Professor Blue

A school district in West Virginia of over 1,000 students began a mass slaughter of pumpkins in pursuit of science.

“Organizers say the goal of the event is not to make the squashes go splat, but rather to provide some pumpkin protection…” when dropped from 40 feet.

“It’s an applications process, it’s a physics process,” said one big wig where the demonstration was held.

The winners used a variety of materials.  One group used “…milk cartons instead of cups” along with cardboard.

Another group of students found that water balloons, traditionally the weapon of choice for certain middle school and high school enthusiasts, provided adequate pumpkins protection.

Calls made to the Pumpkin Anti-Cruelty Society for a comment were not returned.

Hey!  Wear a pair of these glasses and people might say, “Hello, Fishstick Face!” and it will be a good thing.

hard to see anything with all these fish hanging around

Erik de Laurens, a designer, has invented a way to compress fish scales, (scales meaning the skin of dead fish and not the thing you use to weigh overweight sealife with)…to press them together so tightly that they stick together and make a new kind of material for … all kinds of things.  Including eyeglass frames.  It’s a great way to make use of something that would just go into the trash.

You may have heard the phrase, “the scales fell from my eyes”.  It means that someone suddenly realizes the truth about something, or something was revealed to her.  He can see the truth now.  Before, not.  What kind of person would think something like this, you might ask?  Well, plenty of people.  The phrase has been around a long time.

Now the scales don’t have to fall from your eyes for you to see properly.

Gorton’s Fisheries has not yet confirmed whether or not they will be calling anyone Fishstick Face in the near future.

The desert might not be the ideal place to live and work for most people because, well, it’s a desert.  No offense to the Bedoin people.

Lots of sun and endless sand are two things that prevent most people from saying, “Let’s go have dinner with the Sahara,” or even, “I build widgets in my desert factory.”

Artist Markus Kayser and his invention, the Solar Sinter, might be changing all of that.

This video shows a performance of his solar sinter, there in the middle of the Sahara desert.  Its power source comes only from the sun that gets directed through a heavy lens onto a 3d printer, melting the sand and shaping it into glass objects.

What does sinter mean?  Markus Kayser explains:

“This process of converting a powdery substance via a heating process into a solid form is known as sintering and has in recent years become a central process in design prototyping known as 3D printing or SLS (selective laser sintering).”

It’s exciting to see the creation of stuff that does not create CO2 or pollution for landfills.

We make a lot of stuff out of plastic these days because it’s light and easy to transport, and because it doesn’t break.

But plastic is a huge a problem because it doesn’t break down easily when buried or tossed out at sea.

don't dump us!

And it’s made up of a resource that’s becoming more and more scarce (hint: it’s made out of petroleum / oil!).

What’s also exciting is that the Solar Sinter is a challenge to other inventors out there (hello, inventors!) to dream up more applications for glass other than glass slippers!

No offense to glass slippers.

Here’s a clue: It all starts out with just one of them.

One who spots trouble from a distance and memorizes faces of those people who cause him or his friends trouble.  He passes along the description to his tribe so that they all quickly know that the guy with the brown, thinning hair and the mole near his left nostril and the weird scar in between his eyebrows is a threat.

Not like that other balding guy who’s eating ice cream on a park bench.

Once the news spreads to the others, through a special communication, they gather together to heckle and pester the troublemaker, and defend their friend.

Who exactly are they?  Guys with iphones and an app that can map out and track people by the shapes of their faces?

No.

They’re called a murder of crows.  And scientists have been discovering just how tough it is to outsmart them.

don't mess with these crows

Check out these videos on the recent findings by scientists.

If you’re in Canada, you’ll want to check this out…

A Murder of Crows – CBC video with David Suzuki

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_Nature_of_Things/1242300217/ID=1385855962

If you’re in the US, check this out…

A Murder of Crows – PBS US video

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/a-murder-of-crows/full-episode/5977/

–>If you’re trying to look at the videos from another country, please let me know which link worked or didn’t work for you and what country you’re in.

Here’s an article to read more about crows.

Angry Birds: Crows never forget a face

http://news.discovery.com/animals/angry-crows-memory-life-threatening-behavior-110628.html

Bonjour kids!  I have a question. What year is this?

a)  Some people call it 2011.

let me guess, 2011 is going to offer a bunch of Happy Meal toys

b)  But other people call it the Year of the Turtle.

a little elbow grease to get outta here...if only I had elbows

c)  Some people call it the Year of the Rabbit.

you should see my brother with my father's bowling ball

d) What kind of quiz is this?

e) all of the above

Which answer is correct?

Answer: e. all of the above

2011 also looks like it’s a tug of war between two animals.  Rabbit and turtle.

