The National Academies Press (which includes the National Academy of Sciences of the USA) now has many useful texts for free download as PDFs. Some seem to be very relevant to local needs especially in education and health. Note that not all their publications are free. Here are some random interesting titles in no particular order:
Condensed-Matter and Materials Physics: The Science of the World Around Us
Promoting Chemical Laboratory Safety and Security in Developing Countries
Strengthening High School Chemistry Education Through Teacher Outreach Programs
Health and Medicine:Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century
Observing Weather and Climate from the Ground Up
Surrounded by Science:Learning Science in Informal Environments
Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8
On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research
Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Management of Chemical Hazards
Finding What Works in Health Care
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
First habitable planet?
Continuing in an astronomical theme - for the first time a planet has been identified (apart from Earth) which might well be habitable by known forms of life. According to a BBC article:
"This discovery is important because it's the first time climate modellers have proved that the planet is potentially habitable, and all observers agree that the exoplanet exists," he told news agency PA.
"The Gliese system is particularly exciting to us as it's very close to Earth, relatively speaking. So with future generations of telescopes, we'll be able to search for life on Gliese 581d directly."
And another interesting development of the detection of planets wandering between the stars. They were found by Japanese researchers says a BBC report:
They detected evidence of 10 Jupiter-sized objects with no parent star found within 10 Astronomical Units (AU). One AU is equivalent to the distance between our Earth and Sun. Further analysis led them to the conclusion that most of these objects did not have parent stars.
"This discovery is important because it's the first time climate modellers have proved that the planet is potentially habitable, and all observers agree that the exoplanet exists," he told news agency PA.
"The Gliese system is particularly exciting to us as it's very close to Earth, relatively speaking. So with future generations of telescopes, we'll be able to search for life on Gliese 581d directly."
And another interesting development of the detection of planets wandering between the stars. They were found by Japanese researchers says a BBC report:
They detected evidence of 10 Jupiter-sized objects with no parent star found within 10 Astronomical Units (AU). One AU is equivalent to the distance between our Earth and Sun. Further analysis led them to the conclusion that most of these objects did not have parent stars.
Competition for Pluto
Traditionally our schools have taught that Pluto was one of the planets of our solar system. Of course recently Pluto was reclassified and is no longer called a planet but a minor planet.
Just to give some background here is a chart of the largest objects now known in our system beyond Neptune.
We can see that Pluto is not the largest and many others are nearly as big.
In addition it is likely that even larger bodies (minor planets) will be found further out as we now know there are great numbers of objects out there in the darkness beyond Pluto.
Thanks to The Planetary Society for the picture.
I hope primary school teachers will take note of this!
We can see that Pluto is not the largest and many others are nearly as big.
In addition it is likely that even larger bodies (minor planets) will be found further out as we now know there are great numbers of objects out there in the darkness beyond Pluto.
Thanks to The Planetary Society for the picture.
I hope primary school teachers will take note of this!
ITCZ in May
It looks like the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) has now moved back north far enough to start our wet season here on the coast of Guyana. The rains have been falling for some time in the south of Guyana.
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Previous posts on this topic
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Previous posts on this topic
Saturday, April 16, 2011
The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011
And here is another useful resource from the World Economic Forum available for download. Over 150 countries listed including Guyana. Briefly Guyana seems to be hovering around 100th place as it has been for a few years. This does not mean things are unchanging of course since most countries will be slowly advancing technologically year by year.
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