science made fun Archives - Page 3 of 16

The Southern Hemisphere: What’s going on down there?

Is the earth round? I think we can all agree
that it is. What we are going to tell you next, spoiler alert, will remind you
of your high school geometry class.

A great
circle is the largest possible
circle that can be drawn around a sphere. All spheres have great circles. If you cut a sphere at one
of its great circles, you’d cut it exactly in half. The Earth is not a perfect
sphere, but it maintains the general shape. All the meridians on Earth are great circles. Meridians,
including the prime meridian, are the north-south lines we use to help describe exactly where we are
on the Earth. All these lines of longitude meet at the poles, cutting the Earth neatly in half. These halves are
called the Northern & Southern hemispheres.

Let’s talk about the hemispheres of the earth.
The earth is divided into 2 by the equator. Can you go to the equator? Actually,
you can! Many countries have now created tourist attractions at the equator!
However, you cannot “see” the equator as it is an imaginary line splitting the
earth in half. Creating the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere.

Have
you ever wondered when man first thought about the equator and the hemispheres?
The earliest documented mention of the round earth concept dates from
around the 5th century BC, when it was mentioned by ancient Greek
philosophers. In the 3rd century BC, Hellenistic
astronomy established the roughly spherical shape of the earth, as a
physical fact and calculated the Earth’s circumference. This knowledge was
gradually adopted throughout the “old world” during the 3rd-8th
centuries and ongoing during the “Middle Ages.” A practical
demonstration of Earth’s sphericity was achieved by Ferdinand Magellan
and Juan Sebastian’s circumnavigation from 1519-1522. The argument had
officially been settled…the earth is round!

Back
to the equator, or the line of 0 degrees latitude, divides the earth into
the Northern and Southern hemispheres. There are differences in
the climates of the Northern and Southern hemispheres because of
the Earth’s seasonal tilt toward and away from the sun.

This
occurs because deep inside the earth, liquid iron is flowing and generating the
earth’s magnetic field, which protects our atmosphere against harmful radiation
from the sun. This field changes over time and behaves differently in different
parts of the world. The field can even change polarity completely! The magnetic
north and south poles can actually switch places. This is called a
reversal and last happened 780,000 years ago. Quite some time ago!

Image Source: Pixabay.com
Magnetic Field Lines

Between
South America and Southern Africa, there is an enigmatic or difficult to
determine magnetic region called the South Atlantic Anomaly, where the field is
a lot weaker than one would expect. Weak and unstable magnetic fields are
thought to precede magnetic reversals, so some have argued this feature may be
evidence that we are facing one.

A
new study published June 12, 2020, in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, has uncovered how long the
field in the South Atlantic has been acting up – and sheds light on whether it
is something to worry about.

Weak
magnetic fields make us more prone to magnetic storms that have the potential
to knock out electronic infrastructure, including power grids. The magnetic
field of the South Atlantic Anomaly is already so weak that it can adversely
affect satellites and their technology when they fly past it. The strange
region is thought to be related to a patch of magnetic field that is pointing a
different direction to the rest at the top of the planet’s liquid outer core at
a depth of 1,795 miles (2,889 km) within the Earth.

This
“reverse flux patch” itself has grown over the last 250 years. But we don’t
know whether it is simply a one-off product of the chaotic motions of the outer
core fluid or rather the latest in a series of anomalies within this particular
region over long time frames.

If
it is a non-recurring feature, then its current location is not significant –
it could happen anywhere, perhaps randomly. But if this is the case, the
question of whether its increasing size and depth could mark the start of a new
reversal remains.

If
it is the latest in a string of features reoccurring over millions of years,
however, then this would make a reversal less likely. But it would require a
specific explanation for what was causing the magnetic field to act strangely
in this particular place.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Saint Helena Island

To
find out, scientists travelled to Saint Helena – an island in the middle of the
South Atlantic Ocean. This island, where Napoleon was exiled to and eventually
died in 1821, is made of volcanic rocks. These originate from two separate
volcanoes and were erupted from between eight million and 11.5 million years
ago.

Scientists
discovered when volcanic rocks cool down, small grains of iron-oxide in them
get magnetized and therefore save the direction and strength of the Earth’s
magnetic field at that time and place. A group of scientists collected some of
those rocks and brought them back to their lab in Liverpool, where they carried
out experiments to find out what the magnetic field was like at the time of
eruption, potentially 11 million years ago.

The
results showed us that the field at Saint Helena had vastly different
directions throughout the time of eruption, showing us that the magnetic field
in this region was much less stable than in other places. It therefore
challenges the idea that the abnormality has only been around for only a few
centuries. Instead, the whole region has likely been unstable on a timescale of
millions of years. This implies the current situation is not as rare as some
scientists had assumed, making it less likely that it represents the start of a
reversal. Please feel free to re-read the last 2 paragraphs!

What
could explain the odd magnetic region? The liquid outer core is generating
moves (by convection) at such high speeds that changes can occur on truly short,
human timescales. The outer core interacts with a layer called the mantle on
top of it, which moves far slower. That means the mantle is unlikely to have
changed very much in the last ten million years.

