Astronomers Go Behind The Milky Way To Solve X-Ray Mystery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2001-08-01

Through layers of gas and dust that stretch for more than 30,000 light years, astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have taken a long, hard look at the plane of the Milky Way galaxy and found that its X-ray glow comes from hot and diffuse gas. The findings, published in the August 10 issue of Science, help to settle a long-standing mystery about the source of the X-ray emission from the galactic plane. Scientists have debated whether the Milky Way plane's X-ray emission was diffuse light or from individual stars. Armed with Chandra, an international team led Dr. Ken Ebisawa of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD zoomed in on a tiny region of the galactic plane in the constellation Scutum. "The point sources we saw in the galactic plane were actually active galaxies with bright cores millions of light years behind our galaxy," said Ebisawa. "The number of these sources is consistent with the expected number of extragalactic sources in the background sky. We saw few additional point sources within our Galaxy." The observation marks the deepest X-ray look at the so-called "zone of avoidance" -- a region of space behind which no optical observation has ever been taken because thick dust and gas in the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy block out visible radiation. Infrared, radio, and X-rays, however, can penetrate this dust and gas. Detection of diffuse X rays emanating from the Galactic plane, what we call the "Milky Way" in visible light, indicates the presence of plasma gas with temperatures of tens of millions of degrees Celsius. Smoothed X-ray Image of the Galactic Plane Smoothed X-ray Image of the Galactic Plane Gas this hot would escape the gravitational confines of the Milky Way galaxy under normal circumstances. The fact that it still lingers within the Galactic plane is the next mystery to solve. One possibility, suggested by Ebisawa is that hot plasma may be confined to the Milky Way by magnetic fields. The Chandra observation

Biology Today. Ah, Sweet Mysteries of Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flannery, Maura C.

1991-01-01

Mysteries of the biological past that paleontologists are trying to solve are discussed. Topics include first seeds, fossils and computers, packrat middens, charcoal clues, soft parts, Burgess shale, halkieriids, toe count, whales with feet, long necks, and changing functions. (KR)

A Coprolite Mystery: Who Dung It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clary, Renee; Wandersee, James

2011-01-01

Discover the secrets contained in fossilized feces. Few topics in middle school classrooms capture students' enthusiasm and interest as do coprolites. These trace fossils offer classroom opportunities for integrated life and Earth sciences study, a stranger-than-fiction history of science, and an opportunity to solve mysteries. (Contains 8…

Using Classic Mystery Stories in Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheldon, Stephen H.; Noronha, Peter A.

1990-01-01

One third-year clinical clerkship in pediatrics has included Sherlock Holmes mysteries in its introductory curriculum, providing students with a model clinical problem-solving process and a list of issues on which they will need information. The nonclinical cases provide an effective and entertaining vehicle for learning clinical reasoning. (MSE)

The Fish Kill Mystery: Using Case Studies in the Middle School Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heid, Christy; Biglan, Barbara; Ritson, Margaret

2008-01-01

Case studies are an excellent method for engaging middle school students in the current work of scientists. Students learn to think like scientists as they decide how to investigate the dilemma presented in the case study. This article describes one such case study, the Fish Kill Mystery, which takes place at a popular vacation spot--the beaches…

NCI Scientists Solve Structure of Protein that Enables MERS Virus to Spread | Poster

Cancer.gov

Scientists at the Frederick National Lab have produced three crystal structures that reveal a specific part of a protein that can be targeted to fight the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which causes an emerging viral respiratory illness. Senior Investigator David Waugh, Ph.D., Macromolecular Crystallography Laboratory, has solved the structure of an

Hubble Solves Mystery on Source of Supernova in Nearby Galaxy

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA image release January 11, 2012 Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have solved a longstanding mystery on the type of star, or so-called progenitor, that caused a supernova in a nearby galaxy. The finding yields new observational data for pinpointing one of several scenarios that could trigger such outbursts. Based on previous observations from ground-based telescopes, astronomers knew that a kind of supernova called a Type Ia created a remnant named SNR 0509-67.5, which lies 170,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The type of system that leads to this kind of supernova explosion has long been a high importance problem with various proposed solutions but no decisive answer. All these solutions involve a white dwarf star that somehow increases in mass to the highest limit. Astronomers failed to find any companion star near the center of the remnant, and this rules out all but one solution, so the only remaining possibility is that this one Type Ia supernova came from a pair of white dwarfs in close orbit. To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/supernova-sourc... Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC, SAO, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and J. Hughes (Rutgers University) NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Cles: Etes-vous bon detective?; Enigmes grammaticales; Problemes policiers; Kidnapping (Keys: Are You a Good Detective?; Grammatical Puzzles; Detective Mysteries; Kidnapping).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Debyser, Francis; And Others

1984-01-01

Four sets of French classroom activities are presented: a mystery whose clues include two postcard messages; three puzzles with grammar-related clues; a mystery contained in three comic strip frames; and the solving of a kidnapping mystery. (MSE)

M Dwarf Mysteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henry, Todd J.; Jao, Wei-Chun; Irwin, Jonathan; Dieterich, Sergio; Finch, Charlie T.; Riedel, Adric R.; Subasavage, John P.; Winters, Jennifer; RECONS Team

2017-01-01

During RECONS' 17-year (so far) astrometry/photometry program at the CTIO/SMARTS 0.9m, we have observed thousands of the ubiquitous red dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. During this reconnaissance, a few mysterious characters have emerged ...The Case of the Mercurial Stars: One M dwarf has been fading steadily for more than a decade, at last measure 6% fainter than when it was first observed. Another has grown brighter by 7% over 15 years. Are these brightness changes part of extremely long stellar cycles, or something else entirely?The Case of Identical Stellar Twins that Aren't: Two M dwarfs seem at first to be identical siblings traveling together through the Galaxy. They have virtually identical spectra at optical wavelengths and identical colors throughout the VRIJHK bands. Long-term astrometry indicates that they are, indeed, at the same distance via parallax measurements, and their proper motions match precisely. Yet, one of the twins is FOUR times brighter than the other. Followup work has revealed that the brighter component is a very close spectroscopic double, but no other stars are seen. So, the mystery may be half solved, but why do the close stars remain twice as bright as their widely-separated twin?The Case of the Great Kaboom!: After more than 1000 nights of observing on the reliable 0.9m telescope, with generally routine frames reading out upon the screen, one stellar system comprised of five red dwarfs flared in stunning fashion. Of the two distinct sources, the fainter one (an unresolved double) surpassed the brightness of the brighter one (an unresolved triple), increasing by more than three full magnitudes in the V filter. Which component actually flared? Is this magnificent outburst an unusual event, or in fact typical for this system and other M dwarfs?At the AAS meeting, we hope to probe the cognoscenti who study the Sun's smaller cousins to solve these intriguing M Dwarf Mysteries.This effort has been supported by the NSF through grants

Perfecting Scientists' Collaboration and Problem-Solving Skills in the Virtual Team Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jabro, A.; Jabro, J.

2012-04-01

PPerfecting Scientists' Collaboration and Problem-Solving Skills in the Virtual Team Environment Numerous factors have contributed to the proliferation of conducting work in virtual teams at the domestic, national, and global levels: innovations in technology, critical developments in software, co-located research partners and diverse funding sources, dynamic economic and political environments, and a changing workforce. Today's scientists must be prepared to not only perform work in the virtual team environment, but to work effectively and efficiently despite physical and cultural barriers. Research supports that students who have been exposed to virtual team experiences are desirable in the professional and academic arenas. Research supports establishing and maintaining established protocols for communication behavior prior to task discussion provides for successful team outcomes. Research conducted on graduate and undergraduate virtual teams' behaviors led to the development of successful pedagogic practices and assessment strategies.

Mystery Person

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Brien, Tom

2011-01-01

This article features a mathematical game called "Mystery Person." The author describes how the Mystery Person game was tried with first-graders [age 6]. The Mystery games involve the generation of key questions, the coordination of information--often very complex information--and the formulation of consequences based on this…

Pulsating Star Mystery Solved

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-11-01

By discovering the first double star where a pulsating Cepheid variable and another star pass in front of one another, an international team of astronomers has solved a decades-old mystery. The rare alignment of the orbits of the two stars in the double star system has allowed a measurement of the Cepheid mass with unprecedented accuracy. Up to now astronomers had two incompatible theoretical predictions of Cepheid masses. The new result shows that the prediction from stellar pulsation theory is spot on, while the prediction from stellar evolution theory is at odds with the new observations. The new results, from a team led by Grzegorz Pietrzyński (Universidad de Concepción, Chile, Obserwatorium Astronomiczne Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Poland), appear in the 25 November 2010 edition of the journal Nature. Grzegorz Pietrzyński introduces this remarkable result: "By using the HARPS instrument on the 3.6-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile, along with other telescopes, we have measured the mass of a Cepheid with an accuracy far greater than any earlier estimates. This new result allows us to immediately see which of the two competing theories predicting the masses of Cepheids is correct." Classical Cepheid Variables, usually called just Cepheids, are unstable stars that are larger and much brighter than the Sun [1]. They expand and contract in a regular way, taking anything from a few days to months to complete the cycle. The time taken to brighten and grow fainter again is longer for stars that are more luminous and shorter for the dimmer ones. This remarkably precise relationship makes the study of Cepheids one of the most effective ways to measure the distances to nearby galaxies and from there to map out the scale of the whole Universe [2]. Unfortunately, despite their importance, Cepheids are not fully understood. Predictions of their masses derived from the theory of pulsating stars are 20-30% less than predictions from the theory of the

NCI Scientists Solve Structure of Protein that Enables MERS Virus to Spread | Poster

Cancer.gov

Scientists at the Frederick National Lab have produced three crystal structures that reveal a specific part of a protein that can be targeted to fight the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which causes an emerging viral respiratory illness. Senior Investigator David Waugh, Ph.D., Macromolecular Crystallography Laboratory, has solved the structure of an enzyme known as the 3C-like protease (3CLpro), which, if blocked, can prevent the virus from replicating...

Mystery #21

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-22

article title:  MISR Mystery Image Quiz #21   ... This mystery concerns a particular type of cloud, one example of which was imaged by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) ... ) These clouds are commonly tracked using propeller-driven research aircraft. 3.   Two of these statements are false. Which one is ...

MISR Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #28

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-16

Are you ready for a challenge? Become a geographical detective and solve the latest mystery quiz from NASA's MISR (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer) instrument onboard the Terra satellite. Prize submissions for perfect scores accepted until Wednesday, November 23, at 4:00 p.m. PST. Happy sleuthing! Take the quiz here http://climate.nasa.gov/quizzes/misr_quiz_28. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA15375

MISR Where on Earth ...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #29

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-21

Are you ready for a challenge? Become a geographical detective and solve the latest mystery quiz from NASA's MISR Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument onboard the Terra satellite. Prize submissions for perfect scores accepted until Wednesday, June 28, at 4:00 p.m. PDT. Happy sleuthing! Take the quiz here http://climate.nasa.gov/quizzes/misr_quiz_29. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21762

Mystery #21 Answer

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-22

article title:  MISR Mystery Image Quiz #21: Actinoform Clouds ... This mystery concerns a particular type of cloud, one example of which was imaged by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) ... ) These clouds are commonly tracked using propeller-driven research aircraft. Answer: C is True. The weather satellite, TIROS ...

Earth's mysterious atmosphere. ATLAS 1: Teachers guide with activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

One of our mission's primary goals is to better understand the physics and chemistry of our atmosphere, the thin envelope of air that provides for human life and shields us from the harshness of space. The Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry the ATLAS 1 science instruments 296 km above Earth, so that they can look down into and through the various layers of the atmosphere. Five solar radiometers will precisely measure the amount of energy the Sun injects into Earth's environment. The chemistry at different altitudes will be measured very accurately by five other instruments called spectrometers. Much of our time in the cockpit of Atlantis will be devoted to two very exciting instruments that measure the auroras and the atmosphere's electrical characteristics. Finally, our ultraviolet telescope will probe the secrets of fascinating celestial objects. This Teacher's Guide is designed as a detective story to help you appreciate some of the many questions currently studied by scientists around the world. Many complex factors affect our atmosphere today, possibly even changing the course of global climate. All of us who live on Earth must recognize that we play an ever-growing role in causing some of these changes. We must solve this great atmospheric mystery if we are to understand all these changes and know what to do about them.

Earth's mysterious atmosphere. ATLAS 1: Teachers guide with activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1991-11-01

One of our mission's primary goals is to better understand the physics and chemistry of our atmosphere, the thin envelope of air that provides for human life and shields us from the harshness of space. The Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry the ATLAS 1 science instruments 296 km above Earth, so that they can look down into and through the various layers of the atmosphere. Five solar radiometers will precisely measure the amount of energy the Sun injects into Earth's environment. The chemistry at different altitudes will be measured very accurately by five other instruments called spectrometers. Much of our time in the cockpit of Atlantis will be devoted to two very exciting instruments that measure the auroras and the atmosphere's electrical characteristics. Finally, our ultraviolet telescope will probe the secrets of fascinating celestial objects. This Teacher's Guide is designed as a detective story to help you appreciate some of the many questions currently studied by scientists around the world. Many complex factors affect our atmosphere today, possibly even changing the course of global climate. All of us who live on Earth must recognize that we play an ever-growing role in causing some of these changes. We must solve this great atmospheric mystery if we are to understand all these changes and know what to do about them.

Eosinophilic esophagitis: a bulk of mysteries.

PubMed

Straumann, Alex

2013-01-01

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), which was first described in the early 1990s, has rapidly evolved as a distinctive chronic inflammatory esophageal disease. The diagnosis is based clinically on the presence of symptoms related to esophageal dysfunction and histologically by an eosinophil-predominant inflammation once other conditions leading to esophageal eosinophilia are excluded. This striking male-prevalent disease has an increasing incidence and prevalence in the Westernized countries. Currently, EoE represents the main cause of dysphagia and bolus impaction in adult patients. Despite the fact that EoE often occurs in atopic patients, the value of allergic testing is still under discussion. Topical corticosteroids lead to a rapid improvement of active EoE clinically and histologically; they are therefore regarded as first-line drug therapy. Elimination diets have similar efficacy as topical corticosteroids, but their long-term use is limited by practical issues. Esophageal dilation of EoE-induced strictures can also be effective in improving symptoms, but this therapy has no effect on the underlying inflammation. Neither the diagnostic nor the long-term therapeutic strategies have been fully defined. Currently, the list of unsolved issues--or mysteries--is still long and a concerted effort on behalf of clinicians and scientists is required to improve the understanding and the therapeutic management of this mysterious disease. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The Mystery Begins

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrington, LaDawna

2008-01-01

All teachers and media specialists are looking for the "hook" that will engage their students and make them want to learn--and according to the author, mystery stories are a perfect way to create that hook. Here, she presents a unit on mysteries, intended for collaboration between media specialists and language arts teachers. The unit uses…

Roman mystery iron blades from Serbia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balos, Sebastian; Benscoter, Arlan; Pense, Alan

A First to Forth Century Roman spear blade from Serbia was found to have an unusual microstructure inconsistent with typical Roman Period iron. An analysis of the blade undertaken at Lehigh University in the US and at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, Serbia established that it was metallic in appearance, magnetic and had an external layer of red rust. But as metallographically polished, it appeared to contain multiple internal phases and internal cracking. Even after aggressive etching, no typical low carbon microstructure was developed. Scanning electron microscopy, classical and energy dispersive X-ray analysis indicated that the specimenmore » was essentially iron, although its microhardness was too high for typical Roman iron. It was then dubbed 'Mystery Iron.' Analysis of all the data led to the proposal that it was essentially a Roman iron 'fossil' in which the iron had been converted to high temperature iron oxide while retaining the form of the blade, conversion probably occurring in a fire. Subsequent X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the blade consisted of FeO and Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} and the mystery of the iron fossil was at least partially solved. A hypothesis is proposed regarding a potential cause for the fire.« less

Who Dun It? Mysteries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zanarini, Anna

2001-01-01

Offers brief descriptions of 23 mysteries that will appeal to adolescent readers. Notes that further lists of excellent titles in the category of juvenile and young adult mystery are available on the Edgar Allen Poe website at http://www.mysterywriters.org/awards.html. (SR)

Differential Effects of the Mystery Motivator Intervention Using Student-Selected and Mystery Rewards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robichaux, Natalie M.; Gresham, Frank M.

2014-01-01

Class-wide interventions such as the Mystery Motivator are an easy and effective way to remediate problematic behavior in the classroom and increase the level of classroom management. Multiple procedural variations to the Mystery Motivator intervention have successfully changed student behavior, but a systematic comparison of two procedural…

The puzzling unsolved mysteries of liquid water: Some recent progress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanley, H. E.; Kumar, P.; Xu, L.; Yan, Z.; Mazza, M. G.; Buldyrev, S. V.; Chen, S.-H.; Mallamace, F.

2007-12-01

Water is perhaps the most ubiquitous, and the most essential, of any molecule on earth. Indeed, it defies the imagination of even the most creative science fiction writer to picture what life would be like without water. Despite decades of research, however, water's puzzling properties are not understood and 63 anomalies that distinguish water from other liquids remain unsolved. We introduce some of these unsolved mysteries, and demonstrate recent progress in solving them. We present evidence from experiments and computer simulations supporting the hypothesis that water displays a special transition point (which is not unlike the “tipping point” immortalized by Malcolm Gladwell). The general idea is that when the liquid is near this “tipping point,” it suddenly separates into two distinct liquid phases. This concept of a new critical point is finding application to other liquids as well as water, such as silicon and silica. We also discuss related puzzles, such as the mysterious behavior of water near a protein.

Rosetta - a new target to solve planetary mysteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2004-01-01

This delay meant that the original mission's target, Comet Wirtanen, could no longer be reached. Instead, a new target has been selected, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which Rosetta will encounter in 2014 after a ‘billiard ball’ journey through the Solar System lasting more than ten years. Rosetta’s name comes from the famous ‘Rosetta Stone’, from which Egyptian hieroglyphics were deciphered almost 200 years ago. In a similar way, scientists hope that the Rosetta spacecraft will unlock the mysteries of the Solar System. Comets are very interesting objects for scientists, since their composition reflects how the Solar System was when it was very young and still 'unfinished', more than 4600 million years ago. Comets have not changed much since then. In orbiting Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko and landing on it, Rosetta will collect information essential to an understanding of the origin and evolution of our Solar System. It will also help discover whether comets contributed to the beginnings of life on Earth. In fact comets are carriers of complex organic molecules that, delivered to Earth through impacts, perhaps played a role in the origin of living forms. Furthermore, ‘volatile’ light elements carried by comets might also have played an important role in forming the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. “Rosetta is one of the most challenging missions undertaken so far,” says Professor David Southwood, ESA Director of Science. “No one has ever attempted such a mission, unique for its scientific implications as well as for its complex and spectacular interplanetary space manoeuvres.” Before reaching its target in 2014, Rosetta will circle the Sun four times on wide loops in the inner Solar System. During its long trek, the spacecraft will have to endure some extreme thermal conditions. Once it is close to Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, scientists will take it through a delicate braking manoeuvre; the spacecraft will then closely orbit the comet, and

Century-old Mystery of Puccinia striiformis Life History Solved with the Identification of Berberis as an Alternate Host

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The life history of Puccinia striiformis remains a mystery because the alternate host has never been found. Inoculation of grasses using aeciospores from naturally infected Berberis chinensis and B. koreana resulted in infection on Poa pratensis, producing uredinia typical of stripe rust caused by P...

Studies of Verbal Problem Solving. 1. Two Performance-Aiding Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-09-01

5. Effective Date of Contract 6. Contract Expiration Date 7. Amount of Contract 8. Contract Number 9. Principal Investigator 10 . Scientific...7 10 3. A Mystery Solved by Propositional Calculus 16 1v I. INTRODUCTION Certain intellectual tasks, such as estimating and combining prob...aids or without any special training, they get the right answer within 15 minutes or so (about 80% of one large psychology class solved it). A few

Global Learning in a Geography Course Using the Mystery Method as an Approach to Complex Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Applis, Stefan

2014-01-01

In the study which is the foundation of this essay, the question is examined of whether the complexity of global issues can be solved at the level of teaching methodology. In this context, the first qualitative and constructive study was carried out which researches the Mystery Method using the Thinking-Through-Geography approach (David Leat,…

Mystery #11

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-22

article title:  MISR Mystery Image Quiz #11     View Larger Image Here's another chance to play geographical detective! These images ... MISR Team. Text acknowledgment: Clare Averill, David J. Diner, Graham Bothwell (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Other formats ...

Mystery #16

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-22

... x 184 kilometers (right panel). This mystery concerns two coral atoll ecosystems located in different parts of the globe. Use any ... production.   B.   Symbiotic zooxanthellae provide reef corals with the calcium and nutrients they need to grow.   C. ...

Mystery #19

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-22

... camera in May, 2002. This mystery concerns a large body of water (the blue waters which dominate most of the image) and the region ... MD. The MISR data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center in Hampton, VA. Image ...

ToxMystery

MedlinePlus

Accessibility - This is a link to an external javascript file that searchs for a flash browser plug-in and what version of the browser is being used. The javascript is functional ToxMystery uses Adobe Flash Player. If you cannot install Flash Player, please use ...

The Intergenerational Transmission of Suicide: Moral Injury and the Mysterious Object in the Work of Walker Percy.

PubMed

Tillman, Jane G

2016-06-01

The intrapsychic mechanisms for the intergenerational transmission of suicide are not adequately theorized, though it is well known that a family history of suicide places survivors at increased risk for suicide. The suicide of a family member, particularly a parent, it is hypothesized, marks some survivors with a type of trauma associated with moral injury, which may produce an alteration in object relations with the emergence of what may be called a mysterious object. Under the press of these conditions, survivors may embark on what Apprey (2014) has termed an "urgent errand" in an effort to solve a problem in the anterior generation. Analysands with a history of familial suicide may bring symptoms of moral injury, a mysterious object relation, and a risk for suicide into the transference. The family history, life history, and literary work of the novelist Walker Percy, who had an extensive family history of suicide, provides evidence for the hypothesis linking moral injury, a mysterious object, and an urgent errand in such patients. © 2016 by the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Mystery solved: White deposit on streambeds proves to be diatoms

USGS Publications Warehouse

Webb, Rick; Rice, Karen C.

2007-01-01

In the late winter and early spring of 2006 an unusual white deposit was observed on rocks and margins of streambeds in a number of park streams. Inquiries were made to park staff and scientists studying water resources in the park as to what the deposit was and did it pose any type of risk. A number of explanations were proposed, but it was not until samples were collected and examined with a scanning electron microscope that the identity of the deposit was definitively determined.

Catalase and its mysteries.

PubMed

Sepasi Tehrani, Hessam; Moosavi-Movahedi, Ali Akbar

2018-03-09

Catalase is one of the firsts in every realm of biological sciences. At the same time it also has a number of unusual features. It has one of the highest turnover numbers of all enzymes. It is essential for neutralizing the noxious hydrogen peroxide both in the nature and the various industries such as dairy, textile and pharmaceutics. It also has the merit of being one of the first protein crystals to be isolated. Ironically its three-dimensional structure was discerned some forty years later. However through the times this senile enzyme has continued to intrigue the scientists by surprising facts and phenomena, such as peculiar interweaving of subunits and remarkable thermal stability. It is also known for suicide inactivation by its own substrate. Catalase is known to be implicated in various medical scenarios and its levels have served as a marker in that capacity. It has even been incorporated into several pharmaceuticals. This review strives to clarify these perspectives. It also draws attention to the biophysical contributions offered by thermodynamics and kinetics in these discoveries. The ultimate aim of this review, however, is to state that the venerable catalase will continue to bewilder us with its mysteries well into the twenty-first century. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Problem Solving and Game-Based Learning: Effects of Middle Grade Students' Hypothesis Testing Strategies on Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spires, Hiller A.; Rowe, Jonathan P.; Mott, Bradford W.; Lester, James C.

2011-01-01

Targeted as a highly desired skill for contemporary work and life, problem solving is central to game-based learning research. In this study, middle grade students achieved significant learning gains from gameplay interactions that required solving a science mystery based on microbiology content. Student trace data results indicated that effective…

Mystery #19 Answer

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-22

... article title:  MISR Mystery Image Quiz #19: Black Sea     View Larger Image This natural-color image of the Black Sea from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) represents an area of ...

Mystery #6 Answer

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-22

... title:  MISR Mystery Image Quiz #6: Brazil's Duck Lagoon     View Larger Image ... Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) image of Brazil's Duck Lagoon covers an area of about 298 kilometers x 358 kilometers, and was ...

Mystery #24

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2016-12-22

article title:  MISR Mystery Image Quiz #24   ... formed by the large sediment-laden river in the image is an example of a well preserved wetland ecosystem, and is used as a "transfer ... MD. The MISR data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center in Hampton, VA. Image ...

Health Detectives: Uncovering the Mysteries of Disease (LBNL Science at the Theater)

ScienceCinema

Bissell, Mina; Canaria, Christie; Celnicker, Susan; Karpen, Gary

2018-06-20

In this April 23, 2012 Science at the Theater event, Berkeley Lab scientists discuss how they uncover the mysteries of disease in unlikely places. Speakers and topics include: World-renowned cancer researcher Mina Bissell's pioneering research on the role of the cellular microenvironment in breast cancer has changed the conversation about the disease. How does DNA instability cause disease? To find out, Christie Canaria images neural networks to study disorders such as Huntington's disease. Fruit flies can tell us a lot about ourselves. Susan Celniker explores the fruit fly genome to learn how our genome works. DNA is not destiny. Gary Karpen explores how environmental factors shape genome function and disease through epigenetics.

Health Detectives: Uncovering the Mysteries of Disease (LBNL Science at the Theater)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bissell, Mina; Canaria, Christie; Celnicker, Susan

In this April 23, 2012 Science at the Theater event, Berkeley Lab scientists discuss how they uncover the mysteries of disease in unlikely places. Speakers and topics include: World-renowned cancer researcher Mina Bissell's pioneering research on the role of the cellular microenvironment in breast cancer has changed the conversation about the disease. How does DNA instability cause disease? To find out, Christie Canaria images neural networks to study disorders such as Huntington's disease. Fruit flies can tell us a lot about ourselves. Susan Celniker explores the fruit fly genome to learn how our genome works. DNA is not destiny. Garymore » Karpen explores how environmental factors shape genome function and disease through epigenetics.« less

Mystery #11 Answer

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-22

article title:  MISR Mystery Image Quiz #11: Queensland, Australia     View Larger Image These Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) images of ... MISR Team. Text acknowledgment: Clare Averill, David J. Diner, Graham Bothwell (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Other formats ...

