Students harness solar power at Science Adventures camp

Lucas Antonio Del Rio Malewski, 10, uses a solar oven to make a chocolate chip cookie and a biscuit during a Science Adventures class at the Lederman Science Center in June.

The crafts that students do at most summer camps are of the Popsicle-stick and glitter variety. But students at a recent week-long Science Adventures camp took crafting to the next level with the creation of solar homes, blimps and ovens.

A group of eight students, from ages 8-11, learned how to use solar energy to power small devices that they created at the Science Adventures "Energize Your World!" camp, held at the Lederman Science Center June 22 -26.

The purpose of the class was to teach children how to use solar energy in everyday life. Students made and wired solar houses with working fans and lights and were able to use solar energy to power small blimps. The blimp's black material absorbs sunlight, and the captured energy heats the air inside, causing the blimp to expand and float.

Nathan Rosenmann, 10, demonstrates the solar house he made at the Science Adventures class at the Lederman Science Center.

Students made solar ovens out of reflective materials that forced the light to bounce onto the food inside. A plastic covering over the food focused the light and an insulating material placed inside helped to contain the heat that cooked the food. Students used this process to make a chocolate chip cookie and a biscuit.

Science Adventures camps continue through August 4. Check the Education Web site for more information.

-- Jeremey Johnson

Office of Science financial assistance funding opportunity announcement

The Department of Energy Office of Science recently issued a request for grant applications for the Early Career Research Program. The purpose of the program is to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and to stimulate research careers in the areas supported by the Office of Science.

To be eligible for one of the Early Career Research Program awards, a Principal Investigator (PI) must be an untenured Assistant Professor on the tenure track at a U.S. academic institution as of the date of application. No more than ten years can have passed between the year the PI received his or her Ph.D. and the year of the deadline for application (doctorates received no earlier than 1999).

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Bridging the science gap

From MSNBC Cosmiclog, July 9, 2009

Whatever happened to the war on science? During the Bush administration, many scientists felt as if they were on the outs when it came to issues ranging from global climate change to stem cell research and even evolutionary biology. President Barack Obama came into office pledging to "restore our commitment to science" - and some of the scientists who were once on the outs suddenly found themselves in the inner circle.

Today, Obama is leading the charge on climate policy and stem cells, and he's got a Nobel-winning physicist pushing for energy alternatives. Sounds like the war is over, right?

The war is not over," says Chris Mooney, author of "The Republican War on Science" and co-author of a new book titled "Unscientific America." The gap between scientists and society at large may have shrunk, but there's still a disconnect that transcends political parties. That comes through loud and clear in "Unscientific America" as well as a new 98-page study analyzing how scientists and the wider American public view each other.

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Ely, Minnesota: Wolves and bears and root beer and neutrinos; oh my!

From Articledashboard.com, July 9, 2009

Ely, Minnesota acts as the doorway into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, which extends over the Canada-USA borders. A museum in Ely celebrates the life of one remarkable woman, Dorothy Molter, a.k.a. The Root Beer Lady. For over fifty years she lived on the Isle of Pines Resort on Knife Lake. A registered Nurse she tended to the physical and mental needs of the canoeists who visited her. She provided food, lodging, and her famous root beer, bottling over 11,000 bottles per year. For many years canoeists would come to see her while they paddled the lakes of Northern Minnesota.

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