For Girls - Kode with Klossy this summer!

 A two-week, intense, but FREE, summer coding camp that has a focus on girls is Kode with Klossy. This comes recommended by students who have taken it, and they loved it. Coding is part of any area of science at this point, so everyone should plan on having a course or other experience where the opportunity to learn to code (in whatever language) is available. Check it out, girls! 

Phys.Org's Top 20 articles for 2020

 Some really fascinating research and results coming from the top 20 articles from phys.org. 

Check some out, and enjoy! Let these motivate you to be one of the next scientists to make memorable and important discoveries! 

Hydraulic jump - Effects on a jump of shape of object jet lands on

 Here's a really interesting experimental idea that can lead to a vast number of variations for students to create an original research study. Set up a hydraulic jump experiment, which consists of a water source and a stream of falling water (i.e. the water jet in a jump experiment) that lands on a hard surface. 

The idea is to put a 3D object of whatever shape at the location where the jet of water is supposed to land on a flat surface. The water in the jet flows over the surface of the object, and then onto the flat surface, where the experimentalist then measures whatever jump and pattern that takes place. Here is an example of an experiment where hemispheres, spheres, cubes and cylinders were used. Students can use whatever shaped objects they have lying around their house or school lab, or they can design and create any shaped 3D object with a 3D printer, ceramics, clay, or other material that is available. 

Numerous options await - be creative with the shapes of the objects being used. Measure the flow patterns and any jumps that form under a wide variety of conditions. You can vary the height from which the water jet falls, the diameter of the jet, the dimensions of the object on which a water jet falls, the material from which the 3D object is made, the orientation of the object relative to the jet, and so on. One may nbe interested in trying to find a mathematical parameter that should be added to theoretical treatments of hydraulic jump, when one needs to account for the shape of the surface water lands on. 

6 Questions Physicists ask when evaluating a scientific claim of discovery

 To many, science is the process of discovery and trying to find the 'facts' of how the world works. It is supposed to be unbiased, nonpartisan, and pure. But don't ever forget that science is done and practiced by human beings, all of whom are imperfect, have biases, and make mistakes, just like everyone else. We are not 'all knowing' and have all the answers, and we never will. 

Having said this, what is the real story for how scientists go about their work? How do we know whether or not to believe a scientific claim by others? How and why should we evaluate others' work to justify their conclusions, especially when it is something important in the field or something never seen or claimed by anyone before? 

Check out this nice piece, from Symmetry magazine (this is very good if you like particle physics), which uses examples from particle physics to demonstrate how science is actually a little messy, but most importantly human - and 'facts' in science do change! Scientists are willing to change their minds over time as new results, often the result of new technologies and methods and data sets, because discovering real truth is a long, difficult process. There always is and should be debate and skepticism, but also open minds that are willing to accept new results that contradict old ones. There needs to be an open process or peer reviewed publications and presentations at conferences, so other experts can review a colleague's work openly and completely to check for mistakes or misinterpretations of the data. This is why it takes time to do science the 'right way.' 

A great message from a former NASA astronaut for STEM students - how to think about making the world a better place through STEM

 Many of us are not familiar with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, established in 2015. These are 17 goals most nations of the world agreed to work on and make significant progress in by 2030, and most of them will require STEM to develop viable solutions to make a better, more sustainable world for humanity. 

To make a different kind of connection with the mindset, skills, knowledge, and approach to work on the SDGs, check out the thoughts of former teacher and astronaut Ms. Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger. She talks about how her training and experiences in NASA overlap with what we all need to make progress in creating a better world for future generations. This video presentation comes from the SOS4Love Project, and was presented at the 2020 UN Peace Week last week. Please check it out! 

Something fun/weird/disturbing to think about! Are we in a simulation?!?!

 For those of you who like video games and science fiction stories and serious modern physics, this is a nice combination to take a look at and think about! Could our lives and this universe we perceive be part of a, effectively, a video game? Scientific American has an article about some bizarre theoretical possibilities that arise when we think of multiple, hidden dimensions along with other big ideas in modern physics. Will it ever be possible to find evidence for something like this??? Time will tell! Take a look!

Nobel Prizes for 2020

 The first week of October is usually Nobel week. Check out the science winners: 

 The Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology goes to 3 Americans for discovering the Hepatitis C virus, which affects millions of people worldwide. 

The Nobel Prize in Physics goes to 3 (a Brit, German, and American woman; only the 4th woman in history for a Physics Nobel!) who did pioneering work in black hole research. 

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to 2 women for the first time, for developing CRISPR technology and methods. 

And congratulations to the World Food Programme, which won the Peace Prize - they fed over 100,000,000 people this past year around the world, during the COVID pandemic. Amazing!