Clueless: Adult Mysteries with Young Adult Appeal 2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charles, John; Morrison, Joanna

2002-01-01

This annotated bibliography includes adult mysteries that appeal to teen readers under the categories of Sherlock Holmes; reference sources; private investigators; amateur sleuths; historical sleuths; suspense and thrillers; police procedurals; mystery blends; and anthologies. (LRW)

Evaluative Appraisals of Environmental Mystery and Surprise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasar, Jack L.; Cubukcu, Ebru

2011-01-01

This study used a desktop virtual environment (VE) of 15 large-scale residential streets to test the effects of environmental mystery and surprise on response. In theory, mystery and surprise should increase interest and visual appeal. For each VE, participants walked through an approach street and turned right onto a post-turn street. We designed…

Four Interesting Mysteries with Seemingly Conflicting Explanations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delorenzo, Ron

2000-04-01

Four mysteries with seemingly contradictory solutions are presented to make chemistry courses more interesting and relevant to students' lives: (1) Why might women become intoxicated more easily than men? (2) Why might alcohol consumption enhance cigarettes' carcinogenic effects? (3) Why might the use of Vaseline Intensive Care Hand Lotion as a lubricant increase the number of unwanted pregnancies and promote the spread of HIV? (4) Why does oil-based Vaseline Intensive Care Hand Lotion rinse off in water? Although the solutions to these mysteries appear to contradict one another, the contradictions are reconciled by considering a fifth mystery: Why does red wine go with red meat and white wine go with fish?

Mysterious Chickpea Disease

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A mysterious disease of chickpea is widespread this year in the Palouse region. Symptoms started showing in late June, and symptomatic plants were scattered all over in fields. Initial symptoms included necrosis/die back of growing tips. The leaves of infected plants turned bronze/yellow, and the...

Creative Ways to Teach the Mysteries of History, Volume 1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pahl, Ronald Hans

2005-01-01

This book is developed to make the teaching and learning of history a powerful and enjoyable experience in the classroom through the study of historical mysteries. What better place to snoop around and dig through mysterious graves than in history class? This book takes ten mysterious events in history from ancient Egypt to the 21st century for…

Hercule Poirot v. Reality: Murder Mysteries as an Epistemic Force.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geisler, Deborah M.

If murder mysteries are to carry an epistemic force, it is important to examine how murder mysteries represent a unique way of knowing, of coming to view the world, for their readers. This can be accomplished by looking at the text of murder mysteries and how the nature of the text influences the reality creating process; by exploring the nature…

Library Programs for Teens: Mystery Theater. VOYA Guides

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siwak, Karen J.

2010-01-01

It's no mystery that fun and exciting programs bring teens into the library. Theater programs provide a venue for teens to express themselves creatively, encourage their participation in library programming, and offer them the opportunity for lively interaction with peers and adults. In "Library Programs for Teens: Mystery Theater," Karen Siwak…

Top Mysteries of the Mind: Insights From the Default Space Model of Consciousness

PubMed Central

Jerath, Ravinder; Beveridge, Connor

2018-01-01

Aside from the nature of consciousness itself, there are still many unsolved problems in the neurosciences. Despite the vast and quickly growing body of work in this field, we still find ourselves perplexed at seemingly simple qualities of our mental being such as why we need to sleep. The neurosciences are at least beginning to take a hold on these mysteries and are working toward solving them. We hold a perspective that metastable consciousness models, specifically the Default Space Model (DSM), provide insights into these mysteries. In this perspective article, we explore some of these curious questions in order to elucidate the interesting points they bring up. The DSM is a dynamic, global theory of consciousness that involves the maintenance of an internal, 3D simulation of the external, physical world which is the foundation and structure of consciousness. This space is created and filled by multiple frequencies of membrane potential oscillations throughout the brain and body which are organized, synchronized and harmonized by the thalamus. The veracity of the DSM is highlighted here in its ability to further understanding of some of the most puzzling problems in neuroscience.

Top Mysteries of the Mind: Insights From the Default Space Model of Consciousness.

PubMed

Jerath, Ravinder; Beveridge, Connor

2018-01-01

Aside from the nature of consciousness itself, there are still many unsolved problems in the neurosciences. Despite the vast and quickly growing body of work in this field, we still find ourselves perplexed at seemingly simple qualities of our mental being such as why we need to sleep. The neurosciences are at least beginning to take a hold on these mysteries and are working toward solving them. We hold a perspective that metastable consciousness models, specifically the Default Space Model (DSM), provide insights into these mysteries. In this perspective article, we explore some of these curious questions in order to elucidate the interesting points they bring up. The DSM is a dynamic, global theory of consciousness that involves the maintenance of an internal, 3D simulation of the external, physical world which is the foundation and structure of consciousness. This space is created and filled by multiple frequencies of membrane potential oscillations throughout the brain and body which are organized, synchronized and harmonized by the thalamus. The veracity of the DSM is highlighted here in its ability to further understanding of some of the most puzzling problems in neuroscience.

Methods & Strategies: Sculpt-a-Scientist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Julie; Rich, Ann

2014-01-01

Elementary science experiences help develop students' views of science and scientific interests. As a result, teachers have been charged with the task of inspiring, cultivating, recruiting, and training the scientists needed to create tomorrow's innovations and solve future problems (Business Roundtable 2005). Who will these future…

ScienceCast 32: 600 Mysteries in the Night Sky

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-10-14

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope recently produced a map of the night sky. Out of 1873 new sources, nearly 600 were complete mysteries. In this week's ScienceCast, researchers speculate on the nature of the mystery objects.

Passport to Mystery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Wilda

2010-01-01

Mystery and suspense fiction remain as popular as ever for as many reasons as there are readers. "Those who wish for escape or respite read cozies, historicals, or romance crossovers," says Poisoned Pen editor Barbara Peters. "Those who want to stay on the cutting edge of society read thrillers [from authors] like Daniel Silva, Alex Berenson, or…

Mystery #14 Answer

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2017-03-16

article title:  MISR Mystery Image Quiz #14: Anatahan Island ... to find another satellite image of Anatahan on May 14th. For example, the view of Anatahan from   the  Aqua satellite  shows that on ... MD. The MISR data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center in Hampton, VA. Image ...

Los Alamos Guns Take Aim at Material's Mysteries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Byers, Mark; Moore, David; Dimarino, Steve

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists and technicians conduct thousands of experiments a year, delving into the fundamental nature of everything from supernovas to subatomic particles. One set of instruments used to better understand the fundamental nature of various materials are 10 scientific gun systems that fire various projectiles at high-tech targets to create enormous velocities, pressures, and temperatures - and using laser, x-ray, and other diagnostics - explore the very nature of metals and other materials. The hundreds of gun-based experiments conducted every year at the Laboratory require a highly-skilled staff of scientists and technicians, and has given rise tomore » a special organization called the "gun working group" to foster open communications, cooperation, problem-solving, and a healthy safety culture.« less

Los Alamos Guns Take Aim at Material's Mysteries

ScienceCinema

Byers, Mark; Moore, David; Dimarino, Steve

2018-05-30

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists and technicians conduct thousands of experiments a year, delving into the fundamental nature of everything from supernovas to subatomic particles. One set of instruments used to better understand the fundamental nature of various materials are 10 scientific gun systems that fire various projectiles at high-tech targets to create enormous velocities, pressures, and temperatures - and using laser, x-ray, and other diagnostics - explore the very nature of metals and other materials. The hundreds of gun-based experiments conducted every year at the Laboratory require a highly-skilled staff of scientists and technicians, and has given rise to a special organization called the "gun working group" to foster open communications, cooperation, problem-solving, and a healthy safety culture.

A Discovered Ducal Seal Does Not Belong to the Incorporation Charter for the City of Krakow Solving the Mystery Using Genetic Methods.

PubMed

Lech, Tomasz

2016-01-01

The Incorporation Charter for the city of Krakow, the former capital of Poland, is one of the most valuable documents stored in the National Archives in Krakow. The document, which was written in 1257 on parchment, grants Krakow the Magdeburg rights and regulates its legal, statutory, economic and settlement-related aspects. The Charter was placed in the National Register of the Memory of the World UNESCO programme in 2014. A ducal seal, considered to be the lost seal detached from the Incorporation Charter, was found in the sphragistic collection after nearly 500 years. Unfortunately, it was uncertain whether the seal in question was indeed the missing part of the document. The aim of the study presented below was to solve this mystery. For this purpose, the parchment on which the Incorporation Charter was written was compared with the fragment of the parchment attached to the discovered seal. The study involved the analysis of selected mitochondrial DNA sequences and additional analysis at the level of nuclear DNA using microsatellite markers in the form of 11 STR (Short Tandem Repeat) loci, to identify the species and individual whose skin had been used to make the parchment. This analysis revealed that seal and parchment was from different individuals and thereby discovered that the seal was never a part of the Incorporation Charter. The study is further an example of informative DNA preservation in cultural heritage objects.

Mystery Box Marvels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santos, Joel; Centurio, Tina

2012-01-01

What happens in the first week of school could very well set the stage for the rest of the school year. Setting high standards for science activities based in inquiry can start on the first day of science class and develop as the year unfolds. With the use of simple, readily available, inexpensive materials, an efficient mystery box lesson can be…

The secret of the blue fog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henrich, Oliver; Marenduzzo, Davide

2017-04-01

Why certain liquids turn blue when cooled was a mystery that stumped scientists for more than a century. As Oliver Henrich and Davide Marenduzzo explain, solving the secret of the “blue fog” proved to be an intellectual tour de force - and one that could lead to new types of display devices

A mysterious hermit

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-06-06

The drizzle of stars scattered across this image forms a galaxy known as UGC 4879. UGC 4879 is an irregular dwarf galaxy — as the name suggests, galaxies of this type are a little smaller and messier than their cosmic cousins, lacking the majestic swirl of a spiral or the coherence of an elliptical. This galaxy is also very isolated. There are about 2.3 million light years between UGC 4879 and its closest neighbour, Leo A, which is about the same distance as that between the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way. This galaxy’s isolation means that it has not interacted with any surrounding galaxies, making it an ideal laboratory for studying star formation uncomplicated by interactions with other galaxies. Studies of UGC 4879 have revealed a significant amount of star formation in the first 4-billion-years after the Big Bang, followed by a strange nine-billion-year lull in star formation, ended 1-billion-years ago by a more recent reignition. The reason for this behaviour, however, remains mysterious, and the solitary galaxy continues to provide ample study material for astronomers looking to understand the complex mysteries of starbirth throughout the Universe.

A Microbial Murder Mystery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Melissa A.; Mitchell, James K.

2002-01-01

Proposes a microbial mystery activity to test students' knowledge of human anatomy and their ability to identify microbes. Provides an opportunity for students to develop logical deductive reasoning. Includes national science education standards related to this activity, activity sheets with whole procedures, and Internet resources. (KHR)

Evolutionary mysteries in meiosis

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Meiosis is a key event of sexual life cycles in eukaryotes. Its mechanistic details have been uncovered in several model organisms, and most of its essential features have received various and often contradictory evolutionary interpretations. In this perspective, we present an overview of these often ‘weird’ features. We discuss the origin of meiosis (origin of ploidy reduction and recombination, two-step meiosis), its secondary modifications (in polyploids or asexuals, inverted meiosis), its importance in punctuating life cycles (meiotic arrests, epigenetic resetting, meiotic asymmetry, meiotic fairness) and features associated with recombination (disjunction constraints, heterochiasmy, crossover interference and hotspots). We present the various evolutionary scenarios and selective pressures that have been proposed to account for these features, and we highlight that their evolutionary significance often remains largely mysterious. Resolving these mysteries will likely provide decisive steps towards understanding why sex and recombination are found in the majority of eukaryotes. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction’. PMID:27619705

Mysterious object He2-90

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-12-01

Astronomers using NASA Hubble Space Telescope stumbled upon a mysterious object that grudgingly yielded clues to its identity. The object is classified as a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a dying, lightweight star.

Campus Spies? Using Mystery Students to Evaluate University Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Douglas, Alex; Douglas, Jacqueline

2006-01-01

Background: This paper explores the appropriateness of using mystery customer programmes in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK. Purpose: The main aim of the paper is to examine potential advantages and disadvantages of mystery customer programmes within HEIs, and to identify any issues that would need to be successfully resolved were…

Rosetta - a comet ride to solve planetary mysteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2003-01-01

Comets are very interesting objects for scientists, since their composition reflects how the Solar System was when it was very young and still 'unfinished', more than 4600 million years ago. Comets have not changed much since then. By orbiting Comet Wirtanen and landing on it, Rosetta will collect essential information to understand the origin and evolution of our Solar System. It will also help discover whether comets contributed to the beginnings of life on Earth. In fact comets are carriers of complex organic molecules, that - delivered to Earth through impacts - perhaps played a role in the origin of living forms. Furthermore, “volatile” light elements carried by comets may have also played an important role in forming the Earth’s oceans and atmopshere. “Rosetta is one of the most challenging missions ever undertaken so far”, says Prof. David Southwood, ESA Director of Science, “No one before attempted a similar mission, unique for its scientific implications as well as for its complex and spectacular interplanetary space manoeuvres”. Before reaching its target in 2011, Rosetta will circle the Sun almost four times on wide loops in the inner Solar System. During its long trek, the spacecraft will have to endure some extreme thermal conditions. Once it is close to Comet Wirtanen, scientists will take it through a delicate braking manoeuvre; then the spacecraft will closely orbit the comet, and gently drop a lander on it. It will be like landing on a small, fast-moving cosmic bullet that still has - at present - an almost unknown 'geography'. An amazing 8-year interplanetary trek Rosetta is a 3-tonne box-type spacecraft about 3 metres high, with two 14-metre long solar panels. It consists of an orbiter and a lander. The lander is approximately 1 metre across and 80 centimetres high. It will be attached to the side of the Rosetta orbiter during the journey to Comet Wirtanen. Rosetta carries 21 experiments in total, 10 of them on the lander. They will

ALMA to Help Solving Acute Mountain Sickness Mystery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2007-04-01

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) astronomical project will not only enlarge our knowledge of the vast Universe beyond the imaginable. It will also help scientists learn more about the human body. Located 5000m above sea level, in the Chilean Atacama desert, ALMA is the highest site for ground-based astronomy. This property will be put to good use for academic institutions in Chile and in Europe in order to study the human response to extreme altitude conditions. During a ceremony held on 2 April in Antofagasta, the largest town close to ESO's Very Large Telescope, representatives from ALMA, ESO and the University of Antofagasta have officially launched a collaborative agreement that also involves the University of Chile and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark). The newly established cooperation aims at contributing to the promotion of teaching, scientific research, and the expansion of altitude physiology and medicine or other related areas considered appropriate. ESO PR Photo 20/07 ESO PR Photo 20/07 Working at 5000 metres "An increasing number of people are periodically exposed to brisk changes in altitude, and not only for astronomical research," said Jacques Lassalle, the ALMA Safety Manager. "Short stays at high altitude alternate with short stays at sea level but the corresponding shifts are very often established by agreement, and not based on scientific arguments. With this project, we aim at improving our knowledge and procedures in order to protect the long term health of the operators, engineers, and scientists as well as ALMA visitors of all ages and all physical conditions," he added. Around the world, a large number of people systematically commute between sea level and high altitude, for example when working in mountainous mines. This poses stringent conditions that may affect health, wellbeing and working performance. Some of the factors in question are the shift work regime, the perturbation of circadian rhythms, fatigue

Big Mysteries: Extra Dimensions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lincoln, Don

2014-06-10

The weakness of gravity compared to the other subatomic forces is a real mystery. While nobody knows the answer, one credible solution is that gravity has access to more spatial dimensions than the other three known forces. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln describes this idea, with the help of some very urbane characters.

Big Mysteries: Extra Dimensions

ScienceCinema

Lincoln, Don

2018-01-16

The weakness of gravity compared to the other subatomic forces is a real mystery. While nobody knows the answer, one credible solution is that gravity has access to more spatial dimensions than the other three known forces. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln describes this idea, with the help of some very urbane characters.

Young Stars in Orion May Solve Mystery of Our Solar System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2001-09-01

Scientists may have to give the Sun a little more credit. Exotic isotopes present in the early Solar System--which scientists have long-assumed were sprinkled there by a powerful, nearby star explosion--may have instead been forged locally by our Sun during the colossal solar-flare tantrums of its baby years. The isotopes--special forms of atomic nuclei, such as aluminum-26, calcium-41, and beryllium-10--can form in the X-ray solar flares of young stars in the Orion Nebula, which behave just like our Sun would have at such an early age. The finding, based on observations by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, has broad implications for the formation of our own Solar System. Eric Feigelson, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State, led a team of scientists on this Chandra observation and presents these results in Washington, D.C., today at a conference entitled "Two Years of Science with Chandra". "The Chandra study of Orion gives us the first chance to study the flaring properties of stars resembling the Sun when our solar system was forming," said Feigelson. "We found a much higher rate of flares than expected, sufficient to explain the production of many unusual isotopes locked away in ancient meteorites. If the young stars in Orion can do it, then our Sun should have been able to do it too." Scientists who study how our Solar System formed from a collapsed cloud of dust and gas have been hard pressed to explain the presence of these extremely unusual chemical isotopes. The isotopes are short-lived and had to have been formed no earlier than the creation of the Solar System, some five billion years ago. Yet these elements cannot be produced by a star as massive as our Sun under normal circumstances. (Other elements, such as silver and gold, were created long before the creation of the solar system.) The perplexing presence of these isotopic anomalies, found in ancient meteoroids orbiting the Earth, led to the theory that a supernova explosion occurred

Evolutionary mysteries in meiosis.

PubMed

Lenormand, Thomas; Engelstädter, Jan; Johnston, Susan E; Wijnker, Erik; Haag, Christoph R

2016-10-19

Meiosis is a key event of sexual life cycles in eukaryotes. Its mechanistic details have been uncovered in several model organisms, and most of its essential features have received various and often contradictory evolutionary interpretations. In this perspective, we present an overview of these often 'weird' features. We discuss the origin of meiosis (origin of ploidy reduction and recombination, two-step meiosis), its secondary modifications (in polyploids or asexuals, inverted meiosis), its importance in punctuating life cycles (meiotic arrests, epigenetic resetting, meiotic asymmetry, meiotic fairness) and features associated with recombination (disjunction constraints, heterochiasmy, crossover interference and hotspots). We present the various evolutionary scenarios and selective pressures that have been proposed to account for these features, and we highlight that their evolutionary significance often remains largely mysterious. Resolving these mysteries will likely provide decisive steps towards understanding why sex and recombination are found in the majority of eukaryotes.This article is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Ordinary Dark Matter versus Mysterious Dark Matter in Galactic Rotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo, C. F.; Feng, James

2008-04-01

To theoretically describe the measured rotational velocity curves of spiral galaxies, there are two different approaches and conclusions. (1) ORDINARY DARK MATTER. We assume Newtonian gravity/dynamics and successfully find (via computer) mass distributions in bulge/disk configurations that duplicate the measured rotational velocities. There is ordinary dark matter within the galactic disk towards the cooler periphery which has lower emissivity/opacity. There are no mysteries in this scenario based on verified physics. (2) MYSTERIOUS DARK MATTER. Others INaccurately assume the galactic mass distributions follow the measured light distributions, and then the measured rotational velocity curves are NOT duplicated. To alleviate this discrepancy, speculations are invoked re ``Massive Peripheral Spherical Halos of Mysterious Dark Matter.'' But NO matter has been detected in this UNtenable Halo configuration. Many UNverified ``Mysteries'' are invoked as necessary and convenient. CONCLUSION. The first approach utilizing Newtonian gravity/dynamics and searching for the ordinary mass distributions within the galactic disk simulates reality and agrees with data.

Magical Mysteries. Texas Reading Club, 1984. A Librarian's Planning Handbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver, Jim

Designed to encourage library use by Texas youth, the Texas Reading Club programs usually include a structured reading program and a variety of entertaining literature-related storyhours, puppet shows, films, and other attractive happenings. This handbook for the 1984 theme--"magical mysteries"--focuses on mysteries, magic, and adventure…

On Responsibility of Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burdyuzha, Vladimir

The situation of modern world is analised. It is impossible for our Civilization when at least half of the World Scientists are engaged in research intended to solve military problems. Civilization cannot be called reasonable so long as it spends a huge portion of national incomes on armaments. For resolution of our global problems International Scientific Center - Brain Trust of planet must be created, the status of which should be defined and sealed by the UN organization.

The effect of mystery shopper reports on age verification for tobacco purchases.

PubMed

Krevor, Brad S; Ponicki, William R; Grube, Joel W; DeJong, William

2011-09-01

Mystery shops involving attempted tobacco purchases by young buyers have been implemented in order to monitor retail stores' performance in refusing underage sales. Anecdotal evidence suggests that mystery shop visits with immediate feedback to store personnel can improve age verification. This study investigated the effect of monthly and twice-monthly mystery shop reports on age verification. Mystery shoppers visited 45 Walgreens stores 20 times. The stores were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions. Control group stores received no feedback, whereas 2 treatment groups received feedback communications on every visit (twice monthly) or on every second visit (monthly) after baseline. Logit regression models tested whether each treatment group improved verification rates relative to the control group. Postbaseline verification rates were higher in both treatment groups than in the control group, but only the stores receiving monthly communications had a significantly greater improvement compared with the control group stores. Verification rates increased significantly during the study period for all 3 groups, with delayed improvement among control group stores. Communication between managers regarding the mystery shop program may account for the delayed age-verification improvements observed in the control group stores. Encouraging interstore communication might extend the benefits of mystery shop programs beyond those stores that receive this intervention. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

NOvA: Exploring Neutrino Mysteries

ScienceCinema

Vahle, Tricia; Messier, Mark

2018-01-16

Neutrinos are a mystery to physicists. They exist in three different flavors and mass states and may be able to give hints about the origins of the matter-dominated universe. A new long-baseline experiment led by Fermilab called NOvA may provide some answers.

NOvA: Exploring Neutrino Mysteries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vahle, Tricia; Messier, Mark

2012-09-06

Neutrinos are a mystery to physicists. They exist in three different flavors and mass states and may be able to give hints about the origins of the matter-dominated universe. A new long-baseline experiment led by Fermilab called NOvA may provide some answers.

The Fellowship of the Mystery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hotchkiss, Wesley

1976-01-01

Author states that religion involves cosmic vision as well as ethical philosophy, and that religious ethics become impotent without this vision. Mystery, defined as the sense of wonder at the revelation of the nature of the cosmos, can be expressed only through art. (RW)

The mystery of Morgellons disease: infection or delusion?

PubMed

Savely, Virginia R; Leitao, Mary M; Stricker, Raphael B

2006-01-01

Morgellons disease is a mysterious skin disorder that was first described more than 300 years ago. The disease is characterized by fiber-like strands extruding from the skin in conjunction with various dermatologic and neuropsychiatric symptoms. In this respect, Morgellons disease resembles and may be confused with delusional parasitosis. The association with Lyme disease and the apparent response to antibacterial therapy suggest that Morgellons disease may be linked to an undefined infectious process. Further clinical and molecular research is needed to unlock the mystery of Morgellons disease.

The Mystery of The Moon Illusion - Exploring Size Perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ross, Helen; Plug, Cornelis

2002-09-01

For thousands of years, one scientific puzzle has fascinated and perplexed the greatest philosophers, mathematicians, physicists, and psychologists -- why do the moon and sun appear so much larger on the horizon than when high up in the sky? Exploring the theories from antiquity to now, the 'Mystery of the Moon Illusion' is the definitive book on a mystery that has fascinated and tested the greatest minds throughout the ages.

The Majorana mystery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esposito, Salvatore

2010-03-01

"For years after I first learned about Ettore Majorana, I wanted to write a book about his life... but I always deferred to an uncertain future the act of putting pen to paper. Then, one day I read a newspaper clipping and realized that the mystery was about to come full circle. Ettore had just turned one hundred, and a major discovery had been made in the deep waters near Catania. The time had arrived for the final unveiling of the Majorana legacy."

Mysterious Changing Feature in Ligeia Mare

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-09-29

These three images, created from NASA Cassini Synthetic Aperture Radar SAR data, show the appearance and evolution of a mysterious feature in Ligeia Mare, one of the largest hydrocarbon seas on Saturn moon Titan.

The Mystery in Science: A Neglected Tool for Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papacosta, Pangratios

2008-01-01

Of the many valuable tools available to science education, the mystery in science is the one that is most ignored, underused, or misunderstood. whenever it is used, it is only as mere entertainment or as an attention grabber. In this article, the author discusses how the mystery in science can improve student attitudes, generate a life-long…

Problem Solving with Patents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Jerilou; Sumrall, William J.

2008-01-01

Exploring our patent system is a great way to engage students in creative problem solving. As a result, the authors designed a teaching unit that uses the study of patents to explore one avenue in which scientists and engineers do science. Specifically, through the development of an idea, students learn how science and technology are connected.…

Helping early career research scientists ascend the professional ladder.

PubMed

King, Laina

2013-08-01

The Keystone Symposia Early Career Investigator Travel Award initiative is a unique successful research mentoring program tailored for 'end of the pipeline' life and biomedical scientists from academia and industry. Using targeted educational, mentoring, and networking activities, the program benefits early career scientists in solving a specific laboratory-based research question that is limiting their evolving research and could increase their ability to obtain new grants and improve their career progression. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Who took the "x" out of expectancy-value theory? A psychological mystery, a substantive-methodological synergy, and a cross-national generalization.

PubMed

Nagengast, Benjamin; Marsh, Herbert W; Scalas, L Francesca; Xu, Man K; Hau, Kit-Tai; Trautwein, Ulrich

2011-08-01

Expectancy-value theory (EVT) is a dominant theory of human motivation. Historically, the Expectancy × Value interaction, in which motivation is high only if both expectancy and value are high, was central to EVT. However, the Expectancy × Value interaction mysteriously disappeared from published research more than 25 years ago. Using large representative samples of 15-year-olds (N = 398,750) from 57 diverse countries, we attempted to solve this mystery by testing Expectancy × Value interactions using latent-variable models with interactions. Expectancy (science self-concept), value (enjoyment of science), and the Expectancy × Value interaction all had statistically significant positive effects on both engagement in science activities and intentions of pursuing scientific careers; these results were similar for the total sample and for nearly all of the 57 countries considered separately. This study, apparently the strongest cross-national test of EVT ever undertaken, supports the generalizability of EVT predictions--including the "lost" Expectancy × Value interaction.

