DARWIN DAY: Today is Charles Darwin's birthday, so it seemed fitting we were studying genetics and evolution. We watched a couple of lectures, during which time we learned about a deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium due to something called the Wahlund effect, and how FST measures differentiation as extent of the Wahlund effect.
We also spent some time reviewing our previous' four-weeks' worth of work, as it's mid-term time. We reviewed the in-video problems, the 'thought problems' and the graded problem sets for week 1 and I was thrilled that the kids and I remembered the terms, concepts, and the answers to all of the problems. Tomorrow, we'll tackle weeks 2, 3 and 4 and take the mid term this weekend.
CURL UP: One of the most exciting events in the Winter Olympics is curling. (Hey you there, stop snickering. I'm serious - mostly.) Today, we read a cool article about the physics involved in the sport. One of the things we learned is that curling ice is deliberately made bumpy (they spray droplets on the surface, which freeze). The bumps let the granite curling stone travel faster, because there's less friction than if the stone's whole surface was on the ice.
However, the bumps also make that granite spin (or curl, hence the sport's name), so that's where the furious brooming comes in - it's to make the ice more slippery and impact the stone's curl or curve.
I love this 1909 photo of men in Ontario, Canada, curling.
CURL UP: One of the most exciting events in the Winter Olympics is curling. (Hey you there, stop snickering. I'm serious - mostly.) Today, we read a cool article about the physics involved in the sport. One of the things we learned is that curling ice is deliberately made bumpy (they spray droplets on the surface, which freeze). The bumps let the granite curling stone travel faster, because there's less friction than if the stone's whole surface was on the ice.
However, the bumps also make that granite spin (or curl, hence the sport's name), so that's where the furious brooming comes in - it's to make the ice more slippery and impact the stone's curl or curve.
I love this 1909 photo of men in Ontario, Canada, curling.
This was long before anyone was wearing those fancy curling pants, like the Norwegian Olympic team.
BEFORE THE FAB FOUR: We watched another lecture in Week 1 of our "Music of The Beatles" class with professor John Covach, Chair of Music at the University of Rochester, Director of the University of Rochester Institute for Popular Music, Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Professor of Theory at the Eastman School of Music. Today, the prof focused on the British music scene before The Beatles shot to the top. We learned about skiffles - a type of music that grew out of the post-war British jazz scene.
Professor Covach singled out "The Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group" for popularizing the genre, and pointed to his 1956 rockin' version of Lead Belly's "Rock Island Line" as a breakout hit. We went and found it on YouTube, of course. Lonnie takes a while to get to it, but once he does, the song rollicks right along.
It will be interesting to see how we transition from Lonnie Donegan to The Beatles. It's hard to believe John and Paul met and started making music together when they were such young men - just 14 and 15 years old. Wow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI4nRD-DRpk
ROVER OVER?: First thing this morning, I saw a headline declaring Chine's moon rover Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, completely dead.
According to multiple reports, the rover failed to properly shut down/prepare for a two-week lunar night, during which cold would likely damage critical components.
However, later in the day I read an update saying the Chinese have received a signal from Yutu, so maybe it's not down for the count. Time will tell. ...
In reading some of the comments on the first story, declaring Jade Rabbit lifeless, some were very critical of China's space program, claiming they rush to launch before critical details - like safety - are tended to. A couple commentators specifically cited Long March 3B, a 1996 disaster I knew nothing about.
According to multiple reports, the rover failed to properly shut down/prepare for a two-week lunar night, during which cold would likely damage critical components.
However, later in the day I read an update saying the Chinese have received a signal from Yutu, so maybe it's not down for the count. Time will tell. ...
In reading some of the comments on the first story, declaring Jade Rabbit lifeless, some were very critical of China's space program, claiming they rush to launch before critical details - like safety - are tended to. A couple commentators specifically cited Long March 3B, a 1996 disaster I knew nothing about.
Turns out it was a heavy rocket carrying a satellite that dramatically, horrifically shot horizontally off the launch pad, crashing into a nearby village, causing catastrophic property damage, and killing more than 500 Chinese, making it, by far, the worst spaceflight related accident in human history.
I found some shaky footage of the catastrophe online.
YouTube also had a segment taken from a portion of a Discovery channel show about the disaster.
YouTube also had a segment taken from a portion of a Discovery channel show about the disaster.
Had never heard of The LM3B. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's no accident (no pun intended) that most of the world hasn't heard of Long March 3B
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