All those presents, all those kids, how does Santa do it? North Carolina State University’s Dr. Larry Silverberg, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering let’s in on Santa’s secrets to getting what seems impossible done in one night.
According to Dr. Silverberg, Santa uses nanotechnology to miniaturize the presents (solving the problem of the bulk) along with what he calls “relativity clouds” which bend time and space to allow Santa the needed time to visit all those homes.
What seems like a blink of the eye to us outside the cloud, is months to Santa and his trusty team of reindeer.
Still, reindeer are equipped with jet packs to increase their speed. Dr. Silverberg is a aerospace engineer after all. The naughty vs. nice tracking is done with a powerful listening network.
Don’t forget, NORAD will get in on the Santa business again this year with their Santa Tracker. I’m going to tag this with “manned spaceflight” for obvious reasons!
Wasps have amazing ability to memorize and later recall the figures of other wasps, from native cluster. Findings add to other remarkable capacity of these social insects, providing new information on the specializations from the animal world.
Wasps are downright phenomenal when it comes to intelligence. They manage to learn, and recognize the figures of other wasps, very quickly. And not only the ability to recognize different physiognomies, but also make the difference between wasps and other insects only after facial analysis.
Studies have shown that wasps recognize different physiognomies, but are also able to remember for a
time of about one week. As these insects live in communities with multiple queens and must follow a strict hierarchy, entomology theories claim that wasps have evolved in this direction to avoid intra-specific conflicts.
Memorizing faces has a very important role in establishing and maintaining social interactions, thus serving survival of social animal species.
Earlier in the year, there were a great deal of new elements discovered by a team of Russian physicists and American chemists. Of those elements, 113, 115, 117, and 118 are still needing names; elements 114 and 116 are going to be called Flerovium and Livermorium, according to the teams that discovered them. It’s up to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC, to approve of said names.
The new elements have names that honor the history of the two teams that worked on discovering them, Russia’s Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Livermorium is obviously named for Lawrence Livermore and Livermore National Laboratory; Flerovium is named for Georgiy Flerov, the founder of Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, where the reactions were synthesized.
“Proposing these names for the elements honors not only the individual contributions of scientists from these laboratories to the fields of nuclear science, heavy element research, and super-heavy element research, but also the phenomenal cooperation and collaboration that has occurred between scientists at these two locations,” said Bill Goldstein, associate director of the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate at Livermore.
So what would you name the new elements? Read the full story here
Ava Avalanche, a scientist from HTHT British Columbia recently took the students of Blundell Elementary School on a fun, hands-on science adventure. Students in Mr. Varner’s 6th & 7th grade class explored the fascinating world of cells with our Silly Cells program. Mr Varner said “Ava Avalanche was great! She was engaging, enthusiastic, and friendly.” The students recently posted about the experience on their class blog. You can check out their post about their Silly Cell adventure and see great pictures of the students having fun with science! Click here to visit Mr. Varners Class Blog!
If you are in the British Columbia area and want to learn more about how you can have fun with science, contact
On November 7th, students at Forest City Dunbar Elementary stepped into the shoes of a real geologist. Students went on an adventure with HTHT Scientist Ali-Gator as they learned all about geology and even mined for real gems. 4th grade teacher, Ms. Brookman, said “Thank you for making such a positive difference in our students. They are totally in love with science now!” Check out these awesome letters we received from the students:
If you are in the Western North Carolina area and want to learn more on how you can make a difference in your classroom, contact us today for more information!
Visit us online at www.ScienceMadeFunWNC.net or Call – 828.684.3192 , Email – info@ScienceMadeFunWNC.net
It wasn’t a goose that laid a golden egg for one Missouri farmer — it was an asteroid. Scientists are analyzing an extremely rare meteorite found by a farmer in a tiny Missouri town called Conception Junction (population 202)
It wasn’t a goose that laid a golden egg for one Missouri farmer — it was an asteroid.
An unnamed farmer had found the unusually heavy stone buried in the side of hill. He sawed off the end of the stone and realized he had something that didn’t come from Earth.