From
seismic waves passing through the Earth, we have some insight into the
structure of the mantle. Underneath Africa there is a large feature in
the lowermost mantle where the waves move extra slow through the Earth –
meaning there is most likely an unusually warm region of the lowermost mantle.
This possibly causes a different interaction with the outer core at that
specific location, which could explain the strange behavior of the
magnetic field in the South Atlantic.

Another
aspect of the inside of the Earth is the inner core, which is a solid ball the
size of Pluto beneath the outer core. This solid feature is slowly growing, but
not at the same rate everywhere. There is a possibility that it is growing
faster on one side, causing a flow inside the outer core that is reaching the
outer boundary with the rocky mantle just under the Atlantic ocean. This
may be causing irregular behavior of the magnetic field on the long timescales found
on Saint Helena.

Although there are still many questions about the exact cause of the irregular behavior in the South Atlantic, this study shows us that it has been around for millions of years and is most likely a result of geophysical interactions in the Earth’s mysterious interior.

Interested in learning more about the hemispheres and magnetism? Try our at-home experiment and make your very own compass! Grab your materials and follow the instructions here: https://sciencemadefun.net/downloads/compass.pdf

Sources:
Yael Annemiek Engbers, Ph.D. candidate, University of Liverpool
Andrew Biggin, Professor of Palaeomagnetism, University of Liverpool

Should old acquaintance be forgot?

It
is almost New Year’s eve! Although most people are happy to be saying goodbye
to the year 2020, it has certainly been a year to remember! Of course, when we
talk about New Year’s eve, the words of Auld Lang Syne will surely come up! Why
is that? What’s the song about?

This
song’s melody is synonymous with the new year (and the theme of change) in the
English-speaking world, despite nearly incomprehensible words. The problem is
that the text on which the song is based is not in English at all — it’s
18th-century Scots, a similar but distinct language responsible for lyrics in
the song such as “We twa hae run about the braes / and pou’d the gowans
fine” that are utterly incomprehensible to Americans.

But
the story of how an 18th-century Scottish ballad became
synonymous with the new year is tangled, involving both Calvinist theology’s
traditional aversion to Christmas and the uniquely central role that watching
television plays in American New Year’s celebrations. Bridging the gap is a
once-famous, now-forgotten Canadian big band leader who for decades defined New
Year’s Eve and transformed a Scottish folk custom into a global phenomenon.

“Should
old acquaintance be forgot?” is a rhetorical question the song asks?

The
answer is that it’s a rhetorical question. The song is asking whether old
friends should be forgotten, as a way of stating that obviously one should not
forget one’s old friends. The version of the song we sing today is based on
a poem published by Robert Burns, which he attributed to “an old
man’s singing,” noting that it was a traditional Scottish song.

So,
remember to not forget about your old friends! And on that note, let’s dive deeper
into the cultural history of New Years.

Image Source: Pixabay.com
Assarhadon – Babylon

The
earliest recorded festivities in honor of a new
year’s arrival date back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon.
For the Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal
equinox—the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and
darkness—heralded the start of a new year. In 45 B.C., New Year’s Day is
celebrated on January 1 for the first time in history as the Julian calendar
takes effect.

Soon
after becoming Roman dictator, Julius Caesar decided that the traditional
Roman calendar was in dire need of reform. Introduced around the seventh
century B.C., the Roman calendar attempted to follow the lunar cycle but
frequently fell out of phase with the seasons and had to be corrected. In addition,
the college of priests, the Roman body charged with overseeing the calendar,
often abused its authority by adding days to extend political terms or
interfere with elections.

Image Source: Pixabay.com
Chinese New Year

One
of the oldest traditions still celebrated today is Chinese New Year, which is
believed to have originated over 3,000 years ago during the Shang Dynasty. The
holiday began as a way of celebrating the new beginnings of the spring planting
season, but it later became entangled with myth and legend. According to one
popular tale, there was once a bloodthirsty creature called Nian—now the
Chinese word for “year”—that preyed on villages every New Year. To frighten the
hungry beast, the villagers took to decorating their homes with red trimmings,
burning bamboo, and making loud noises. The ruse worked, and the bright colors
and lights associated with scaring off Nian eventually became integrated into
the celebration.

Festivities
traditionally last 15 days and tend to center on the home and the family.
People clean their houses to rid them of bad luck, and some repay old debts as
a way of settling the previous year’s affairs. To encourage an auspicious start
to the year they also decorate their doors with paper scrolls and gather with
relatives for a feast. Following the invention of gunpowder in the 10th
century, the Chinese were also the first to ring in the New Year with
fireworks. Since Chinese New Year is still based on a lunar calendar that dates
to the second millennium BC, the holiday typically falls in late January or
early February on the second new moon after the winter solstice. Each year is
associated with one of 12 zodiacal animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon,
snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Modern
celebrations of the Lunar New Year include the tradition of giving the
gift of a bright, beautiful red envelope (known as hóngbāo) to your
friends and family. These envelopes are filled with money – and symbolize good
wishes, luck, and prosperity for the new year ahead.

In
Iran and other parts of the Middle East and Asia, the roots of Nowruz (or “New
Day”) reach far back into antiquity. Often called the “Persian New Year,” this
13-day spring festival falls on or around the vernal equinox in March and is
believed to have originated in modern day Iran as part of the Zoroastrian
religion. Official records of Nowruz did not appear until the 2nd century, but
most historians believe its celebration dates back as far as the 6th century
B.C. and the rule of the Achaemenid Empire. Unlike many other ancient Persian
festivals, Nowruz persisted as an important holiday even after Iran’s conquest
by Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. and the rise of Islamic rule in the 7th
century A.D.

