should prove very valuable for our teens and component!

Space Technology: Passive Water Recycling Systems

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:34:35 +0000

Read that title again and think about what liquid might get recycled on a space shuttle.....yep, you guessed right. Urine.

The final space shuttle that launched this summer carried with it a passive (doesn't take energy of the space shuttle to power) water recycling system for testing purposes.

Using the process of osmosis, the urine passes through a semi-permeable bag and is filtered with a provided solution. The resulting liquid tastes remarkably like Capri Sun according to a news reporter who tasted a sample specimen.

Why do you think it would be important to be able to recycle water in space? Post your thoughts in the comment section!

Introducing: Khan Academy

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:08:07 +0000

Have you heard of the Khan Academy? No, it's not a new charter school downtown. this is an online educational and informational resource that anyone can access. It has been created for individuals to educate themselves and for people to change how they think about education.

Best of all, the Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.

Not only does the Khan Academy contain great exercises for refreshing basic math skills, it also contains exercises that will challenge you and help you to learn more complex math as you go along.

Khan Academy also has videos on a wide variety of subjects. Over 2400 videos go into great depth on Astronomy, Chemistry, the Financial Crisis, History lessons, and so much more.

US Scientists Win Nobel Prize for Physics

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:04:52 +0000

Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for overturning a fundamental assumption in their field by showing that the expansion of the universe is constantly accelerating.

Their discovery created a new portrait of the eventual fate of the universe: a place of super-low temperatures and black skies unbroken by the light of galaxies moving away from each other at incredible speed.

The Nobel-winning discovery implies that the universe will get increasingly colder as matter spreads across ever-vaster distances in space, said Lars Bergstrom, secretary of the Nobel physics committee.

He said galaxies that are 3 million light years away from Earth move at a speed of around 44 miles per second (70 kilometers per second). Galaxies that are 6 million light years away move twice as fast.

The research implies that billions of years from now, the universe will become "a very, very large, but very cold and lonely place," said Charles Blue, spokesman for the American Institute of Physics.

New Telescope Array in Chile

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:59:31 +0000

A new telescope array became operational recently in Chile, South America. The world's biggest astronomy project, ALMA is described as the most powerful millimeter/submillimeter-wavelength telescope ever and the most complex ground-based observatory.

ALMA differs from visible-light and infrared telescopes by using an array of linked antennas acting as a single giant telescope, and detects much longer wavelengths than those of visible light, rendering images unlike most others of the cosmos.

Although similar instruments are used in other locations, ALMA's are 10 to 100 times more powerful than others currently in operation, said ALMA scientist Lars Nyman.

Pretty cool stuff. I wonder what they will see...

Check out the full article here.