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.

Strategic Research Plan for Nanotechnology

Productive Nanosystems report for the United States Department of Energy:

This Roadmap is a call to action that provides a vision for atomically precise manufacturing technologies and productive nanosystems. The United States nanotechnology advancement goal should be to lead the world towards the development of these revolutionary technologies in order to improve the human condition by addressing grand challenges in energy, health care, and other fields. The United States can accomplish this goal through accelerated global collaborations focused on two strategies that will offer ongoing and increasing benefits as the
technology base advances:

1. Develop atomically precise technologies that provide clean energy supplies and a cost-effective energy infrastructure.
2. Develop atomically precise technologies that produce new nanomedicines and multifunctional in vivo and in vitro therapeutic and diagnostic devices to improve human health.
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Close cooperation among scientific and engineering disciplines will be necessary because of the nature of the engineering problems involved. This cross-disciplinary collaboration will bring broad benefits through the cross-fertilization of ideas, instruments, and techniques that will result from developing the required technology base.

With international cooperation, the benefits of productive nanosystems will be delivered to the world faster. Coordinating a full international
effort is extremely desirable in order to minimize duplication of effort in smaller national programs conducted independently.

Another Bacteria DNA Trick

A DNA shift never before seen in nature

For several decades, researchers have known that it is possible to modify synthetic oligonucleotides (short strands of DNA) by adding sulfur to the sugar-phosphate DNA backbone as a phosphorothioate. Researchers often use such modifications in the laboratory to make DNA resistant to nucleases (enzymes that snip DNA in certain locations) as a step toward gene and antisense therapies of human diseases.

Dedon said he and his co-workers were surprised to discover that a group of bacterial genes, known as the dnd gene cluster, gives bacteria the ability to employ the same modification on their own. “It turns out that nature has been using phosphorothioate modifications of DNA all along, and we just didn’t know about it,” he said.
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He theorizes that the modification system might serve as either protection against foreign (unmodified) DNA, or as a “bookmark” to assist with transcription or replication of DNA.

Bacteria really are amazing. I am starting to read more about bacteria and virus so maybe I will post more on these topics over the next few months.

Orcas Create Wave to Push Seal Off Ice

Pretty amazing footage. From Nature News, Unique orca hunting technique documented:

Ingrid Visser of the Orca Research Trust in New Zealand and her colleagues report on six further observations of the animals using group hunting behaviour to divide ice floes, push them into open water, and create waves to wash animals off them into their waiting jaws.

Turning Trash into Gas

Frank Pringle has found a way to squeeze oil and gas from just about anything

Everything that goes into Frank Pringle’s recycling machine—a piece of tire, a rock, a plastic cup—turns to oil and natural gas seconds later.
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The machine is a microwave emitter that extracts the petroleum and gas hidden inside everyday objects—or at least anything made with hydrocarbons, which, it turns out, is most of what’s around you. Every hour, the first commercial version will turn 10 tons of auto waste—tires, plastic, vinyl—into enough natural gas to produce 17 million BTUs of energy (it will use 956,000 of those BTUs to keep itself running).
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Or rather, he had extracted it. Petroleum is composed of strings of hydrocarbon molecules. When microwaves hit the tire, they crack the molecular chains and break it into its component parts: carbon black (an ash-like raw material) and hydrocarbon gases, which can be burned or condensed into liquid fuel. Pringle figured that some gases from his microwaved tire had lingered, and the cold air in the shop had condensed them into diesel. If the process worked on tires, he thought, it should work on anything with hydrocarbons. The trick was in finding the optimum microwave frequency for each material—out of 10 million possibilities.

Long-Eared Jerboa

photo of a long eared jerboa

Mysterious mammal caught on film, the link has videos too:

The long-eared jerboa, a tiny nocturnal mammal that is dwarfed by its enormous ears, can be found in deserts in Mongolia and China.
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Until now, the creatures had proven extremely difficult to study, thanks to their minuscule size, nocturnal nature and the harsh desert environment that they inhabit.
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“These creatures hop just like a kangaroo; it is amazing to watch. Little hairs on their feet, almost like snow shoes, allow them to jump along the sand,” he explained.
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The expedition formed part of ZSL’s Edge programme, which focuses its efforts on conservation plans for animals that are both endangered and evolutionary distinctive. The long-eared jerboa is one of 10 species that the programme is looking at this year.

The Zoological Society of London Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) web site is a great source of all sorts of information. Including more on the Long-Earned Jerboa in the Gobi Desert. Great stuff, they have done a very nice job with their web site – even if they do force people to download the flash player for some material.

Genomics Course For College Freshman Supported by HHMI at 12 Universities

HHMI Selects 12 Institutions to Launch Nationwide Science Education Experiment

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has selected 12 colleges and universities to participate in a nationwide genomics course that will involve first-year college students in authentic research. The new course is the first major initiative from HHMI’s Science Education Alliance, which seeks to enhance the teaching of science and inspire new generations of scientists.

In Fall 2008, first-year students at the six undergraduate institutions and six research-intensive institutions will take part in a year-long research course — the Phage Genomics Research Initiative – which is being developed by the Science Education Alliance (SEA). The SEA, headquartered at HHMI’s Janelia Farm Research Campus in Northern Virginia, will foster the development of a national network of scientists and educators who work collaboratively to develop and distribute new materials and methods to the education community.
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HHMI is committing a total of $4 million over the first four years of the program.
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Approximately 20 students at each institution will participate in the two-semester phage genomics research course, in which they will be taught to use sophisticated research techniques. Students will isolate bacterial viruses (phages) from their local soil, prepare the viral DNA for sequencing, and annotate and compare the sequenced genome. The goal is to immerse students in the process of doing science, and equip them with the critical thinking and communication skills necessary for successful research careers.

