What is CABS?

This site will help high school students and teachers find original, independent science research topics and questions that can be done without a professional lab...these can be done in a school lab or even in one's basement! The project ideas and research questions being developed and presented here have been vetted and could lead to true discoveries, and not just finding already known results. See our Welcome message. These are the types of projects that could be done and submitted to high school contests such as the Regeneron Science Talent Search, Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, or the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, and be competitive. If you have an idea to share, or a question about one of the project ideas, contact us at vondracekm@eths202.org.

Pages (on the right side of the screen) have lists of ideas for different types of science research projects, and clicking on one of those ideas will take you to posts with details and all sorts of information about that type of project. Get more information about why there is a need for CABS!

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

How basic high school science can help in real-world research: Why NOT to use magnets to search for meteorites

 What happens when a magnet gets close to an object that may have a weak magnetic field? 

Hopefully any senior who has gone through E&M should be able to answer that the weaker magnet can be affected and changed by a stronger magnet. 

common way of searching for meteorites is to use magnets, since rocks from space are likely to have some iron in them. But this also means that using a magnet can change any magnetic field the meteorite may have, thus erasing valuable scientific information about the magnetism in our solar system that that rock had carried for perhaps billions of years before finally crashing into the earth. This is a problem for scientists who need meteorites to study and collect information about the ancient solar system! And this is a problem since so many meteorites are found by amateur 'hunters'. 

So basic physics we learn in high school make a difference in real life research efforts! 

                             

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