The metal rock is studded on the inside with green olivine crystals. It is one of only 20 so-called pallasite meteorites that have been found in the United States.
These types of meteorites are believed to be fragments of large asteroids that had enough internal heat to begin melting, which allowed heavy metals to sink and form a core, while lighter elements became part of the rocky surface.
Pallasites are believed to come from the area where an asteroid’s metal core transitions to olivine in its lower mantle.
Scientists believe the Conception Junction meteorite was once part of an asteroid that flew in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter until it was nudged toward the inner solar system by Jupiter’s gravity field. Sliced and polished, the stone, which is now in the hands of private collectors, is worth about $200 a gram.
What does Dinner and “Science Made Fun!” have in common? Chick-fil-A® Kid’s & Family Nights!
On Tuesday, November 8, 2011, High Touch High Tech of Houston joined Chick Fil A of Northwest Crossing for a fun Science Experience and Family Fun Night. Over 50 participants enjoyed discovering the Science of Chemistry. Children engaged in hands-on experiments such as tornado tube races, making cool chemical reactions and creating Silly Putty!
High Touch High Tech is proud to partner with Chick Fil A Kid’s & Family Night bringing families together to create lasting, fun memories through food and fun.
If you’re in the Houston area and want to learn how you can have fun with hands-on science, contact High Touch High Tech of Houston! Visit them online at www.ScienceMadeFunHOU.net or contact them via email info@ScienceMadeFunHOU.net or phone by calling 281.448.9919 today!
The tiny town of Bundawan isn’t exactly a tourist mecca for the Philippines, but they’re doing their best to develop attractions. The first thing on Bunawan’s list of things to see? A 6.2 meter (20 foot) long, 1-ton crocodile that is believed to be the largest crocodile in the world. The world’s largest crocodile was captured in the Agusan marsh outside of Bunawan on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in September. It was measured at 6.2 meters by famed Australian zoologist Adam Britton, who measured the current Guinness World Record crocodile, 5.8-meter Cassius, in 2008.
“We are happy to announce that we have the biggest crocodile in the whole world,” crowed Bunawan town council member Apollo Canoy. ”So far we have not had any contacts with Guinness, and we do not know whether they plan to visit us soon.”
Guinness is aware of the crocodile, believed to be the largest saltwater crocodile in captivity at this time, and they’re following the story as details emerge. They need more evidence before they crown the Bundawan crocodile as the largest ever captured. Until then, Bundawan continues to reap the benefits of having a giant crocodile, with the croc drawing 27,000 visitors every year to the tiny swamp town.
The croc eats nearly 37.5 pounds of pork in a day.
To honor one of the most enduringly inspiring scientists ever to grace a lab, France and Poland declared 2011 to be the Year of Marie Curie.
Now, Google joins the welcome pageant of prominent tributes.
The California company’s search-engine home page on Nov. 7 celebrates the 144th anniversary of Madame Curie’s birth with a pastel-colored “Google Doodle” so evocative of her era.
Curie is the latest science figure to join Google’s pantheon of “Doodled” researchers, including Thomas Edison and “father of genetics” Gregor Mendel and “Vitamin C” scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi.
The laurels accorded Curie are numerous and still accumulating a century after she won her second Nobel Prize — the first of only two people ever to win the prize in multiple fields (the other being Linus Pauling). She was also the first woman ever to win the Nobel, and the first researcher to win in multiple sciences (physics and chemistry). But the breadth and depth and influence of her career — as well as the triumphs and tragedies of her life — paint a much fuller picture of the groundbreaking figure who in a 2009 New Scientist poll was voted “the most inspirational woman in science.”
Born in Warsaw in 1867 as Maria Sklodowska, Curie left her native Poland after she was deemed too poor to marry her would-be fiance, future esteemed mathematician Kazimierz Zorawski. So with her sister’s help, she relocated to France in the 1890s, studying at the University of Paris (Sorbonne) and meeting her scientific “soulmate,” Pierre Curie. As they both studied the science of magnetism, they discovered, too, their own personal magnetic attraction.