Creative Ventures: Mysteries and UFO's.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stark, Rebecca

This book published in 1987 provides open-ended activities to extend the imagination and creativity of students and encourage them to examine their feelings and values. Williams' model of cognitive-intellective and affective-feeling domains are addressed. Nearly 60 pages of exercises focus on the historical, the scientific, the mysterious, the…

The Effects of Using Diagramming as a Representational Technique on High School Students' Achievement in Solving Math Word Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banerjee, Banmali

2010-01-01

Methods and procedures for successfully solving math word problems have been, and continue to be a mystery to many U.S. high school students. Previous studies suggest that the contextual and mathematical understanding of a word problem, along with the development of schemas and their related external representations, positively contribute to…

Mysterious Black Water off Florida's Gulf Coast

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

In mid-December last year, a mysterious black water overtook the normally bluish green waters of Florida Bay. Over the course of the winter, the extent of the water grew to encompass an area as big as Lake Okeechobee, Florida, before subsiding over the last few weeks. These images taken by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS), flying aboard the Orbview-2 satellite, show the progression of the black water over the last three months. The affected water sits along the southeastern coast of Florida about fifty miles north of the Florida Keys. As of now, scientists do not know why the water appears black in satellite and aerial images or whether the water is harming the wildlife. They speculate that it could be due to an exotic algae bloom, an underwater fountain pushing up sediments from the ocean floor, or possibly chemical and sediment run-off from the nearby Shark River. Researchers at the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg and the Mote Marine Research Institute in Sarasota are running tests to determine the chemical make-up of the water. No big fish kills have been reported in the area. But fishermen say the catch has been low this winter. In addition, the black water sits just north of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, which is home to one of the largest coral reef habitats in the United States. Toxic run-off from the Florida coastline and motor boats in the area have already destroyed many of Florida's reefs. Scientists are concerned that if the extent of the black water grows again, it could endanger these reefs. Information provided by the Naples Daily News. For up-to-date images of the area, view these SeaWiFS Images of Florida Bay. Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

Searching for Judy: How Small Mysteries Affect Narrative Processes and Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Love, Jessica; McKoon, Gail; Gerrig, Richard J.

2010-01-01

Current theories of text processing say little about how authors' narrative choices, including the introduction of small mysteries, can affect readers' narrative experiences. Gerrig, Love, and McKoon (2009) provided evidence that 1 type of small mystery--a character introduced without information linking him or her to the story--affects readers'…

How To Write a Mystery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beinhart, Larry

Drawing on examples from the best and most popular works in mystery writing--from Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane to Scott Turow and Thomas Harris--this book introduces the fledgling writer to his or her most indispensable "partners in crime": character, plot, and procedure; the secrets to creating heroes and villains; the art of…

Population cycles: generalities, exceptions and remaining mysteries.

PubMed

Myers, Judith H

2018-03-28

Population cycles are one of nature's great mysteries. For almost a hundred years, innumerable studies have probed the causes of cyclic dynamics in snowshoe hares, voles and lemmings, forest Lepidoptera and grouse. Even though cyclic species have very different life histories, similarities in mechanisms related to their dynamics are apparent. In addition to high reproductive rates and density-related mortality from predators, pathogens or parasitoids, other characteristics include transgenerational reduced reproduction and dispersal with increasing-peak densities, and genetic similarity among populations. Experiments to stop cyclic dynamics and comparisons of cyclic and noncyclic populations provide some understanding but both reproduction and mortality must be considered. What determines variation in amplitude and periodicity of population outbreaks remains a mystery. © 2018 The Author(s).

Population cycles: generalities, exceptions and remaining mysteries

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Population cycles are one of nature's great mysteries. For almost a hundred years, innumerable studies have probed the causes of cyclic dynamics in snowshoe hares, voles and lemmings, forest Lepidoptera and grouse. Even though cyclic species have very different life histories, similarities in mechanisms related to their dynamics are apparent. In addition to high reproductive rates and density-related mortality from predators, pathogens or parasitoids, other characteristics include transgenerational reduced reproduction and dispersal with increasing-peak densities, and genetic similarity among populations. Experiments to stop cyclic dynamics and comparisons of cyclic and noncyclic populations provide some understanding but both reproduction and mortality must be considered. What determines variation in amplitude and periodicity of population outbreaks remains a mystery. PMID:29563267

Unraveling the mystery of music: music as an evolved group process.

PubMed

Loersch, Chris; Arbuckle, Nathan L

2013-11-01

As prominently highlighted by Charles Darwin, music is one of the most mysterious aspects of human nature. Despite its ubiquitous presence across cultures and throughout recorded history, the reason humans respond emotionally to music remains unknown. Although many scientists and philosophers have offered hypotheses, there is little direct empirical evidence for any perspective. Here we address this issue, providing data which support the idea that music evolved in service of group living. Using 7 studies, we demonstrate that people's emotional responses to music are intricately tied to the other core social phenomena that bind us together into groups. In sum, this work establishes human musicality as a special form of social cognition and provides the first direct support for the hypothesis that music evolved as a tool of social living. In addition, the findings provide a reason for the intense psychological pull of music in modern life, suggesting that the pleasure we derive from listening to music results from its innate connection to the basic social drives that create our interconnected world. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Mystery Solved: The Identification of the Two Missing Romanov Children Using DNA Analysis

PubMed Central

Wadhams, Mark J.; Edson, Suni M.; Maynard, Kerry; Meyer, Carna E.; Niederstätter, Harald; Berger, Cordula; Berger, Burkhard; Falsetti, Anthony B.; Gill, Peter; Parson, Walther; Finelli, Louis N.

2009-01-01

One of the greatest mysteries for most of the twentieth century was the fate of the Romanov family, the last Russian monarchy. Following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, he and his wife, Alexandra, and their five children were eventually exiled to the city of Yekaterinburg. The family, along with four loyal members of their staff, was held captive by members of the Ural Soviet. According to historical reports, in the early morning hours of July 17, 1918 the entire family along with four loyal members of their staff was executed by a firing squad. After a failed attempt to dispose of the remains in an abandoned mine shaft, the bodies were transported to an open field only a few kilometers from the mine shaft. Nine members of the group were buried in one mass grave while two of the children were buried in a separate grave. With the official discovery of the larger mass grave in 1991, and subsequent DNA testing to confirm the identities of the Tsar, the Tsarina, and three of their daughters – doubt persisted that these remains were in fact those of the Romanov family. In the summer of 2007, a group of amateur archeologists discovered a collection of remains from the second grave approximately 70 meters from the larger grave. We report forensic DNA testing on the remains discovered in 2007 using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), autosomal STR, and Y- STR testing. Combined with additional DNA testing of material from the 1991 grave, we have virtually irrefutable evidence that the two individuals recovered from the 2007 grave are the two missing children of the Romanov family: the Tsarevich Alexei and one of his sisters. PMID:19277206

The benefits of mystery in nature on attention: assessing the impacts of presentation duration

PubMed Central

Szolosi, Andrew M.; Watson, Jason M.; Ruddell, Edward J.

2014-01-01

Although research has provided prodigious evidence in support of the cognitive benefits that natural settings have over urban settings, all nature is not equal. Within nature, natural settings that contain mystery are often among the most preferred nature scenes. With the prospect of acquiring new information, scenes of this type could more effectively elicit a person's sense of fascination, enabling that person to rest the more effortful forms of attention. The present study examined the direct cognitive benefits that mystery in nature has on attention. Settings of this sort presumably evoke a form of attention that is undemanding or effortless. In order to investigate that notion, participants (n = 144) completed a Recognition Memory Task (RMT) that evaluated recognition performance based on the presence of mystery and presentation duration (300 ms, 1 s, 5 s, and 10 s). Results revealed that with additional viewing time, images perceived high in mystery achieved greater improvements in recognition performance when compared to those images perceived low in mystery. Tests for mediation showed that the effect mystery had on recognition performance occurred through perceptions of fascination. Implications of these and other findings are discussed in the context of Attention Restoration Theory. PMID:25505441

Mysterious quantum Cheshire cat: an illusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michielsen, K.; Lippert, Th.; De Raedt, H.

2015-09-01

We provide a mystery-free explanation for the experimentally observed facts in the neutron interferometry quantum Cheshire cat experiment of Denkmayr et al. [Nat. Comm. 5, 4492, 2014] in terms of a discrete-event simulation model, demonstrating that the quantum Cheshire cat is an illusion.

Mental Imagery in Creative Problem Solving.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polland, Mark J.

In order to investigate the relationship between mental imagery and creative problem solving, a study of 44 separate accounts reporting mental imagery experiences associated with creative discoveries were examined. The data included 29 different scientists, among them Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, and 9 artists, musicians, and writers,…

Hands-On Science Mysteries for Grades 3-6: Standards-Based Inquiry Investigations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taris, James Robert; Taris, Louis James

2006-01-01

In "Hands-On Science Mysteries for Grades 3-6," the authors connect science to real-world situations by investigating actual mysteries and phenomena, such as the strange heads on Easter Island, the ghost ship "Mary Celeste," and the "Dancing Stones" of Death Valley. The labs are designed to encourage the development…

Hidden Attraction - The History and Mystery of Magnetism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verschuur, Gerrit L.

1996-04-01

Long one of nature's most fascinating phenomena, magnetism was once the subject of many superstitions. Magnets were thought useful to thieves, effective as a love potion, and as a cure for gout or spasms. They could remove sorcery from women and put demons to flight and even reconcile married couples. It was said that a lodestone pickled in the salt of sucking fish had the power to attract gold. Today, these beliefs have been put aside, but magnetism is no less remarkable for our modern understanding of it. In Hidden Attraction , Gerrit L. Verschuur, a noted astronomer and National Book Award nominee for The Invisible Universe , traces the history of our fascination with magnetism, from the mystery and superstition that propelled the first alchemical experiments with lodestone, through the more tangible works of Faraday, Maxwell, Hertz and other great pioneers of magnetism (scientists responsible for the extraordinary advances in modern science and technology, including radio, the telephone, and computers, that characterize the twentieth century), to state-of-the-art theories that see magnetism as a basic force in the universe. Boasting many informative illustrations, this is an adventure of the mind, using the specific phenomenon of magnetism to show how we have moved from an era of superstitions to one in which the Theory of Everything looms on the horizon.

Design and Testing of an Air Force Services Mystery Shopping Program.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-11-01

Base level Air Force Services’ lodging and foodservice activities use limited service quality measurement tools to determine customer perceptions of... service quality . These tools, specifically management observation and customer comment cards, do not provide a complete picture of service quality . Other... service quality measurement methods such as mystery shopping are rarely used. Bases do not consider using mystery shopping programs because of the

Mysteries of TGF-β Paradox in Benign and Malignant Cells.

PubMed

Zhang, Qiang; Yu, Nengwang; Lee, Chung

2014-01-01

TGF-β regulates a wide range of biological functions including embryonic development, wound healing, organogenesis, immune modulation, and cancer progression. Interestingly, TGF-β is known to inhibit cell growth in benign cells but promote progression in cancer cells; this phenomenon is known as TGF-β paradox. To date, the mechanism of this paradox still remains a scientific mystery. In this review, we present our experience, along with the literature, in an attempt to answer this mystery. First, we observed that, on TGF-β engagement, there is a differential activation of Erk between benign and cancer cells. Since activated Erk is a major mediator in tumor progression and metastasis, a differentially activated Erk represents the answer to this mystery. Second, we identified a key player, PP2A-B56α, which is differentially recruited by the activated type I TGF-β receptor (TBRI) in benign and tumor cells, resulting in differential Erk activation. Finally, TGF-β stimulation leads to suppressed TBRs in tumor cells but not in benign cells. This differentially suppressed TBRs triggers differential recruitment of PP2A-B56α and, thus, differential activation of Erk. The above three events explain the mysteries of TGF-β paradox. Understanding the mechanism of TGF-β paradox will help us to predict indolent from aggressive cancers and develop novel anti-cancer strategies.

Mysteries of TGF-β Paradox in Benign and Malignant Cells

PubMed Central

Zhang, Qiang; Yu, Nengwang; Lee, Chung

2014-01-01

TGF-β regulates a wide range of biological functions including embryonic development, wound healing, organogenesis, immune modulation, and cancer progression. Interestingly, TGF-β is known to inhibit cell growth in benign cells but promote progression in cancer cells; this phenomenon is known as TGF-β paradox. To date, the mechanism of this paradox still remains a scientific mystery. In this review, we present our experience, along with the literature, in an attempt to answer this mystery. First, we observed that, on TGF-β engagement, there is a differential activation of Erk between benign and cancer cells. Since activated Erk is a major mediator in tumor progression and metastasis, a differentially activated Erk represents the answer to this mystery. Second, we identified a key player, PP2A-B56α, which is differentially recruited by the activated type I TGF-β receptor (TBRI) in benign and tumor cells, resulting in differential Erk activation. Finally, TGF-β stimulation leads to suppressed TBRs in tumor cells but not in benign cells. This differentially suppressed TBRs triggers differential recruitment of PP2A-B56α and, thus, differential activation of Erk. The above three events explain the mysteries of TGF-β paradox. Understanding the mechanism of TGF-β paradox will help us to predict indolent from aggressive cancers and develop novel anti-cancer strategies. PMID:24860782

Epistemological undercurrents in scientists' reporting of research to teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glasson, George E.; Bentley, Michael L.

2000-07-01

Our investigation focused upon how scientists, from both a practical and epistemological perspective, communicated the nature and relevance of their research to classroom teachers. Six scientists were observed during presentations of cutting-edge research at a conference for science teachers. Following the conference, these scientists were interviewed to discern how each perceived the nature of science, technology, and society in relation to his particular research. Data were analyzed to determine the congruence and/or dissimilarity in how scientists described their research to teachers and how they viewed their research epistemologically. We found that a wide array of scientific methodologies and research protocols were presented and that all the scientists expressed links between their research and science-technology-society (STS) issues. When describing their research during interviews, the scientists from traditional content disciplines reflected a strong commitment to empiricism and experimental design, whereas engineers from applied sciences were more focused on problem-solving. Implicit in the data was a commitment to objectivity and the tacit assumption that science may be free of values and ethical assumptions. More dialogue is recommended between the scientific community, science educators, and historians/philosophers of science about the nature of science, STS, and curriculum issues.

From Mystery Seed to Mangrove Island

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frissell, Virginia

2010-01-01

Introducing a mystery object is an easy strategy to implement and allows teachers to pre-assess students' knowledge about local natural resources. Misconceptions can be noted as teachers record initial inquiries and wonderings on charts. Using the constructivist approach, students can explore and construct their learning as they continue to use…

ASKAP Joins the Hunt for Mysterious Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-05-01

(Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science), a team of scientists presents results from ASKAPs first 3.4-day pilot survey. Bannister and collaborators announce that in this brief time, ASKAP has already detected a fast radio burst: FRB 170107, an especially luminous, 2 millisecond burst that confirms the presence of an ultra-bright population of fast radio bursts.Looking to the FutureLocalization of FRB 170107. [Adapted from Bannister et al. 2017]Using the multiple bands of ASKAP, the authors were able to constrain the position of FRB 170107 to a region just 8 x 8 in size. No known field galaxies exist in that region, so were still not sure exactly where it came from, but this localization is already a significant achievement.The discovery and characterization of a burst already after such a short initial campaign suggests that ASKAP will become a very powerful tool for detecting fast radio bursts including some of the rarest bursts, ultra-bright ones like FRB 170107. We finally appear to be poised to resolve some of the mysteries of this population of transients.CitationK. W. Bannister et al 2017 ApJL 841 L12. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa71ff

Patterns and Correlates of Research Productivity in Population Scientists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards, James M., Jr.

Although a concern with population issues has gone out of fashion, the problems underlying that concern have not disappeared. Solving these problems would be facilitated by increased knowledge produced by scientists working directly on population issues. A study was conducted to explore patterns and correlates of research productivity of members…

Bridging the Gender Gap: The demographics of scientists in the USDA Forest Service and academia

Treesearch

Christel C. Kern; Laura S. Kenefic; Susan L. Stout

2015-01-01

Past research has established that diverse scientific communities foster innovation and problem solving more effectively than communities with a narrow range of knowledge, skills, and experience. However, gender diversity among scientists is limited, particularly in natural-resource fields. We compared data on scientist gender and rank from the US Department of...

Taking the "Mystery" Out of Argumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Eun Ju; Cite, Suleyman; Hanuscin, Deborah

2014-01-01

Many teachers have developed "tried and true" lessons that they look forward to teaching-- mystery powders is one that these authors like. Originally part of the Elementary Science Study curricula in the 1960s, there are now many different versions of this well-known activity in which students examine physical and chemical properties of…

Putting a Little Mystery in Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodwin, Bryan; Ristvey, John

2011-01-01

Posing mysteries is not just a gimmicky way to increase the entertainment value of a lesson; it taps into students' innate human desire to explore and learn about their environments. Instead of coming right out and providing students with the answers, teachers can build suspense, piquing students' natural curiosity. Teachers can guide students,…

Improving Communication Skills in Early Career Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saia, S. M.

2013-12-01

The AGU fall meeting is a time for scientists to share what we have been hard at work on for the past year, to share our trials and tribulations, and of course, to share our science (we hope inspirational). In addition to sharing, the AGU fall meeting is also about collaboration as it brings old and new colleagues together from diverse communities across the planet. By sharing our ideas and findings, we build new relationships with the potential to cross boundaries and solve complex and pressing environmental issues. With ever emerging and intensifying water scarcity, extreme weather, and water quality issues across the plant, it is especially important that scientists like us share our ideas and work together to put these ideas into action. My vision of the future of water sciences embraces this fact. I believe that better training is needed to help early career scientists, like myself, build connections within and outside of our fields. First and foremost, more advanced training in effective storytelling concepts and themes may improve our ability to provide context for our research. Second, training in the production of video for internet-based media (e.g. YouTube) may help us bring our research to audiences in a more personalized way. Third, opportunities to practice presenting at highly visible public events such as the AGU fall meeting, will serve to prepare early career scientists for a variety of audiences. We hope this session, ';Water Sciences Pop-Ups', will provide the first steps to encourage and train early career scientists as they share and collaborate with scientists and non-scientists around the world.

Mysterious Anti-Gravity and Dark-Essence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Je-An

2013-12-01

The need of anti-gravity and dark-essence in cosmology is the greatest scientific mystery in the 21st century. This paper presents a personal view of several relevant issues, including the long-standing cosmological constant problem, the newly emerging dark radiation issue, and the basic stability issue of the general-relativity limit in modified gravity.

Mysterious Anti-Gravity and Dark-Essence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Je-An

2013-01-01

The need of anti-gravity and dark-essence in cosmology is the greatest scientific mystery in the 21st century. This paper presents a personal view of several relevant issues, including the long-standing cosmological constant problem, the newly emerging dark radiation issue, and the basic stability issue of the general-relativity limit in modified gravity.

78 FR 45285 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Egypt's Mysterious Book...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-26

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 8393] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Egypt's Mysterious Book of the Faiyum'' SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the following... exhibition ``Egypt's Mysterious Book of the Faiyum,'' imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within...

A New Clue in the Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-06-01

The origin of the mysterious fast radio bursts has eluded us for more than a decade. With the help of a particularly cooperative burst, however, scientists may finally be homing in on the answer to this puzzle.A Burst RepeatsThe host of FRB 121102 is placed in context in this Gemini image. [Gemini Observatory/AURA/NSF/NRC]More than 20 fast radio bursts rare and highly energetic millisecond-duration radio pulses have been observed since the first was discovered in 2007. FRB 121102, however, is unique in its behavior: its the only one of these bursts to repeat. The many flashes observed from FRB 121102 allowed us for the first time to follow up on the burst and hunt for its location.Earlier this year, this work led to the announcement that FRB 121102s host galaxy has been identified: a dwarf galaxy located at a redshift of z = 0.193 (roughly 3 billion light-years away). Now a team of scientists led by Cees Bassa (ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy) has performed additional follow-up to learn more about this host and what might be causing the mysterious flashes.Hubble observation of the host galaxy. The object at the bottom right is a reference star. The blue ellipse marks the extended diffuse emission of the galaxy, the red circle marks the centroid of the star-forming knot, and the white cross denotes the location of FRB 121102 ad the associated persistent radio source. [Adapted from Bassa et al. 2017]Host ObservationsBassa and collaborators used the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telecsope, and the Gemini North telecsope in Hawaii to obtain optical, near-infrared, and mid-infrared observations of FRB 121102s host galaxy.The authors determined that the galaxy is a dim, irregular, low-metallicity dwarf galaxy. Its resolved, revealing a bright star-forming region roughly 4,000 light-years across in the galaxys outskirts. Intriguingly, the persistent radio source associated with FRB 121102 falls directly within that star-forming knot

Stem Cell Research: Unlocking the Mystery of Disease

MedlinePlus

... Issue Past Issues From the Director: Stem Cell Research: Unlocking the Mystery of Disease Past Issues / Summer ... Director, described the need for expanding stem cell research. Recently, he spoke about stem cell research with ...

Searching for Judy: how small mysteries affect narrative processes and memory.

PubMed

Love, Jessica; McKoon, Gail; Gerrig, Richard J

2010-05-01

Current theories of text processing say little about how authors' narrative choices, including the introduction of small mysteries, can affect readers' narrative experiences. Gerrig, Love, and McKoon (2009) provided evidence that 1 type of small mystery-a character introduced without information linking him or her to the story-affects readers' moment-by-moment processing. For that project, participants read stories that introduced characters by proper name alone (e.g., "Judy") or with information connecting the character to the rest of the story (e.g., "our principal Judy"). In an online recognition probe task, responses to the character's name 3 lines after his or her introduction were faster when the character had not been introduced with connecting information, suggesting that the character remained accessible awaiting resolution. In the 4 experiments in this article, we extend our theoretical analysis of small mysteries. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found evidence that trait information (e.g., "daredevil Judy") is not sufficient to connect a character to a text. In Experiments 3 and 4, we found evidence that the moment-by-moment processing effects of such small mysteries also affect readers' memory for the stories. We interpret the results in terms of Kintsch's (1988) construction-integration model of discourse processing. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

The mystery of the perpetual motion clock of Geiser and Son

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piguet, Jean-Michel

A description of the operation and mechanisms of a so called perpetual motion clock is given. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, the achievement of perpetual motion was one of the Neuchatel clockmakers' great interests. Some watchmakers presented scientists and the public with constructions which, at first sight, seemed to have solved the problem. In 1815 a really interesting clock mechanism invented by Jean Geiser and his son was presented in Neuchatel.

Students and Scientists Take a "Lichen" To Air Quality Assessment in Ireland.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Anthony P.

1998-01-01

Describes a cooperative project in which students in a number of areas in Ireland collect environmental data for use by scientists working to solve real-life problems. Reports on the follow-up survey to the study. (DDR)

Mystery Boxes: Helping Children Improve Their Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rule, Audrey C.

2007-01-01

This guest editorial describes ways teachers can use guessing games about an unknown item in a "mystery box" to help children improve their abilities to listen to others, recall information, ask purposeful questions, classify items by class, make inferences, synthesize information, and draw conclusions. The author presents information…

CHIPPING AWAY AT THE MYSTERY OF DRUG RESPONSES

EPA Science Inventory

Chipping away at the mystery of drug responses
John C. Rockett
Reproductive Toxicology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 2771...

Population estimate of Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) in a Nebraska reservoir

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chaine, Noelle M.; Allen, Craig R.; Fricke, Kent A.; Haak, Danielle M.; Hellman, Michelle L.; Kill, Robert A.; Nemec, Kristine T.; Pope, Kevin L.; Smeenk, Nicholas A.; Stephen, Bruce J.; Uden, Daniel R.; Unstad, Kody M.; VanderHam, Ashley E.

2012-01-01

The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) is an aquatic invasive species in North America. Little is known regarding this species' impacts on freshwater ecosystems. It is be lieved that population densities can be high, yet no population estimates have been reported. We utilized a mark-recapture approach to generate a population estimate for Chinese mystery snail in Wild Plum Lake, a 6.47-ha reservoir in southeast Nebraska. We calculated, using bias-adjusted Lincoln-Petersen estimation, that there were approximately 664 adult snails within a 127 m2 transect (5.2 snails/m2). If this density was consistent throughout the littoral zone (<3 m in depth) of the reservoir, then the total adult population in this impoundment is estimated to be 253,570 snails, and the total Chinese mystery snail wet biomass is estimated to be 3,119 kg (643 kg/ha). If this density is confined to the depth sampled in this study (1.46 m), then the adult population is estimated to be 169,400 snails, and wet biomass is estimated to be 2,084 kg (643 kg/ha). Additional research is warranted to further test the utility of mark-recapture methods for aquatic snails and to better understand Chinese mystery snail distributions within reservoirs.

Active dendrites: colorful wings of the mysterious butterflies.

PubMed

Johnston, Daniel; Narayanan, Rishikesh

2008-06-01

Santiago Ramón y Cajal had referred to neurons as the 'mysterious butterflies of the soul.' Wings of these butterflies--their dendrites--were traditionally considered as passive integrators of synaptic information. Owing to a growing body of experimental evidence, it is now widely accepted that these wings are colorful, endowed with a plethora of active conductances, with each family of these butterflies made of distinct hues and shades. Furthermore, rapidly evolving recent literature also provides direct and indirect demonstrations for activity-dependent plasticity of these active conductances, pointing toward chameleonic adaptability in these hues. These experimental findings firmly establish the immense computational power of a single neuron, and thus constitute a turning point toward the understanding of various aspects of neuronal information processing. In this brief historical perspective, we track important milestones in the chameleonic transmogrification of these mysterious butterflies.

Science & Technology Review September 2005

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aufderheide III, M B

2005-07-19

This month's issue has the following articles: (1) The Pursuit of Fusion Energy--Commentary by William H. Goldstein; (2) A Dynamo of a Plasma--The self-organizing magnetized plasmas in a Livermore fusion energy experiment are akin to solar flares and galactic jets; (3) How One Equation Changed the World--A three-page paper by Albert Einstein revolutionized physics by linking mass and energy; (4) Recycled Equations Help Verify Livermore Codes--New analytic solutions for imploding spherical shells give scientists additional tools for verifying codes; and (5) Dust That.s Worth Keeping--Scientists have solved the mystery of an astronomical spectral feature in interplanetary dust particles.

Solving Wakulla Springs underwater mysteries. Using GPS to map Florida's underground caverns

USGS Publications Warehouse

Am, Ende B.

2002-01-01

Located in the Woodville Karst Plain stretching south from Tallahassee to the Gulf of Mexico, Florida's Wakulla Springs is one of the largest and deepest freshwater Springs in the world. It is also a gateway into one of the longest underwater cave system in the United States, a system that remained largely unexplored until recently. Soon, however, thanks to one of the world's most extreme scientific and exploration-related diving projects ever undertaken, visitors to Wakulla Springs State Park will be able to take a virtual tour through the Spring's huge underwater labyrinth. Using such cutting-edge technology as a 3D Digital Wall Mapper (DWM) and the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Wakulla 2 Expedition - with 151 volunteer cave divers, scientists and engineers from all over the world - created the world's first three-dimensional digital map of an underwater cave. Underwater caves are priceless treasures, helping supply fresh water to the region as well as acting as 'time capsules' to the past. Home to creatures found in few other places, areas such as Wakulla face threats of pollution and over-development. Wakulla 2 hopes their 3D interactive 'swim through' will help increase the understanding and preservation of these important areas.

Structural biology of intrinsically disordered proteins: Revisiting unsolved mysteries.