Ancient
observances of Nowruz focused on the rebirth that accompanied the return of
spring. Traditions included feasts, exchanging presents with family members and
neighbors, lighting bonfires, dyeing eggs, and sprinkling water to symbolize
creation. One unique ritual that arose around the 10th century involved
electing a “Nowruzian Ruler”: a commoner who would pretend to be king for
several days before being “dethroned” near the end of the festival. Nowruz has
evolved considerably over time, but many of its ancient traditions—particularly
the use of bonfires and colored eggs—remain a part of the modern holiday, which
is observed by an estimated 300 million people each year.

In
the same region, ancient Egyptian culture was closely tied to the Nile River,
and it appears their New Year corresponded with its annual flood. According the
Roman writer Censorinus, the Egyptian New Year was predicted when Sirius—the
brightest star in the night sky—first became visible after a 70-day absence.
Better known as a heliacal rising, this phenomenon typically occurred in
mid-July just before the annual inundation of the Nile River, which helped
ensure that farmlands remained fertile for the coming year. Egyptians
celebrated this new beginning with a festival known as Wepet Renpet, which
means “opening of the year.” The New Year was a time of rebirth and
rejuvenation, and it was honored with feasts and special religious rites.

Not
unlike many people today, the Egyptians may have also used this as an excuse
for getting a bit tipsy. Recent discoveries at the Temple of Mut show that
during the reign of Hatshepsut the first month of the year played host to a
“Festival of Drunkenness.” This massive party was tied to the myth of Sekhmet,
a war goddess who had planned to kill all of humanity until the sun god Ra
tricked her into drinking herself unconscious. In honor of mankind’s salvation,
the Egyptians would celebrate with music, revelry, and—perhaps most important
of all—copious amounts of beer.

As
you look toward 2021, no matter how you choose to celebrate, we at High Touch
High Tech – Science Made Fun, wish each one of you a safe, happy, and joyous
New Year!

And if
you’d like to kick off the new year with your very own fireworks, try out our
at-home experiment, “Exploding Colors”!

Find a list of what you need and instructions here: https://sciencemadefun.net/downloads/Exploding_Colors.pdf

You can
also watch our “How To” video here:
https://youtu.be/QSBsGSYUKLY

Spice Up Your Winter….with these Winter Spices!

The
kitchen has always been a place where people would gather – at birthday
parties, celebrations, holidays, and family gatherings. The act of breaking
bread around a table is more than just a tasty experience, it is a way to provide
nurturing and show love. We see these same traits reflected around the globe in
many different cultures.

When we prepare a meal for special occasions,
especially during the holiday season, there are always certain spices that feature
in our winter dishes. So, let’s talk about herbs and spices. Generally, herbs come
from the green leaves of plants or vegetables. Spices come from other
parts of plants and trees. For example, cinnamon comes from the hard outer
cover of cinnamon plants. The spice ginger comes from the part of the ginger
plant that grows underground!

It is hard to imagine, in an era where spices can be found in almost every supermarket, how valuable they once were. Wars were fought, fortunes made and lost, new worlds discovered, and civilizations built for the spice trade. Spices were central to all important aspects of life: beauty (as perfume), health (as medicine), spiritual life (via their role in ritual), and, of course, sustenance (as a seasoning). From the regal orange pistils of saffron to the warm, woody bark that rendered cinnamon, they made food memorable and delicious. The fact that they came from faraway places added value. Exotic spices evoked foreign lands and stirred the imagination.

Historically, the lack of fresh produce in the winter months led people to rely more on spices. The winter months can be characterized by the rich, filling, and warming fragrances created by a selection of classic spices known as winter spices, or also commonly referred to as pie spices. Included under this title are anise, allspice, nutmeg, mace, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger.

Let’s
take a deeper dive into these spices! Each spice is explained below along with
a suggested use.

Cinnamon
Native to Sri Lanka, cinnamon can also be found in India, Myanmar, and South America. This popular spice is brown in color, has a fragrant aroma, and a warm sweet flavor.

Cinnamon can help in relieving
indigestion and nausea. The next time you feel sick or
overwhelmingly full from a huge meal, try some cinnamon tea! Just simmer three
or four cinnamon sticks in two cups of water and sweeten with some honey.

Cloves
Cloves are the unopened flower buds of the clove tree. Native to Indonesia and India, the clove tree produces flower buds in clusters. These clusters are pale in color at first, then become green, and then bright red when ready for harvesting.

Have you run out of candles this holiday season? Let cloves be your hero by sticking some into oranges and placing them around the house as decorative air-fresheners. You might also want to try chewing on a clove to get rid of bad breath, but do not swallow it! If you find yourself with muscle or joint pains, roast some cloves for a couple minutes, wrap them in a towel and apply to sore spots for relief.

Nutmeg
Nutmeg is the spice made from a seed that grows on a tropical evergreen tree. The tree is native to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. The spice nutmeg has a distinctive pungent fragrance and a warm slightly sweet taste. Did you know that the name nutmeg is also applied in different countries to other fruits or seeds, including Jamaica, Brazil, Peru, and Madagascar.

