A group of educators and entrepreneurs are trying to improve math education by making it fun, instead of just rote numbers. They even have a traveling museum hosting a square wheeled tricycle that works at a special surface. This is a good start, but I believe adding a personal finance class or two would go a long way to improve high school math education. Students can learn about logarithmic growth of mutual funds, algebra to help compare buying or leasing a car, and many other math techniques to manage credit card and other debt. Parents would likely tell their kids, “I wish they had that when I was in school. You better listen in that class.” Learn more in the Numbers game: America’s struggle to make math fun story at Reuters.
Category Archives: Science
Can numbers explain everything?
British scientists have created an equation that can predict the shape of any ponytail using the Rapunzel Number, a ratio that accounts for the effects of gravity on hair relative to its length. Seems unimportant, but these new statistics, which solve an issue that has puzzled mathematicians since Leonardo da Vinci about 500 years ago, should help the computer graphics and animation industries represent hair better. Someday we may not need real people in film. Learn more in the Rapunzel number helps scientists quantify ponytails story at Reuters.
At least 1,500 years until next ice age
Even though movies like The Day After Tomorrow scare us about a pending ice age that can strike in weeks, the scientist believe it will not happen for at least another 1,500 years and should take two to three years to set in. Learn more in the Next ice age not likely before 1,500 years: study at Reuters.
The big question is: how can global warming cause an ice age? It does not make sense – heat does not cause cold. But, the complexity of earth’s environment provides a way for it to happen. The theory is that global warming will melt Arctic ice and the resulting fresh water will disrupt the ocean’s Gulf Stream, which warms the northern Atlantic. Find out more at How Global Warming May Cause the Next Ice Age at Common Dreams.
Space Station Cooperation Continues
I am so glad to see the countries continuing to cooperate with the International Space Station as Russia sends astronauts from Russia, Europe and the U.S. into space again, especially given all the unrest and rioting around the world these days. I sure wish there could be peace everywhere. Read the Multinational crew blasts off for space station story at Reuters for more details.
Going green with Edison’s DC over AC
Thomas Edison, best known for inventing the light bulb, pushed for DC current for transmitting electricity, but we went with AC since it could transmit better across distance. AC has been used heavily for over 100 years, but now green requirements and data center demand are forcing people to look at DC again.
Edison told associates Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” Read the full Insight: How renewable energy may be Edison’s revenge story at Reuters.
Scientists in Pursuit of God Particle
Scientists have been in pursuit of the “God particle”, more scientifically named Higgs Boson, since Peter Higgs posited the theory in 1964 that this smallest particle gives form to all other particles to create all matter in the universe, including us. Higgs rejects any religious explanation of the origin of the universe, but the questions still stand: what existed before the Big Bang created the universe and what made it explode into the universe we live in today? God is the only thing I can imagine. Find out more in The Higgs boson: vital to life but is it there? story at Reuters.
SpaceX headed to the space station
SpaceX has been cleared by NASA as the first commercial company to fly to the International Space Station on February 7, 2012. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new era of space development. I believe entrepreneurship can lead to some great discoveries in space which will speed up development, just like after Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. Learn more about SpaceX’s plans in the NASA clears SpaceX for trial run to space station story at Reuters.
Astronomers find potential Earth-like planet
Astronomers using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope have discovered the most earth-like planet yet circling a star 600 light years away. The planet is the right distance from its sun, but 2.4 times larger than Earth so the astronomers do not know yet if it is rocky or gaseous. Read more in the Reuter’s story Planet found orbiting habitable zone of sun-like star.
It will be a long time before we can visit though. Even at the cruising speed of 38,000 miles per hour (61,155 K/hr) of Voyager 1 (per Wikipedia), our farthest space satellite from Earth, it would take 10.8 million years to travel 600 light years.
NEWS: Faster than light?
Scientist are having a hard time believing test neutrinos went faster than the speed of light from Switzerland to Italy since that is impossible by Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The test was confirmed twice, but in a third test the scientist are saying the results must be wrong. Now, if I remember my science history correctly, Einstein’s theory in 1906 changed our thinking about Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion, by improving upon them. Perhaps Einstein’s theory needs a tweak after 105 years?
Learn more about the OPERA and ICARUS experiments in the Study rejects “faster than light” particle finding story at Reuters.
NEWS: Asteroid Near Miss
Most of us didn’t realize a sizable asteroid passed the Earth closer than the moon last Tuesday (see the NASA captures asteroid’s close encounter with Earth video and read the transcript at Reuters).
Life is precious. We never know when our time will come, so live life like there is no tomorrow. Hug your loved ones, chat with a friend, go for that dream job, make a difference in someone’s life. Do it now or you never will. All my best.