Notebook
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Ketchup’s Shear Mystery
Shifting suddenly from a thick paste to a runny liquid when shaken or jarred, ketchup is one of many complex fluids that share a property called “shear thinning.” A NASA Web page highlights an upcoming space experiment aimed at elucidating the basic physics of these fluids. Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/07jun_elastic_fluids.htm
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Remember Typewriters?
Richard Polt, a philosophy professor at Xavier University, celebrates a (nearly) obsolete technology at his “Classic Typewriter Page.” His site features a brief history of typewriters, facts about the “little charmers” known as Remington portables, and many other tidbits of information concerning this handy writing device. Go to: http://xavier.xu.edu/~polt/typewriters.html
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From the June 25, 1932, issue
ARTIFICIAL LIGHTNING FLASHED AT 10 MILLION VOLTS The most powerful manmade lightning is flashing across the cover of this week’s Science News Letter from new equipment in the Pittsfield laboratories of the General Electric Co., which has twice the capacity of any preceding apparatus of its kind. This is a discharge through a 15-foot space […]
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From the January 18, 1930, issue
HUGE SHOVEL CAN LIFT CAR OF COAL The largest shovel in the world, with a scoop big enough to pick up an automobile, is the subject of our cover illustration. It is in use at the Fidelity mine of the United Electric Coal Co., near DuQuon, Ill., the greatest coal-stripping enterprise in the world. Electrically […]
- Computing
Scouring the Web
Looking for the perfect Web search engine? It probably doesn’t exist, but you can find out the strengths, weaknesses, and quirks of various Net-scouring tools at the “Search Engine Showdown” Web site, maintained by Montana State University librarian Greg R. Notess. Check out the inconsistencies report and sample tips for efficient searching. Go to: http://www.notess.com/search/
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From the June 18, 1932, issue
MUDDY MISSISSIPPI YIELDS PEARLS THAT RIVAL ORIENT’S Pearls we usually picture as coming up from limpid greenish tropical sea depths, in the fingers (or perhaps the mouth) of a swimming brown-skinned native. It seems a bit of a comedown to think of pearls coming out of the prosaic waters of the muddy Mississippi–and as a […]
- Physics
Super Conductors
Materials that conduct electricity without resistance are known as superconductors. Explore the basic physics and potential applications of these fascinating materials at the American Physical Society’s Physics Central Web site. Go to: http://www.physicscentral.com/action/action-01-3.html
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From the January 11, 1930, issue
THOMAS H. MORGAN GIVEN NEW HONOR The American Association for the Advancement of Science has chosen Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan to succeed the eminent physicist Dr. Robert Andrews Millikan as president. To many the name of Thomas Hunt Morgan is synonymous with the modern theory of the gene as the determining factor in heredity. Upon […]
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Eclipse Patrol
The first lunar eclipse of the year 2000 will be visible from North and South America on the evening of Jan. 20. Fred Espenak’s eclipse home page at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Web site provides a complete guide to upcoming eclipses of the sun and moon. Go to: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html
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From the June 11, 1932, issue
BUTTERFLIES, “WINGED JEWELS,” ARE GEMS AT START OF LIFE Butterflies have been called “winged jewels” so often that the conceit can hardly be considered poetic any longer. Yet the appropriateness of the old metaphor receives new confirmation when we look at the egg of a butterfly, which represents the humblest beginning of its career of […]
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Mendel’s Genetics
The Mendel Museum of Genetics in the Czech Republic offers a well-illustrated online exhibition devoted to Gregor Mendel’s life and work. Pages are devoted to such topics as the mathematics of inheritance and Mendel’s genetics garden. Genetics-inspired artworks are featured in the gallery of contemporary art. Go to: http://www.mendel-museum.org/eng/1online/
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From the January 4, 1930, issue
PILTDOWN MAN EARLIEST HUMAN BEING The ape-man of Darwin was read out of man’s family tree and the dawn-man of Sussex, older than 1,250,000 years, was elevated to the position of man’s progenitor by Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. A new picture was painted by Dr. […]
