Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology have discovered that “Snow White,” a dwarf planet officially named 2007 OR10, is actually red. Time to come up with another name! But why was it called Snow White to begin with? It was originally called Snow White because Mike Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech, […]
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This week 11 students of different ages (10-17) participated in our three-day summer school for the Engineering Energy Efficiency project. They were charged with using Energy3D to design their own model houses on a computer first and…
Senior Research Scientist Andy Zucker comments on the U.S. Department of Education’s “misguided” and “irrational” policy requiring security screenings of education researchers working under contract. Sociological and psychological research sheds light on people’s behavior when faced with requirements such as these screenings.
One way to tell if a plant is a plastic fake or not is to touch a leaf. If it feels cool, the plant is a real one. Have you ever wondered why a leaf feels cool? (A leaf of an indoor plant always rests at about the room temperature, plastic or real. It …
Is a moth warm-blooded or cold-blooded? If you google this, some would tell you it is cold-blooded. They are not completely right. This infrared study shows how a moth warms up before it flies. So at least a moth is warm-blooded when it moves.Click to …
Energy3D is a free, open-source tool we are developing from scratch to empower students to design, make, and test energy-efficient model houses.Today we had some students design and make their own houses. One student succeeded in designing a model h…
A bumble bee.
I have been wanting to see what I can do with IR imaging in my backyard. Folks at the Discovery and Animal Planet channels use IR imaging regularly to show thermal patterns of animals and plants. So I guess I could do something with…
You don’t have to wait until it rains to catch a sight of rainbow. You can create one any time as long as there is sunshine. Just use a garden nozzle to create a mist and you will see a rainbow.
Go to the simulationTheo Jansen is a Dutch artist and kinetic sculptor who builds large works that resemble skeletons of animals that are able to walk using the wind on the beach. His works are a fusion of art and engineering.Theo Jansen’s famous mecha…
Yesterday I reported evidence of tiny water permeation across a piece of paper on top of a cup of water. In order to double-check my theory, I placed a piece of transparency film on top of another cup of water and left the two cups overnight. When I ca…