Category Archives: Students

Items for students and others, interested in learning about science and engineering and the application of science in our lives. We post many of the general interest items here.

Safe Water Through Play

photo of merry go round for safe water

Play Pumps

It’s a simple idea. As children spin on a merry-go-round, water pumps from below the ground. It is stored in a tank just a few feet away, making a safe, plentiful supply of water available in the community.

Nearly 700 PlayPumps have been installed in South Africa, providing safe water to a million people living in rural communities. Thousands more PlayPumps will be installed throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, bringing the many benefits of ready access to clean drinking water to millions of underserved people.

Women for Science

A new report, Women for Science, is available from the InterAcademy Council:

Realizing that the low representation of women in science and engineering is a major hindrance to global capacity building in science and technology, the IAC formed an Advisory Panel on Women for science with the mandate to review previous studies, provide examples of effective projects already implemented, and issue a set of actionable recommendations addressed particularly to the world’s science and engineering academies.

The report is a comprehensive report. The report includes a large list of online resources.

The InterAcademy Council:

In May 2000 all of the world’s science academies created the IAC to mobilize the best scientists and engineers worldwide to provide high quality advice to international bodies – such as the United Nations and the World Bank – as well as to other institutions.

In a world where science and technology are fundamental to many critical issues – ranging from climate change and genetically modified organisms to the crucial challenge of achieving sustainability – making wise policy decisions has become increasingly dependent on good scientific advice.

Related (added when I had to update the link to the report – when are people going to learn to keep urls as permanent addresses?): Engineering Education at Smith College – Diversity in Science and Engineering – Women Working in Science – Girls in Science and Engineering

Bye Bye Bees

Photo of a bee

The Vanishing by Sharon Levy:

One-third of the food we eat comes from crops that need animal pollinators, a role often filled by bees but sometimes by butterflies, beetles, birds, or bats. Bee-pollinated foods include squash, tomatoes, peppers, apples, and pears. Unfortunately, the honeybees surrounding me are members of a threatened tribe, whose loss would have a dire effect on farmers, not to mention everyone who eats fruits and vegetables.

This problem has been increasing in recent years.

Fees for renting beehives shot up from about $48 to as much as $140 per colony, a previously unheard-of amount. Beekeepers traveled from as far away as Florida and North Carolina to service California’s almond groves. For the first time in 50 years, U.S. borders were opened to honeybees from New Zealand and Australia. The fate of a $1.2 billion crop — more than half of all almond production worldwide — rested on the slender back of the embattled honeybee.

Natural systems seem so powerful that it hardly seems possible that running low on bees is really a concern. But more and more such stories (fish stocks being wiped out…) are being told. This is one of many reasons we need more scientists to study these areas and keep society informed. Enjoy reading this article it is a great example of science, scientific study, communicating scientific knowledge and the impact on society.

Photo by Justin Hunter

Weekly Science Podcasts

This Week in Science offers podcasts of around an hour covering many topics. Recent topics include:

  • July 4th: Kangaroo Repellent, Gazelles Give Up, Super Jellyfish To the Rescue!, CO2 Sludge, Neurons Need Love Too, Circus Ants, Interview w/ William Gurstelle re: Thing That Go Boom
  • May 2nd: Pollen Pretenses, Sonar Beach, Big Wierd Booms, Oil No More, Body Power Alternatives, Baby Alcoholics, Birth Canal Benefits, and Two Interviews!!! Interview with Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams, Authors of “The View from the Center of the Universe”, and with Marine Geologist, Dr. Steven Scott, about Deep Sea Mining.
  • March 21st: Callers Galore!, Slimy Sexy Snails, Earth-spermia?, Talk to Aliens, Sexy Healthy Birdies, Rubbernecking Dino, Justin’s Glass Ceiling, Interview w/ Dan McCleese, Chief Scientist for Mars Research at JPL

via: Easternblot

Bonobo’s Using Language?

bonobo with a symbols board she uses to communicate

A Voluble Visit with Two Talking Apes by Jon Hamilton, NPR.