PubMed

Sigalov, Alexander B

2016-06-01

The emergence of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) has challenged the classical protein structure-function paradigm by introducing a new paradigm of "coupled binding and folding". This paradigm suggests that IDPs fold upon binding to their partners. Further studies, however, revealed a novel and previously unrecognized phenomenon of "uncoupled binding and folding" suggesting that IDPs do not necessarily fold upon interaction with their lipid and protein partners. The complex and often unusual biophysics of IDPs makes structural characterization of these proteins and their complexes not only challenging but often resulting in opposite conclusions. For this reason, some crucial questions in this field remain unsolved for well over a decade. Considering an important role of IDPs in cellular regulation, signaling and control in health and disease, more efforts are needed to solve these mysteries. Here, I focus on two long-standing contradictions in the literature concerning dimerization and membrane-binding activities of IDPs. Molecular explanation of these discrepancies is provided. I also demonstrate how resolution of these critical issues in the field of IDPs results in our expanded understanding of cell function and has multiple applications in biology and medicine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. and Société Française de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.

The Unsolved Mysteries of Atmospheric Chemistry for High School Students and Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simonich, S. L.

2011-12-01

The grant "CAREER: New Molecular Markers of Asian Air Emissions - Anthropogenic Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds" (ATM-0239823) was funded by NSF from 2003-2008. The CAREER proposal described the integration of research and outreach education activities in the field of atmospheric chemistry, specifically atmospheric measurements and atmospheric transport. The primary objective of the research was to identify anthropogenic semi-volatile organic compounds (SOCs) that could be used as molecular markers for Asian air emissions and trans-Pacific atmospheric transport. The outreach education activity was integrated with the research by developing curriculum to introduce underrepresented minority high school students, and their teachers, to atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric measurements through Oregon State University's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences funded Hydroville Curriculum Project (http://www.hydroville.org/iaq_resources). A curriculum was developed to allow students to assume the role of "Air Quality Scientist" and measure air temperature, air flow, relative humidity, CO, CO2, O3, and volatile organic compounds in out-door and in-door air. The students gained an understanding of atmospheric transport and compared measured concentrations to recommended guidelines. In addition, the outreach education activities included the development of the "Unsolved Mysteries of Human Health" website (http://www.unsolvedmysteries.oregonstate.edu/), including a specific module on the research conducted under the CAREER grant (http://www.unsolvedmysteries.oregonstate.edu /Gas-Chromatography-Mass-Spectrometry-Overview). The PI of the CAREER proposal, Dr. Staci Massey Simonich, is now a full professor at Oregon State University. To date, she has published over 50 peer-review journal articles, as well as mentored 9 undergraduate students, 20 graduate students, 3 post-doctoral scholars, and 3 international visiting scientists in her laboratory.

The Lord of Rings - the mysterious case of the stolen rings: a critical analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandrelli, S.

The Lord of Rings - the mysterious case of the stolen rings: a critical analysis S. Sandrelli INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Milano, Italy (stefano.sandrelli@brera.inaf.it / Fax: 02 72001600 / Phone: +39 02 72320337) "The Lord of Rings - the mysterious case of the stolen rings" is a live astronomical role-playing game for kids aged 10 -13. Its goal is to introduce them to some of the main topics of the Solar System: a) the role of gravity; b) the distribution of mass & light; c) the effects of rotation; d) the distribution of water. The game was held both at the Perugia (2004) and the Genova Science Festival (2005), obtaining great success. Teams of about 6-8 members are introduced to Mr Schioppanelli, the astro-detective of the town (the name is a pun: it reminds Schiaparelli, the famous italian astronomer, and it is a slang expression meaning "ring-breaker"). Mr Schioppanelli has his office in an "gastronomical astronomical observatory", known as The Red Giant Pizzeria. Schioppanelli informs the kids that a mysterious Centaur succeded in stealing the rings of Saturn. The partecipants are appointed astro-detectives in-charge and asked to find the rings by browsing around the Solar System, which is scaled so as to fit the town historical centre or a pedestrian area, going from the Sun to Saturn or beyond, depending on the actual area at disposal. Great care must be taken allowing children playing only in a car-free area of the town. At the right scaled distances, the partecipants meet characters playing as the various planets. The kids can talk to them after solving a riddle, obtaining useful informations. A special characters play as a comet, timely going in and out of the inner solar system. The teams can also talk to some shepherd-moons of the rings. They easily discover that the rings were totally destroyed by the Centaur: a real disaster! They are also suggested to gather the necessary ingredients (gravity, light, rotation, inclination, dust and

78 FR 39435 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition; Determinations: “Magritte: The Mystery of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-01

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 8364] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition; Determinations: ``Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938'' SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the... exhibition ``Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1928,'' imported from abroad for temporary...

New VLA Images Unlocking Galactic Mysteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2008-01-01

Astronomers have produced a scientific gold mine of detailed, high-quality images of nearby galaxies that is yielding important new insights into many aspects of galaxies, including their complex structures, how they form stars, the motions of gas in the galaxies, the relationship of "normal" matter to unseen "dark matter," and many others. An international team of scientists used more than 500 hours of observations with the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope to produce detailed sets of images of 34 galaxies at distances from 6 to 50 million light-years from Earth. Their project, called The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey, or THINGS, required two years to produce nearly one TeraByte of data. HI ("H-one") is an astronomical term for atomic hydrogen gas. The astronomers presented their initial findings to the American Astronomical Society's (AAS) meeting in Austin, Texas. "Studying the radio waves emitted by atomic hydrogen gas in galaxies is an extremely powerful way to learn what's going on in nearby galaxies. The THINGS survey uses that tool to provide sets of images of the highest quality and sensitivity for a substantial sample of galaxies of different types," said Fabian Walter, of the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. IC2574M74 Dwarf galaxy IC2574, left, and spiral galaxy M74, in THINGS images. Credit: Walter et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF Click images for high-resolution files (33 KB & 25 KB) Spiral Galaxies in THINGS Most of the galaxies studied in the THINGS survey also have been observed at other wavelengths, including Spitzer space telescope infrared images and GALEX ultraviolet images. This combination provides an unprecedented resource for unravelling the mystery of how a galaxy's gaseous material influences its overall evolution. Analysis of THINGS data already has yielded numerous scientific payoffs. For example, one study has shed new light on astronomers' understanding of the gas-density threshold required to

Oriental mystery: ginseng

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yun, T.K.; Cho, H.O.; Yun, Y.S.

1985-01-01

As a mysterious cure-all medicine Korea ginseng has been, since four or five thousand years ago, used as a tonic in the orient. Ginseng has been known to have a tonic effect and it is the general opinion of many investigators that ginseng has the effect of normalization of physical conditions, that is; maintaining individual homeostasis. On the other hand, the authors have found that ginseng extract inhibits the incidence and also the proliferation of tumors induced by carcinogens such as urethane, DMBA and aflatoxin B. The anticarcinogenic effect of ginseng was due to its ability to enhance the naturalmore » killer activity of the host. Korea ginseng is highly effective in preventing or curing various disease such as diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, etc.« less

Identifying future scientists: predicting persistence into research training.

PubMed

McGee, Richard; Keller, Jill L

2007-01-01

This study used semistructured interviews and grounded theory to look for characteristics among college undergraduates that predicted persistence into Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. training. Participants in the summer undergraduate and postbaccalaureate research programs at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine were interviewed at the start, near the end, and 8-12 months after their research experience. Of more than 200 themes considered, five characteristics predicted those students who went on to Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. training or to M.D. training intending to do research: 1) Curiosity to discover the unknown, 2) Enjoyment of problem solving, 3) A high level of independence, 4) The desire to help others indirectly through research, and 5) A flexible, minimally structured approach to the future. Web-based surveys with different students confirmed the high frequency of curiosity and/or problem solving as the primary reason students planned research careers. No evidence was found for differences among men, women, and minority and nonminority students. Although these results seem logical compared with successful scientists, their constancy, predictive capabilities, and sharp contrast to students who chose clinical medicine were striking. These results provide important insights into selection and motivation of potential biomedical scientists and the early experiences that will motivate them toward research careers.

The Mysterious Universe - Exploring Our World with Particle Accelerators

ScienceCinema

Brau, James E [University of Oregon

2018-04-24

The universe is dark and mysterious, more so than even Einstein imagined. While modern science has established deep understanding of ordinary matter, unidentified elements ("Dark Matter" and "Dark Energy") dominate the structure of the universe, its behavior and its destiny. What are these curious elements? We are now working on answers to these and other challenging questions posed by the universe with experiments at particle accelerators on Earth. Results of this research may revolutionize our view of nature as dramatically as the advances of Einstein and other quantum pioneers one hundred years ago. Professor Brau will explain for the general audience the mysteries, introduce facilities which explore them experimentally and discuss our current understanding of the underlying science. The presentation is at an introductory level, appropriate for anyone interested in physics and astronomy.

The Young Artist as Scientist: What Can Leonardo Teach Us?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollman, Mary Jo

2017-01-01

This is the first in-depth look at the important connections between the arts and science specifically for early childhood education (pre-K-3rd grade). Highlighting their many commonalities, such as the processes involved in creative problem solving, the author draws on what we can learn from Leonardo da Vinci as the supreme artist-scientist.…

Impact of Context-Rich, Multifaceted Problems on Students' Attitudes Towards Problem-Solving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogilvie, Craig

2008-04-01

Young scientists and engineers need strong problem-solving skills to enable them to address the broad challenges they will face in their careers. These challenges will likely be ill-defined and open-ended with either unclear goals, insufficient constraints, multiple possible solutions, and different criteria for evaluating solutions so that our young scientists and engineers must be able to make judgments and defend their proposed solutions. In contrast, many students believe that problem-solving is being able to apply set procedures or algorithms to tasks and that their job as students is to master an ever-increasing list of procedures. This gap between students' beliefs and the broader, deeper approaches of experts is a strong barrier to the educational challenge of preparing students to succeed in their future careers. To start to address this gap, we have used multi-faceted, context-rich problems in a sophomore calculus-based physics course. To assess whether there was any change in students' attitudes or beliefs towards problem-solving, students were asked to reflect on their problem-solving at the beginning and at the end of the semester. These reflections were coded as containing one or more problem-solving ideas. The change in students' beliefs will be shown in this talk.

The Mysteries of Real Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laub, Bernard

2012-01-01

The presentation will consist of showing arc jet data mysterious to the modelers. It will show pictures from an arc jet test where a material (unidentified) exhibited a failure mode that nobody understands followed by thermocouple data from arc jet tests on another (unidentified) material of interest in which the T/Cs exhibit repeatable, consistent, fascinating yet frustrating response characteristics that have the modelers stumped. This all happens between RT and 200 F. Unless we figure out what the responsible phenomenology is and can model it, we can't size the TPS with any confidence.

The Mystery of Gamma-Ray Bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fishman, Gerald J.

1998-01-01

Gamma-ray bursts remain on of the greatest mysteries in astrophysics in spite of recent observational advances and intense theoretical work. Although some of the basic properties of bursts were known 25 years ago, new and more detailed observations have been made by the BATSE (Burst and Transient Source Experiment) experiment on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory in the past five years. Recent observations of bursts and some proposed models will be discussed.

Modeling the Nature of Science with the Mystery Tube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Scott

2014-12-01

Oftentimes physics is portrayed as merely a list of facts that we know about the world around us, when in fact it is a way of knowing about that world. At times physics claims to understand the inner working of objects that cannot be directly observed, such as the core of the planets and Sun, or the structure of an atom. It is important for students to learn not only the facts of what we know about science, but also how we know what we know about science, even if we cannot directly observe it. This article describes a new take on a black box activity that has been around for years, the mystery tube.1 It is simple to construct but effective at demonstrating the nature of science (NOS). It illustrates the difference between observation and inference, and steps students through the scientific process. Beginning with a scientific question, students make observations, form a hypothesis, predict further observations, and test them before revising or strengthening their hypothesis. This activity provides a fantastic introduction to NOS, either as an alternative to other NOS activities2 or as a lead-in to a discussion of NOS.3 It can be used as an in-class activity, starting off a discussion of how scientists can claim to know what we know, or it can be used as an introductory lab, setting the foundation for how all subsequent activities should be conducted.

Unsolved mysteries: How does lipid peroxidation cause ferroptosis?

PubMed Central

Feng, Huizhong

2018-01-01

Ferroptosis is a cell death process driven by damage to cell membranes and linked to numerous human diseases. Ferroptosis is caused by loss of activity of the key enzyme that is tasked with repairing oxidative damage to cell membranes—glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). GPX4 normally removes the dangerous products of iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, protecting cell membranes from this type of damage; when GPX4 fails, ferroptosis ensues. Ferroptosis is distinct from apoptosis, necroptosis, necrosis, and other modes of cell death. Several key mysteries regarding how cells die during ferroptosis remain unsolved. First, the drivers of lipid peroxidation are not yet clear. Second, the subcellular location of lethal lipid peroxides remains an outstanding question. Finally, how exactly lipid peroxidation leads to cell death is an unsolved mystery. Answers to these questions will provide insights into the mechanisms of ferroptotic cell death and associated human diseases, as well as new therapeutic strategies for such diseases. PMID:29795546

Creating Alien Life Forms: Problem Solving in Biology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grimnes, Karin A.

1996-01-01

Describes a project that helps students integrate biological concepts using both creativity and higher-order problem-solving skills. Involves students playing the roles of junior scientists aboard a starship in orbit around a class M planet and using a description of habitats, seasonal details, and a surface map of prominent geographic features to…

The Mystery Soil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Click for larger view

This high-resolution image from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the region containing the patch of soil scientists examined at Gusev Crater just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia Memorial Station. Scientists examined this patch on the 13th and 15th martian days, or sols, of Spirit's journey. Using nearly all the science instruments located on the rover's instrument deployment device or 'arm,' scientists yielded some puzzling results including the detection of a mineral called olivine and the appearance that the soil is stronger and more cohesive than they expected. Like detectives searching for clues, the science team will continue to peruse the landscape for explanations of their findings.

Data taken from the camera's red, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture, acquired on the 12th martian day, or sol, of Spirit's journey.

The yellow box (see inset above) in this high-resolution image from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit outlines the patch of soil scientists examined at Gusev Crater just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia Memorial Station.

Unraveling the Mystery of an Environmental Disease

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grollman, Arthur

For many years, residents of farming villages along the Danube River basin suffered from a fatal kidney disease and an associated urinary tract cancer. The cause of the disease remained a mystery for more than 50 years. Recently, however, Arthur Grollman and his colleagues have determined that home-baked bread is implicated in the disease, known as Balkan endemic nephropathy.

Mystery Motivator: A Tier 1 Classroom Behavioral Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kowalewicz, Eva A.; Coffee, Gina

2014-01-01

This study is an examination of the effectiveness of the Mystery Motivator--an interdependent group contingency, variable-ratio, classwide intervention--as a tool for reducing disruptive classroom behavior in eight diverse general-education elementary school classrooms across seven different schools. The study was conducted using an ABAB, changing…

AB72. Mysteries of TGF-β paradox in benign and malignant cells

PubMed Central

Lee, Chung; Grayhack, John T.

2014-01-01

TGF-β regulates a wide range of biological functions including embryonic development, wound healing, organogenesis, immune modulation, and cancer progression. Interestingly, TGF-β is known to inhibit cell growth in benign cells but promote progression in cancer cells, a phenomenon known as TGF-β paradox. To date, the mechanism of this paradox still remains as a scientific mystery. In this review, we present our experience, alone with the literature, in an attempt to offer answers to this mystery. First, we observed that, upon TGF-β engagement, there is a differential activation of Erk between benign and cancer cells. Since activated Erk is a major mediator in tumor progression and metastasis, a differentially activated Erk represents the answer to this mystery. Second, we identified a key player, PP2A-B56α, which is differentially recruited by the activated type I TGF-β receptor (TBRI) in benign and tumor cells, resulting in differential Erk activation. Finally, TGF-β stimulation leads to a suppressed TBRs in tumor cells but not in benign cells. This differentially suppressed TBRs triggers differential recruitment of PP2A-B56α and, thus, differential activation of Erk. The above three events offer the explanation to the mysteries of TGF-β paradox. Understanding the mechanism of TGF-β paradox will help us to predict indolent from aggressive cancers and will help us to develop novel anti-cancer strategies.

Students Dig Deep in the Mystery Soil Lab: A Playful, Inquiry-Based Soil Laboratory Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thiet, Rachel K.

2014-01-01

The Mystery Soil Lab, a playful, inquiry-based laboratory project, is designed to develop students' skills of inquiry, soil analysis, and synthesis of foundational concepts in soil science and soil ecology. Student groups are given the charge to explore and identify a "Mystery Soil" collected from a unique landscape within a 10-mile…

VLBA "Movie" Gives Scientists New Insights On Workings of Mysterious Microquasars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2004-01-01

Astronomers have made a 42-day movie showing unprecedented detail of the inner workings of a strange star system that has puzzled scientists for more than two decades. Their work is providing new insights that are changing scientists' understanding of the enigmatic stellar pairs known as microquasars. SS 433 Frame from SS 433 Movie: End to end is some 200 billion miles. CREDIT: Mioduszewski et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF Image Files Single Frame Overall Jet View (above image) VLBA Movie (animated gif, 2.3 MB) Animated graphic of SS 433 System (18MB) (Created using software by Robert Hynes, U.Texas) Annotated brightening graphic Unannotated brightening Frame 1 Unannotated brightening Frame 2 "This once-a-day series of exquisitely-detailed images is the best look anyone has ever had at a microquasar, and already has made us change our thinking about how these things work," said Amy Mioduszewski, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), in Socorro, New Mexico. The astronomers used the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a system of radio telescopes stretching from Hawaii to the Caribbean, to follow daily changes in a binary-star system called SS 433, some 15,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquila. Mioduszewski worked with Michael Rupen, Greg Taylor and Craig Walker, all of NRAO. They reported their findings to the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. SS 433 consists of a neutron star or black hole orbited by a "normal" companion star. The powerful gravity of the neutron star or black hole is drawing material from the stellar wind of its companion into an accretion disk of material tightly circling the dense, central object prior to being pulled onto that object. This disk propels jets of subatomic particles outward from its poles. In SS 433, the particles in the jets move at 26 percent of the speed of light; in other microquasars, the jet material moves at 90-95 percent of light speed. The disk in SS

Real Science, Real Learning: Bridging the Gap Between Scientists, Educators and Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Y.

2006-05-01

Today as never before, America needs its citizens to be literate in science and technology. Not only must we only inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers and technologists, we must foster a society capable of meeting complex, 21st-century challenges. Unfortunately, the need for creative, flexible thinkers is growing at a time when our young students are lagging in science interest and performance. Over the past 17 years, the JASON Project has worked to link real science and scientists to the classroom. This link provide viable pipeline to creating the next generation scientists and researchers. Ultimately, JASON's mission is to improve the way science is taught by enabling students to learn directly from leading scientists. Through partnerships with agencies such as NOAA and NASA, JASON creates multimedia classroom products based on current scientific research. Broadcasts of science expeditions, hosted by leading researchers, are coupled with classroom materials that include interactive computer-based simulations, video- on-demand, inquiry-based experiments and activities, and print materials for students and teachers. A "gated" Web site hosts online resources and provides a secure platform to network with scientists and other classrooms in a nationwide community of learners. Each curriculum is organized around a specific theme for a comprehensive learning experience. It may be taught as a complete package, or individual components can be selected to teach specific, standards-based concepts. Such thematic units include: Disappearing Wetlands, Mysteries of Earth and Mars, and Monster Storms. All JASON curriculum units are grounded in "inquiry-based learning." The highly interactive curriculum will enable students to access current, real-world scientific research and employ the scientific method through reflection, investigation, identification of problems, sharing of data, and forming and testing hypotheses. JASON specializes in effectively applying

Potentially harmful side-effects: medically unexplained symptoms, somatization, and the insufficient illness narrative for viewers of mystery diagnosis.

PubMed

Farkas, Carol-Ann

2013-09-01

Illness narrative has often been found to play a positive role in both patients' and providers' efforts to find meaning in the illness experience. However, illness narrative can sometimes become counterproductive, even pathological, particularly in cases of medical mystery--cases wherein biopsychosocial factors blur the distinction between bodily dysfunction and somatizing behavior. In this article, the author draws attention to two examples of medical mystery, the clinical presentation of medically unexplained symptoms, and the popular reality television program Mystery Diagnosis, to demonstrate the potentially harmful effects of illness narrative. The medical mystery's complex narrative structure reflects and tends to reinforce providers' and patients' mistaken assumptions, anxieties, and conflicts in ways which obstruct, rather than facilitate, healing.

Scientific Encounters of the Mysterious Sea. Reading Activities That Explore the Mysterious Creatures of the Deep Blue Sea. Grades 4-7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Embry, Lynn

This activity book presents reading activities for grades 4-7 exploring the mysterious creatures of the deep sea. The creatures include: angel sharks; argonauts; barberfish; comb jelly; croakers; electric rays; flying fish; giganturid; lantern fish; narwhals; northern basket starfish; ocean sunfish; Portuguese man-of-war; sea cucumbers; sea…

Professional identity in clinician-scientists: brokers between care and science.

PubMed

Kluijtmans, Manon; de Haan, Else; Akkerman, Sanne; van Tartwijk, Jan

2017-06-01

Despite increasing numbers of publications, science often fails to significantly improve patient care. Clinician-scientists, professionals who combine care and research activities, play an important role in helping to solve this problem. However, despite the ascribed advantages of connecting scientific knowledge and inquiry with health care, clinician-scientists are scarce, especially amongst non-physicians. The education of clinician-scientists can be complex because they must form professional identities at the intersection of care and research. The successful education of clinician-scientists requires insight into how these professionals view their professional identity and how they combine distinct practices. This study sought to investigate how recently trained nurse- and physiotherapist-scientists perceive their professional identities and experience the crossing of boundaries between care and research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 nurse- and physiotherapist-scientists at 1 year after they had completed MSc research training. Interviews were thematically analysed using insights from the theoretical frameworks of dialogical self theory and boundary crossing. After research training, the initial professional identity, of clinician, remained important for novice clinician-scientists, whereas the scientist identity was experienced as additional and complementary. A meta-identity as broker, referred to as a 'bridge builder', seemed to mediate competing demands or tensions between the two positions. Obtaining and maintaining a dual work position were experienced as logistically demanding; nevertheless, it was considered beneficial for crossing the boundaries between care and research because it led to reflection on the health profession, knowledge integration, inquiry and innovation in care, improved data collection, and research with a focus on clinical applicability. Novice clinician-scientists experience dual professional identities as care

An open mind to closed borders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fallet, Ulrike; Lefeber, Bob

2017-04-01

One aspect of "Science in tomorrow's classroom" is teaching geography students the basic skills and knowledge to play an active role in society as citizens. Topics that frame the development of good citizenship are wide-ranged and include climate change, migration and integration as well as democracy and identity. Often these kinds of topics do not allow for right or wrong answers or classroom lectures; it is more important to encourage students to find and discuss arguments with which to underpin their opinion. In this way, civic education is very suitable for active learning. Active learning is described as a method of learning in which students are actively involved in the learning process through (group) discussion, experiments or games. By doing so, students are stimulated to engage in higher-order thinking tasks such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, which are inherent to becoming responsible, reflective and critical citizens as well as (future) scientists. It has also been shown that the use of active learning methods significantly increased the number of meaningful geographical relationships that students give in tests (Karkdijk, 2012). I, therefore, propose to use active learning to approach civic education in the classroom. Specifically, I used a "mystery" to engage students in active learning on the highly polarizing subject of migration. A mystery (Leat, 1990) is a didactic method that uses short bits of information to solve an intriguing question. A current polarizing subject in society and in the classroom is the migration from Northern Africa and the Middle East to Europe and the increasing number of terrorist attacks by individuals who have radicalised before, during or after their journey over the Mediterranean. In class, students were asked to solve this migration mystery: "Could the terrorist attack in Berlin have been stopped by closing the borders of the Mediterranean countries to migrants?" In order to solve this mystery and to find an

Supporting Scientific Analysis within Collaborative Problem Solving Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, Velvin R.; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Collaborative problem solving environments for scientists should contain the analysis tools the scientists require in addition to the remote collaboration tools used for general communication. Unfortunately, most scientific analysis tools have been designed for a "stand-alone mode" and cannot be easily modified to work well in a collaborative environment. This paper addresses the questions, "What features are desired in a scientific analysis tool contained within a collaborative environment?", "What are the tool design criteria needed to provide these features?", and "What support is required from the architecture to support these design criteria?." First, the features of scientific analysis tools that are important for effective analysis in collaborative environments are listed. Next, several design criteria for developing analysis tools that will provide these features are presented. Then requirements for the architecture to support these design criteria are listed. Sonic proposed architectures for collaborative problem solving environments are reviewed and their capabilities to support the specified design criteria are discussed. A deficiency in the most popular architecture for remote application sharing, the ITU T. 120 architecture, prevents it from supporting highly interactive, dynamic, high resolution graphics. To illustrate that the specified design criteria can provide a highly effective analysis tool within a collaborative problem solving environment, a scientific analysis tool that contains the specified design criteria has been integrated into a collaborative environment and tested for effectiveness. The tests were conducted in collaborations between remote sites in the US and between remote sites on different continents. The tests showed that the tool (a tool for the visual analysis of computer simulations of physics) was highly effective for both synchronous and asynchronous collaborative analyses. The important features provided by the tool (and

Veiled EGM Jackpots: The Effects of Hidden and Mystery Jackpots on Gambling Intensity.

PubMed

Donaldson, Phillip; Langham, Erika; Rockloff, Matthew J; Browne, Matthew

2016-06-01

Understanding the impact of EGM Jackpots on gambling intensity may allow targeted strategies to be implemented that facilitate harm minimisation by acting to reduce losses of gamblers who play frequently, while maintaining the enjoyment and excitement of potential jackpots. The current study investigated the influences of Hidden and Mystery Jackpots on EGM gambling intensity. In a Hidden Jackpot, the prize value is not shown to the player, although the existence of a jackpot prize is advertised. In a Mystery Jackpot, the jackpot triggering state of the machine is unknown to players. One hundred and seven volunteers (males = 49, females = 58) played a laptop-simulated EGM with a starting $20 real-money stake and a chance to win a Jackpot ($500). Participants played for either a Hidden or Known Jackpot Value, with either a Mystery or Known winning symbol combination in a crossed design. Lastly, a control condition with no jackpot was included. Gambling intensity (speed of bets, persistence) was greater when the Jackpot value was unknown, especially when a winning-symbol combination suggested that a win was possible. While there is no evidence in the present investigation to suggest that Hidden or Mystery jackpots contribute to greater player enjoyment, there is some evidence to suggest a marginal positive contribution of hidden jackpots to risky playing behaviour.

