I grew some decent crystals once when I was younger. Perhaps you did too? It’s an excellent (and cheap) science project for a young person to do, so do encourage them to have a go, whenever you get the chance.
Whatever you do, perhaps it is not a good idea to show them these giant selenite (gypsum) crystals first:
Fantastic aren’t they?! (Click for larger view.) They are in some truly extraordinary […] Click to continue reading this post
The good people at the US Postal service do produce some splendid sets of stamps on quite a regular basis. Today, to my delight, I was offered this set as one of my choices at the post office:
[image: stamps/snowflakes]
There’s so much physics behind the microscopic lattice of H2O molecules underlying such a lovely shape, with the pleasant C6 symmetry of the macroscopic result – the snowflake. I found a lovely “morphology diagram†showing the sorts of shapes you get depending upon temperature and supersaturation of the water vapour that condenses to […] Click to continue reading this post
Back when I was young enough to care to try to list such things, I had a favourite number. Really, really faourite. I lived and breathed that number for a while. Today’s session in the freshman seminar “The Art and Science of Seeing and the Seeing and Science of Artâ€, about which I have blogged here and here, was all about it. Rather than do chapter and verse about it (don’t get me started!), I will instead leave you with the image that I ended with…
… and let you tell me and other readers – if you like – what you think the number is, what it means to you, and perhaps share whatever you like (or hate) about it.
As you wind down the week’s activity, take a moment or two to pause and admire Mount Etna, which is undergoing a spectacular series of eruptions (click for larger images). Remarkable. You can look at a live webcam and make your own snapshots like these (which are