Nutmeg
helps digestion, settles stomach aches and helps you fall asleep. Just add a
small pinch of ground nutmeg to a cup of warm ginger tea to help with stomach
problems. On nights you can’t fall asleep, heat up some milk and sprinkle in
some ground nutmeg.

Ginger
Native to southeastern Asia, ginger’s use in India and China has been known from ancient times. The spice has a slightly biting taste and is used, usually dried and ground, to flavor breads, sauces, baked goods, and many other foods. In Japan, slices of ginger are eaten between dishes or courses to clear the palate.

Ginger
helps increase circulation and relieves congestion and nausea. Make ginger tea
to help reboot your system. Steep one or two teaspoons of freshly grated
ginger or ½ teaspoon of powdered ginger in a cup of boiling water for 10
minutes. But beware, ginger can be pretty spicy! You can always make things
sweeter with a touch of honey.

Mint
Peppermint is a hybrid mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Native to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is cultivated all over the world. Peppermint has a strong sweetish odor and a warm pungent taste with a cooling aftertaste. Mint flowers are often dried and used to flavor candy, desserts, beverages, and other foods. Its essential oil is also widely used.

Peppermint can be very helpful as it stimulates digestion, eliminates nausea and toxins, and helps freshen your breath. If taking after-dinner mints or mint gum is not enough, try a cup of freshly brewed mint tea. Take two cups of fresh mint leaves and steep them in a pot of boiling water for a good 8-10 minutes and enjoy!

So,
as you plan your holiday menu, which of these winter spices will make the cut and
appear in your favorite dishes? The benefits of using these spices go beyond
simply tasting great, but also provide plenty of health benefits too!

High Touch High Tech wishes you and your family a happy, healthy, warm, and spicy holiday season! And if you would like to keep the kiddos busy with some FUN, at-home science experiments during the holiday season, check out our STEM Gingerbread House Building Challenge. Find a list of what you need and instructions here: https://sciencemadefun.net/downloads/gingerbread_engineer.pdf

Sources:
Wikipedia.com
Encyclopedia.com

First in Flight – Kites

Join High Touch High Tech in celebrating
First in Flight
December 17, 2020

What comes to mind when you hear this phrase? Orville & Wilbur Wright? The State of North Carolina’s motto and bragging rights? The movie Top Gun? We are taking this theme quite literally, trying to discover the actual first in flight. The answer is the kite! They are certainly little flying machines that have astounded Man for centuries. There are millions of people around the world, that look up to the skies to watch or fly a kite. “What easier way to get from the ground to the sky”, said Benjamin Franklin when he was trying to figure out the nature of lightning. Kites set people’s imaginations wild.

The
earliest written account of kite flying was about 200 B.C. when the Chinese
General Han Hsin of the Han Dynasty flew a kite over the walls of a city he was
attacking to measure how far his army would have to tunnel to reach past the
defenses. Knowing this distance his troops reached the inside of the city,
surprised their enemy, and were victorious. How clever?

Kite
flying was eventually spread by traders from China to Korea, and across Asia to
India. Each area developed a distinctive style of kite and cultural purpose for
flying them.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Marco Polo

Marco
Polo carried stories of kites to Europe around the end of the 13th century.
Illustrations of the period show non-flying dragon kites on military banners.
Sailors also brought kites back from Japan and Malaysia in the 16th and 17th
centuries. Kites were regarded as curiosities at first and had little impact on
European culture.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Benjamin Franklin

Meanwhile
back in the Americas, men like Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Wilson used
their knowledge of kite flying to learn more about the wind and weather. Sir
George Caley, a very important figure in aeronautics, who quite fancied
aviation himself, Samuel Langley, an astronomer, Lawrence Hargrave, an engineer
and explorer, Alexander Graham Bell, an inventor and scientist, and the Wright
Brothers, the aviation pioneers! All of these people have experimented with
kites and contributed to the development of the airplane, and our understanding
of flight. They have all contributed to man’s desire to reach for the skies,
and ultimately the stars.

Since
its invention, there have been many adaptations to the kite by various cultures
around the world. The kite you probably flew as a kid looks a bit different to
the original Chinese kites and even the kites of modern China.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Chinese Dragon Kite

A Chinese kite in ancient times would have used simple materials such as wood and cloth. They were often made to resemble the shapes of birds. Today, elaborate and large designs can be seen flying above parks in China. They will often resemble real animals and members of the Chinese Zodiac. Some kites will have LED lights attached to allow for night flights and fun light shows. There is even a kite museum where you can view designs and learn more about the history of kites through the ages!

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Weifang Kite Museum, China

But
how do kites actually fly? What is the science behind them?

First
let’s talk about airplanes. An airplane
flies because the wings create lift. The air going over the wing is moving
faster than the air going under the wing, and this creates a low-pressure causing
lift.

In
terms of kites, lift is generated by differences in air pressure, which are
created by air in motion over the body of the kite. Kites are
shaped and angled so that the air moving over the top moves faster than the air
moving along the bottom. To launch a kite into the air the force of
lift must be greater than the force of gravity, just like airplanes!