Identifying Future Scientists: Predicting Persistence into Research Training

PubMed Central

2007-01-01

This study used semistructured interviews and grounded theory to look for characteristics among college undergraduates that predicted persistence into Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. training. Participants in the summer undergraduate and postbaccalaureate research programs at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine were interviewed at the start, near the end, and 8–12 months after their research experience. Of more than 200 themes considered, five characteristics predicted those students who went on to Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. training or to M.D. training intending to do research: 1) Curiosity to discover the unknown, 2) Enjoyment of problem solving, 3) A high level of independence, 4) The desire to help others indirectly through research, and 5) A flexible, minimally structured approach to the future. Web-based surveys with different students confirmed the high frequency of curiosity and/or problem solving as the primary reason students planned research careers. No evidence was found for differences among men, women, and minority and nonminority students. Although these results seem logical compared with successful scientists, their constancy, predictive capabilities, and sharp contrast to students who chose clinical medicine were striking. These results provide important insights into selection and motivation of potential biomedical scientists and the early experiences that will motivate them toward research careers. PMID:18056303

Overcoming the obstacles: Life stories of scientists with learning disabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Force, Crista Marie

Scientific discovery is at the heart of solving many of the problems facing contemporary society. Scientists are retiring at rates that exceed the numbers of new scientists. Unfortunately, scientific careers still appear to be outside the reach of most individuals with learning disabilities. The purpose of this research was to better understand the methods by which successful learning disabled scientists have overcome the barriers and challenges associated with their learning disabilities in their preparation and performance as scientists. This narrative inquiry involved the researcher writing the life stories of four scientists. These life stories were generated from extensive interviews in which each of the scientists recounted their life histories. The researcher used narrative analysis to "make sense" of these learning disabled scientists' life stories. The narrative analysis required the researcher to identify and describe emergent themes characterizing each scientist's life. A cross-case analysis was then performed to uncover commonalities and differences in the lives of these four individuals. Results of the cross-case analysis revealed that all four scientists had a passion for science that emerged at an early age, which, with strong drive and determination, drove these individuals to succeed in spite of the many obstacles arising from their learning disabilities. The analysis also revealed that these scientists chose careers based on their strengths; they actively sought mentors to guide them in their preparation as scientists; and they developed coping techniques to overcome difficulties and succeed. The cross-case analysis also revealed differences in the degree to which each scientist accepted his or her learning disability. While some demonstrated inferior feelings about their successes as scientists, still other individuals revealed feelings of having superior abilities in areas such as visualization and working with people. These individuals revealed

Best practices in bioinformatics training for life scientists.

PubMed

Via, Allegra; Blicher, Thomas; Bongcam-Rudloff, Erik; Brazas, Michelle D; Brooksbank, Cath; Budd, Aidan; De Las Rivas, Javier; Dreyer, Jacqueline; Fernandes, Pedro L; van Gelder, Celia; Jacob, Joachim; Jimenez, Rafael C; Loveland, Jane; Moran, Federico; Mulder, Nicola; Nyrönen, Tommi; Rother, Kristian; Schneider, Maria Victoria; Attwood, Teresa K

2013-09-01

The mountains of data thrusting from the new landscape of modern high-throughput biology are irrevocably changing biomedical research and creating a near-insatiable demand for training in data management and manipulation and data mining and analysis. Among life scientists, from clinicians to environmental researchers, a common theme is the need not just to use, and gain familiarity with, bioinformatics tools and resources but also to understand their underlying fundamental theoretical and practical concepts. Providing bioinformatics training to empower life scientists to handle and analyse their data efficiently, and progress their research, is a challenge across the globe. Delivering good training goes beyond traditional lectures and resource-centric demos, using interactivity, problem-solving exercises and cooperative learning to substantially enhance training quality and learning outcomes. In this context, this article discusses various pragmatic criteria for identifying training needs and learning objectives, for selecting suitable trainees and trainers, for developing and maintaining training skills and evaluating training quality. Adherence to these criteria may help not only to guide course organizers and trainers on the path towards bioinformatics training excellence but, importantly, also to improve the training experience for life scientists.

Best practices in bioinformatics training for life scientists

PubMed Central

Blicher, Thomas; Bongcam-Rudloff, Erik; Brazas, Michelle D.; Brooksbank, Cath; Budd, Aidan; De Las Rivas, Javier; Dreyer, Jacqueline; Fernandes, Pedro L.; van Gelder, Celia; Jacob, Joachim; Jimenez, Rafael C.; Loveland, Jane; Moran, Federico; Mulder, Nicola; Nyrönen, Tommi; Rother, Kristian; Schneider, Maria Victoria; Attwood, Teresa K.

2013-01-01

The mountains of data thrusting from the new landscape of modern high-throughput biology are irrevocably changing biomedical research and creating a near-insatiable demand for training in data management and manipulation and data mining and analysis. Among life scientists, from clinicians to environmental researchers, a common theme is the need not just to use, and gain familiarity with, bioinformatics tools and resources but also to understand their underlying fundamental theoretical and practical concepts. Providing bioinformatics training to empower life scientists to handle and analyse their data efficiently, and progress their research, is a challenge across the globe. Delivering good training goes beyond traditional lectures and resource-centric demos, using interactivity, problem-solving exercises and cooperative learning to substantially enhance training quality and learning outcomes. In this context, this article discusses various pragmatic criteria for identifying training needs and learning objectives, for selecting suitable trainees and trainers, for developing and maintaining training skills and evaluating training quality. Adherence to these criteria may help not only to guide course organizers and trainers on the path towards bioinformatics training excellence but, importantly, also to improve the training experience for life scientists. PMID:23803301

The Strength of the Strongest Ties in Collaborative Problem Solving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Montjoye, Yves-Alexandre; Stopczynski, Arkadiusz; Shmueli, Erez; Pentland, Alex; Lehmann, Sune

2014-06-01

Complex problem solving in science, engineering, and business has become a highly collaborative endeavor. Teams of scientists or engineers collaborate on projects using their social networks to gather new ideas and feedback. Here we bridge the literature on team performance and information networks by studying teams' problem solving abilities as a function of both their within-team networks and their members' extended networks. We show that, while an assigned team's performance is strongly correlated with its networks of expressive and instrumental ties, only the strongest ties in both networks have an effect on performance. Both networks of strong ties explain more of the variance than other factors, such as measured or self-evaluated technical competencies, or the personalities of the team members. In fact, the inclusion of the network of strong ties renders these factors non-significant in the statistical analysis. Our results have consequences for the organization of teams of scientists, engineers, and other knowledge workers tackling today's most complex problems.

The strength of the strongest ties in collaborative problem solving.

PubMed

de Montjoye, Yves-Alexandre; Stopczynski, Arkadiusz; Shmueli, Erez; Pentland, Alex; Lehmann, Sune

2014-06-20

Complex problem solving in science, engineering, and business has become a highly collaborative endeavor. Teams of scientists or engineers collaborate on projects using their social networks to gather new ideas and feedback. Here we bridge the literature on team performance and information networks by studying teams' problem solving abilities as a function of both their within-team networks and their members' extended networks. We show that, while an assigned team's performance is strongly correlated with its networks of expressive and instrumental ties, only the strongest ties in both networks have an effect on performance. Both networks of strong ties explain more of the variance than other factors, such as measured or self-evaluated technical competencies, or the personalities of the team members. In fact, the inclusion of the network of strong ties renders these factors non-significant in the statistical analysis. Our results have consequences for the organization of teams of scientists, engineers, and other knowledge workers tackling today's most complex problems.

Analogy as a strategy for supporting complex problem solving under uncertainty.

PubMed

Chan, Joel; Paletz, Susannah B F; Schunn, Christian D

2012-11-01

Complex problem solving in naturalistic environments is fraught with uncertainty, which has significant impacts on problem-solving behavior. Thus, theories of human problem solving should include accounts of the cognitive strategies people bring to bear to deal with uncertainty during problem solving. In this article, we present evidence that analogy is one such strategy. Using statistical analyses of the temporal dynamics between analogy and expressed uncertainty in the naturalistic problem-solving conversations among scientists on the Mars Rover Mission, we show that spikes in expressed uncertainty reliably predict analogy use (Study 1) and that expressed uncertainty reduces to baseline levels following analogy use (Study 2). In addition, in Study 3, we show with qualitative analyses that this relationship between uncertainty and analogy is not due to miscommunication-related uncertainty but, rather, is primarily concentrated on substantive problem-solving issues. Finally, we discuss a hypothesis about how analogy might serve as an uncertainty reduction strategy in naturalistic complex problem solving.

Searching for Judy: How small mysteries affect narrative processes and memory

PubMed Central

Love, Jessica; McKoon, Gail; Gerrig, Richard J.

2010-01-01

Current theories of text processing say little about how author’s narrative choices, including the introduction of small mysteries, can affect readers’ narrative experiences. Gerrig, Love, and McKoon (2009) provided evidence that one type of small mystery—a character introduced without information linking him or her to the story—affects readers’ moment-by-moment processing. For that project, participants read stories that introduced characters by proper name alone (e.g., Judy) or with information connecting the character to the rest of the story (e.g., our principal Judy). In an on-line recognition probe task, responses to the character’s name three lines after his or her introduction were faster when the character had not been introduced with connecting information, suggesting that the character remained accessible awaiting resolution. In the four experiments in this paper, we extended our theoretical analysis of small mysteries. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found evidence that trait information (e.g., daredevil Judy) is not sufficient to connect a character to a text. In Experiments 3 and 4, we provide evidence that the moment-by-moment processing effects of such small mysteries also affect readers’ memory for the stories. We interpret the results in terms of Kintsch’s Construction-Integration model (1988) of discourse processing. PMID:20438273

The mystery shopper: an anonymous review of your services.

PubMed

Steiner, K

1986-06-01

Mystery shoppers can provide an unbiased report on the day-to-day functioning of hospital activities. For this study, six shoppers "used" various hospital services and reported their impressions through a questionnaire. The general findings may be applicable to many other well-run health care organizations.

Teaching physics mysteries versus pseudoscience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuttner, Fred

2007-04-01

The interpretation of quantum mechanics (and the encounter with consciousness) is contentious and has been called ``physics' skeleton in the closet.'' The reluctance of physicists to share this enigma with students and with the larger public has left the discussion open to the wild claims of purveyors of pseudoscience. The movie ``What the Bleep'' is a recent example. Bringing the enigma into the open is the best way to combat pseudoscience and share the true, deep mysteries that physics has uncovered. I will discuss my own experience and that of colleagues with ways of presenting this material to physics majors, non-majors, and the public.

The yeast Golgi apparatus: insights and mysteries

PubMed Central

Papanikou, Effrosyni; Glick, Benjamin S.

2009-01-01

The Golgi apparatus is known to modify and sort newly synthesized secretory proteins. However, fundamental mysteries remain about the structure, operation, and dynamics of this organelle. Important insights have emerged from studying the Golgi in yeasts. For example, yeasts have provided direct evidence for Golgi cisternal maturation, a mechanism that is likely to be broadly conserved. Here, we highlight features of the yeast Golgi as well as challenges that lie ahead. PMID:19879270

The 'royal disease'--haemophilia A or B? A haematological mystery is finally solved.

PubMed

Lannoy, N; Hermans, C

2010-11-01

  'History can change blood. And blood can change the course of history'. Haemophilia is an illustration of this, as this congenital hereditary coagulation disorder, passed through the majority of royal European families at the beginning of the 20th century by Queen Victoria of England and Empress of the Indies, had indisputable political consequences, which led to one of the most defining moments of contemporary history: the Bolshevik Revolution. Today, none of Queen Victoria's living descendents carry haemophilia. Because of this, the characterization of haemophilia (deficit of either factor VIII or XI) and the identification of the causal mutation are rendered impossible. In 1991, a tomb containing the remains of Czar Nicolas II's entire family was discovered. A second tomb was discovered in 2007, allowing Russian and American scientists to fill in this gap in medical history. Following a scientific approach combining current genetic experimentation tools and the development of biological information technology, researchers were able to identify each body, allowing them to obtain precious genetic material from the young Czar Alexis, who was stricken by the disease, which revealed a causal substitution in the splice acceptor site of exon 4 in the F9 gene. This mutation that is responsible for haemophilia B had traumatized European royal families throughout the 20th century! © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The ALTE mysteries: who's to blame?

PubMed

Wickham, Sara

2016-02-01

In this column, Sara Wickham takes a sideways look at issues relevant to midwives, students, women and families, inviting us to sit down with a cup of tea and ponder what we think we know. A recent paper on apparent life-threatening events (ALTEs) in newborn babies brought to mind an experience from practice, the cause of which remains a mystery. As many similar events are unexplained, is it acceptable that there is a tendency in the literature to claim that skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding are risk factors for ALTEs?

The Mystery of Gamma-Ray Bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fishman, Gerald J.

2004-01-01

Gamma-ray bursts remain one of the greatest mysteries in astrophysics. Observations of gamma-ray bursts made by the BATSE experiment on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory will be described. Most workers in the field now believe that they originate from cosmological distances. This view has been reinforced by observations this year of several optical afterglow counterparts to gamma-ray bursts. A summary of these recent discoveries will be presented, along with their implications for models of the burst emission mechanism and the energy source of the bursts.

Research and Teaching: Fostering Collaborative Problem Solving and 21st Century Skills Using the DEEPER Scaffolding Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antonenko, Pavlo D.; Jahanzad, Farzaneh; Greenwood, Carmen

2014-01-01

Collaborative problem solving is an essential component of any 21st century science career. Scientists are hired, retained, and promoted for solving problems in dynamic and interdisciplinary teams. They discuss issues, explain and justify their opinions, debate, elaborate, and reflect on their collective knowledge. At the same time, both…

Hubble Uncovers a Mysterious Hermit

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

This irregular dwarf galaxy's closes neighbor is 2.3 million light years away, so yeah, we're calling it "isolated". The drizzle of stars scattered across this image forms a galaxy known as UGC 4879. UGC 4879 is an irregular dwarf galaxy — as the name suggests, galaxies of this type are a little smaller and messier than their cosmic cousins, lacking the majestic swirl of a spiral or the coherence of an elliptical. This galaxy is also very isolated. There are about 2.3 million light years between UGC 4879 and its closest neighbor, Leo A, which is about the same distance as that between the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way. This galaxy’s isolation means that it has not interacted with any surrounding galaxies, making it an ideal laboratory for studying star formation uncomplicated by interactions with other galaxies. Studies of UGC 4879 have revealed a significant amount of star formation in the first 4 billion years after the Big Bang, followed by a strange 9-billion-year lull in star formation that ended 1 billion years ago by a more recent re-ignition. The reason for this behavior, however, remains mysterious, and the solitary galaxy continues to provide ample study material for astronomers looking to understand the complex mysteries of star birth throughout the universe. Image credit: NASA/ESA NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #24: Shandong Province, China

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-03

This image of the Shandong Province, China was acquired by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument aboard NASA Terra spacecraft. This image is from the MISR Where on Earth...? Mystery Quiz #24.

On the Matter of Dark Matter

ScienceCinema

Orrell, John L.

2018-05-31

The mission of the USS Enterprise was to “boldly go where no one has gone before.” And so it is with Particle Physicist John Orrell as he seeks to solve the conundrum of elusive dark matter. It’s a mystery that PNNL scientists have chased for more than 25 years. And, if dark matter is discovered, it will change our entire understanding of how the universe was formed. The first experiments to locate dark matter were conducted underground using specialized, radiation detector technology developed at PNNL.

On the Matter of Dark Matter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Orrell, John L.

The mission of the USS Enterprise was to “boldly go where no one has gone before.” And so it is with Particle Physicist John Orrell as he seeks to solve the conundrum of elusive dark matter. It’s a mystery that PNNL scientists have chased for more than 25 years. And, if dark matter is discovered, it will change our entire understanding of how the universe was formed. The first experiments to locate dark matter were conducted underground using specialized, radiation detector technology developed at PNNL.

Towards Uncovering the Mysterious World of Math Homework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feng, Mingyu

2014-01-01

Homework has been a mysterious world to educators due to the fact that it is hard to collect data with regard to homework behaviors. Little is known about when a student works on homework, how long it takes him to complete the homework, how much time he spends on a problem and whether and where he has struggled, etc. Such information not only have…

The Paluxy River Footprint Mystery--Solved.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, John R., Ed.; Godfrey, Laurie R., Ed.

1985-01-01

This document points out that creationists claim that humans and dinosaurs lived together in Texas just before Noah's flood by citing alleged human footprints found side-by-side with those of dinosaurs in the Cretaceous limestone of the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas. An investigation was conducted to determine if this claim were true.…

Cell biology solves mysteries of reproduction.

PubMed

Sutovsky, Peter

2012-09-01

Reproduction and fertility have been objects of keen inquiry since the dawn of humanity. Medieval anatomists provided the first accurate depictions of the female reproductive system, and early microscopists were fascinated by the magnified sight of sperm cells. Initial successes were achieved in the in vitro fertilization of frogs and the artificial insemination of dogs. Gamete and embryo research was in the cradle of modern cell biology, providing the first evidence of the multi-cellular composition of living beings and pointing out the importance of chromosomes for heredity. In the 20th century, reproductive research paved the way for the study of the cytoskeleton, cell signaling, and the cell cycle. In the last three decades, the advent of reproductive cell biology has brought us human in vitro fertilization, animal cloning, and human and animal embryonic stem cells. It has contributed to the development of transgenesis, proteomics, genomics, and epigenetics. This Special Issue represents a sample of the various areas of reproductive biology, with emphasis on molecular and cell biological aspects. Advances in spermatology, ovarian function, fertilization, and maternal-fetal interactions are discussed within the framework of fertility and diseases such as endometriosis and diabetes.

Materials Analysis: A Key to Unlocking the Mystery of the Columbia Tragedy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayeaux, Brian M.; Collins, Thomas E.; Piascik, Robert S.; Russel, Richard W.; Jerman, Gregory A.; Shah, Sandeep R.; McDanels, Steven J.

2004-01-01

Materials analyses of key forensic evidence helped unlock the mystery of the loss of space shuttle Columbia that disintegrated February 1, 2003 while returning from a 16-day research mission. Following an intensive four-month recovery effort by federal, state, and local emergency management and law officials, Columbia debris was collected, catalogued, and reassembled at the Kennedy Space Center. Engineers and scientists from the Materials and Processes (M&P) team formed by NASA supported Columbia reconstruction efforts, provided factual data through analysis, and conducted experiments to validate the root cause of the accident. Fracture surfaces and thermal effects of selected airframe debris were assessed, and process flows for both nondestructive and destructive sampling and evaluation of debris were developed. The team also assessed left hand (LH) airframe components that were believed to be associated with a structural breach of Columbia. Analytical data collected by the M&P team showed that a significant thermal event occurred at the left wing leading edge in the proximity of LH reinforced carbon carbon (RCC) panels 8 and 9. The analysis also showed exposure to temperatures in excess of 1,649 C, which would severely degrade the support structure, tiles, and RCC panel materials. The integrated failure analysis of wing leading edge debris and deposits strongly supported the hypothesis that a breach occurred at LH RCC panel 8.

[A brief history of the anatomy and physiology of a mysterious and hidden gland called the pancreas].

PubMed

Navarro, Salvador

2014-11-01

Because of its retrogastric location and appearance, which is similar to mesenteric fat, for centuries the pancreas has been a mysterious, hidden organ that has received little attention. However, its importance was intuited and described by Herophilus, Ruphos of Ephesus and Galen. This gland began to appearin distinct medical treatises from the 16th century. There are two important scientists in the history of the pancreas. The fist, Johann Georg Wirsung, described the main pancreatic duct in 1642, a date considered by many to be the start of Pancreatology. The second, Claude Bernard, described pancreatic exocrine function between 1849 and 1856 and is considered the father of pancreatic physiology. Besides these two outstanding figures, there is a constellation of personalities who contributed to improving knowledge of this enigmatic gland with the results of their studies. The aim of this article is to call attention to some of the most notable findings that have enhanced knowledge of this gland over the years. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and AEEH y AEG. All rights reserved.

Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #3:Lofoten Islands, Norway

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-09-26

Lofoten Islands, Norway. Norway is deeply indented by fjords, rises precipitously to high plateaus, and is united with the ocean by numerous islands. This image from NASA Terra satellite is MISR Mystery Image Quiz #2.

Toxicity of copper sulfate and rotenone to Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haak, Danielle M.; Stephen, Bruce J.; Kill, Robert A.; Smeenk, Nicholas A.; Allen, Craig R.; Pope, Kevin L.

2014-01-01

The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) is a freshwater snail native to Southeast Asia, Japan, and Russia and is currently classified as an invasive species in at least 27 states in the USA. The species tolerates a wide range of environmental conditions, making management of established populations difficult. We tested the efficacy of two traditional chemical treatments, rotenone and copper sulfate, on the elimination of adult Chinese mystery snails in laboratory experiments. All snails (N=50) survived 72-hour exposure to rotenone-treated lake water, and 96% (N=25) survived 72-hour exposure to pre-determined rotenone concentrations of 0.25, 2.5, and 25.0 mg/L. All snails (N=10) survived exposure to 1.25 mg/L copper sulfate solution, 90% (N=10) survived exposure to 2.50 mg/L copper sulfate solution, and 80% (N=5) survived exposure to 5.0 mg/L copper sulfate solution. Neither rotenone nor copper sulfate effectively killed adult Chinese mystery snails in laboratory experiments, most likely due to their relatively large size, thick shell, and operculum. Therefore, it appears that populations will be very difficult to control once established, and management should focus on preventing additional spread or introductions of this species.

Einstein's Biggest Blunder: A Cosmic Mystery Story

ScienceCinema

Krauss, Lawrence

2018-01-11

The standard model of cosmology built up over 20 years is no longer accepted as accurate. New data suggest that most of the energy density of the universe may be contained in empty space. Remarkably, this is exactly what would be expected if Einstein's cosmological constant really exists. If it does, its origin is the biggest mystery in physics and presents huge challenges for the fundamental theories of elementary particles and fields. Krauss explains Einstein's concept and describes its possible implications.

In search of the 'Aha!' experience: Elucidating the emotionality of insight problem-solving.

PubMed

Shen, Wangbing; Yuan, Yuan; Liu, Chang; Luo, Jing

2016-05-01

Although the experience of insight has long been noted, the essence of the 'Aha!' experience, reflecting a sudden change in the brain that accompanies an insight solution, remains largely unknown. This work aimed to uncover the mystery of the 'Aha!' experience through three studies. In Study 1, participants were required to solve a set of verbal insight problems and then subjectively report their affective experience when solving the problem. The participants were found to have experienced many types of emotions, with happiness the most frequently reported one. Multidimensional scaling was employed in Study 2 to simplify the dimensions of these reported emotions. The results showed that these different types of emotions could be clearly placed in two-dimensional space and that components constituting the 'Aha!' experience mainly reflected positive emotion and approached cognition. To validate previous findings, in Study 3, participants were asked to select the most appropriate emotional item describing their feelings at the time the problem was solved. The results of this study replicated the multidimensional construct consisting of approached cognition and positive affect. These three studies provide the first direct evidence of the essence of the 'Aha!' The potential significance of the findings was discussed. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

The Sneaky Sneaker Spies and the Mysterious Black Ink

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Savran, Michelle

2012-01-01

In this article, the author describes the process of making "The Sneaky Sneaker Spies and the Mysterious Black Ink," a six-minute animation starring five art students who form a detective club. This animation is available online for art teachers to use in their own classrooms. After showing this video in class, art teachers could have students try…

The Mystery and Misery of Acid Reflux in Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davenport, Mike; Davenport, Tracy

2006-01-01

When a child is sick, parents want answers. They want to know what is wrong, what they can do, and how to get their child healthy--pronto. Regrettably, there are some puzzling illnesses affecting children that are surrounded by mystery. One of them is gastroesophageal reflux (GER), otherwise known as acid reflux--or "reflux" for short. Reflux…

Exploring Mystery in Fifth Grade: A Journey of Discovery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharp, Claudia; Martinez, Miriam

2010-01-01

An instructional framework that included the use of a touchstone text, literature circles, and independent reading and writing created a rich context for the study of mysteries in a fifth-grade classroom. Key points include a) the complexity of the touchstone text as a key factor in shaping the instructional goals in this genre study, and b) the…

Removing the Mystery of Entropy and Thermodynamics--Part I

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Left, Harvey S.

2012-01-01

Energy and entropy are centerpieces of physics. Energy is typically introduced in the study of classical mechanics. Although energy in this context can be challenging, its use in thermodynamics and its connection with entropy seem to take on a special air of mystery. In this five-part series, I pinpoint ways around key areas of difficulty to…

Probing scientists' beliefs: how open-minded are modern scientists?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coll, Richard K.; Taylor, Neil

2004-06-01

Just how open-minded are modern scientists? In this paper we examine this question for the science faculty from New Zealand and UK universities. The Exeter questionnaire used by Preece and Baxter (2000) to examine superstitious beliefs of high school students and preservice science teachers was used as a basis for a series of in-depth interviews of scientists across a variety of disciplines. The interviews sought to understand the basis on which scientists form beliefs and how they judge evidence for various propositions, including those from the Exeter questionnaire and other contentious beliefs introduced during discourse. The scientists are dismissive of traditional superstitions like bad luck associated with black cats and inauspicious numbers such as 13, seeing such beliefs as socially grounded. There is a strong socio-cultural aspect to other beliefs and personal experiences, and strongly held personal beliefs are influential, resulting in the scientists keeping an open mind about contentious beliefs like alien life and the existence of ghosts. Testimony of others including media reports are deemed unreliable unless provided by credible witnesses such as 'educated people' or 'experts', or if they coincide with the scientists' personal beliefs. These scientists see a need for potential theoretical explanations for beliefs and are generally dismissive of empirical evidence without underlying explanations.

Interface between Physics and Biology: Training a New Generation of Creative Bilingual Scientists.

PubMed

Riveline, Daniel; Kruse, Karsten

2017-08-01

Whereas physics seeks for universal laws underlying natural phenomena, biology accounts for complexity and specificity of molecular details. Contemporary biological physics requires people capable of working at this interface. New programs prepare scientists who transform respective disciplinary views into innovative approaches for solving outstanding problems in the life sciences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The mystery of reincarnation

PubMed Central

Nagaraj, Anil Kumar Mysore; Nanjegowda, Raveesh Bevinahalli; Purushothama, S. M.

2013-01-01

One of the mysteries puzzling human mind since the origin of mankind is the concept of “reincarnation” which literally means “to take on the flesh again.” As the civilizations evolved, beliefs got discriminated and disseminated into various religions. The major division manifested was “East” and “West.” The eastern religions being more philosophical and less analytical, have accepted reincarnation. However, the different eastern religions like Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism have differed in their faith on rebirth. Further, the Islam as well as the most dominant religion of the world, Christianity, having its origin in the west, have largely denied reincarnation, though some sub-sects still show interest in it. Also many mystic and esoteric schools like theosophical society have their unique description on rebirth. This article describes reincarnation as perceived by various religions and new religious movements as well as some research evidence. PMID:23858250

Building Flexible User Interfaces for Solving PDEs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Logg, Anders; Wells, Garth N.