In China, as well as many other countries in Asia, the year 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit.  The Chinese have 12 animals that mark their calendar, one animal for one particular year.  Being born in a particular year is believed to give that baby certain qualities like the animal.  People who were born in the year of the rabbit believe this:

Rabbit is a shy and friendly animal and doesn’t have too many enemies, except for Chicken . Therefore, for those people who born in the year of Chicken, their people relationship or social connection will be poor in the year of 2011.

But conservationists call 2011 to be the year of the turtle.  Two animals and one year.  Does it remind you of anything?  Have you ever heard about the race between the rabbit and the turtle (also called the hare and the tortoise)?

It’s a famous story.  Happened so long ago, in a time where things might or might not have happened but no one can really prove it.  People write books about the race. People put videos on You Tuber about it. That girl, Nancy, the one who was in your 2nd grade class last year? The one who eats only the bologna inside her sandwiches? She said something just the other day about it.  It seems as if you can’t get away from that story, and now it looks as if the story is coming back!  Are the rabbit and turtle about to meet again for another race for 2011?

A turtle challenges a rabbit to a race after being made fun of by the rabbit for being slow.

It seems like an unfair race is a race, since the turtle has a well-deserved reputation for being, well, slow.  And the rabbit for being swift.  But it’s the turtle who has made the race happen in the first place.  The race begins.  The rabbit zooms past the turtle, and decides that he, the rabbit, is so far ahead, that he’ll be able to take a little nap and wake up in time to still beat the turtle.  But you know what happens next, right?  The turtle, slow and steady, passes the sleeping rabbit.  The rabbit doesn’t wake up in time to catch up with the turtle, and the turtle wins the race.

Maybe it’s a good thing that PARC has decided to enter the turtle into the picture for this year.  They say:

“Turtles are disappearing from the planet faster than any other group of animal…However, it’s not too late for our turtle heritage to be salvaged.”

Time to slow the turtles down so that they can win.

But maybe the race is actually between us Planet Earthlings and time.

interactive game for kids for ipad available at itunes

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id391149031?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

race with rabbit – free game online

http://www.gamesclub.com/race-with-rabbit.htm

The creator of Professor Blue shows up live on this interview.  Plus, Professor Blue makes a quick appearance!

I’m re-posting this so that it stands out on its own.  The Department of Environmental Protection in Connecticut is having an art contest for kids!  You don’t even have to live in Connecticut to enter the contest!

All children from kindergarten through fifth grade are eligible to enter an original drawing, painting, or sketch of a turtle native to Connecticut.

• Entries will be judged in three categories: K-1st grade, 2nd-3rd grade, and 4th-5th grade.
• Prizes will be awarded in each category for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mention.
• All entries will be displayed at the Sessions Woods Conservation Education Center, in Burlington, for Year of the Turtle Day, scheduled for June 26, 2011, from 1:00-4:00 PM.
• Full details and entry information are available on the official entry form (PDF) or by calling the Wildlife Division at 860-675-8130 (Mon-Fri, 8:30 AM-4:30 PM).

More info here:

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=473472&depNav_GID=1655

This diamondback terrapin is a native Connecticut resident

What do we know about turtles?  Hard shell to protect the body.  Check.  Four legs that don’t move so fast.  Check.  Able to retreat into the shell for protection from outside forces that wish to do it hard.  Check.  Un-check?

Well, PARC – Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation  – has called this year – 2011 – the Year of the Turtle because they would like people to pay close attention to turtles.  Why?   They “…are disappearing from the planet faster than any other group of animal. Today, nearly 50% of turtle species are identified as threatened with extinction. “

Their hard shells cannot protect them from loss of their habitats, invasive diseases, cars running them over, people taking them as pets, and so much more.

There are things we can do to slow down the loss of the turtle population like not taking turtles out in the wild as pets, and not destroying their nests.

We have to not behave like a turtle to help protect the turtle!

Read more here: http://parcplace.org/news-a-events/year-of-the-turtle.html

Also the Department of Environmental Protection in Connecticut is having an art contest for kids.  You don’t even have to live in Connecticut to enter the contest!

All children from kindergarten through fifth grade are eligible to enter an original drawing, painting, or sketch of a turtle native to Connecticut.

• Entries will be judged in three categories: K-1st grade, 2nd-3rd grade, and 4th-5th grade.
• Prizes will be awarded in each category for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mention.
• All entries will be displayed at the Sessions Woods Conservation Education Center, in Burlington, for Year of the Turtle Day, scheduled for June 26, 2011, from 1:00-4:00 PM.
• Full details and entry information are available on the official entry form (PDF) or by calling the Wildlife Division at 860-675-8130 (Mon-Fri, 8:30 AM-4:30 PM).

More info here:

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=473472&depNav_GID=1655

This You Tube(r) video shows how oil on your hands is no good for fog.  Water and oil do not mix!