Who’s ready to fly a kite? If you’re ready, check out our at-home experiment: Chinese Kite! Grab your materials and follow along with the lesson plan to make your very own kite!
https://sciencemadefun.net/downloads/Chinese%20Kite_REV%2012-09-2020.pdf

Soil Science is a dirty business!

Join High Touch High Tech in celebrating
World Soil Day
December 5th, 2020

What kind
of science is in soil? What is soil? So many questions…

Soil is a
material composed of five ingredients — minerals, organic plant matter,
living organisms, gas, and water. Are their soil scientists? Of
course!

What do
soil scientists do? A soil scientist is a person who is
qualified to evaluate and interpret soils and soil-related
data for the purpose of understanding soil resources as they
contribute to not only agricultural production, but as they affect
environmental quality and as they are managed for protection of human health
and the environment. WOW, soil scientists definitely play a key role in
protecting our health and environment.

It seems
to me that Soil is pretty easy to ignore. We might notice it when gardening or
playing outdoors. But even when we forget about it, soil is always there,
everywhere!

Image Source: Pixabay.com
Soil microbes under a microscope

Most of what we see are mineral particles that we recognize as sand, silt, or clay. There is also plenty of water and air. But soil is also alive. It contains countless fungi and microbes. They help recycle dead and decaying matter by breaking down the remains of plants, animals, and other organisms. What if we could put on really cool goggles to see inside the soil, we would see an incredible microscopic world of fungi and bacteria? We need to talk about the bacteria in soil because they perform an incredible function. These bacteria are said to be symbiotic and are real helpers to the plants. These bacteria can convert nitrogen to ammonia, which the plants utilize for their development.

While soil science is fascinating, why are we talking about it now? Because World Soil Day is December 5, 2020. How do we celebrate World Soil Day, you might ask? The motto for World Soil Day is Keep soil alive and protect soil biodiversity! Plants nurture a whole world of creatures in the soil, that in return feed and protect the plants. This diverse community of living organisms keeps the soil healthy and fertile. This vast world constitutes soil biodiversity and determines the main biogeochemical processes that make life possible on Earth.

It turns
out soil is a living resource, home to more than 25% of our planet’s
biodiversity. Interestingly, up to 90% of living organisms live or spend part
of their lifecycle in soils.

Next time
you take a break and go outside, or maybe spend a few minutes in your backyard,
reach down and take a good look at the soil. If you have a magnifying glass,
bring it outside with you. When you look at the soil use your imagination and
think about how many microorganisms there are in the soil, and how remarkably
busy they all are!

One way to
celebrate World Soil Day is to provide your soil with rich nutrients like those
found in compost! Check out our at-home science experiment, Compost in a Cup!
Grab your supplies & celebrate soil!

Lesson Plan: https://sciencemadefun.net/downloads/CompostInCup.pdf

Video: https://youtu.be/ZNM3nALYU_A

Gemstones & Crystals Galore

They grow, but they’re not alive. For centuries they’ve been
used in witchcraft and wizardry, yet they are also so integral to science that
they have been the key to revealing the molecular makeup of all of life! What are these marvelous, ancient, modern,
magical, scientific treasures?!

We’re talking about those magnificent minerals, GEMSTONES!

Even in our “jaded” modern world, holding a handful of beautiful, multicolored, sparkling gems is a pleasure that is unparalleled. When you look at the gorgeous variety of colors and shapes of gemstones, it’s easy to see why every ancient culture on earth revered them for their beauty and saw mysterious magical powers within. Even though humans and gemstones have a long and storied history together, that is only a small part of why gemstones are truly one of nature’s most incredible creations. Far beyond their visual appeal, they are amazing right down to a molecular level and have actually been the key to some of the most momentous discoveries in the history of science!

Image Source: Pixabay.com
Snowflake Crystal

The scientific study of the structure of gems and crystals is called crystallography. Humans have been trying to understand the intriguingly standard patterns of crystal shapes since at least ancient Greece, when they theorized that crystal gemstones were water that had frozen and could not go back to its liquid state. Their word for it, krystallos, gives us our word today. For centuries, gemstones did not reveal the mysteries of their symmetrical, regular shapes easily. The great Johannes Kepler, fascinated by a single snowflake on his coat, pondered their symmetry in the 16^th century. Soon after, Danish crystallographer Neils Stensen discovered The Law of Constancy of Angles, proving that although crystals appear in a great variety of shapes and sizes, specific types of crystals always grow in the same angles.

The stage was set for Auguste Bravais, the father of modern crystallography, who discovered that the molecular structure of crystals were arranged in perfectly uniform “lattices,” a pattern in which any point in the structure is perfectly equidistant from the point nearest to it. Bravais discovered there were only a few possible configurations of points that can make up the orderly arrangement of molecules in a crystal. Bravais’ work categorized what is known as the “seven crystal systems:” cubic, trigonal, hexagonal, tetragonal, orthorhombic, triclinic, and monoclinic. These are the seven shapes a crystal can make on a molecular level, and thus, repeats in its ultimate shape. Have you ever seen pyrite in a cube, or quartz in a point? In a cubic crystal-like pyrite, the molecules themselves form tiny repeating cubes which then create the amazingly regular, square shape of the crystal. Quartz is only ever hexagonal or trigonal, giving it its characteristic point. Once you are familiar with the seven crystal systems, the beauty of natural gems becomes even more incredible for their regularity and their symmetry. The symmetrical perfection of crystal designs over millions of years, varying geological conditions, across all of earth and even space, is something truly rare and surprising in the natural world.