2010-09-01

FEniCS is a collection of software tools for the automated solution of differential equations by finite element methods. In this note, we describe how FEniCS can be used to solve a simple nonlinear model problem with varying levels of automation. At one extreme, FEniCS provides tools for the fully automated and adaptive solution of nonlinear partial differential equations. At the other extreme, FEniCS provides a range of tools that allow the computational scientist to experiment with novel solution algorithms.

The Mystery of Matter, World of the Atom Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollard, William G.

This booklet is one in the "World of the Atome Series" for junior high school students and their teachers. It describes the fascinating story of the search for the key to the structure of matter. These topics are reviewed: the chemical atom of the 19th century, the planetary atom, the wave atom, inside the elementary particles, and the mystery of…

The impact of a student-teacher-scientist partnership (STSP) on students' and teachers' content knowledge and attitudes toward science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houseal, Ana K.

Engaging elementary students in science through inquiry-based methodologies is at the center of science education reform efforts (AAAS, 1989, NRC 1996, 2000). Through scientific problem solving, students can learn that science is more than just learning facts and concepts (NRC, 2000) The process of scientific inquiry, as a way of approaching scientific problem solving, can be taught to students through experiential, authentic (or real-world) science experiences. Student-teacher-scientist partnerships (STSPs) are one vehicle used to connect students to these science experiences with practicing research scientists. However, the literature on STSPs demonstrates they are fraught with challenges and very little is known of their effects on teachers' and students' content knowledge growth or changes in their attitudes about science and scientists. This study addressed these two areas by researching a particular STSP. The STSP, called Students, Teachers, and Rangers and Research Scientists (STaRRS), designed to be incorporated into the existing long-standing education program Expedition: Yellowstone! (E:Y!) was the focus of this study. For teachers, a pre-test, intervention, post-test research design addressing content knowledge gains, attitude changes, and pedagogical changes was used. A quasi-experimental pre- post-test design using treatment and comparison groups of students addressed content knowledge gains and attitude changes. Findings provided evidence of significant positive shifts in teachers' attitudes regarding science and scientists, and trends of shifting pedagogical choices made by teachers. Students showed significant content knowledge gains and an increased positive attitude regarding their perceptions of scientists.

Unraveling the Mystery of the Blue Fog: Structure, Properties, and Applications of Amorphous Blue Phase III.

PubMed

Gandhi, Sahil Sandesh; Chien, Liang-Chy

2017-12-01

The amorphous blue phase III of cholesteric liquid crystals, also known as the "blue fog," are among the rising stars in materials science that can potentially be used to develop next-generation displays with the ability to compete toe-to-toe with disruptive technologies like organic light-emitting diodes. The structure and properties of the practically unobservable blue phase III have eluded scientists for more than a century since it was discovered. This progress report reviews the developments in this field from both fundamental and applied research perspectives. The first part of this progress report gives an overview of the 130-years-long scientific tour-de-force that very recently resulted in the revelation of the mysterious structure of blue phase III. The second part reviews progress made in the past decade in developing electrooptical, optical, and photonic devices based on blue phase III. The strong and weak aspects of the development of these devices are underlined and criticized, respectively. The third- and-final part proposes ideas for further improvement in blue phase III technology to make it feasible for commercialization and widespread use. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Mystery of the Electronic Spectrum of Ruthenium Monophosphide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adam, Allan G.; Christensen, Ryan M.; Dore, Jacob M.; Konder, Ricarda M.; Tokaryk, Dennis W.

2016-06-01

Using PH3 as a reactant gas and ruthenium as the target metal in the UNB laser ablation spectrometer, the ruthenium monophosphide molecule (RuP) has been detected. Dispersed fluorescence experiments have been performed to determine ground state vibrational frequencies and the presence of any low-lying electronic states. Rotationally resolved spectra of two vibrational bands at 577nm and 592nm have been taken; the bands have been identified as 1-0 and 0-0 bands based on isotopic shifts. Ruthenium has seven stable isotopes and rotational transitions have been observed for six of the RuP isotopologues. RuP is isoelectronic to RuN so it is expected that RuP will have a 2Σ+ ground state and low resolution spectra indicated a likely 2Σ+ - 2Σ+ electronic transition. Further investigation has led us to believe we are observing a 2Π - 2Σ+ transition but mysteriously some important rotational branches are missing. It is hoped that new data to be recorded on a second electronic system we have observed at 535nm will help shed light on this mystery.

Convergent and Divergent Thinking in the Context of Narrative Mysteries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wenzel, William G.; Gerrig, Richard J.

2015-01-01

This project demonstrates how narrative mysteries provide a context in which readers engage in creative cognition. Drawing on the concepts of convergent and divergent thinking, we wrote stories that had either convergent or divergent outcomes. For example, one story had a character give his girlfriend a ring (a convergent outcome), whereas the…

MIT Lincoln Laboratory Takes the Mystery Out of Supercomupting

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-18

analysis, designing sensors, and developing algorithms. In 2008, the Lincoln demonstrated the largest single problem ever run on a computer using ... computation . As we design and prototype these devices, the use of leading–edge engineering practices have become the de facto standard. This includes...MIT Lincoln Laboratory Takes the Mystery Out of Supercomputing By Dr. Jeremy Kepner 1 The introduction of multicore and manycore processors

Personal Characteristics That Distinguish Creative Scientists from Less Creative Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tang, Chaoying; Kaufman, James C.

2017-01-01

What are the personal characteristics that distinguish the creative scientist from the less creative scientist? This study used the concept of implicit theory in a four-part study of scientists and graduate students in science. In the first part, we collected 1382 adjective words that describe the personal characteristics of the creative scientist…

The First Amendment: The Finished Mystery Case and World War I.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mueller, Jean West; Schamel, Wynell Burroughs

1990-01-01

Introduces the censorship, and imprisonment of Jehovah's Witnesses who distributed, "The Finished Mystery," which contained antiwar statements deemed seditious during World War I. Asks students to examine a Justice Department document pertaining to the case. Helps students decide whether national security needs should override First…

A 'mystery shopper' project to evaluate sexual health and contraceptive services for young people in Croydon.

PubMed

Sykes, Susie; O'Sullivan, Karin

2006-01-01

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the accessibility of, and advice provided by, sexual health and advice services for young people in Croydon, UK using a 'mystery shopper' approach. Nineteen young people aged 13-21 years were trained as mystery shoppers. The group developed a set of standards, based in part on existing guidelines of best practice, that should be met when working with young people. The group accessed local sexual health services in pairs posing as genuine patients. Using one of four scenarios, the mystery shoppers assessed the service they received against the predefined standards. The main access difficulties occurred in the reception area. Confidentiality was a major concern and was frequently not explained. The advice and information received was generally clearly given and with an appropriate level of detail. Additional training and support needs to be offered to receptionists. Confidentiality policies and statements need to be more effectively communicated.

Mystery mushroom malingerers: Megaselia marquezi Hartop et al. 2015 (Diptera: Phoridae).

PubMed

Brown, Brian V; Hartop, Emily A

2017-01-01

A mysterious female phorid fly, known for many years to be associated with fungal sporophores ("mushrooms") is identified as Megaselia marquezi Hartop et al. 2015. Male and female flies were collected emerging from the fungus Psathyrella candolleana (Fr.) Maire, and females were observed swarming over the sporophores.

Big Data: An Opportunity for Collaboration with Computer Scientists on Data-Driven Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baru, C.

2014-12-01

Big data technologies are evolving rapidly, driven by the need to manage ever increasing amounts of historical data; process relentless streams of human and machine-generated data; and integrate data of heterogeneous structure from extremely heterogeneous sources of information. Big data is inherently an application-driven problem. Developing the right technologies requires an understanding of the applications domain. Though, an intriguing aspect of this phenomenon is that the availability of the data itself enables new applications not previously conceived of! In this talk, we will discuss how the big data phenomenon creates an imperative for collaboration among domain scientists (in this case, geoscientists) and computer scientists. Domain scientists provide the application requirements as well as insights about the data involved, while computer scientists help assess whether problems can be solved with currently available technologies or require adaptaion of existing technologies and/or development of new technologies. The synergy can create vibrant collaborations potentially leading to new science insights as well as development of new data technologies and systems. The area of interface between geosciences and computer science, also referred to as geoinformatics is, we believe, a fertile area for interdisciplinary research.

The Oratorical Scientist: A Guide for Speechcraft and Presentation for Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, G. E.

2015-12-01

Public speaking organizations are highly valuable for individuals seeking to improve their skills in speech development and delivery. The methodology of such groups usually focuses on repetitive, guided practice. Toastmasters International, for instance, uses a curriculum based on topical manuals that guide their members through some number of prepared speeches with specific goals for each speech. I have similarly developed a public speaking manual for scientists with the intention of guiding scientists through the development and presentation of speeches that will help them hone their abilities as public speakers. I call this guide The Oratorical Scientist. The Oratorical Scientist will be a free, digital publication that is meant to guide scientists through five specific types of speech that the scientist may be called upon to deliver during their career. These five speeches are: The Coffee Talk, The Educational Talk, Research Talks for General Science Audiences, Research Talks for Specific Subdiscipline Audiences, and Taking the Big Stage (talks for public engagement). Each section of the manual focuses on speech development, rehearsal, and presentation for each of these specific types of speech. The curriculum was developed primarily from my personal experiences in public engagement. Individuals who use the manual may deliver their prepared speeches to groups of their peers (e.g. within their research group) or through video sharing websites like Youtube and Vimeo. Speeches that are broadcast online can then be followed and shared through social media networks (e.g. #OratoricalScientist), allowing a larger audience to evaluate the speech and to provide criticism. I will present The Oratorical Scientist, a guide for scientists to become better public speakers. The process of guided repetitive practice of scientific talks will improve the speaking capabilities of scientists, in turn benefitting science communication and public engagement.

The Mysterious Case of the Detective as Child Hero: Sherlock Holmes, Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew as Role Models?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sugarman, Sally

In the mystery genre, the one characteristic that the enduring figures of Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, and Encyclopedia Brown have in common is a rational mind. The source of their strength is their ability to think and think well. A study examined some typical examples of the mystery genre in young adult literature and surveyed children and…

Inspiring Future Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Betteley, Pat; Lee, Richard E., Jr.

2009-01-01

In an integrated science/language arts/technology unit called "How Scientists Learn," students researched famous scientists from the past and cutting-edge modern-day scientists. Using biography trade books and the internet, students collected and recorded data on charts, summarized important information, and inferred meaning from text. Then they…

Teacher-Scientist-Communicator-Learner Partnerships: Reimagining Scientists in the Classroom.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noel-Storr, Jacob; Terwilliger, Michael; InsightSTEM Teacher-Scientist-Communicator-Learner Partnerships Team

2016-01-01

We present results of our work to reimagine Teacher-Scientist partnerships to improve relationships and outcomes. We describe our work in implementing Teacher-Scientist partnerships that are expanded to include a communicator, and the learners themselves, as genuine members of the partnership. Often times in Teacher-Scientist partnerships, the scientist can often become more easily described as a special guest into the classroom, rather than a genuine partner in the learning experience. We design programs that take the expertise of the teacher and the scientist fully into account to develop practical and meaningful partnerships, that are further enhanced by using an expert in communications to develop rich experiences for and with the learners. The communications expert may be from a broad base of backgrounds depending on the needs and desires of the partners -- the communicators include, for example: public speaking gurus; journalists; web and graphic designers; and American Sign Language interpreters. Our partnership programs provide online support and professional development for all parties. Outcomes of the program are evaluated in terms of not only learning outcomes for the students, but also attitude, behavior, and relationship outcomes for the teachers, scientists, communicators and learners alike.

Meet the Scientist: The Value of Short Interactions between Scientists and Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woods-Townsend, Kathryn; Christodoulou, Andri; Rietdijk, Willeke; Byrne, Jenny; Griffiths, Janice B.; Grace, Marcus M.

2016-01-01

Students have been reported to have stereotypical views of scientists as middle-aged white men in lab coats. We argue that a way to provide students with a more realistic view of scientists and their work is to provide them with the opportunity to interact with scientists during short, discussion-based sessions. For that reason, 20 scientists from…

Ocean Research Priorities: Similarities and Differences among Scientists, Policymakers, and Fishermen in the United States

PubMed Central

Mason, Julia G.; Rudd, Murray A.; Crowder, Larry B.

2017-01-01

Abstract Understanding and solving complex ocean conservation problems requires cooperation not just among scientific disciplines but also across sectors. A recently published survey that probed research priorities of marine scientists, when provided to ocean stakeholders, revealed some agreement on priorities but also illuminated key differences. Ocean acidification, cumulative impacts, bycatch effects, and restoration effectiveness were in the top 10 priorities for scientists and stakeholder groups. Significant priority differences were that scientists favored research questions about ocean acidification and marine protected areas; policymakers prioritized questions about habitat restoration, bycatch, and precaution; and fisheries sector resource users called for the inclusion of local ecological knowledge in policymaking. These results quantitatively demonstrate how different stakeholder groups approach ocean issues and highlight the need to incorporate other types of knowledge in the codesign of solutions-oriented research, which may facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration. PMID:28533565

Ocean Research Priorities: Similarities and Differences among Scientists, Policymakers, and Fishermen in the United States.

PubMed

Mason, Julia G; Rudd, Murray A; Crowder, Larry B

2017-05-01

Understanding and solving complex ocean conservation problems requires cooperation not just among scientific disciplines but also across sectors. A recently published survey that probed research priorities of marine scientists, when provided to ocean stakeholders, revealed some agreement on priorities but also illuminated key differences. Ocean acidification, cumulative impacts, bycatch effects, and restoration effectiveness were in the top 10 priorities for scientists and stakeholder groups. Significant priority differences were that scientists favored research questions about ocean acidification and marine protected areas; policymakers prioritized questions about habitat restoration, bycatch, and precaution; and fisheries sector resource users called for the inclusion of local ecological knowledge in policymaking. These results quantitatively demonstrate how different stakeholder groups approach ocean issues and highlight the need to incorporate other types of knowledge in the codesign of solutions-oriented research, which may facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration.

Why AIDS? The Mystery of How HIV Attacks the Immune System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christensen, Damaris

1999-01-01

Reviews differing theories surrounding the mystery of how human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks the immune system. Claims that understanding how HIV triggers immune-cell depletion may enable researchers to block its effects. New knowledge could reveal strategies for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) therapies that go beyond the drugs…

The Mysterious Death: An HPLC Lab Experiment. An Undergraduate Forensic Lab

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beussman, Douglas J.

2007-01-01

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) laboratory experiment based on the separation of four prescription drugs (disopyramide, lidocaine, procainamide, and quinidine) is presented. The experiment is set within the forensic science context of the discovery of a patient's mysterious death where a drug overdose is suspected. Each lab group…

Journal Article: Using Scientists and Real-World Scenarios in Professional Development for Middle School Science Teachers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morrison, Judith A.; Estes, Jeffrey C.

Middle school science teachers were involved in a problem-solving experience presented and guided by research scientists. Data on the teachers’ perspectives about this professional development and any impact it may have had on their teaching practices were collected through interviews, surveys, and classroom observations. The findings show that the professional development experience was positive, although one concern expressed by teachers was their lack of understanding of the scientists’ vocabulary. Using scientists and real-world scenarios was shown to be an effective strategy for encouraging middle school teachers to teach science as a process and help them strengthen their science content understanding.

Rescuing the physician-scientist workforce: the time for action is now.

PubMed

Milewicz, Dianna M; Lorenz, Robin G; Dermody, Terence S; Brass, Lawrence F

2015-10-01

The 2014 NIH Physician-Scientist Workforce (PSW) Working Group report identified distressing trends among the small proportion of physicians who consider research to be their primary occupation. If unchecked, these trends will lead to a steep decline in the size of the workforce. They include high rates of attrition among young investigators, failure to maintain a robust and diverse pipeline, and a marked increase in the average age of physician-scientists, as older investigators have chosen to continue working and too few younger investigators have entered the workforce to replace them when they eventually retire. While the policy debates continue, here we propose four actions that can be implemented now. These include applying lessons from the MD-PhD training experience to postgraduate training, shortening the time to independence by at least 5 years, achieving greater diversity and numbers in training programs, and establishing Physician-Scientist Career Development offices at medical centers and universities. Rather than waiting for the federal government to solve our problems, we urge the academic community to address these goals by partnering with the NIH and national clinical specialty and medical organizations.

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 5th edition - Volume 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tipler, Paul A.; Mosca, Gene P.

For nearly 30 years, Paul Tipler's Physics for Scientists and Engineers has set the standard in the introductory calculus-based physics course for clarity, accuracy, and precision. In this fifth edition, Paul has recruited Gene Mosca to bring his years of teaching experience to bear on the text, to scrutinize every explanation and example from the perspective of the freshman student. The result is a teaching tool that retains its precision and rigor, but offers struggling students the support they need to solve problems strategically and to gain real understanding of physical concepts.

Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #13: Western Uzbekistan and Northeastern Turkmenistan

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-03-19

Acquired by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument aboard NASA Terra spacecraft, this image is from the MISR Where on Earth...? Mystery Quiz #13. The location is Western Uzbekistan and Northeastern Turkmenistan.

Mystery mushroom malingerers: Megaselia marquezi Hartop et al. 2015 (Diptera: Phoridae)

PubMed Central

Hartop, Emily A.

2017-01-01

Abstract A mysterious female phorid fly, known for many years to be associated with fungal sporophores ("mushrooms") is identified as Megaselia marquezi Hartop et al. 2015. Male and female flies were collected emerging from the fungus Psathyrella candolleana (Fr.) Maire, and females were observed swarming over the sporophores. PMID:28989296

Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #10:Pulau Kimaam, West Papua

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-09-04

Pulau Kimaam, Pulau Dolok, Pulau Yos Sudarso, and Frederik Hendrik Island are all names used to refer to this island, which is part of the Indonesian province of West Papua. This image from NASA Terra satellite is MISR Mystery Image Quiz #10.

Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #8:Yarlung Tsangpo River, China

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-05-15

The mighty river featured in this image is called the Yarlung Tsangpo in China, and is then known as the Dikrong during its passage through India state of Arunachal Pradesh. This image from NASA Terra satellite is MISR Mystery Image Quiz #8.

The Effects of the Mystery Motivator Intervention in an Urban Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beeks, Amirah; Graves, Scott, Jr.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this project was to examine the effect of the implementation of the Mystery Motivator intervention as an interdependent group contingency to decrease disruptive behavior in an urban eighth-grade general education science classroom. The study was conducted using an A-B changing criterion design. The effectiveness of the intervention…

An Earth System Scientist Network for Student and Scientist Partnerships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ledley, T. S.

2001-05-01

Successful student and scientist partnerships require that there is a mutual benefit from the partnership. This means that the scientist needs to be able to see the advantage of having students work on his/her project, and the students and teachers need to see that the students contribute to the project and develop the skills in inquiry and the content knowledge in the geosciences that are desired. Through the Earth System Scientist Network (ESSN) for Student and Scientist Partnerships project we are working toward developing scientific research projects for the participation of high school students. When these research projects are developed they will be posted on the ESSN web site that will appear in the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE). In DLESE teachers and students who are interested in participating in a research program will be able to examine the criteria for each project and select the one that matches their needs and situation. In this paper we will report on how the various ESSN research projects are currently being developed to assure that both the scientist and the students benefit from the partnership. The ESSN scientists are working with a team of scientists and educators to 1) completely define the research question that the students will be addressing, 2) determine what role the students will have in the project, 3) identify the data that the students and teachers will work with, 4) map out the scientific protocols that the students will follow, and 5) determine the background and support materials needed to facilitate students successfully participating in the project. Other issues that the team is addressing include 1) identifying the selection criteria for the schools, 2) identifying rewards and recognition for the students and teacher by the scientist, and 3) identifying issues in Earth system science, relevant to the scientists data, that the students and teachers could use as a guide help develop students investigative

The mystery of the Hawaii liver disease cluster in summer 2013: A pragmatic and clinical approach to solve the problem.

PubMed

Teschke, Rolf; Schwarzenboeck, Alexander; Frenzel, Christian; Schulze, Johannes; Eickhoff, Axel; Wolff, Albrecht

2016-01-01

In the fall of 2013, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a preliminary report on a cluster of liver disease cases that emerged in Hawaii in the summer 2013. This report claimed a temporal association as sufficient evidence that OxyELITE Pro (OEP), a dietary supplement (DS) mainly for weight loss, was the cause of this mysterious cluster. However, the presented data were inconsistent and required a thorough reanalysis. To further investigate the cause(s) of this cluster, we critically evaluated redacted raw clinical data of the cluster patients, as the CDC report received tremendous publicity in local and nationwide newspapers and television. This attention put regulators and physicians from the medical center in Honolulu that reported the cluster, under enormous pressure to succeed, risking biased evaluations and hasty conclusions. We noted pervasive bias in the documentation, conclusions, and public statements, also poor quality of case management. Among the cases we reviewed, many causes unrelated to any DS were evident, including decompensated liver cirrhosis, acute liver failure by acetaminophen overdose, acute cholecystitis with gallstones, resolving acute hepatitis B, acute HSV and VZV hepatitis, hepatitis E suspected after consumption of wild hog meat, and hepatotoxicity by acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Causality assessments based on the updated CIOMS scale confirmed the lack of evidence for any DS including OEP as culprit for the cluster. Thus, the Hawaii liver disease cluster is now best explained by various liver diseases rather than any DS, including OEP.

Scientists as writers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yore, Larry D.; Hand, Brian M.; Prain, Vaughan

2002-09-01

This study attempted to establish an image of a science writer based on a synthesis of writing theory, models, and research literature on academic writing in science and other disciplines and to contrast this image with an actual prototypical image of scientists as writers of science. The synthesis was used to develop a questionnaire to assess scientists' writing habits, beliefs, strategies, and perceptions about print-based language. The questionnaire was administered to 17 scientists from science and applied science departments of a large Midwestern land grant university. Each respondent was interviewed following the completion of the questionnaire with a custom-designed semistructured protocol to elaborate, probe, and extend their written responses. These data were analyzed in a stepwise fashion using the questionnaire responses to establish tentative assertions about the three major foci (type of writing done, criteria of good science writing, writing strategies used) and the interview responses to verify these assertions. Two illustrative cases (a very experienced, male physical scientist and a less experienced, female applied biological scientist) were used to highlight diversity in the sample. Generally, these 17 scientists are driven by the academy's priority of publishing their research results in refereed, peer-reviewed journals. They write their research reports in isolation or as a member of a large research team, target their writing to a few journals that they also read regularly, use writing in their teaching and scholarship to inform and persuade science students and other scientists, but do little border crossing into other discourse communities. The prototypical science writer found in this study did not match the image based on a synthesis of the writing literature in that these scientists perceived writing as knowledge telling not knowledge building, their metacognition of written discourse was tacit, and they used a narrow array of genre

Scientists Shaping the Discussion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abraham, J. A.; Weymann, R.; Mandia, S. A.; Ashley, M.

2011-12-01

Scientific studies which directly impact the larger society require an engagement between the scientists and the larger public. With respect to research on climate change, many third-party groups report on scientific findings and thereby serve as an intermediary between the scientist and the public. In many cases, the third-party reporting misinterprets the findings and conveys inaccurate information to the media and the public. To remedy this, many scientists are now taking a more active role in conveying their work directly to interested parties. In addition, some scientists are taking the further step of engaging with the general public to answer basic questions related to climate change - even on sub-topics which are unrelated to scientists' own research. Nevertheless, many scientists are reluctant to engage the general public or the media. The reasons for scientific reticence are varied but most commonly are related to fear of public engagement, concern about the time required to properly engage the public, or concerns about the impact to their professional reputations. However, for those scientists who are successful, these engagement activities provide many benefits. Scientists can increase the impact of their work, and they can help society make informed choices on significant issues, such as mitigating global warming. Here we provide some concrete steps that scientists can take to ensure that their public engagement is successful. These steps include: (1) cultivating relationships with reporters, (2) crafting clear, easy to understand messages that summarize their work, (3) relating science to everyday experiences, and (4) constructing arguments which appeal to a wide-ranging audience. With these steps, we show that scientists can efficiently deal with concerns that would otherwise inhibit their public engagement. Various resources will be provided that allow scientists to continue work on these key steps.

Brightness Variations of Sun-like Stars: The Mystery Deepens - Astronomers facing Socratic "ignorance"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-12-01

], achieving an impressive collection of the properties of these variable stars. Outstanding sets of data like the one collected by Nicholls and her colleagues often offer guidance on how to solve a cosmic puzzle by narrowing down the plethora of possible explanations proposed by the theoreticians. In this case, however, the observations are incompatible with all the previously conceived models and re-open an issue that has been thoroughly debated. Thanks to this study, astronomers are now aware of their own "ignorance" - a genuine driver of the knowledge-seeking process, as the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates is said to have taught. "The newly gathered data show that pulsations are an extremely unlikely explanation for the additional variation," says team leader Peter Wood. "Another possible mechanism for producing luminosity variations in a star is to have the star itself move in a binary system. However, our observations are strongly incompatible with this hypothesis too." The team found from further analysis that whatever the cause of these unexplained variations is, it also causes the giant stars to eject mass either in clumps or as an expanding disc. "A Sherlock Holmes is needed to solve this very frustrating mystery," concludes Nicholls. Notes [1] Precise brightness measurements were made by the MACHO and OGLE collaborations, running on telescopes in Australia and Chile, respectively. The OGLE observations were made at the same time as the VLT observations. More information This research was presented in two papers: one appeared in the November issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ("Long Secondary Periods in Variable Red Giants", by C. P. Nicholls et al.), and the other has just been published in the Astrophysical Journal ("Evidence for mass ejection associated with long secondary periods in red giants", by P. R. Wood and C. P. Nicholls). The team is composed of Christine P. Nicholls and Peter R. Wood (Research School of Astronomy and

Element Genesis - Solving the Mystery (Video Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mochizuki, Yuko

2001-10-01

Our institute (RIKEN) produced a video on nucleosynthesis. Its new English version is presented. Y. M., I. Tanihata, Y. Yano, and R. Boyd are science editors for this. Time length of the video is 30 minutes. The primary characteristic of this video is that we have employed a number of 2-D and 3-Dimensional visualizations and animations based on an updated understanding of nuclear physics and astrophysics. One of the emphasized points is that microscopic physics (i.e., nuclear physics) and macroscopic physics (i.e., astrophysics) are strongly connected. It contains explanation on the chart of the nuclides, nuclear burning in the sun, big-bang nucleosynthesis, stellar nucleosynthesis, ``beta-stability valley", the s-process, the r-process, production of an RI beam, etc., and professors D. Arnett, T. Kajino, K. Langanke, K. Sato, C. Sneden, I. Tanihata, and F.-K. Thielemann appear as interviewees. Our prime target is college freshmen. We hope that this video would be useful for education both in the fields of astrophysics and nuclear physics at universities and even at high schools. Our institute is accordingly developing a distribution system of this video and it will be available soon at the cost price (please visit our web site for details: http://www.rarf.riken.go.jp/video). The Japanese version was awarded the prize of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan 2001.

