Category Archives: Physics

National Science Foundation YouTube Channel

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“National Science Foundation YouTube Channel

  • https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRuCgmzhczsm89jzPtN2Wuw

    Nearly 13,000 viewers have subscribed to the National Science Foundation’s YouTube channel. It’s not a secret why. These well-produced and often poignant presentations have managed to pack so much into such a small space. Nearly all the videos clock in at less than four minutes. Many of the clips are just two or three minutes long so readers can easily learn about the birth of planets, the details of the tropospheric ozone, and the wonders of biomedical engineering – all within the timespan of a quick coffee break. The hundreds of available videos are broken into categories such as Computer Science, Brain Research, and Education, among others. Whether you are looking for an interesting tidbit to add to your lecture on Geoscience or you are simply curious about conservation efforts in Central Africa, there is much to enjoy here. [CNH]“

  • Source:  Scout Report, University of Wisconsin, Mar. 27, 2015, Vol. 21(12)

Center for the Advancement of Science in Space — website

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“The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space

  • http://www.iss-casis.org/

    The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2011 to manage the International Space Station. In addition to making access to the station faster and easier, connecting funders to scientists, and making research accessible to the public, CASIS hosts an excellent website packed with information about the space station. Readers may view the short videos on the homepage for more information on the projects CASIS sponsors, or peruse articles under the News & Events tab. Perhaps the most interesting part of the site, however, are the three tabs set aside for researchers, businesses, and educators. In fact, the For Educators tab is especially helpful, as it features Lesson Plans on topics such as “The Laws of Newton” and “Tracking Satellites,” a Q&A section, and Additional Resources for teachers. [CNH]“

  • Source:  Scout Report, Univ. of Wisconsin, March 27, 2015, Vol. 21(12)

Climate change myths — addressed by John Cook, Climate Communication Fellow, Australia

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Skeptical Science: Getting skeptical about global warming skepticism

  • http://www.skepticalscience.com

    “This website gets serious about addressing climate change skepticism. Using only peer-reviewed research, John Cook, the Climate Communication Fellow at the University of Queensland, Australia, takes the time to seriously consider the doubts that people might have about the state of the earth’s climate. Readers might like to start with the sidebar that addresses the ten most common climate myths, including the idea that the climate has changed before, that warming is due to the sun, that climate change isn’t bad, that there is no scientific consensus, that the earth is actually cooling, and five others. The site also offers a variety of interesting tabs to explore, including an excellent Resources page. [CNH]“

  • Source:  The Scout Report, University of Wisconsin, Vol. 21(7), Feb. 20th

Climate Intervention Technologies: CO2 and Albedo

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WorldinHands

Source:  WhatsNew@National-Academies.org, Feb.13, 2015

Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Albedo Modification“A new two-volume report from the National Research Council says proposed climate intervention technologies are not ready for wide-scale deployment and reducing emissions is still the most effective way to combat climate change.”

Symbols in physics & astronomy — videos

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URL:www.sixtysymbols.com

Source:  GEN:  Best of the Web Jan 15, 2015 (Vol. 35, No. 2) Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News   Mouse over symbol to see 5 or 10 min. video explanations.

Created by the University of Nottingham.

 

NBC LEARN: a free resource — for most all ages

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“Our Mission:  NBC Learn believes in the power of great stories — historic news reports, original video content, and current events coverage — to engage, inspire and educate K-12 and Higher Ed students.”  Among the free resources there are those that deal with the science of sports,  chemistry, and environmental issues.

Featured this month is: “Finishing the Dream”  — Martin Luther King Jr’s “Dream”

 

Brian Greene and World Science University

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Homepage

A very promising website, but there aren’t very many offerings as yet.

Reviewed in GEN, “Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News”, Aug 01, 2014 (Vol. 34, No. 14),  Column: Best of the Web

Planet Earth’s Stability is significantly affected

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Summary:
“Almost half of the processes that are crucial to maintaining the stability of the planet have become dangerously compromised by human activity. That is the view of an international team of 18 researchers who provide new evidence of significant changes in four of the nine systems which regulate the resilience of the Earth.”

Nine planetary boundaries  (the crucial processes)

  1. Climate change
  2. Change in biosphere integrity (biodiversity loss and species extinction)
  3. Stratospheric ozone depletion
  4. Ocean acidification
  5. Biogeochemical flows (phosphorus and nitrogen cycles)
  6. Land-system change (for example deforestation)
  7. Freshwater use
  8. Atmospheric aerosol loading (microscopic particles in the atmosphere that affect climate and living organisms)
  9. Introduction of novel entities (e.g. organic pollutants, radioactive materials, nanomaterials, and micro-plastics).                                                                   Journal Reference:
    1. Will Steffen, Katherine Richardson, Johan Rockström, Sarah E. Cornell, Ingo Fetzer, Elena M. Bennett, R. Biggs, Stephen R. Carpenter, Wim de Vries, Cynthia A. de Wit, Carl Folke, Dieter Gerten, Jens Heinke, Georgina M. Mace, Linn M. Persson, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, B. Reyers, and Sverker Sörlin. Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 15 January 2015 DOI: 10.1126/science.1259855

Source: McGill University. “Nearly half the systems crucial to stability of planet compromised.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 January 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150115163533.htm>.

SCOPUS reviewed in Choice, January, 2015

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Scopus. Elsevier.http://www.elsevier.com/online-tools/scopus.

A very complimentary review by –J. N. Jeffryes, University of Minnesota

“Scopus’s nearest competitor is Web of Science http://thomsonreuters.com/thomson-reuters-web-of-science/ (CH, Jan’11, 48-2436), and the two tools remain somewhat complementary.  For post-1996 information, Scopus comes off as the more impressive of the two with its advanced citation analysis visualizations, wider inclusion of conference papers, and adoption of alternative impact metrics.  Because the citation counts and h index calculations go back only to 1996, Web of Science has the historical edge.  In the areas of interface design and record readability, Scopus is the stronger tool.  It provides an intuitive search format to explore an impressively broad base of research; if the depth of coverage were expanded (or as 1996 becomes more distant), this tool would become even more valuable.  Even as it is today, it is a very valuable resource for academic and professional libraries. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above”

The complete review is here:  http://www.cro3.org/content/52/05/52-2504.full

 

 

Science Montana

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“The database is available online (http://www.sciencemontana.org/).

Free resources include lesson plans, videos, hands-on activities and other materials in earth science, life science, physical science and space science. Scientists at Montana universities created most of the materials.”

Source:  ResearchBuzz, Dec. 2, 2014, by Tara Calishain