science communication – Page 2

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June 9, 2012June 9, 2012

Happy Birthday to Donald, the Mathmagical Duck

On this day back in 1934, the world was introduced for the first time to Donald Fauntleroy Duck, when he made his first appearance in the cartoon “The Wise Little Hen”. The excitable, short-tempered but lovable duck went on to become one of the world’s favourite cartoon characters, and the de facto mascot for The Walt Disney Company.

So what does this have to do with science, you may ask? Well, Donald Duck often appeared in cartoons touching on traditionally non-cartoony subjects like politics, religion and, yes, science and mathematics.

mathmagic donald — Donald Duck is no stranger to the magical world of mathematics
(© All Rights Reserved)

In the 1959 cartoon “Donald in Mathmagic Land“, Donald accidentally stumbles into a magical land of mathematics – a land where trees have square roots, streams are filled with numbers, and a geometric bird recites the digits of Pi.

In the cartoon, Donald is shown that mathematics is not just for eggheads (his original opinion) and that it’s actually useful and even exciting. He meets, and plays some music with, Pythagoras and his secret band of Pythagorians, where he discovers that mathematics form the basis of musical scales. From Pythagoras he also receives a pentagram, through which he goes on to learn about the golden section and the golden rectangle, and how these appear in architecture (the Parthenon, etc) and art, such as the Mona Lisa.

Donald discovers that the golden section also shows itself in the human body and in nature, in flowers, plants and shells. He learns that mathematics even applies to sports and games, such as chess, baseball, basketball and billiards.

A cool bit of intertextuality in the cartoon comes through the inclusion of some themes from “Through the Looking Glass” by Lewis Carroll, who was himself also a mathematician.

In this cartoon Donald Duck, and with him millions of children, are introduced to the wonders of mathematics in a fun and humorous way, and the cartoon closes with the wonderful Galileo quote:
“Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe”.

Here’s to you, Donald – Happy Birthday, you grumpy old duck!

June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

World Oceans Day

It’s World Oceans Day, our annual opportunity to honor the great oceans linking us all, to celebrate what the ocean provides humanity, and also to appreciate its intrinsic value.

The theme for World Oceans Day 2012 is Youth: the Next Wave for Change, which firstly acknowledges the role the youth plays in the future of the ocean, and secondly reiterates the importance of everyone playing their part in securing the future of the world’s oceans for our youth.

One of the initiatives undertaken as part of this day is “Wear Blue, Tell Two“, an information sharing initiative where everyone is urged to dress in blue and to share with those around us two facts about the protection of the world’s oceans.

So, to do my bit (yes, I’m wearing blue jeans and a blue sweater, I promise!) herewith my two messages about our oceans:

1) The havoc caused by climate change
The ocean absorbs the majority of the heat added to the earth through climate change, resulting in a warmer ocean, which negatively impacts on the coral ecosystem and affects the life cycles of many fish species. This warmer water also decreases upwelling, which means that less nutrients reach the surface water, harming many marine ecosystems. Furthermore, the Poles are melting at an alarming rate, affecting polar marine environments and causing the ocean levels to rise, resulting in the loss of critical coastal habitats. It is also estimated that 10% of the global human population lives below 10m above sea level, which means about 700 million people are directly threatened by a significantly rising sea level. Not a pretty picture… And we haven’t even touched on the impact of the chemical changes in the oceans as a result of increased atmospheric greenhouse gases, or the changes in the ocean currents and the effects this is having on the earth’s climate.
(Source: Five Effects of Climate Change on the Ocean, http://www.conservation.org)

2) What we can do to help
Despite the doom and gloom of my first message, all is not irretrievably lost. Each of us can contribute our little bit to help the environment. By merely living more socially responsibly (recycling, reusing, limiting our carbon footprint) we can help slow global warming, which directly impacts on the wellbeing of our oceans. And there are numerous local and international initiatives we can get involved in. For example:

Conservation International runs an initiative called “Save a Mile” where you can make a donation to support initiatives focused on ocean conservation
The World Oceans Day website hosts the “Blue Planeteer” awareness drive, where you can volunteer to perform simple online tasks, such as tweeting about World Oceans Day or emailing a blog.

These are just two small online examples – if you live near the sea your local aquarium or nature centre may well have their own initiatives going, so ask around and get involved.

So spread the word on World Ocean Day – wear blue and tell two!

June 7, 2012

Celebrating Edison’s light bulb

On this day, 120 years ago in 1892, Thomas Edison was granted a number of patents relating to electric lighting, including a “System of Electric Lighting”, an “Incandescent Electric Lamp”, a “System of Electrical Distribution” and an “Electric-Lighting System”. His initial design of the incandescent light bulb dates back even earlier, to 1879.