Image Source: Pixabay.com
Blue Tanzanite

Although all crystals across the world, from the famous diamond to the ultra-rare fingerite, can grow in remarkably uniform patterns, what makes all crystal gemstones different is their interaction with the conditions in their particular environment. Crystals usually form out of magma, but it is the trace elements in magma, often dissolved in groundwater, that dictate the colors and shapes of a crystal. Pressure and temperature also play a role in creating these natural works of art. For example, an emerald and a ruby both get their color from the trace element Chromium, but the difference is time and pressure. One of the most rare and costly gems on earth, Blue Tanzanite, comes from a certain mixture of pressure, temperature and the element vanadium that is found only in the East African Rift Valley of Tanzania. Whereas quartz, the most common crystal on earth, is created when silicon and oxygen, both very common elements, bond and grow in a tetragonal shape. A crystal can take only weeks to grow and a million years to come to the earth’s surface; when it emerges, it is a perfect snapshot of the complex geological processes around it.

Image Source: Adobe Stock Photo
Crystalline Molecular Structure

Sci-Fi author Arthur C. Clarke said: Any sufficiently
advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Gemstones/crystals are
one of those places where science and magic meet. Crystals have been used in healing magic
since humans lived in caves. In terms of
importance to modern science, crystalline molecular structures have given us
the keys to understand nothing less than the makeup of life itself! The science of X-ray Crystallography is a relatively
recent discipline. In 1912 scientists
discovered that if they projected X-rays through a humble crystal of salt, they
could see the molecular structure of the salt crystal as a 2-D projection. They then learned to crystallize non-mineral
substances, and construct 3-D models of the projection they saw. Because of X-ray crystallography we have been
able to see, understand, and analyze:

The structure of DNA
Numerous pharmaceutical compounds, beginning
with Penicillin
Enzymes
Hormones
Hemoglobin and Myoglobin
Vitamins
Viruses such as HIV and Covid-19
The makeup of the surface of Mars (Mars Rover
has a built in X-ray crystallography unit!)

In fact, the Nobel Chemistry 2020 winners, Dr. Charpentier
and Dr. Doudna, would never have been able to do such close work on DNA without
X-ray Crystallography. Even 2020 Nobel Prize winner Roger Penrose is an avid
fan of crystal structures and took inspiration from them to revolutionize our
understanding of space itself.

If you want to collect and examine some of these incredibly
meaningful minerals for yourself, where can you start? There are over 3,000 minerals known to
science, from the famous diamond to the rarest in the world, Fingerite. Precious or semiprecious? Local stones or exotic stones from around the
world? Which of the Seven Crystal
Systems is your favorite? Which mix of minerals makes the most appealing color?

For some up-close views of fine gems and minerals:

The rarest gems & minerals in the world
An introduction to how crystals form and grow
A brief history of pre X-Ray crystallography
For more about the Seven Crystal Systems and Crystal Molecular Structures
An in-depth explanation of the mathematics and structure of Crystal Lattices
An selection of high-quality short videos about X Ray Crystallography, including its history, major discoveries, and practice today, plus a talk by Roger Penrose

2020 Nobel Prize Winners in Science

Congratulations to the 2020 Nobel Prize Winners!
2020’s winners show us, once again, that Science, like the universe, is ever-expanding and the potential for scientific discovery is unlimited!

Nobel Prize Museum – Stockholm
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Chemistry

Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Dr. Jennifer Doudna: for the development of CRISPR-Cas9, a method for genome editing.

Dr.
Charpentier and Dr. Doudna are the first team of two women ever to win the
Nobel Prize! In what has been called
“the most deserved Novel Prize of the past 20 years,” Doudna and Charpentier’s
technique of genome editing has made an absolutely massive contribution to
science, with a potential to revolutionize the entire field of the Life
Sciences. The possibility of genome editing has existed since the 1970’s, but
thanks to Charpentier and Doudna, it is now much more precise and effective, easier,
and with a greater applicability to curing genetic disease than ever
before. Using “chemical scissors” known
as Cas9, a DNA-cutting enzyme derived from bacteria, the technique can target
and snip up to a single faulty or unwanted gene, just as you would replace a
single letter in a misspelled word. New
DNA can then be inserted at the snip.
The insertion is repaired via the body’s natural rNA functions, and the
new DNA functions as normal. The
CRISPR-Cas9 technique has only existed for 8 years and has already had an
impact on agriculture and pest control.
Its potential for human medicine is enormous and a CRISPR application
has already cured a human subject of Sickle Cell Anemia. Their discovery has revolutionized the life sciences
and unleashed incredible new potential.
As colleague Fyodor Urnov puts it, “the 21st century will be the age of
CRISPR, thanks to Jennifer and Emmanuelle.”

