Month: March 2016

The Science of Colors!

Pantone Color Book - Image Source: Pixabay.com

A few centuries ago we did not have paint swatches at hardware stores, Pantone color books, or computer programs with unlimited color schemes. All there was was the colors that already existed in nature. Mineral deposits in foreign countries wielded vibrant blues and other colors.

Edward Forbes, a Harvard historian, has collected 2,500 different specimens of pigments from around the world. His collection can be viewed at the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University.

In an article written by Diana Budds of FastCoDesign.com, she writes about 10 of the rarest and most interesting pigments in the Forbes collection described by Edward Forbes. Some of these colors include Mummy Brown (actually harvested from the wrappings of Egyptian mummies!), Dragon’s Blood, Cochineal (made from squashed beetles!), emerald green and more. 

Mummy - Image Source: Pixabay.com

To see some of these amazing colors and read more about the Forbes collection, please visit the article here: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3058058/the-harvard-vault-that-protects-the-worlds-rarest-colors/1

Climate Change, Coral Bleaching and Arctic Ice Melting

The topic of climate change is not a new issue, but it is a very important one to discuss. 

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Recently in the news, we’ve heard that February 2016 was the warmest month recorded to date. Along with these warm temperatures, we’ve seen recent reports about arctic ice melting. Just last week, BusinessInsider.com put out an article regarding a gigantic chunk of ice breaking off into the Arctic Ocean. The chunk of ice was roughly a 2,000 square-mile block of ice.  It’s about the size of Rhode Island and slightly smaller than Delaware! To read more about this event please visit the link below. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/giant-ice-block-breakup-arctic-2016-3?ref=yfp?r=UK&IR=T

Not only is the Arctic experiencing the effects of climate change, but so are our oceans as well. In another recent news article written by ProjectAware.org, Australian scientists that are managing the Great Barrier Reef have lifted their emergency response to the highest level following the publication of video footage of massive coral bleaching damage. 

Click Here to View the Video Footage

The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2,000 km (1,200 miles) along Australia’s northeast coast and is the world’s largest living ecosystem. Authorities this month said that areas of the Great Barrier Reef were experiencing the worst coral bleaching in 15 years. Coral bleaching is a process by which coral expels living algae, causing it to calcify.

Coral can only survive within a narrow band of ocean temperature. They generally live in water temperatures of 20–32°C. In February 2016 the water temperatures were 1.35℃ above the average temperatures!  It only takes a temperature increase of 1-2℃ to cause entire reefs and regions to bleach.

Image Source: Pixabay.com

For more information about coral bleaching please visit this link: http://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-comes-to-the-great-barrier-reef-as-record-breaking-global-temperatures-continue-56570

 

New Climate Change Non-Profit Could Change Asheville’s Future Economy

Image Source: Pixabay.com

There’s a new non-profit in town! 

The Collider, a non-profit seeking to combine business and science on the topic of climate change, launched in the Wells Fargo Building on Friday, March 11, 2016 in Asheville. 

NASA released a statement saying that February 2016 has been the “Most Abnormally Warm Month Ever Recorded”. With that news it is growing more and more important to tackle the issues of global warming and climate change. Which is exactly what the Collider is setting out to do!

“The Collider is a solutions laboratory,” said Bill Dean, The Collider CEO, who has developed research parks in the space industry of Huntsville, Ala., and biotechnology in Winston-Salem’s new research corridor. “This is a viable business model for Asheville. We will have a global reach but happen to be based here in Asheville.”

According to local Asheville newspaper, The Citizen Times, 

Dean said The Collider could help generate ideas to shift crops in changing climates to prevent famine and food shortages, or help plan for more resilient roads and subways to withstand superstorms like Sandy, which devastated New Jersey and flooded lower Manhattan in 2012.

Dealing with climate change could heat up Asheville’s future economy with better paying jobs in a potential $1 trillion industry.

Read more about the Collider and climate change efforts here: http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/03/11/collider-puts-asheville-center-data-industry/81605722/

Youth Staff Training on Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas

Daniel Shaw, CEO of High Touch High Tech, with the Youth Staff on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas

Youth Staff trains while doing some "ice fishing" with Daniel Shaw

Why It’s Best to Watch A Total Solar Eclipse from 39,000 FT!

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Joe Rao, an associate astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium in New York, discovered that an Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Anchorage to Honolulu would be passing directly through the path of last night’s total solar eclipse.

After months of emailing back and forth with Alaska Airlines to get the flight pushed back by 25 minutes, they finally agreed. “We recognize our customer’s passions,” Chase Craig, Alaska’s director of onboard brand experience, said in a release. Being above the clouds is one of the major perks to seeing an eclipse from cruising altitude. Rao says, “You also get a chance to see the moon’s shadow sweeping across the landscape. At 37,000 feet, that’s a dramatic sight to see.”

What’s the different between a Solar and a Lunar Eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Moon and the Sun, and the Earth’s shadow obscures the moon or a portion of it. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking all or a portion of the Sun.

Image Source: Pixabay.com- Solar Eclipse

Upcoming 5 Total Solar Eclipses

Dates Path of the eclipse
Mar 8 / Mar 9, 2016
Aug 21, 2017
Jul 2, 2019
Dec 14, 2020
Dec 4, 2021

Source: timeanddate.com

 

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/lucky-airline-passengers-see-total-solar-eclipse-plane-180110520–abc-news-topstories.html

http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/total-solar-eclipse.html

Update: Turkey Promotes Science to 40,000 Students

Recently the Master Franchise of High Touch High Tech in Turkey, Eglenceli Bilim, began working on a project with major non-governmental organization, TEGV, focusing on science education for children in Turkey. The project will last 3-5 years to promote math and science skills of 40,000 children in Turkey. It’s been a few months since Eglenceli Bilim and TEGV started their project together and we just wanted to give you an update on how well things are going!

Here is a video showing students in Turkey receiving our hands-on, educational, science programs! 

Programming is going to start this month in the cities of Istanbul, Izmir, Adana, and Giresun. During the month of March around 300 school aged children will have started participating in High Touch High Tech’s hands-on science programming. A projected amount of 2500 children will have joined the programs by the end of the year!
Recently, the High Touch High Tech location in Turkey provided teacher training to those who will be helping with this project. Here are some photos from that training event.

Hats Off to Dr. Seuss’s Birthday!

Image Source: ©2014 ClipartPanda.com

Wishing Dr. Seuss a very Happy Birthday today! 

Theodore Seuss Geisel was famous for his work in children’s literature, most notably for The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and many others. 

Quite possibly Dr. Seuss’ most influential book was The Lorax. It quickly became an icon for environmental conservation. Dr. Seuss states “It’s a book about going easy on what we’ve got. It’s anti-pollution and anti-greed.” The Lorax the movie was released on March 2, 2012, the last of 4 major motion pictures released based on his books. 

Here is a related activity for teaching your students about the environment and Dr. Seuss: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/EPA_DrSeuss-Resources.pdf