Category Archives: Other science

aka stamp collecting

Chemistry Rising

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Physics & Parsimony: Chemistry with Rising 9th Graders

What surprised me was that almost all of these students knew how to balance chemical equations. Yet they had no idea what any of it meant. They could also tell me that burning alcohol was alcohol reacting with oxygen and the result was water and carbon dioxide (some wanted to add intermediate “fire atoms,” though). While they had been taught to balance a combustion equation and even knew quite a lot about combustion, they nonetheless (to a student) had no idea what was going on.

Make Like a Tree and Leaf Less Energy Uncollected

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Young Naturalist Award — Aiden: The Secret of the Fibonacci Sequence in Trees

My investigation asked the question of whether there is a secret formula in tree design and whether the purpose of the spiral pattern is to collect sunlight better. After doing research, I put together test tools, experiments and design models to investigate how trees collect sunlight. At the end of my research project, I put the pieces of this natural puzzle together, and I discovered the answer. But the best part was that I discovered a new way to increase the efficiency of solar panels at collecting sunlight!
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The tree design takes up less room than flat-panel arrays and works in spots that don’t have a full southern view. It collects more sunlight in winter. Shade and bad weather like snow don’t hurt it because the panels are not flat. It even looks nicer because it looks like a tree. A design like this may work better in urban areas where space and direct sunlight can be hard to find.

Update: I missed that he was measuring the open-circuit voltage output, not current, for his arrays.

It's a Trap!

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Wild Close-Ups of Rare Mammals From Huge Camera-Trap Study

A massive camera trap survey of tropical mammals around the world has returned a magical series of glimpses into animal life.

The survey was conducted by Conservation International and partners and partners in South America, Africa and Asia. They installed 420 camera traps in key protected areas, amassing some 52,000 photographs between 2008 and 2010.

Those Evil Things

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I think the analogous topic for physics is radiation: that all radiation is a bad, evil, dangerous thing, when radiation is all around us. Visible light is radiation, as are radio waves, and all objects emit radiation in the context of blackbody radiation — the most common experience being that moderately hot things radiate noticeably in the infrared and sometimes in the visible part of the spectrum.

There are other basic, common misconceptions, like things needing an impetus to keep moving, and some more targeted ones, like insulation heats things up. But I think the connection here is in the “it’s evil” misunderstanding.

The Wise Gyroscope

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Abstract: Owls have a curious variability in the postrotatory head nystagmus following abrupt angular deceleration. Owls can exhibit a remarkable head stability during angular movement of the body about any axis passing through the skull. The vestibular apparatus in the owl is bigger than in man, and a prominent crista neglecta is present. The tectorial membrane, the cupula, and the otolithic membranes of the utricle, saccule and lagena are all “attached” to surfaces in addition to the surfaces bearing hair cells; these attachments are very substantial in the utricular otolithic membrane and in the cupula.

I want to say side-fumbling is almost completely eliminated, but I will link to the story instead.

Previously we have seen chicken-head stability.

Bonus: slo-mo landing

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