Why the discovery is so major
How CRISPR-Cas9 works
Jennifer Doudna giving a TED talk about her CRISPR technique

Physics

Dr. Roger Penrose: for
the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general
theory of relativity

Dr. Reinhard Genzel and Dr. Andrea
Ghez: for the discovery of a supermassive compact object
at the center of our galaxy

The prize for physics this year is for the proof that there is a supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. This discovery is spectacular in itself, but all the more amazing for the fact that it was 60 years in the making! In the 1960’s Oxford physicist Roger Penrose and his colleague Stephen Hawking used the mathematics of Einstein’s theory of relativity to predict that Black Holes inevitably exist and should be found at the center of every galaxy. This impressive theoretical proof of black holes was so comprehensive it also reinforced the overall feasibility of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, first expressed in 1907. In a stunning demonstration of how scientific discoveries are constantly built upon the legacies of those that came before, Penrose first proved the theoretical existence of black holes in the 20^th century. When the telescopic technology to measure them finally caught up to Penrose’s ideas, Dr. Genzel and Dr. Ghez were able to observe and conclusively prove that black holes existed in the 21^st century! Genzel first and then Ghez, building on the previous work, used high powered telescopes in Chile and Hawai’i to carefully observe the motions of stars over several years. Their careful observations and calculations prove that there is a massive dark object in the milky way with millions of times more mass than the sun, a.k.a., a black hole. Thanks to these three scientists’ generations of work, we now know beyond any doubt that black holes exist, and they are at the center of every galaxy.

An astronomer explains how the discovery was made
A Q&A with the brilliant Roger Penrose
Andrea Ghez giving a TED talk about her search for a black hole

Medicine:

Dr. Harvey J. Alter, Dr. Charles M. Rice, and Dr. Michael Houghton:
for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus

In a year marked by a global viral pandemic, the fact that the Nobel Prize in Medicine went to a trio of virologists highlights how important scientific research is to public health. The three virologists made a massive contribution to the lives and futures of people all over the world with their discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, which affects 71 million people worldwide and kills 400,000 people a year. Dr. Alter, Dr. Rice, and Dr. Houghton’s discoveries allowed for targeted vaccines, treatments, and now, a total cure. Alter, working from the NIH in America, helped discover the Hepatitis B virus in the 1960’s. But after that discovery, he was confounded by the fact that there was still another unknown disease-causing agent that resulted in hepatitis, especially after blood transfusions. This unknown form of chronic, blood-borne hepatitis debilitated patients for years before it killed them, and represented a serious global health problem, particularly for vulnerable people in need of transfusions and blood-based treatments. In work that demonstrates the highly collaborative nature of science today, the three scientists all provided an essential piece of the solution. Alter was able to demonstrate that what he called Hepatitis C was a virus, Houghton used an untested strategy to isolate the genome of the virus, and Rice provided the evidence that the virus was the cause of Hepatitis C. Thanks to these three scientists, the millions of people worldwide affected by Hepatitis C now have a chance to be free of this terrible disease.

The story of the discovery
The Life and Research of Dr. Harvey Alter
Dr. Nazeem Afdhal giving a TED talk on Hep C and the 25 years of work towards a cure

Check out some of these fun at-home science experiments & give them a try! Who knows, you may just be a Nobel Prize winner one day!

All Thumbs
Space Case
Germ Game

Are You a Coffee Head?

It’s been said that Coffee is “the plant that domesticated humans.” Although its exact origins are lost to history, we can be sure that coffee has had a meteoric rise in popularity around the world in the past 500 years. In fact, coffee is second only to water as the world’s most consumed beverage! Have you had YOUR coffee today? Probably – in the US alone, people consume more than 450 million cups of coffee per day.

It’s thought that coffee is native to the Keffa region of Ethiopia, where legend has it that a shepherd noticed his goats were more energetic than usual after eating the cherrylike fruit of the coffee bush. A local religious teacher attempted to roast the beans and mix them with water, and when the resulting concoction proved VERY helpful at long religious ceremonies, the genie was out of the iced coffee bottle. Strong trading links across the Red Sea to Yemen saw coffee disembarking at the port of Mokha, and then across trade routes to the rest of the world. Europeans developed a love for the drink in the 1600s, gathering in cafes to discuss events of the day over cup, after cup, after cup. Some of Europe’s most influential scientific and philosophical thinkers were total coffee heads, and it’s been theorized that the caffeine boost of coffee, plus the community provided by the cafes, was a key factor in the European Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment!

Not only was coffee very likely instrumental in the development of the modern world we all share today, it’s been theorized that the process of unlocking the flavors, and, of course, the caffeine, in coffee is one of all of humankind’s biggest shared projects. However, the style of coffee you drink, when and where you drink it, and even who you drink it with can often be surprisingly different depending on where you are in the world. Our relatively unified craving for coffee reveals an impressive diversity of tastes and habits that are evidence of some amazingly complex cultural and biological factors at play and is a fascinating illustration of the anthropological principle of “Unity in Diversity.” No matter how you take it, it’s a fact that the world loves coffee!

For example, if you are in Scandinavia, you may enjoy your coffee with small cubes of cheese curd soaking in it. Before you say “gross!,” it might help to know that in Scandinavia, agriculture is difficult and people evolved a close relationship with dairy animals to survive. In the harsh Arctic climate, a hot cup of coffee with an extra protein bonus in it can keep a person sustained all day.

But if you are in Italy, it’s only the tourists who EVER drink cappuccino after 11am; this may have to do with the fact that many Italians are lactose-intolerant, and milky drinks may interfere with the digestion of food later in the day.

