Figure 1: Google Map If you are thinking about putting solar panels on your roof, the conventional wisdom is that your house probably would be automatically disqualified if its roof does not have a large south-facing side for installing solar panels. If you have no idea about this, the sales representatives from solar companies would […]
So we have signed the Paris Agreement and cheered about it. Now what?More than a year ago, I wrote a proposal to the National Science Foundation to test the feasibility of empowering students to help combat the energy issues of our nation. There are hu…
Visual analytics provides a powerful way for people to see patterns and trends in data by visualizing them. In real life, we use both our eyes and ears. So can we hear patterns and trends if we listen to the data?I spent a few days studying the JavaScr…
Visual Process Analytics (VPA) is a data mining platform that supports research on student learning through using complex tools to solve complex problems. The complexity of this kind of learning activities of students entails complex process data (e.g….
We are excited to announce that the Concord Consortium’s High-Adventure Science modules are now available on the National Geographic Education website, thanks to a National Science Foundation-funded partnership with National Geographic Education. High-Adventure Science modules have been used by thousands of students so far, and we welcome the opportunity to share our modules with a wider audience of middle and high school teachers.
Geothermal energy is the thermal energy generated or stored in the Earth. The ground maintains a nearly constant temperature six meter (20 feet) under, which is roughly equal to the average annual air temperature at the location. In Boston, this is about 13 °C (55 °F). You can feel the effect of the geothermal energy […]
Energy3D Version 5.1 has incorporated a new feature: programmable thermostats (Figure 1). This allows users to add a programmable thermostat to each building in the design. Such a thermostat allows building researchers to model the occupants’ schedules and thermal comfort preferences, making it possible to include a human dimension into building simulation.
Figure 1A classic experiment to show thermal equilibration is to put a small Petri dish filled with some hot or cold water into a larger one filled with tap water around room temperature, as illustrated in Figure 1. Then stick one thermometer in the in…
Figure 1 The year 2016 marks the 200th anniversary of an important invention of Robert Stirling — the Stirling engine. So I thought I should start this year’s blogging with a commemoration article about this truly ingenious invention. A Stirling engine is a closed-cycle heat engine that operates by cyclic compression and expansion of air […]
Figure 1: Evaporative cooling Scientists have long relied on powerful imaging techniques to see things invisible to the naked eye and thus advance science. Chemical imaging is a technique for visualizing chemical composition and dynamics in time and space as actual events unfold. In this sense, infrared (IR) imaging is a chemical imaging technique as […]