Together, Marie and Pierre Curie did pioneering work in radioactivity (a term she coined), working with uranium, isolating radioactive isotopes and discovering the elements radium and polonium — the latter named for her native land.
The Curies shared in the 1903 Nobel for physics, bringing them fame as side by side, they grew their professional and personal lives. They had two daughters before Pierre’s untimely death when he was struck by a horse-drawn vehicle on a rainy street in 1906.
Rendered “wretched” and lonely by the tragedy, Marie Curie poured herself into her work, becoming the first woman to become a Sorbonne professor. In 1911, Curie received her second Nobel, this time for chemistry.
Several years later, during World War I, Curie helped set up mobile field hospitals that featured primitive X-ray equipment to help detect shrapnel in soldiers. She worked in the field with her teenage daughter Irene, who — with her husband, Frederic Joliot-Curie — would later win the 1935 chemistry Nobel for her work on artificial radioactivity.
Exposed to so many radioactive materials throughout her career, Marie Curie died of aplastic anemia in 1934.
In addition to her many honors, she founded the Curie Institutes in France and Poland; co-founded the Warsaw Radium Institute; and headed the Pasteur Institute.
Curie’s accomplishments in the lab led to her being interred (with her husband) at the Pantheon, Paris — the first woman so honored based on her work.
Curie helped forever change not only how science thought about radioactivity, but also how the world perceived women in science.
Science of the Sandwich: turn your favorite, triple-decker into a tower of nutritional power!
Here’s how not to build a sandwich: Start with wimpy white bread, smear on the mayo really thick, and then pile on an entire package plus a dozen individually wrapped slices cheese. Instead of a hero, you’ve got yourself a nutritional supervillain. The good news is, it’s simple to recast that sandwich. Here’s how to do it right, whether you want to ensure a nutritional lunch, additional muscle growth or just plain old good health.
THE BREAD
Image Source: Pixabay.com
All great sandwiches start with great bread. The more nubs and nuggets you see–which indicate fiber content–the better. When shopping, select varieties whose ingredient lists start off with “whole-grain wheat” or “whole-wheat flour.” But know that “wheat flour” isn’t the same thing as “whole-wheat flour”–it’s the “whole” part that contributes the fiber. And don’t go just by color; some wheat breads made with refined white flour (wheat flour that’s been stripped of the coarse, fiber-rich kernel) are colored to look tike whole-wheat bread. Kaiser rolls, baguettes, focaccia, and most pitas (except whole-wheat pitas) are considered “white” bread. Even sourdough, rye and pumpernickel are often actually colored and flavored white-flour breads. A good benchmark is a nutritional score of at least two grams of fiber per slice. Whole-wheat breads may have a smidgen of fat, but not enough to worry about.
Smart bread choices include Freihofer’s Stone Ground 100% Whole Wheat, Wonder 100% Whole Wheat, Nature’s Cupboard Natural l0-Grain, Arnold Country Wheat, and Rubschlager Danish Style Pumpernickel.
THE CHEESE
Image Source: Pixabay.com
Most manufacturers of reduced-fat cheese have finally figured out how to make a product that maintains its classic flavor after the calories and fat have been minimized. More good news: Trimming the fat from these cheeses doesn’t keep them from remaining valuable sources of calcium that keep your bones strong and healthy.
Deli counter: Take a number at the deli counter, it’s worth waiting in line for the likes of Yarlsberg Light Swiss and Alpine Lace Swiss.
Prepackaged aisle: In the prepackaged-cheese aisle, check out Sargento Light Deli Style Sliced Provolone and Sargento Light Deli Style Sliced Swiss. Kraft makes a very serviceable fat-free American cheese product called (surprise!) Fat Free Singles. Kraft also makes Fat Free Swiss Singles, but the flavor seems indistinguishable from that of their American slices (the possibility exists, of course made of stone).
MEAT
Image Source: Pixabay.com
With all the lean choices now available, why to heavily processed, high-fat deli meats oozing with nitrites? Roasted and smoked turkey breast, baked ham and lean roast beef are all better picks.
