ScienceMaster - January 2002 Newsletter

WEB SITE NEWS
Happy New Year
There is much to reflect on this New Year's day. Thoughts still center on 9-11 for most of us. Although the world is much the same in many ways, things have very much changed, and we see things in a different light. Thoughts turn to family and friends, neighbors and community, and on a larger scale, the world community. Each of us a part of our small circle and each small circle a part of the whole. As educators and students we fall back on a basic truth, one that clearly stands in the face of this new reality. That truth simply stated is that knowledge is a powerful gift. We strive to bring it to the children of tomorrow, so they can make a better world than the one we leave them. Many around the globe suffer the tyranny of ignorance and the outcome is vastly stunted and twisted.

The Internet had taken a massive hit earlier in 2001 as the dot.coms collapsed under the weight of much irrelevancy. However we believe that the future of knowledge and education will rely more and more on the Internet and the basic fact that anyone, anywhere with simpler and simpler tools can access the wealth of information that lives there. So ScienceMaster looks forward to the new year with a recommitted effort to bring science fact, knowledge and information to our friends, family and associates worldwide. As Benjamin Franklin said over 200 years ago, "[A]n investment in knowledge pays the best interest." That is true today, maybe more so than it was then.

Taking Photos of Meteors, Tips and Technique
How do you take a picture of a speck of dust impacting the atmosphere at 89,000 miles an hour? How do you know where to point the camera? What kind of camera should you use? Fast film or slow? This article will be of interest to photographers, fans of science and just for the curious. Learn how photographers take those cool pictures of meteors. And with a little luck, you'll be taking these pictures yourself. --> http://www.sciencemaster.com/columns/ips_current.php

*Image courtesy NASA's GSFC

Temperatures of the US Coastal Waters
The water temperatures in the NODC Coastal Water Temperature Guide (CWTG) web page tables are present temperatures and climatological averages based on observations from NOAA/National Ocean Service (NOS) tide stations and NOAA/National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) buoys.

These average water temperatures were computed from long-period records ranging from several years to several decades depending on how long observations have been taken at a given station. Although ocean conditions vary from year to year, water temperatures are less variable than air temperatures, so these averages can provide useful information for planning beach activities such as swimming or fishing. For the Gulf coast, only monthly averages are presented. Water temperatures vary more along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, so for these stations two-week averages are presented from April through October. --> http://www.ScienceMaster.com/life/item/coastal_water.php
Learning Gallery - Solar Eclipse
On February 16, 1999 there was a solar eclipse visible on a track across Australia. The eclipse was an annular eclipse - one in which the apparent diameter of the moon is not sufficient to completely cover the sun - at mid eclipse leaving a "ring of fire" of the sun around the dark shadow of the moon. Here are some excellent images from the Annular Solar Eclipse from Australia's IPS* --> http://www.monkeytime.com/sciencemaster/galleries/solar/gallery.php

*Text and images courtesy IPS

Keep ScienceMaster FREE
Did you know that ScienceMaster is supported by the voluntary contributions of parents, teachers and students like you? Please help us to build the best science resource on the Internet. We've made it easy, by joining Amazon.com's Honor System. Want to help? Just follow the link to our own page on Amazon.com, to learn how. --> http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T1047U3TYFJHJZ/102-0328687-6143345

SCIENCE NEWS AND LINKS

Magnetospheres Around The Solar System
Most planets are huge magnets with magnetic fields that extend far into space. The exceptions are Venus, Mars, and probably Pluto (although we have not yet visited Pluto and don't know for sure). When the solar wind runs into a planetary magnetic field, the electrons and ions are deflected around it. The cavity that the planetary magnet carves out is called a magnetosphere. It's shaped something like a comet with a long tail that points away from the Sun. *Text and Image courtesy NASA's GSFC

Scientists In Action
Visit Scientists In Action to learn about numerous careers in the natural sciences for middle and high school students by providing narratives of professional scientists at work. Information created and provided by the US Geological Survey you can find information from mapping the planets to sampling the ocean floor, from protecting wildlife to forecasting volcanic eruptions, budding scientists can explore these unique career opportunities. --> http://mac.usgs.gov/mac/isb/pubs/booklets/scientists/index.html

NOAA Investigates Giant Deep-Sea 'Mystery Squid'
Many scientific discoveries begin with scientists asking, "Hey, did you see that?" This was certainly true when a group of researchers led by NOAA spotted a 21-foot-long squid, dubbed the "Mystery Squid," while conducting an undersea project. [Full Story]

DOE PULSE
Here's What's New at the National Labs...
DOE Pulse highlights work being done at the Department of Energy's national laboratories. DOE's laboratories house world-class facilities where more than 30,000 scientists and engineers perform cutting-edge research spanning DOE's science, energy, National security and environmental quality missions. DOE Pulse is distributed twice each month. Each issue will include research highlights, updates on collaborations among laboratories, and profiles of individual researchers.

Youthealth.com
Visit our friends at Youthealth.com. They provide fun and responsible kid-centered health education and health promotion to children and young people, combining the richness and power of Internet multimedia with the educational strengths of peer-based learning. Youthealth.com aims to empower children and young people to improve health, build self-esteem and resiliency. Check out their selection of great Flash™ animation movies.

Biological, Chemical Weapons
Arm yourself with information from the Mayo Clinic web site. We've heard so much about anthrax, the plague, smallpox, dirty bombs and many other biological and chemical weapons. Get some basic facts from the Mayo Clinic. Visit MayoClinic.com

Another resource that we've mentioned before is the CDC's web site that has an excellent question and answer section on anthrax. Although there hasn't been a new case reported since November, the threat may still exist and the best offense is a good defense.

Deep Space 1
NASA's adventurous Deep Space 1 mission, which successfully tested 12 high-risk, advanced space technologies and captured the best images ever taken of a comet, came to an end in late December. Engineers sent a final command turning off the spacecraft's ion engine, which has used up 90 percent of its xenon fuel. Deep Space 1 remains in orbit around the Sun, operating on its own, and its radio receiver was left on, in case future generations want to contact the spacecraft. Deep Space 1 leaves the technologies it flight-tested as legacies for future missions. Enabling spacecraft to travel faster and farther than ever before, Deep Space 1's ion engine was once a science fiction dream. Now this ion engine has accumulated over 670 days of operating time. Future Mars missions may use this technology to return samples from the Red Planet.

Quote of the Month
"Germs are so important in the ecology of the world that alien observers might conclude that they are the dominant life-form on our planet."
Philip M. Tierno, Jr., Microbiologist, from his book, The Secret Life of Germs

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