Rebecca Erikson – Solving Problems with Love for Science

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Erikson, Rebecca

Rebecca Erikson’s love for science began at a young age. Today, she’s a senior scientist at PNNL trying to solve problems that address national security concerns. Through one project, she developed a sleek, simple and inexpensive way to turn a cellphone into a high-powered, high-quality microscope that helps authorities determine if white powder that falls from an envelope is anthrax or something simple like baby powder. Listen as Rebecca describes her work in this Energy Department video.

How to Grow Project Scientists: A Systematic Approach to Developing Project Scientists

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kea, Howard

2011-01-01

The Project Manager is one of the key individuals that can determine the success or failure of a project. NASA is fully committed to the training and development of Project Managers across the agency to ensure that highly capable individuals are equipped with the competencies and experience to successfully lead a project. An equally critical position is that of the Project Scientist. The Project Scientist provides the scientific leadership necessary for the scientific success of a project by insuring that the mission meets or exceeds the scientific requirements. Traditionally, NASA Goddard project scientists were appointed and approved by the Center Science Director based on their knowledge, experience, and other qualifications. However the process to obtain the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities was not documented or done in a systematic way. NASA Goddard's current Science Director, Nicholas White saw the need to create a pipeline for developing new projects scientists, and appointed a team to develop a process for training potential project scientists. The team members were Dr. Harley Thronson, Chair, Dr. Howard Kea, Mr. Mark Goldman, DACUM facilitator and the late Dr. Michael VanSteenberg. The DACUM process, an occupational analysis and evaluation system, was used to produce a picture of the project scientist's duties, tasks, knowledge, and skills. The output resulted in a 3-Day introductory course detailing all the required knowledge, skills and abilities a scientist must develop over time to be qualified for selections as a Project Scientist.

Forensic scientists' conclusions: how readable are they for non-scientist report-users?

PubMed

Howes, Loene M; Kirkbride, K Paul; Kelty, Sally F; Julian, Roberta; Kemp, Nenagh

2013-09-10

Scientists have an ethical responsibility to assist non-scientists to understand their findings and expert opinions before they are used as decision-aids within the criminal justice system. The communication of scientific expert opinion to non-scientist audiences (e.g., police, lawyers, and judges) through expert reports is an important but under-researched issue. Readability statistics were used to assess 111 conclusions from a proficiency test in forensic glass analysis. The conclusions were written using an average of 23 words per sentence, and approximately half of the conclusions were expressed using the active voice. At an average Flesch-Kincaid Grade level of university undergraduate (Grade 13), and Flesch Reading Ease score of difficult (42), the conclusions were written at a level suitable for people with some tertiary education in science, suggesting that the intended non-scientist readers would find them difficult to read. To further analyse the readability of conclusions, descriptive features of text were used: text structure; sentence structure; vocabulary; elaboration; and coherence and unity. Descriptive analysis supported the finding that texts were written at a level difficult for non-scientists to read. Specific aspects of conclusions that may pose difficulties for non-scientists were located. Suggestions are included to assist scientists to write conclusions with increased readability for non-scientist readers, while retaining scientific integrity. In the next stage of research, the readability of expert reports in their entirety is to be explored. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

From Science to Business: Preparing Female Scientists and Engineers for Successful Transitions into Entrepreneurship--Summary of a Workshop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Didion, Catherine Jay; Guenther, Rita S.; Gunderson, Victoria

2012-01-01

Scientists, engineers, and medical professionals play a vital role in building the 21st- century science and technology enterprises that will create solutions and jobs critical to solving the large, complex, and interdisciplinary problems faced by society: problems in energy, sustainability, the environment, water, food, disease, and healthcare.…

Scientists Discover Sugar in Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2000-06-01

. Glycolaldehyde is a simpler molecular cousin to table sugar, the scientists say. The sugar molecule was detected in a large cloud of gas and dust some 26,000 light-years away, near the center of our Galaxy. Such clouds, often many light-years across, are the material from which new stars are formed. Though very rarified by Earth standards, these interstellar clouds are the sites of complex chemical reactions that occur over hundreds of thousands or millions of years. So far, about 120 different molecules have been discovered in these clouds. Most of these molecules contain a small number of atoms, and only a few molecules with eight or more atoms have been found in interstellar clouds. The 12 Meter Telescope "Finding glycolaldehyde in one of these interstellar clouds means that such molecules can be formed even in very rarified conditions," said Hollis. "We don't yet understand how it could be formed there," he added. "A combination of more astronomical observations and theoretical chemistry work will be required to resolve the mystery of how this molecule is formed in space." "We hope this discovery inspires renewed efforts to find even more kinds of molecules, so that, with a better idea of the total picture, we may be able to deduce the details of the prebiotic chemistry taking place in interstellar clouds," Hollis said. The discovery was made by detecting faint radio emission from the sugar molecules in the interstellar cloud. Molecules rotate end-for-end, and as they change from one rotational energy state to another, they emit radio waves at precise frequencies. The "family" of radio frequencies emitted by a particular molecule forms a unique "fingerprint" that scientists can use to identify that molecule. The scientists identified glycolaldehyde by detecting six frequencies of radio emission in what is termed the millimeter-wavelength region of the electromagnetic spectrum -- a region between more-familiar microwaves and infrared radiation. The NRAO 12 Meter Telescope

Analyzing prospective teachers' images of scientists using positive, negative and stereotypical images of scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramaniam, Karthigeyan; Esprívalo Harrell, Pamela; Wojnowski, David

2013-04-01

Background and purpose : This study details the use of a conceptual framework to analyze prospective teachers' images of scientists to reveal their context-specific conceptions of scientists. The conceptual framework consists of context-specific conceptions related to positive, stereotypical and negative images of scientists as detailed in the literature on the images, role and work of scientists. Sample, design and method : One hundred and ninety-six drawings of scientists, generated by prospective teachers, were analyzed using the Draw-A-Scientist-Test Checklist (DAST-C), a binary linear regression and the conceptual framework. Results : The results of the binary linear regression analysis revealed a statistically significant difference for two DAST-C elements: ethnicity differences with regard to drawing a scientist who was Caucasian and gender differences for indications of danger. Analysis using the conceptual framework helped to categorize the same drawings into positive, stereotypical, negative and composite images of a scientist. Conclusions : The conceptual framework revealed that drawings were focused on the physical appearance of the scientist, and to a lesser extent on the equipment, location and science-related practices that provided the context of a scientist's role and work. Implications for teacher educators include the need to understand that there is a need to provide tools, like the conceptual framework used in this study, to help prospective teachers to confront and engage with their multidimensional perspectives of scientists in light of the current trends on perceiving and valuing scientists. In addition, teacher educators need to use the conceptual framework, which yields qualitative perspectives about drawings, together with the DAST-C, which yields quantitative measure for drawings, to help prospective teachers to gain a holistic outlook on their drawings of scientists.

Entrepreneurship for Creative Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parker, Dawood; Raghu, Surya; Brooks, Richard

2018-05-01

Through patenting and commercialization, scientists today can develop their work beyond a publication in a learned journal. Indeed, universities and governments are encouraging today's scientists and engineers to break their research out of the laboratory and into the commercial world. However, doing so is complicated and can be daunting for those more used to a research seminar than a board room. This book, written by experienced scientists and entrepreneurs, deals with businesses started by scientists based on innovation and sets out to clarify for scientists and engineers the steps necessary to take an idea along the path to commercialization and maximise the potential for success, regardless of the path taken.

Availability and provision of misoprostol and other medicines for menstrual regulation among pharmacies in Bangladesh via mystery client survey.

PubMed

Huda, Fauzia A; Ngo, Thoai D; Ahmed, Anisuddin; Alam, Anadil; Reichenbach, Laura

2014-02-01

To explore the availability and provision of misoprostol and other medicines for menstrual regulation (MR) among pharmacies in Bangladesh. Between March and November 2011, a cross-sectional study using mystery client visits was conducted among pharmacy workers in Dhaka and Gazipur Districts, Bangladesh. Mystery clients were trained to present 1 of 4 pre-developed situations to pharmacy workers to elicit information on the regimen, adverse effects, and complications of misoprostol use. Mystery clients visited 331 pharmacies. Among the 331 pharmacy workers, 45.8% offered the mystery clients misoprostol and/or other medicines for MR; 25.7% referred them to private clinics or hospitals. Only 7% recommended an effective regimen of misoprostol for MR; 65% suggested administering vaginal and oral misoprostol together. Overall, 72.4% did not provide any advice on complications; the remainder suggested visiting trained providers for complications. Counseling on excessive bleeding as a danger sign was provided by 46% of pharmacy workers. Most (94%) did not provide or refer for post-MR family planning. Pharmacy workers in urban Bangladesh are providing ineffective drugs and regimens for MR. A training package is needed to strengthen service delivery by providing accurate information, high-quality products, and referral mechanisms for women seeking MR through pharmacies. © 2013.

The Mystery of the Gun Turret in the Desert

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hoffman, R. D.

The mystery of the gun turret in the desert began with an ingenious idea: to develop a reusable open-air line of sight diagnostic device to support LLNL’s early nuclear weapons development efforts. Obtained from the Mare Island Navy Shipyard (MINS) in January 1957, the gun turret traveled by ship to the Naval Construction Battalion base at Port Hueneme, California, and then by truck to Area 2 in the Yucca Flats valley at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site (NNSS).

Titan Mystery Clouds

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-12-21

This comparison of two views from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, taken fairly close together in time, illustrates a peculiar mystery: Why would clouds on Saturn's moon Titan be visible in some images, but not in others? In the top view, a near-infrared image from Cassini's imaging cameras, the skies above Saturn's moon Titan look relatively cloud free. But in the bottom view, at longer infrared wavelengths, Cassini sees a large field of bright clouds. Even though these views were taken at different wavelengths, researchers would expect at least a hint of the clouds to show up in the upper image. Thus they have been trying to understand what's behind the difference. As northern summer approaches on Titan, atmospheric models have predicted that clouds will become more common at high northern latitudes, similar to what was observed at high southern latitudes during Titan's late southern summer in 2004. Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) and Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) teams have been observing Titan to document changes in weather patterns as the seasons change, and there is particular interest in following the onset of clouds in the north polar region where Titan's lakes and seas are concentrated. Cassini's "T120" and "T121" flybys of Titan, on June 7 and July 25, 2016, respectively, provided views of high northern latitudes over extended time periods -- more than 24 hours during both flybys. Intriguingly, the ISS and VIMS observations appear strikingly different from each other. In the ISS observations (monochrome image at top), surface features are easily identifiable and only a few small, isolated clouds were detected. In contrast, the VIMS observations (color image at bottom) suggest widespread cloud cover during both flybys. The observations were made over the same time period, so differences in illumination geometry or changes in the clouds themselves are unlikely to be the cause for the apparent discrepancy: VIMS shows persistent

Questioning Many Mysteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Sara F.

2015-04-01

The first section of this memoir queries my formative years. Indirectly I address the question, did my childhood and early years make a difference in my choice of career? Why and how did I begin my journey to becoming a scientist? Did I choose the field of solar astronomy or did circumstances dictate it for me? In the second section, I travel through my work environments and experiences, talking about interactions and aspects of being a scientist that do not appear in our research papers. What parts of my research were happenstances and what parts did I plan? What does it feel like to be on scientific quests? Using examples in my journey, I also turn to questions that have intrigued me throughout my sojourn as a solar astronomer. How do scientific discoveries come about? What factors lead to little discoveries? And what factors lead to major exciting discoveries? Are there timely questions we do not think to ask? How can small, seemingly scattered pieces of knowledge suddenly coalesce into a deeper understanding - what is called the "Aha!" experience - the times when our mental light switches on, and with child-like wonder we behold a "big picture"?

How Many Women Scientists Does It Take?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zelikova, T. J.; Ramirez, K. S.; Pendergrass, A. G.; Vijayaraghavan, R.; Weintraub, S. R.; Bohon, W.; Bartel, B. A.

2017-12-01

Science and activism are not mutually exclusive. In today's political and cultural landscape, scientists must become advocates. But we cannot simply support the scientific enterprise while ignoring marginalized groups in science. We must promote diversity and confront the structural inequalities and discrimination that are prevalent in science today. How do we begin to confront this challenge? 500 Women Scientists is a grassroots organization that formed in the wake of the 2016 US election. We quickly grew to more than 20,000 supporters from across the globe and moved towards a broader mission to serve society by making science open, inclusive, and accessible. Ensuring women's inclusion and an explicit consideration of diversity improves science and spurs innovation. A focus on diversity means that the best minds and talent are in the room and that we implement the most effective solutions to solve the complex global challenges we face. We accomplish our mission by bringing together communities to foster real change that comes from small groups, not large crowds. Across the world, groups of 500 Women Scientists - pods - help create deep roots through strong, personal relationships and focus on issues that resonate in their communities. Pod members meet regularly to carry out our mission through 3 types of activities: 1. Empowering women to succeed in science through mentorship, networking, and support; 2. Advocating for science through participation in marches and efforts like the "#ourEPA" and "Summer of Op-Eds" campaigns; and 3. Local outreach at schools, local community events, and more. We are building a powerful voice in conversations at the intersection of science and our most pressing issues: environmental degradation, gender politics, structural inequalities and cultural diversity. We tell our own story so that we do not remain `hidden figures,' and so that future generations can inherit and advance the knowledge that we work so hard to produce.

Drawings of Scientists

Science.gov Websites

Who's the Scientist? Seventh graders describe scientists before and after a visit to Fermilab really liked this description. Was it written before or after the visit to Fermilab? See what the kids

Investigation of "mysterious" disease in livestock: hydrocyanic acid poisoning.

PubMed

Krishna, L; Katoch, R C

1989-12-01

An investigation of "mysterious" disease due to hydrocyanic acid (HCN) poisoning in livestock in this state was carried out. Detailed clinicopathological and pathological studies were conducted. Characteristic signs of acute tympany followed with profuse frothing, convulsions and dyspnea were recorded. Cynosis of the mucosa with characteristic anoxemic tissue changes and a high concentration of HCN in rumen content, feed and skeletal muscles were recorded. These were sufficient to establish the diagnosis. Successful treatment with a specific antidote was achieved, and further morbidity and mortality was checked.

Scientists feature their work in Arctic-focused short videos by FrontierScientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielsen, L.; O'Connell, E.

2013-12-01

Whether they're guiding an unmanned aerial vehicle into a volcanic plume to sample aerosols, or documenting core drilling at a frozen lake in Siberia formed 3.6 million years ago by a massive meteorite impact, Arctic scientists are using video to enhance and expand their science and science outreach. FrontierScientists (FS), a forum for showcasing scientific work, produces and promotes radically different video blogs featuring Arctic scientists. Three- to seven- minute multimedia vlogs help deconstruct researcher's efforts and disseminate stories, communicating scientific discoveries to our increasingly connected world. The videos cover a wide range of current field work being performed in the Arctic. All videos are freely available to view or download from the FrontierScientists.com website, accessible via any internet browser or via the FrontierScientists app. FS' filming process fosters a close collaboration between the scientist and the media maker. Film creation helps scientists reach out to the public, communicate the relevance of their scientific findings, and craft a discussion. Videos keep audience tuned in; combining field footage, pictures, audio, and graphics with a verbal explanation helps illustrate ideas, allowing one video to reach people with different learning strategies. The scientists' stories are highlighted through social media platforms online. Vlogs grant scientists a voice, letting them illustrate their own work while ensuring accuracy. Each scientific topic on FS has its own project page where easy-to-navigate videos are featured prominently. Video sets focus on different aspects of a researcher's work or follow one of their projects into the field. We help the scientist slip the answers to their five most-asked questions into the casual script in layman's terms in order to free the viewers' minds to focus on new concepts. Videos are accompanied by written blogs intended to systematically demystify related facts so the scientists can focus

Scientists and K-12: Experience from The Science House

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haase, David G.

2003-03-01

In working with K-12 science and mathematics education, scientists may take on many different roles - from presenter to full-time partner. These roles are illustrated in the activities of The Science House, a K-12 education program of North Carolina State University, (www.science-house.org) which partners with teachers and students across the state to promote inquiry-based learning in mathematics and science. While it is important to involve scientists in K-12, most universities do not have effective means to make the connections. In our efforts to do so, which began with a few teacher workshops and now encompasses six offices across NC, we have sought to join the interests of the university (research, teaching, student recruiting) to the needs of K-12. Our programs now include teacher training workshops, student science camps and curriculum projects in several states. We are reminded that K-12 science education is interdisciplinary; local and political; and a process, not a problem to be solved and forgotten. Partially supported by NSF (CHE-9876674 and DBI-0115462), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Out of the Mouths of Babes: Unlocking the Mysteries of Language and Voice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thurber, Christopher A.

2003-01-01

Summarizes three studies that have revolutionized child psychology by teaching us that children are biologically programmed to learn language; children's language development is orderly and pragmatic, but grammatically mysterious; and children's linguistic self-expression reveals some disturbing ways in which they have been socialized. Presents…

Scientists in the public sphere: Interactions of scientists and journalists in Brazil.

PubMed

Massarani, Luisa; Peters, Hans P

2016-06-07

In order to map scientists' views on media channels and explore their experiences interacting with journalists, the authors conducted a survey of about 1,000 Brazilian scientists. Results indicate that scientists have clear and high expectations about how journalists should act in reporting scientific information in the media, but such expectations, in their opinion, do not always seem to be met. Nonetheless, the results show that surveyed scientists rate their relation with the media positively: 67% say that having their research covered by media has a positive impact on their colleagues. One quarter of the respondents expressed that talking to the media can facilitate acquisition of more funds for research. Moreover, 38% of the total respondents believe that writing about an interesting topic for release on media channels can also facilitate research publication in a scientific journal. However, 15% of the respondents outright agree that research reported in the media beforehand can threaten acceptance for publication by a scientific journal. We hope that these results can foster some initiatives for improving awareness of the two cultures, scientists and journalists; increasing the access of journalists to Brazilian scientific endeavors; stimulating scientists to communicate with the public via social networks.

All Scientists Meeting

ScienceCinema

Pier Oddone and Young-Kee Kim

2018-04-17

Pier Oddone and Young-Kee Kim of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory lead an all-scientists meeting to discuss current and future work, scope of research, budget and funding information, and other information relating to the lab and its scientists.

Scientists: Engage the Public!

PubMed Central

Shugart, Erika C.

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Scientists must communicate about science with public audiences to promote an understanding of complex issues that we face in our technologically advanced society. Some scientists may be concerned about a social stigma or “Sagan effect” associated with participating in public communication. Recent research in the social sciences indicates that public communication by scientists is not a niche activity but is widely done and can be beneficial to a scientist’s career. There are a variety of approaches that scientists can take to become active in science communication. PMID:26695633

‘Mystery big cats’ in the Peruvian Amazon: morphometrics solve a cryptozoological mystery

PubMed Central

Sakamoto, Manabu; Hocking, Peter; Sanchez, Gustavo

2014-01-01

Two big cat skulls procured from hunters of Yanachaga National Park, Peru, were reported as those of cats informally dubbed the ‘striped tiger’ and ‘anomalous jaguar’. Observations suggested that both skulls were distinct from those of jaguars, associated descriptions of integument did not conform to this species, and it has been implied that both represent members of one or two novel species. We sought to resolve the identity of the skulls using morphometrics. DNA could not be retrieved since both had been boiled as part of the defleshing process. We took 36 cranial and 13 mandibular measurements and added them to a database incorporating nearly 300 specimens of over 30 felid species. Linear discriminant analysis resolved both specimens as part of Panthera onca with high probabilities for cranial and mandibular datasets. Furthermore, the specimens exhibit characters typical of jaguars. If the descriptions of their patterning and pigmentation are accurate, we assume that both individuals were aberrant. PMID:24688867

From Students to Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho-Shing, Olivia

2017-01-01

In his book "Letters to a Young Scientist," renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson recounted his own coming-of-age story as a scientist, and distilled the motivating qualities of science down to curiosity and creativity. Individuals become scientists when they are curious about a phenomenon in the world around them and ask about the real…

FNL Scientists and Collaborators Solve 3-D Structure of Key Protein in Alzheimer’s Disease | FNLCR Staging

Cancer.gov

Researchers at the Frederick National Lab (FNL) have collaborated in solving the three-dimensional structure of a key protein in Alzheimer’s disease, providing new insight into the basic mechanisms that give rise to the devastating illness. The pro

Quantum physics and the beam splitter mystery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hénault, François

2015-09-01

Optical lossless beam splitters are frequently encountered in fundamental physics experiments regarding the nature of light, including "which-way" determination or the EPR paradox and their measurement apparatus. Although they look as common optical components at first glance, their behaviour remains somewhat mysterious since they apparently exhibit stand-alone particle-like features, and then wave-like characteristics when inserted into a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In this communication are examined and discussed some basic properties of these beamssplitters, both from a classical optics and quantum physics point of view. Herein the most evident convergences and contradictions are highlighted, and the results of a few emblematic experiments demonstrating photon existence are discussed. Alternative empirical models are also proposed in order to shed light on some remaining issues.

222Rn variations in Mystery Cave, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lively, R.S.; Krafthefer, B.C.

1995-01-01

222Rn concentrations and meteorological parameters were measured at 4- h intervals over a 2-y period in Mystery Cave, southeastern Minnesota. Continuous radon monitors and meteorological sensors connected to data loggers were installed at several locations along commercial tour routes. 222Rn concentrations ranged as high as 25 kBq m-3 in summer and 20 kBq m-3 in winter. Average winter concentrations were lower than summer by at least a factor of two. Seasonal radon variations were correlative with outside air temperatures. During the winter, radon concentrations were observed to fluctuate periodically by factors of 20 or more in under 24 h. Both the long- and short-term variations are correlative with temperature- induced mixing of cave air with surface air.

Under the Lens: Investigating the Sun's Mysteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harwood, William; Klotz, Irene

2008-11-01

Sometime around 2012, the waxing 11-year solar cycle once again will reach its peak. Between now and then, magnetically turbulent sunspots, spawned by some still mysterious process, will form near the poles in increasing numbers and migrate toward the Sun's faster-rotating equator in pairs of opposite polarity. Titanic magnetic storms will rage as immense flux tubes rise to the surface in active regions around sunspots and spread out in a boiling sea of electric charge. Magnetic field lines across an enormous range of scales will arc and undulate, rip apart and reconnect, heating the Sun's upper atmosphere and occasionally triggering brilliant flares and multibillion-megaton coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that travel through the solar wind and slam into Earth.

Not going it alone: scientists and their work featured online at FrontierScientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Connell, E. A.; Nielsen, L.

2015-12-01

Science outreach demystifies science, and outreach media gives scientists a voice to engage the public. Today scientists are expected to communicate effectively not only with peers but also with a braod public audience, yet training incentiives are sometimes scarce. Media creation training is even less emphasized. Editing video to modern standards takes practice; arrangling light and framing shots isn't intuitive. While great tutorials exist, learning videography, story boarding, editing and sharing techniques will always require a commitment of time and effort. Yet ideally sharing science should be low-hanging fruit. FrontierScientists, a science-sharing website funded by the NSF, seeks to let scientists display their breakthroughs and share their excitement for their work with the public by working closely yet non-exhaustively with a professional media team. A director and videographer join scientists to film first-person accounts in the field or lab. Pictures and footage with field site explanations give media creators raw material. Scientists communicate efficiently and retain editorial control over the project, but a small team of media creators craft the public aimed content. A series of engaging short videos with narrow focuses illuminate the science. Written articles support with explanations. Social media campaigns spread the word, link content, welcome comments and keep abreast of changing web requirements. All FrontierScientists featured projects are aggregated to one mobile-friendly site available online or via an App. There groupings of Arctic-focused science provide a wealth of topics and content to explore. Scientists describe why their science is important, what drew them to it, and why the average American should care. When scientists share their work it's wonderful; a team approach is a schedule-friendly way that lets them serve as science communicators without taking up a handful of extra careers.

From the Horse's Mouth: A Website Where You Can Experience How Scientists Communicate with One Another About Global Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osenga, E. C.; Katzenberger, J.; Morrow, C. A.; Arnott, J. C.; Wright, A.

2013-12-01

The public has access to a bewildering variety of climate change information. But there are no resources offering an accessible opportunity to listen to scientists communicating with each other about climate science. With access to 24 years of digital video archives of scientific presentations and discussions at small, interdisciplinary workshops with leading experts in global change science, AGCI (the Aspen Global Change Institute) saw an opportunity to fill that gap by using selected excerpts from this vast archive to engage public and educational interest in climate change. Our hypothesis is that offering people direct access to climate science discourse will stimulate curiosity leading to greater willingness to participate in further learning and dialogue about climate change. AGCI's NSF-funded project 'From the Horse's Mouth' (FTHM) is providing a way to test this hypothesis. FTHM is a website that combines short (2-8 min) video clips of scientists presenting and discussing their research with colleagues with enriching accessory materials targeted at the high school level of comprehension. The website offers a 'fly on the wall' insight into scientific communication about global change that is rarely experienced by non-scientists and that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, from classrooms to cafes. By removing the scientific process from a shroud of mystery and offering everyone an opportunity to listen in during scientific discourse, FTHM can help cultivate a sense of having a personal understanding of scientific information and thereby make a huge contribution to a more substantive and authentic climate literacy. Here we present successes, challenges, and complications in using first-hand scientific sources to build a bridge between formal and informal learning.

Birth of prominent scientists.

PubMed

Reyes Gonzalez, Leonardo; González Brambila, Claudia N; Veloso, Francisco

2018-01-01

This paper analyzes the influence key scientists have in the development of a science and technology system. In particular, this work appraises the influence that star scientists have on the productivity and impact of young faculty, as well as on the likelihood that these young researchers become a leading personality in science. Our analysis confirms previous results that eminent scientist have a prime role in the development of a scientific system, especially within the context of an emerging economy like Mexico. In particular, in terms of productivity and visibility, this work shows that between 1984 and 2001 the elite group of physicists in Mexico (approximate 10% of all scientists working in physics and its related fields) published 42% of all publications, received 50% of all citations and bred 18% to 26% of new entrants. In addition our work shows that scientists that enter the system by the hand of a highly productive researcher increased their productivity on average by 28% and the ones that did it by the hand of a highly visible scientist received on average 141% more citations, vis-à-vis scholars that did not published their first manuscripts with an eminent scientist. Furthermore, scholars that enter the system by the hand of a highly productive researcher were on average 2.5 more likely to also become a star.

