Sugar Rush

EXPERIMENTAL:  We've got another Birthday Dreams cake coming up. It's one we just *had* to sign up for - a science (!) themed cake for a 12-year-old.

We have come up with our conceptual drawing. It includes a beaker partially filled with gelatinous Jell-o atop the cake, with candy bubbles rising from it. Sounds simple enough ... but we thought we better do a trial run of sorts today. 

First, we used some "Unicorn Slime" Jell-o Play we had in the pantry. It was super simple to make - literally just add water. 

And then it was time for some stirring. 

It was thick, chalky and pretty darn hard to mix up. 

Before long, the mix turned into a gelatinous blob with the strangest viscosity. When you poked it and pulled your finger out, the void would immediately fill like nothing ever happened,

"Newtonian ***!" Annabelle declared. She also declared that it tasted likje 'strawberry pencil erasers." 

We think it will work for the bottom of our beaker. Next up, some candy bubbles. We were batting around ideas a couple of days ago. I suggested the top of a Dum Dum lollipop. (Or is it a sucker - what's the difference? Must research ... ) Anyway, somehow we hit upon the idea of maybe melting a Jolly Rancher and then shaping it into a pretty little ball. 

That involved a heat gun, a stainless steel straw and a steep learning curve. 

Once it was just the right temperature, CJ rolled it into a nice little ball, without burning his hands. 

Annabelle had seen a video or two about trying to blow 'glass' bubbles from semi-melted Jolly Ranchers. You know we had to give that a go.

By getting the candy super hot and by blowing hard, CJ got a big ol' bubble. 

After a few misses, Annabelle managed to blow something semi-spherical.

All in all, it was a good experiment session. We learned some things we'll definitely put to use in the future.

Contact

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins of NASA,peers into the SpaceX 

Crew-1 capsule from the ISS. Photo: Me, via NASA TV

ON STATION: Last night, we watched Crew-1, SpaceX's Dragon capsule, approach and dock with the International Space Station. Once the connection was safely made, there were drawn-out opening the hatches operations. 

Eventually, the four 'newcomers' (NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi) were welcomed on board the ISS by the current crew of three (Rubins, as well as  Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos).

APPLYING OURSELVES: For the past few days, we have spent hours and hours and hours contemplating what's next for CJ. He is on track to finish his associate's degree this June. He had initially thought about taking a 'gap year,' - a year away from college to work and adventure, but, well #pandemic. 

College seems like a good place to park right about now.

So with that in mind, suddenly we find ourselves eyeball deep in college apps, online orientations, transcript requests, the FAFSA app, countless emails, acquiring letters of recommendation .. the list goes on and on. And everything is made a little bit more 'interesting' given his nontraditional educational journey.  He doesn't always fit neatly into boxes and bubbles. 

All that said, we're plugging away and exploring options. Stay tuned for further developments. 

Up and Away

NASA/Joel Kowsky

LIFT OFF: This evening, after watching the Seahawks go down in flames, we watched flames shoot from the rocket boosters as Crew-1 took off from the Florida Space Coast. These four (NASA's Shannon Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Victor Glover, along with Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) were on board.

Photos: NASA and JAXA

The launch appeared to go without a hitch and the four will be on board the International Space Station tomorrow. SpaceX even nailed the landing of the rocket stage on the barge in the Atlantic Ocean, 

NO SHOW:  Friday morning, in anticipation of this weekend's big launch, we tuned into the STEM in 20 Facebook page. We were expecting to watch a program with NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, who  spent 141 days on board the International Space Station back in 2015. However, Lindgren was nowhere to be seen. Turns out he got called into work. And when NASA calls, you probably better answer the phone. So, the hosts filled in as best they could, but it was all just general space stuff the kids and I have heard dozens of times before, so we tuned out. The program is available online in case you want to see a special featuring an astronaut with no astronaut.

UP AND COMING: I recently received an email with a ton of (online, of course) events that I found interesting. I hope we can check some or all of them out. 

For instance, the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic Museum in Annapolis Junction, MD is offering free virtual field trips. They feature a variety of different themes each week. Many of the tours are  related to WWII topics, and they have a number of talks coming up. They even allow people to schedule a private online tour for groups of 6 or more. Eventbrite is an easy way to sign up for the tours.  

There are over 100,000 points of interest in the Historical Marker Database. It is a catalog of outdoor historical markers and commemorative plaques from around North America, complete with photographs and descriptions. Using the search function, you can see if there are any historical markers near your locale.The site also includes a link to an educational component, a  downloadable history project idea geared for 7th and 8th graders (though anyone of any age who enjoys learning could likely get something out of it). 

I mentioned a couple of posts back about virtual escape rooms. Turns out King County LIbrary System has posted an Olympic National Park digital escape room. Per the library's promo, "Someone must maintain Olympic National Park's trails to ensure safety. Are you up to the challenge? Try our virtual escape room Operation National Park. Solve puzzles and answer questions using logic, math, and map skills. This escape room was created for ages seven and older, but everyone is welcome to give it a try. You can work on it individually or as a team. The most important thing is to have fun.” Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfzUssNdq4g-FyIjpM4nKt__JtGAavtHWxM77MWhJ6itlHuIg/viewform.