But linguists still weren’t satisfied. They pointed out that humans invent metaphors and figures of speech when literal meanings aren’t enough.

Savage-Rumbaugh says the bonobos pass this test, as well. For example, Panbanisha once used the symbol for “monster” when referring to a visitor who misbehaved.

Bill Fields, a researcher at the Great Ape Trust and a close friend of Kanzi, recalls another time when Kanzi used language creatively.

Fields says it was during a visit by a Swedish scientist named Par Segerdahl. Kanzi knew that Segerdahl was bringing bread. But Kanzi’s keyboard had no symbol for Segerdahl the scientist. So he got the attention of Savage-Rumbaugh’s sister, Liz, and began pointing to the symbols for “bread” and “pear,” the fruit.

“Liz got it immediately,” Fields says. “She says, ‘What do you mean Kanzi? Are you talking about Par or pears to eat?’ And he pointed over to Par.”

The site also includes more photos and video and audio webcasts.

Cash Awards for Engineering Innovation

This article discusses the recent explosion of cash awards to encourage development of engineering solutions. Want innovation? Offer cash (page deleted by external site – poor usability):

In the early 20th century, prizes in the aviation and automotive worlds were common. Sometimes they were awarded for incremental progress, other times for breakthroughs like the Lindbergh flight.

The Future of Science

Speculation on the Future of Science, summary of a Kevin Kelly speech by Stewart Brand (co-founder and co-chairman of The Long Now Foundation. He is the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog).

The articles notes steps along the path to the current state of science, including:

1590 — Controlled experiment (Roger Bacon)
1609 — Telescopes and microscopes
1665 — Repeatability (Robert Boyle)
1665 — Scholarly journals
1687 — Hypothesis/prediction (Isaac Newton)
1926 — Randomized design (Ronald Fisher)
1950 — Double blind experiment

Then he discusses 5 ideas for the next 100 years.

1) “There will be more change in the next 50 years of science than in the last 400 years.”
2) “This will be a century of biology.”
3) “Computers will keep leading to new ways of science.”
4) “New ways of knowing will emerge.”
5) “Science will create new levels of meaning.”

It is wonderful to see such interesting ideas online and easily accessible to over one billion people. Yes there is a great deal of worthless stuff avoid (and some worthless stuff to enjoy) to find all the wonderful stuff. But the amount of wonderful science and engineering material available online provides great hope for what the future will bring.

update: see Kevin Kelly present at Google – more Google Engineering talks.

The Brine Lake Beneath the Sea

octopus in the brine lake

This stunning octopod, Benthoctopus sp., seemed quite interested in ALVIN’s port manipulator arm. Image courtesy of Bruce Strickrott, Expedition to the Deep Slope – larger photo.

The Brine Lake by Harry Roberts:

As we took the sub into the brine lake, the pressure wave from the sub’s movement across the lake created waves on the interface between the brine and the overlying normal-density sea water.

We watched these waves break on the “beach” like storm waves approaching and breaking on a sandy coastline.

NOAA researchers include a video from the adventure. Also read more about the Expedition to the Deep Slope, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Toyota Robots

photo of Toyota partner robot

Toyota Announces Overview of “Toyota Partner Robot”

Toyota wants its partner robots to have human characteristics, such as being agile, warm and kind and also intelligent enough to skillfully operate a variety of devices in the areas of personal assistance, care for the elderly, manufacturing, and mobility. Furthermore, since each area requires a special set of skills, Toyota is promoting the development of three different types of partner robots (walking, rolling, and mountable), each with its own areas of expertise.

Read posts about the Toyota Productions System (TPS) on the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog.

Others are making progress on human like robots including Sony and Honda. See Sony QRIO Robots in action in this flash video below:

And read more about Honda Robots: ASIMO and P3.