Just make sure to buy actual meat and not meat blends (baked ham versus ham luncheon meat, for example). The first place to go is the deli counter, where a guy in a white smock will actually weigh and cut the fresh chunks of meat for you into any thickness your heart desires.
For great deli-counter meats, try Healthy Choice Honey Maple Ham, Healthy Choice Honey Roasted and Smoked Turkey Breast, Healthy Choice Italian Style Roast Beef, Boarshead Ovengold Turkey, and Boarshead Baked Ham.
If you insist on shopping in the prepackaged-meat aisle, be careful: If it looks like it’s been preserved in hair gel, perhaps it’s a bit too processed. When you buy pure meat (such as turkey breast, ham carved from the bone, and roast beef), you can actually pull the slices apart with the “grain.”
Some tasty and healthy prepackaged-meat options are Healthy Choice Deli Traditions Garlic & Herb Roast Beef, Healthy Choice Deli Traditions Cooked Ham, Healthy Choice Oven Roasted Turkey Breast Variety Pack, Butterball Fat Free Honey Roasted & Smoked Turkey Breast, and Butterball Fat Free Smoked Turkey Breast.
THE VEGETABLES
Image Source: Pixabay.com
Sandwiches give you the perfect opportunity to sneak in a few of those five servings you’re supposed to eat each day. Start with dark-green lettuce (such as romaine or red leaf), and choose vine-ripened tomatoes for the most flavor. Great additions to any sandwich include roasted red peppers (from water-packed jars), bottled sweet and hot peppers, water-packed artichoke hearts, red-onion slices, fresh basil, fresh watercress leaves, fresh baby spinach leaves, shredded carrots, and even cucumber slices for extra water, fiber and bulk, a triad that increases satisfaction without increasing calories. In fact, one whole cup of vegetables has only 50 calories, but can be loaded with vitamins and minerals. Options include:
* 1 cup carrots–19,000 IU of vitamin A
* 1 tomato–138 mg potassium; lycopene
* 1 cup red peppers–282 mg vitamin C
* 1 cup spinach–245 mg calcium
THE SAUCE
If you’re a true mayonnaise lover, there’s no need to go without. Fat-free and reduced-fat varieties of mayonnaise and Miracle Whip can just as creamy and fat-laden as their oily counterparts. Besides the classic French’s yellow mustard, try country-style honey mustard or any of the gourmet varieties now available in most markets. Fortunately, plenty of healthy and tasty toppings are out there, although some of them can carry hefty amounts of sugar.
Fat-Free Sauces (two tablespoons)
* Salsa-
* Tomato-basil sauce-
* Fat-free Italian salad dressing-
* Black bean sauce-
* Light soy sauce-
* Teriyaki sauce-
* Hickory-smoked barbecue sauce-
QUICK TIP
To add zip to your fat-free mayo, mix in some cayenne pepper.
DODGE THESE BULLETS
Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip: At 11 grams of fat per tablespoon, mayonnaise should come with a prescription for Lipitor. Try fat-free varieties–or mustards, tomato sauces, steak sauces, soy or most Asian sauces.
Full-Fat Cheese: There’s no reason to buy full fat-cheese anymore, not when the reduced-fat selections taste just as good. However, because of their higher water content, fat-free varieties typically don’t melt as well, so keep an eye on the stove to prevent burning.
White Bread: Need we remind you that white bread is lacking in many nutrients? Ease the switch to whole grains by opting for whole-wheat bread before graduating to grainy, multigrain slices.
SUPER SIDES
Mayonnaise-Free Cole Slaw: Combine one cup of prepackaged cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots) and a quarter-cup of ranch dressing.
Tropical Fruit Salad: Combine two cups of mixed fresh fruit (you can use any combination of cubed melon, papaya, mango, pineapple, berries and oranges).
Brown Rice/Black Bean Salad: Toss together one cup of cooked instant brown rice, one-third cup of canned black beans, two chopped green onions and two tablespoons of Italian salad dressing.