A Child’s View of the OLPC Laptop

A child’s view of the $100 laptop

Enter Rufus Cellan-Jones. He is nine, has far more experience of games consoles than computers, and has strong views on most matters. “Looks fun,” was his only comment when I handed over the small, green and white laptop, explaining that he was the only child in Britain to have one. But very quickly he was up and running. All I did was give him the security code for our home wireless network so he could take the XO online. The rest he figured out for himself
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“I just seemed to work it out. It was rather easy. I didn’t even need help.” Surprise, surprise, his first discovery was a game. “I found Block Party. It’s like Tetris. I’m now up to Level 7.” I thought my young games fanatic might stick there but he moved on. “Then I discovered paint. You can use pencils, change the texture, use different sizes of brush.” Even better, there was an animation programme called Etoys. “That’s my favourite.You make things. You can see tutorials and demos. Then you can make a new project. I’ve made a crazy UFO which you can move.”
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With no help from his Dad, he has learned far more about computers than he knew a couple of weeks ago, and the XO appears to be a more creative tool than the games consoles which occupy rather too much of his time. The One Laptop Per Child project is struggling to convince developing countries providing computers for children is as important as giving them basic facilities like water or electricity. Unusually, Rufus does not have an opinion about that controversy, but he does have a verdict on the laptop. “It’s great,” he says.

Randomization in Sports

Here is my comment on, The Sun Devil Suggestion System:

My father was a professor (of statistics, chemical engineering… at the University of Wisconsin. I remember one time he wanted the football coach to randomly select the play for certain situations. They would have say 4 plays for 3rd and 3. Instead of making the decision of which to run he thought they should just randomly pick from those 4. The idea was that would eliminate the coaches’ bias which the defense could predict and plan for. The theory was being more unpredictable would lead to more success. They didn’t go for it.

Here is a post on the Freakonomics blog today, Why Don’t Sports Teams Use Randomization? by Ian Ayres:

Levitt and others have tested the degree to which professional tennis and soccer players are successful at playing randomized strategies. But it remains a mystery to me why coaches don’t have random number generators (any laptop would do) to help them pick the next pitch in baseball, or the next play they will call in football.

He then goes on to discuss an equally interesting but different topic faulting coaches for failing to take enough risk in football – in going for a first down on fourth down. That supports my gut instincts. The “conventional wisdom” seems mainly about not “seeming stupid” not the best long term results.

Capture Wind Energy with a Tethered Turbine

magenn floating wind power (photo)

The technology looks interesting. The ability to deploy the turbine high in the air without expensive towers seems like a huge advantage (of course it will have to work in the practice which I imagine will be the most challenging part). The wind is much more consistent and stronger further off the ground. Many attempts at new energy solutions will help find the best solutions. for emergency use, fast deployment seems like another winning feature.

While this seems a bit unconventional I think some of the ideas that seem crazy are going to be important sources of energy in the future. It will be interesting to see if it can catch on. Some interesting details from Mangenn’s web site:

Magenn Power is currently in the prototype phase of our Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS). Magenn Power plans to ship our first official product, a 10 kW version in 2008. A 4 kW version may also be available in 2008.
Magenn assumes a depreciable life span of at least 15 years before major refits are required.
The Magenn Air Rotor System is a closed inflatable structural design with inherent integrity, stability, and low cost. Furthermore, MARS is a buoyant system that only requires a low cost tensioning cable to secure it and transfer energy to the ground.
MARS units will be deployed for disaster relief, to third world communities with limited or no infrastructure, for various military applications, to remote locations, and in harsh climates.
The MARS 10 kW unit will be approximately 25′ x 65′ when inflated, it will come standard with a 400 foot tether; this configuration will have a shipping weight under 500 lbs.
Magenn Air Rotors can be raised to higher altitudes, thus capitalizing on higher winds aloft. Altitudes from 400-ft to 1,000-ft above ground level are possible, without having to build an expensive tower, or use a crane to perform maintenance.
Final pricing is yet to be determined on the 10kW MARS unit: target list price will be between $3 dollars to $5 dollars per watt. (Please Note: This price is subject to change).
MARS will be deployed up to 1,000-ft altitude at this time. The benefits of higher altitudes are being investigated. Future MARS units may be deployed at altitudes far beyond 1,000-ft.

Robot Water Striders

Scientists crack how insect bounces on water:

Walking on water may seem like a miracle to humans. But it is a humdrum achievement for the little water strider, which is able to bounce up and down on water too. Scientists have already solved the mystery of how their six slender, stilt-like legs evenly distribute their scant body weight over a relatively large area so that the “skin” formed by the surface tension of the water supports them, so four millimetre across dimples form under each foot as they skim about.

But scientists remained puzzled by how they could jump up and down upon the surface of water. Now a team in South Korea is about to report that it has at last explained the water strider’s baffling ability to leap onto water without sinking, in a forthcoming issue of the journal Langmuir, an achievement that could help further develop robots that can move about on lakes and reservoirs to monitor water quality, spy or explore.