In Vietnam, you can enjoy a sweet coffee whipped with egg yolks rather than milk. Vietnam has a major café culture, but in the Vietnam War, milk became scarce and innovative Vietnamese turned to egg yolk to replicate the smoothness of milk.

If you are in the US, there’s a reason that the type of “normal coffee” you make in your office machine is known as “Americano” to the rest of the world. It’s made with much more water than the tiny, concentrated espresso-based beverages enjoyed by most other countries. It’s said that American GI’s did not like espresso but rather, missed the drip coffee they enjoyed at home, so grateful Italians obliged their “unsophisticated” taste by pouring espresso into water and the drink known around the world as the Americano was born! Human ingenuity (and need for caffeine) knows no bounds. What do you think the next coffee evolution will be?

To learn more, grab a cup and enjoy these delightful videos:

The history of coffee culture.

Coffee’s journey around the world.

Unique coffees around the world today.

Ingenious Communication Techniques of the Indigenous American world

A Winter Count document.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

If a time machine dropped you into the Americas in 1491, what would you find? A vast, empty continent roamed by small bands of people, fighting to survive? No way! Both North and South America before the arrival of Columbus played host to very large urban civilizations, powerful militaries, huge agricultural economies, and an impressive diversity of religions, languages and art styles. Amazing feats of engineering were the norm in this world as people from Tierra Del Fuego to Baffin Bay carved out their lifestyles in wildly different ecological regions. You might have seen evidence of this ingenuity in things like the Igloo, or the Tipi, but have you ever heard of the Inka Roads, or the floating city of Tenochtitlan? Whether they were living in a huge empire or a small tribal nation, Native American people had to be creative in the ways they stored, spread, and communicated the information that each group needed to survive. Let’s examine some Native American communication techniques that go WAY beyond the stereotypical “smoke signals!”

Inka Road
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Despite 770,000 square miles of terrain that encompassed the highest, snowy Andes, the Amazon rainforest, Pacific Ocean beaches and several fierce deserts, the massive 12 million strong Inca Empire innovated one of the most rapid and efficient messaging systems in the premodern world! It relied on a specially trained team of expert marathon runners to relay the messages that were vital to the management of the huge empire. Chaskis were elite endurance athletes trained from childhood to run fast on some of the toughest high-altitude terrain on earth. Chaskis passed messages anywhere along 25,000 miles of specially designed Inca Roads.
They ran several miles at a sprint until they reached the next Chaski station. There they would pass the message and the next runner would be off like the wind. Chaskis took their job very seriously and knew that if they were found to pass an incorrect message, they would be thrown off a cliff. Running their non-stop, high speed relay race, they could pass a message from Ecuador to Chile in one week, an amazingly fast result for the world before electronic communication!

Learn more about the Chaskis – Inka Teachers Guide
Learn more about the Chaski Runners

A Winter Count document of the Yanktonai. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Large-scale empires like the Inca needed to know exactly what was happening in every corner of their massive territory and had the resources to train and support thousands of Chaskis for all their communication needs. But what about smaller scale societies, especially nomadic ones that moved around a lot? Sometimes there is a stereotype that small scale groups like the Natives of the North American Plains were in such a struggle for survival that they did not have time for things like technology, history, and philosophy, but this is not true. The Sioux had a system of recording and communicating their history that suited their needs perfectly: The Winter Count.

These are four separate Winter Counts from 1833, all recording a meteor shower.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

In the Sioux world, years were not counted from Dec.-Jan. but measured from first snowfall to the next year’s first snowfall. At the end of the year, elders met to decide what was the most important event of the year past; that event would forever name and define the year. A special member of the group would design a pictograph representing the event and add it to a special hide that showed each year’s pictographs in succession. Some of these Winter Count hides ran over 100 years and could be constantly renewed by painting on fresh hide when the old one decayed. The keeper of the Winter Count also served as the group’s historian, using the winter count to tell stories of what happened each year, keeping the group connected to their past and able to learn more about themselves for the future. The Winter Count hide itself was easily portable and made of simple materials, making it a perfect technological fit for the highly mobile the Plains Natives.

Get up close to a Winter Count Calendar

Nature’s Density

What is
Density? Density is how much ‘stuff’ is packed into a particular area.

For
example, if we have 13 balls in a box and we have the same box with 27
identical balls inside it. We say the box with 27 balls has higher density than
the box with 13 balls.

Density
is a fundamental property of matter. Density is defined as mass divided by unit
volume. It is measured in grams per cubic centimeter or kilograms per cubic
meter. The Greek letter rho, is the symbol for density.

Density,
ρ = Mass ÷ Volume

So,
two liquids can take up the same amount of space(volume) but can have
completely different masses. If liquid A has a higher mass, MORE of that liquid
is in that space and therefore is denser. If liquid B has a lower mass, LESS of
that liquid is in that same space and is therefore less dense than liquid A.

All
liquids in your tower have similar volumes but they have different densities.
What does that mean? That means that each liquid has a different amount of mass
in that volume. The liquids with the highest density are at the bottom, and the
ones with the lower density are on top of each other. So, which of the liquids
is most dense? And which is least dense?

Join our HTHT @ Home Science Experiment and make your own Density Tower:
https://sciencemadefun.net/downloads/Density%20Tower_EOTD_May%2013th.pdf