Learning
An Invisible Barn Materializes; A Thought-provoking Folly
Take a forest stroll at the National Reserve System's Sagehen Creek Field Station, and you will encounter an Invisible Barn. The structure's edges fade into the open air, until angled glimpses of tree trunks reveal a roof or wall. Surprise, then amusement tickle your brain as it wrestles with the sight of a building disappearing into the forest. more »
4th of July Scout Report: Retraction Watch, Slate's Audio Book Club, Plant Lovers, Genealogists Resources, Boston Massacre Perspectives and Poughkeepsie Regatta
25 Years of Hubble Space Telescope; finding and using health statistics has become requisite for a number of careers; biographies of women who have made contributions to fields as diverse as chemistry, primatology, biophysics, and astronomy; distinctive literary titles with expert book lovers from around the country; retracted papers in a wide variety of fields, some due to fraud, others just to mistakes in experiments or the publishing process; "Start Your Family Research" section; 1940s knitting patterns and other interesting sites. more »
Lessons From a Lifetime in the Classroom: YOU and I, ME, US, THEY, THEM, WHATEVER!
Julia Sneden wrote: Pronouns, pronouns, pronouns: does no one these days teach youngsters how to use them? The other day a bemused friend quoted from a sweet letter she had received: "Just seeing your face at Mike and I's wedding..." Unbelievable, you say? Even more unbelievable is the fact that the writer is a graduate student at a major university. The child obviously doesn’t lack brains;what she lacks is proper training in the use of her native tongue. And, perhaps, an introduction to the word "our," which would have been a quick rescue as well as referencing what the ceremony had been all about. more »
Just add water: A Computer That Operates On Water Droplets
Because of its universal nature, the droplet computer can theoretically perform any operation that a conventional electronic computer can crunch, although at significantly slower rates. Stanford Engineers, however, have a more ambitious application in mind. "Our goal is to build a completely new class of computers that can precisely control and manipulate physical matter." more »