While inventions relating to the incandescent lamp had been suggested before Edison, his concept improved on previous attempts through the combination of three factors: a more effective and longer lasting filament, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve, and a design that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

An incandescent bulb works by heating a filament to a high enough temperature that it starts glowing. This is done by passing an electrical current through the filament. To keep the filament from oxidizing and “burning out”, it is isolated in an enclosure (the glass bulb) that either contains an inert gas, or is evacuated to create a vacuum.

The invention of the incandescent light bulb fundamentally changed the world, providing convenient and affordable lighting to the masses. While it has since been surpassed by newer and more efficient lighting technologies like compact fluorescent lights and light-emitting diodes (LEDs), it still holds a place of prominence and importance within modern society.

June 6, 2012June 6, 2012

The birth of the modern day washing detergent

So… What should today be celebrated for?

Apparently it’s Drive-In Movie Day in the US, celebrating the first drive-in movie theater opening in Camden New Jersey in 1933. Today is also the commemoration of D-Day, 1944, when Allied troops invaded the beaches of Normandy, France. Hmmm, well yes.

Perhaps most significantly, today is the Transit of Venus – a once in a lifetime (ok, twice-in-125-years, to be exact) event when Venus will be seen passing in orbit between the earth and the sun. Next time this will happen will be 2117, so it’s a pretty big deal, but unfortunately things are looking heavily overcast here in NZ, so I’m not holding my breath.

No, instead of drive-in movies, invading troops or passing planets, today I’m celebrating fresh, clean and stain-free clothes! Because today in 1907, Persil was introduced by Henkel & Cie as the first commercially available “self-activated” washing powder in the world. The term self-activated refers to the fact that it combined bleach and soap in a single powder.

washing line — Never take your clean, bright, stain-free washing for granted again – it took some clever chemistry more than 100 years ago to make it happen!
(© All Rights Reserved)

Interestingly, the name Persil comes from a combination of the two main chemical components in the detergent, namely sodium perborate (a bleaching agent) and silicate (a washing agent).

Before Persil came up with this innovative combination of bleach and soap, washing powder was really nothing more than crushed soap, which cleaned clothes but had little stain-removal effect. The sodium perborate in the new product oxygenated to form small bubbles that permeated the washing, and bleached out stains, replacing the earlier-used method of laying clothes out in the sun to bleach.

So not only did it save time, but also a lot of effort, making laundry day much less of a chore. And that must be worth celebrating!

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persil)

June 5, 2012June 6, 2012

World Environment Day

Today we celebrate World Environment Day, a global event initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to promote awareness regarding global environmental issues, and to create positive environmental action. Its a day for all people to join hands and start taking action to ensure a cleaner, greener, brighter future.

The 2012 theme for World Environment Day is Green Economy: Does it include you? In the first place, this is meant to raise general awareness of the concept of the “green economy”, and secondly to promote personal involvement in activities supporting a greener future. Simply stated, the green economy is one “whose growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services” (UNEP, 2012).

At a macro level, the green economy is about a move to more sustainable energy sources such as solar, water and wind energy, about infrastructure development promoting green buildings and clean transportation, about water and waste management, about big business investing in more sustainable business practices, and about sustainable job creation and poverty reduction.

While these are all critically important initiatives that need to be promoted and supported, it really does start with each of us, at an individual level, investing in a more environmentally aware lifestyle. Recycling household waste, doing your own composting, growing your own (organic) fruit and veges, conserving water and electricity, minimising waste, buying used products & buying bulk – these are all ways in which we can do our bit for a greener, healthier planet.

A green future — The green economy is all about preserving our natural heritage for future generations.
(© All Rights Reserved)

For more ideas on living responsibly, this How to be Green Guide is a nice place to start.

Enjoy the world, responsibly!

June 2, 2012June 6, 2012

It’s Drawing Day – time to get creative

Happy Drawing Day, everyone! (Or perhaps I should say Happy Pencil Day – there seems to be some disagreement on the correct title of this day.)

To participate is easy – simply grab a pencil and start drawing, and most importantly, share your artwork with as many as possible. And don’t fret if you think you’re not artistic – this day is not so much about great art as it is about nurturing your creative side, and about sharing.

You can share your doodles with friends, or you can even go global and upload your drawings on the Drawing Day website.

Come on, drop that daily chore, and get drawing – it’s good for your soul.

By the way (this is Sciencelens, after all), did you know that the “lead” inside a pencil that makes it write is not lead at all, but a mix of graphite (a type of carbon), clay, wax, and chemicals? Coloured pencils work the same, except that they have colour pigment added to the mix instead of graphite.

Pencils are manufactured by mixing ground graphite (or colour pigment), clay and water, and squeezing out this mixture into long spaghetti-like strings. These are cut into pencil lengths, baked, and then covered with a wax coating to make them write smoothly.

So how do they get them inside the wood? The wood around a pencil may look solid, making it appear as though a hole was drilled through the wood to insert the graphite, but that sounds like some extreme manufacturing. In fact, most wooden pencils are made from blocks of wood cut into slats. Grooves, half as deep as the graphite string, are cut into the slats, and the graphite strings are placed in these grooves. Another grooved slat is glued on top of the first, encasing the graphite in the wood. The slats are then cut into individual pencils, sanded and painted to give it the appearance of a solid structure.

Pencils are sharpened to reveal the graphite inside, and when you write, fiction causes a small amount of the graphite from the core of the pencil to be deposited on the paper, creating your images or words.

June 1, 2012June 6, 2012

Flip a Coin day

Today we celebrate the randomness of coin flipping. Do you have some tough decisions to make? Why not use this day as an excuse to leave it to chance, by simply flipping a coin?

The practice of coin flipping is said to date back to Julius Caesar, who used the technique for decisions where the right choice was unclear. Roman coins had the head of Caesar on one side, so a “heads” result was considered a positive, or “yes” outcome.

The statistics of coin flipping is described through the Bernoulli process, and a single flip of a coin is called a Bernoulli trial. The use of coin flipping examples is also a popular way of introducing some of the complexities of statistics.

Conditional probability is a specific field of statistics that is often quite difficult to understand intuitively, and is illustrated very well through a coin flipping game called “Penney’s Game”.

In this game, two opposing players each choose a sequence of (usually 3) coin flipping outcomes of heads (H) or tails (T), e.g. H-H-T, T-H-T, etc. A coin is then flipped, and the player whose sequence appears first is the winner. If the second player knows the “trick” he is always more likely to be the victor. The correct choice for player 2 will be to take the first two outcomes of player 1, and to precede this with the opposite of the second outcome, for example:

Player 1: H-H-T Player 2: T-H-H
Player 1: T-H-H Player 2: T-T-H
Player 1: H-T-H Player 2: H-H-T
Player 1: T-H-T Player 2: T-T-H
etc.

In all the above cases, player 2 is always at least twice as likely to win as player 1 – definitely not something that makes immediate intuitive sense!
(See the mathematical explanation here.)

Getting back to that difficult decision we mentioned earlier – if you secretly want to do one thing, but think you should do the other, use Penney’s Game and your new-found knowledge of conditional probability to stack the odds in your favour.

Come on, go flip a coin!

May 29, 2012June 6, 2012

Learn about Composting Day

We live in a “disposable” society. Without giving it a second thought, any items considered useless or unnecessary are quickly disposed of in the garbage bin. Food scraps, from coffee grinds to fruit and vege peels to eggshells, represent the bulk of the waste the modern household generates each day. And in reality the majority of this waste is not useless at all.

Composting is one of the easiest ways to do our bit for the planet by recycling and putting our waste to good use. By putting aside a small area in your garden for a compost pile, and regularly turning and watering the pile, you will soon be the proud owner of a valuable supply of healthy organic compost.

Of course, what you are really doing by turning and watering the waste pile, is facilitating a wonderfully complex science experiment. While micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi break down and change the chemistry of the organic waste, macro-organisms like earthworms, mites, slugs, ants and spiders go to work biting, tearing, chewing and grinding the waste into finer material.

Give it a go – its good for the garden and its even better for the planet!

compost — Compost created from food scraps and garden waste is a great mulch and soil additive, providing the same benefits as chemical fertilizers with none of the harmful side-effects.
(© All Rights Reserved)

May 27, 2012June 6, 2012

Celebrating the inventor of the electron microscope

Today we celebrate the life and work of Ernst Ruska, who died on 27 May 1988 at age 81.

Ruska, a German electrical engineer, was the inventor of the electron microscope. His fundamental research in the field of electron optics, and particularly his groundbreaking design of the electron microscope, earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1986.

In 1928, Ruska discovered that a magnetic coil could be used as a lens to focus an electron beam. By adding a second lens he produced the first rudimentary electron microscope, which had a magnification power of x17. Within the next 5 years, he refined the concept to such an extent that the magnification power of his microscope increased to x7000. This exceeded what was possible with visible light. The first commercial electron microscope was marketed in 1939. Since then, the technology has found applications in biology, medicine and many other areas of science.

May 25, 2012June 6, 2012

World Meteorological Day

The theme of this year’s World Meteorological Day is “Powering our future with weather, climate and water”. This highlights the critical roles of weather, climate and water services in powering a sustainable future for us and for generations to come.

The themes of sustainable power and energy seem quite pertinent this year, with the UN General Assembly also declaring 2012 the “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All”. The use of renewable energies has been growing in leaps and bounds, accounting for about half of the almost 200 gigawatts of new electricity capacity added globally during 2010. According to the International Energy Agency, the renewable energy electricity sector grew by 17.8 per cent between 2005 and 2009. It currently provides nearly 20 percent of total power generation in the world.

Of the renewable electricity sources, hydro power still represents the largest sector. However, wind power has grown the most in absolute terms. The Global Wind Energy Council says the world’s wind power capacity grew by 31 per cent in 2009.

(Source: The World Meteorological Organization, http://www.wmo.int)