Birth of prominent scientists

PubMed Central

Reyes Gonzalez, Leonardo; Veloso, Francisco

2018-01-01

This paper analyzes the influence key scientists have in the development of a science and technology system. In particular, this work appraises the influence that star scientists have on the productivity and impact of young faculty, as well as on the likelihood that these young researchers become a leading personality in science. Our analysis confirms previous results that eminent scientist have a prime role in the development of a scientific system, especially within the context of an emerging economy like Mexico. In particular, in terms of productivity and visibility, this work shows that between 1984 and 2001 the elite group of physicists in Mexico (approximate 10% of all scientists working in physics and its related fields) published 42% of all publications, received 50% of all citations and bred 18% to 26% of new entrants. In addition our work shows that scientists that enter the system by the hand of a highly productive researcher increased their productivity on average by 28% and the ones that did it by the hand of a highly visible scientist received on average 141% more citations, vis-à-vis scholars that did not published their first manuscripts with an eminent scientist. Furthermore, scholars that enter the system by the hand of a highly productive researcher were on average 2.5 more likely to also become a star. PMID:29543855

Impact of a Scientist-Teacher Collaborative Model on Students, Teachers, and Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shein, Paichi Pat; Tsai, Chun-Yen

2015-09-01

Collaborations between the K-12 teachers and higher education or professional scientists have become a widespread approach to science education reform. Educational funding and efforts have been invested to establish these cross-institutional collaborations in many countries. Since 2006, Taiwan initiated the High Scope Program, a high school science curriculum reform to promote scientific innovation and inquiry through an integration of advanced science and technology in high school science curricula through partnership between high school teachers and higher education scientists and science educators. This study, as part of this governmental effort, a scientist-teacher collaborative model (STCM) was constructed by 8 scientists and 4 teachers to drive an 18-week high school science curriculum reform on environmental education in a public high school. Partnerships between scientists and teachers offer opportunities to strengthen the elements of effective science teaching identified by Shulman and ultimately affect students' learning. Mixed methods research was used for this study. Qualitative methods of interviews were used to understand the impact on the teachers' and scientists' science teaching. A quasi-experimental design was used to understand the impact on students' scientific competency and scientific interest. The findings in this study suggest that the use of the STCM had a medium effect on students' scientific competency and a large effect on students' scientific individual and situational interests. In the interviews, the teachers indicated how the STCM allowed them to improve their content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and the scientists indicated an increased knowledge of learners, knowledge of curriculum, and PCK.

Spheromaks and how plasmas may explain the ultra high energy cosmic ray mystery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fowler, T. Kenneth; Li, Hui

2016-10-01

> eV or more, finally ejected as ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) long regarded as one of the mysteries of astrophysics. The acceleration is mainly due to the drift cyclotron loss cone kinetic instability known from plasma research. Experiments and simulations are suggested to verify the acceleration process.

Brain-machine interfaces can accelerate clarification of the principal mysteries and real plasticity of the brain.

PubMed

Sakurai, Yoshio

2014-01-01

This perspective emphasizes that the brain-machine interface (BMI) research has the potential to clarify major mysteries of the brain and that such clarification of the mysteries by neuroscience is needed to develop BMIs. I enumerate five principal mysteries. The first is "how is information encoded in the brain?" This is the fundamental question for understanding what our minds are and is related to the verification of Hebb's cell assembly theory. The second is "how is information distributed in the brain?" This is also a reconsideration of the functional localization of the brain. The third is "what is the function of the ongoing activity of the brain?" This is the problem of how the brain is active during no-task periods and what meaning such spontaneous activity has. The fourth is "how does the bodily behavior affect the brain function?" This is the problem of brain-body interaction, and obtaining a new "body" by a BMI leads to a possibility of changes in the owner's brain. The last is "to what extent can the brain induce plasticity?" Most BMIs require changes in the brain's neuronal activity to realize higher performance, and the neuronal operant conditioning inherent in the BMIs further enhances changes in the activity.

Unraveling the Mysteries of Turbulence Transport in a Wind Farm

DOE PAGES

Jha, Pankaj K.; Duque, Earl P. N.; Bashioum, Jessica L.; ...

2015-06-26

A true physical understanding of the mysteries involved in the recovery process of the wake momentum deficit, downstream of utility-scale wind turbines in the atmosphere, has not been obtained to date. Field data are not acquired at sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions to dissect some of the mysteries of wake turbulence. It is here that the actuator line method has evolved to become the technology standard in the wind energy community. This work presents the actuator line method embedded into an Open source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) large-eddy simulation solver and applies it to two small wind farms, themore » first one consisting of an array of two National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5 Megawatt (NREL 5-MW) turbines separated by seven rotor diameters in neutral and unstable atmospheric boundary-layer flow and the second one consisting of five NREL 5-MW wind turbines in unstable atmospheric conditions arranged in two staggered arrays of two and three turbines, respectively. Detailed statistics involving power spectral density (PSD) of turbine power along with standard deviations reveal the effects of atmospheric turbulence and its space and time scales. In conclusion, high-resolution surface data extracts provide new insight into the complex recovery process of the wake momentum deficit governed by turbulence transport phenomena.« less

Unraveling the Mysteries of Turbulence Transport in a Wind Farm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jha, Pankaj K.; Duque, Earl P. N.; Bashioum, Jessica L.

A true physical understanding of the mysteries involved in the recovery process of the wake momentum deficit, downstream of utility-scale wind turbines in the atmosphere, has not been obtained to date. Field data are not acquired at sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions to dissect some of the mysteries of wake turbulence. It is here that the actuator line method has evolved to become the technology standard in the wind energy community. This work presents the actuator line method embedded into an Open source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) large-eddy simulation solver and applies it to two small wind farms, themore » first one consisting of an array of two National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5 Megawatt (NREL 5-MW) turbines separated by seven rotor diameters in neutral and unstable atmospheric boundary-layer flow and the second one consisting of five NREL 5-MW wind turbines in unstable atmospheric conditions arranged in two staggered arrays of two and three turbines, respectively. Detailed statistics involving power spectral density (PSD) of turbine power along with standard deviations reveal the effects of atmospheric turbulence and its space and time scales. In conclusion, high-resolution surface data extracts provide new insight into the complex recovery process of the wake momentum deficit governed by turbulence transport phenomena.« less

Turkish Primary Students' Perceptions about Scientist and What Factors Affecting the Image of the Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turkmen, Hakan

2008-01-01

Students' views of science and scientists have been widely studied. The purpose of this study is to analyze image of scientist from drawn picture of scientists using The Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST) by 5th grade students and to analyze where this image comes from students minds in changing Turkish educational perspective. Two hundred eighty seven…

Everyone Knows What a Scientist Looks Like: The Image of a Modern Scientist

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enevoldsen, A. A. G.

2008-11-01

Children are inspired to follow career paths when they can imagine themselves there. Seeing pictures of adult individuals who look like them working in a given career can provide this spark to children's imaginations. Most (though not all) of the current available posters of scientists are of Einstein, and Einstein-like scientists. This is not representative of the current face of science. To change this, Pacific Science Center will host a photography exhibit: photographs of real, current scientists from all races, genders, beliefs, and walks of life. Photos will be taken and short biographies written by Discovery Corps Interns (Pacific Science Center's youth development program) to increase the amount of direct contact between students and scientists, and to give the exhibit an emotional connection for local teachers and families. We plan to make the photographs from this exhibit available to teachers for use in their classrooms, in addition to being displayed at Pacific Science Center during the International Year of Astronomy. The objectives of this project are to fill a need for representative photographs of scientists in the world community and to meet two of the goals of the International Year of Astronomy: to provide a modern image of science and scientists, and to improve the gender-balanced representation of scientists at all levels and promote greater involvement by under-represented minorities in scientific and engineering careers.

The Impact of Scientist-Educator Collaborations: an early-career scientist's perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roop, H. A.

2017-12-01

A decade ago, a forward-thinking faculty member exposed a group of aspiring scientists to the impacts and career benefits of working directly with K-12 students and educators. Ten years later, as one of those young scientists, it is clear that the relationships born out of this early experience can transform a researcher's impact and trajectory in science. Connections with programs like the NSF-funded PolarTREC program, the teacher-led Scientists in the Classroom effort, and through well-coordinated teacher training opportunities there are clear ways in which these partnerships can a) transform student learning; b) serve as a powerful and meaningful way to connect students to authentic research and researchers; and c) help researchers become more effective communicators by expanding their ability to connect their work to society. The distillation of science to K-12 students, with the expert eye of educators, makes scientists better at their work with tangible benefits to skills that matter in academia - securing funding, writing and communicating clearly and having high-value broader impacts. This invited abstract is submitted as part of this session's panel discussion and will explore in detail, with concrete examples, the mutual benefits of educator-scientist partnerships and how sustained engagement can transform the reach, connection and application of research science.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Autopsy in Blue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waddell, Thomas G.; Rybolt, Thomas R.

2004-01-01

A chemical mystery with an emphasis on qualitative inorganic analysis, forensic chemistry and medicinal substances is discussed. The mystery is solved by Sherlock Holmes with the help of clues provided.

Misquoted Scientists Respond.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, John R.

1981-01-01

This paper points out that creationists have developed a skill unique to their trade, namely, that of misquotation and quotation out of context from the works of leading evolutionists. This tactic not only frustrates scientists but it misleads school board members, legislators, and the public. A representative sampling of scientists' responses to…

Scientist impact factor (SIF): a new metric for improving scientists' evaluation?

PubMed

Lippi, Giuseppe; Mattiuzzi, Camilla

2017-08-01

The publication of scientific research is the mainstay for knowledge dissemination, but is also an essential criterion of scientists' evaluation for recruiting funds and career progression. Although the most widespread approach for evaluating scientists is currently based on the H-index, the total impact factor (IF) and the overall number of citations, these metrics are plagued by some well-known drawbacks. Therefore, with the aim to improve the process of scientists' evaluation, we developed a new and potentially useful indicator of recent scientific output. The new metric scientist impact factor (SIF) was calculated as all citations of articles published in the two years following the publication year of the articles, divided by the overall number of articles published in that year. The metrics was then tested by analyzing data of the 40 top scientists of the local University. No correlation was found between SIF and H-index (r=0.15; P=0.367) or 2 years H-index (r=-0.01; P=0.933), whereas the H-index and 2 years H-index values were found to be highly correlated (r=0.57; P<0.001). A highly significant correlation was also observed between the articles published in one year and the total number of citations to these articles in the two following years (r=0.62; P<0.001). According to our data, the SIF may be a useful measure to complement current metrics for evaluating scientific output. Its use may be especially helpful for young scientists, wherein the SIF reflects the scientific output over the past two years thus increasing their chances to apply to and obtain competitive funding.

Analyzing Prospective Teachers' Images of Scientists Using Positive, Negative and Stereotypical Images of Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Subramaniam, Karthigeyan; Harrell, Pamela Esprivalo; Wojnowski, David

2013-01-01

Background and purpose: This study details the use of a conceptual framework to analyze prospective teachers' images of scientists to reveal their context-specific conceptions of scientists. The conceptual framework consists of context-specific conceptions related to positive, stereotypical and negative images of scientists as detailed in the…

Gamma ray flashes add to mystery of upper atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atmospheric electricity research has come a long way since Benjamin Franklin's kite-flying days. But what researchers have been learning lately about above-thunderstorm electricity has wrought a whole new era of mysteries.For a start, last summer a Colorado meteorologist sparked interest in a terrestrial phenomenon that the community first observed more than 100 years ago: optical flashes that occur above thunderstorms—at least 30 km above Earth. Walter Lyons with the Ft. Collins-based Mission Research Corporation, demonstrated that such flashes are not anomalies, as conventional scientific wisdom had held. He filmed hundreds of flashes during a 2-week period.

Geoscience communication in Namibia: YES Network Namibia spreading the message to young scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mhopjeni, Kombada

2015-04-01

The Young Earth Scientists (YES) Network is an international association for early-career geoscientists under the age of 35 years that was formed as a result of the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) in 2007. YES Network aims to establish an interdisciplinary global network of early-career geoscientists to solve societal issues/challenges using geosciences, promote scientific research and interdisciplinary networking, and support professional development of early-career geoscientists. The Network has several National Chapters including one in Namibia. YES Network Namibia (YNN) was formed in 2009, at the closing ceremony of IYPE in Portugal and YNN was consolidated in 2013 with the current set-up. YNN supports the activities and goals of the main YES Network at national level providing a platform for young Namibian scientists with a passion to network, information on geoscience opportunities and promoting earth sciences. Currently most of the members are geoscientists from the Geological Survey of Namibia (GSN) and University of Namibia. In 2015, YNN plans to carry out two workshops on career guidance, establish a mentorship program involving alumni and experienced industry experts, and increase involvement in outreach activities, mainly targeting high school pupils. Network members will participate in a range of educational activities such as school career and science fairs communicating geoscience to the general public, learners and students. The community outreach programmes are carried out to increase awareness of the role geosciences play in society. In addition, YNN will continue to promote interactive collaboration between the University of Namibia, Geological Survey of Namibia (GSN) and Geological Society of Namibia. Despite the numerous potential opportunities YNN offers young scientists in Namibia and its presence on all major social media platforms, the Network faces several challenges. One notable challenge the Network faces is indifference among

The Librarian's Stereotyped Image in Mystery Novels, 1980-1990: Has the Image Changed?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnhart, Linda A.

This research paper examines the portrayal of 35 librarians depicted in 24 adult mystery novels copyrighted between 1980 and 1990. Its main objective is to gauge how closely the portrayals of the librarians resemble or differ from the stereotype denounced in professional writings. In general, the librarians in these stories are fairly young and…

Brain-machine interfaces can accelerate clarification of the principal mysteries and real plasticity of the brain

PubMed Central

Sakurai, Yoshio

2014-01-01

This perspective emphasizes that the brain-machine interface (BMI) research has the potential to clarify major mysteries of the brain and that such clarification of the mysteries by neuroscience is needed to develop BMIs. I enumerate five principal mysteries. The first is “how is information encoded in the brain?” This is the fundamental question for understanding what our minds are and is related to the verification of Hebb’s cell assembly theory. The second is “how is information distributed in the brain?” This is also a reconsideration of the functional localization of the brain. The third is “what is the function of the ongoing activity of the brain?” This is the problem of how the brain is active during no-task periods and what meaning such spontaneous activity has. The fourth is “how does the bodily behavior affect the brain function?” This is the problem of brain-body interaction, and obtaining a new “body” by a BMI leads to a possibility of changes in the owner’s brain. The last is “to what extent can the brain induce plasticity?” Most BMIs require changes in the brain’s neuronal activity to realize higher performance, and the neuronal operant conditioning inherent in the BMIs further enhances changes in the activity. PMID:24904323

Theoretical Studies of Stratospheric and Tropospheric Clouds and Aerosols in Support of SOLVE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toon, Owen B.

2002-01-01

We proposed a number of theoretical efforts to support NASA's SOLVE Mission which took place in Kiruna, Sweden in the winter of 1999-2000. We proposed to serve as one of the DC-8 project scientists, to work with various instrument teams to better understand the composition of polar stratospheric clouds, and their properties, and to help understand the physical conditions which lead to cloud formation in the polar winter.

Postponing aging and prolonging life expectancy with the knowledge-based economy.

PubMed

Kristjuhan, Ulo

2012-04-01

People are interested in the aging phenomenon and hope that scientists are doing as much as they can to solve the mysteries of aging. However, this is not the case. A lot of knowledge is produced for local interests in curing specific disorders; aging is studied much less. Today's economy is undergoing a transition to a knowledge-based economy. Knowledge of aging should be integrated into the economies of contemporary societies. Aging research and intervention can ensure better health, primarily among middle-aged and older people, and prolong life. There are many reasons why postponing aging and rejuvenation research is not as widespread as it should be. Developed countries should create economic stimuli for such studies and intervention.

How Scientists Can Become Entrepreneurs

PubMed Central

Thon, Jonathan N.; Karlsson, Sven

2017-01-01

Translating basic research discoveries through entrepreneurship must be scientist driven and institutionally supported to be successful (not the other way around). Here, we describe why scientists should engage in entrepreneurship, where institutional support for scientist-founders falls short, and how these challenges can be overcome. PMID:28385393

ER-2 #809 awaits pilot entry for the third flight of the SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE)

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-01-28

ER-2 #809 awaiting pilot entry for the third flight of the SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE). The ER-2, a civilian variant of Lockheed's U-2, and another NASA flying laboratory, Dryden's DC-8, were based north of the Arctic Circle in Kiruna, Sweden during the winter of 2000 to study ozone depletion as part of SOLVE. A large hangar built especially for research, "Arena Arctica" housed the instrumented aircraft and the scientists. Scientists have observed unusually low levels of ozone over the Arctic during recent winters, raising concerns that ozone depletion there could become more widespread as in the Antarctic ozone hole. The NASA-sponsored international mission took place between November 1999 and March 2000 and was divided into three phases. The DC-8 was involved in all three phases returning to Dryden between each phase. The ER-2 flew sample collection flights between January and March, remaining in Sweden from Jan. 9 through March 16. "The collaborative campaign will provide an immense new body of information about the Arctic stratosphere," said program scientist Dr. Michael Kurylo, NASA Headquarters. "Our understanding of the Earth's ozone will be greatly enhanced by this research."

Did Kanner Actually Describe the First Account of Autism? The Mystery of 1938

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fellowes, Sam

2015-01-01

Kanner opens his pioneering 1943 paper on autism by making a mysterious mention of the year 1938. Recent letters to the editor of this journal have disagreed over a particular interpretation--does 1938 refer to an early paper by Asperger, effectively meaning Kanner plagiarised Asperger? I argue 1938 refers to a paper by Louise Despert. This was…

Frontier Scientists use Modern Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'connell, E. A.

2013-12-01

Engaging Americans and the international community in the excitement and value of Alaskan Arctic discovery is the goal of Frontier Scientists. With a changing climate, resources of polar regions are being eyed by many nations. Frontier Scientists brings the stories of field scientists in the Far North to the public. With a website, an app, short videos, and social media channels; FS is a model for making connections between the public and field scientists. FS will demonstrate how academia, web content, online communities, evaluation and marketing are brought together in a 21st century multi-media platform, how scientists can maintain their integrity while engaging in outreach, and how new forms of media such as short videos can entertain as well as inspire.

Mystery shopping and coaching as a form of audit and feedback to improve community pharmacy management of non-prescription medicine requests: an intervention study

PubMed Central

Schneider, Carl Richard; Naughtin, Clare Louise; Wilson, Frances; de Almeida Neto, Abilio Cesar; Moles, Rebekah Jane

2017-01-01

Objectives To determine whether repeated mystery shopping visits with feedback improve pharmacy performance over nine visits and to determine what factors predict an appropriate outcome. Design Prospective, parallel, repeated intervention, repeated measures mystery shopping (pseudopatient) design. Setting Thirty-six community pharmacies in metropolitan Sydney, Australia in March–October 2015. Participants Sixty-one University of Sydney pharmacy undergraduates acted as mystery shoppers. Students enrolled in their third year of Bachelor of Pharmacy in 2015 were eligible to participate. Any community pharmacy in the Sydney metropolitan region was eligible to take part and was selected through convenience sampling. Intervention Repeated mystery shopping with immediate feedback and coaching. Outcome measures Outcome for each given scenario (appropriate or not) and questioning scores for each interaction. Results Five hundred and twenty-one visits were analysed, of which 54% resulted in an appropriate outcome. Questioning scores and the proportion of interactions resulting in an appropriate outcome significantly improved over time (P<0.001). Involvement of pharmacists, visit number, increased questioning score and the prescribed scenario were predictors of an appropriate outcome (P=0.008, P=0.022, P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). Interactions involving a pharmacist had greater scores than those without (P<0.001). Conclusions Repeated mystery shopping visits with feedback were associated with improved pharmacy performance over time. Future work should focus on the role of non-pharmacist staff and design interventions accordingly. PMID:29247115

Clinician-scientist trainee: a German perspective.

PubMed

Bossé, Dominick; Milger, Katrin; Morty, Rory E

2011-12-01

Clinician-scientists are particularly well positioned to bring basic science findings to the patient's bedside; the ultimate objective of basic research in the health sciences. Concerns have recently been raised about the decreasing workforce of clinician-scientists in both the United States of America and in Canada; however, little is known about clinician-scientists elsewhere around the globe. The purpose of this article is two-fold: 1) to feature clinician-scientist training in Germany; and 2) to provide a comparison with the Canadian system. In a question/answer interview, Rory E. Morty, director of a leading clinician-scientist training program in Germany, and Katrin Milger, a physician and graduate from that program, draw a picture of clinician-scientist training and career opportunities in Germany, outlining the place of clinician-scientists in the German medical system, the advantages and drawbacks of this training, and government initiatives to promote training and career development of clinician-scientists. The interview is followed by a discussion comparing the German and Canadian clinician-scientist development programs, focusing on barriers to trainee recruitment and career progress, and efforts to eliminate the barriers encountered along this very demanding but also very rewarding career path.

Gamma-Ray Bursts: A Mystery Story

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parsons, Ann

2007-01-01

With the success of the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer currently in orbit, this is quite an exciting time in the history of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). The study of GRBs is a modern astronomical mystery story that began over 30 years ago with the serendipitous discovery of these astronomical events by military satellites in the late 1960's. Until the launch of BATSE on the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory, astronomers had no clue whether GRBs originated at the edge of our solar system, in our own Milky Way Galaxy or incredibly far away near the edge of the observable Universe. Data from BATSE proved that GRBs are distributed isotropically on the sky and thus could not be the related to objects in the disk of our Galaxy. Given the intensity of the gamma-ray emission, an extragalactic origin would require an astounding amount of energy. Without sufficient data to decide the issue, a great debate continued about whether GRBs were located in the halo of our own galaxy or were at extragalactic - even cosmological distances. This debate continued until 1997 when the BeppoSAX mission discovered a fading X-ray afterglow signal in the same location as a GRB. This discovery enabled other telescopes, to observe afterglow emission at optical and radio wavelengths and prove that GRBs were at cosmological distances by measuring large redshifts in the optical spectra. Like BeppoSAX Swift, slews to new GRB locations to measure afterglow emission. In addition to improved GRB sensitivity, a significant advantage of Swift over BeppoSAX and other missions is its ability to slew very quickly, allowing x-ray and optical follow-up measurements to be made as early as a minute after the gamma-ray burst trigger rather than the previous 6-8 hour delay. Swift afterglow measurements along with follow-up ground-based observations, and theoretical work have allowed astronomers to identify two plausible scenarios for the creation of a GRB: either through core collapse of super massive stars or

Venus: Mysteries Of The "forgotten Planet"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titov, D. V.

The first phase of Venus spacecraft exploration by the Venera, Pioneer Venus, Vega and Magellan missions and later Galileo and Cassini fly-bys established a basic de- scription of the physical and chemical conditions prevailing in the atmosphere and near-planetary environment. It also expanded considerably our knowledge of VenusS geology and geophysics. At the same time, these studies raised many questions on the physical processes on the planet, most of which remain as of today unsolved. The fundamental mysteries of Venus are related to the global atmospheric circulation, the atmospheric chemical composition and its variations, the surface-atmosphere physical and chemical interactions including volcanism, the physics and chemistry of the cloud layer, the thermal balance and role of trace gases in the greenhouse effect, the origin and evolution of the atmosphere, and the plasma environment and its interaction with the solar wind. Besides, the key issues of the history of Venusian volcanism, the global tectonic structure of Venus, and important characteristics of the planetSs surface are still unresolved. Beyond the specific case of Venus, resolving these issues is of cru- cial importance in a comparative planetology context and notably for understanding the long-term climatic evolution processes on Earth. The above problems can be effi- ciently addressed by an orbiter equipped with a suite of adequate remote sensing and in situ instruments. A combination of spectrometers, spectro-imagers, and imagers covering the UV to thermal IR range, along with other instruments such as a radar and a plasma and neutral atoms analyzer, is able to sound the entire Venus atmosphere from the surface to 200 km, and to address specific questions on the surface. Future in situ investigations by descent probes, balloons, and sample return missions will be required to provide a more detailed insight in the Venus mysteries. For more than 10 years Venus has remained the Sforgotten planet

How Scientists Can Become Entrepreneurs.

PubMed

Thon, Jonathan N; Karlsson, Sven

2017-05-01

Translating basic research discoveries through entrepreneurship must be scientist driven and institutionally supported to be successful (not the other way around). Here, we describe why scientists should engage in entrepreneurship, where institutional support for scientist-founders falls short, and how these challenges can be overcome. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

It's a kind of magic-what self-reports can reveal about the phenomenology of insight problem solving.

PubMed

Danek, Amory H; Fraps, Thomas; von Müller, Albrecht; Grothe, Benedikt; Öllinger, Michael

2014-01-01

Magic tricks usually remain a mystery to the observer. For the sake of science, we offered participants the opportunity to discover the magician's secret method by repeatedly presenting the same trick and asking them to find out how the trick worked. In the context of insightful problem solving, the present work investigated the emotions that participants experience upon solving a magic trick. We assumed that these emotions form the typical "Aha! experience" that accompanies insightful solutions to difficult problems. We aimed to show that Aha! experiences can be triggered by magic tricks and to systematically explore the phenomenology of the Aha! experience by breaking it down into five previously postulated dimensions. 34 video clips of different magic tricks were presented up to three times to 50 participants who had to find out how the trick was accomplished, and to indicate whether they had experienced an Aha! during the solving process. Participants then performed a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment of their Aha! experiences which was repeated after 14 days to control for its reliability. 41% of all suggested solutions were accompanied by an Aha! experience. The quantitative assessment remained stable across time in all five dimensions. Happiness was rated as the most important dimension. This primacy of positive emotions was also reflected in participants' qualitative self-reports which contained more emotional than cognitive aspects. Implementing magic tricks as problem solving task, we could show that strong Aha! experiences can be triggered if a trick is solved. We could at least partially capture the phenomenology of Aha! by identifying one prevailing aspect (positive emotions), a new aspect (release of tension upon gaining insight into a magic trick) and one less important aspect (impasse).

It's a kind of magic—what self-reports can reveal about the phenomenology of insight problem solving

PubMed Central

Danek, Amory H.; Fraps, Thomas; von Müller, Albrecht; Grothe, Benedikt; Öllinger, Michael

2014-01-01

Magic tricks usually remain a mystery to the observer. For the sake of science, we offered participants the opportunity to discover the magician's secret method by repeatedly presenting the same trick and asking them to find out how the trick worked. In the context of insightful problem solving, the present work investigated the emotions that participants experience upon solving a magic trick. We assumed that these emotions form the typical “Aha! experience” that accompanies insightful solutions to difficult problems. We aimed to show that Aha! experiences can be triggered by magic tricks and to systematically explore the phenomenology of the Aha! experience by breaking it down into five previously postulated dimensions. 34 video clips of different magic tricks were presented up to three times to 50 participants who had to find out how the trick was accomplished, and to indicate whether they had experienced an Aha! during the solving process. Participants then performed a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment of their Aha! experiences which was repeated after 14 days to control for its reliability. 41% of all suggested solutions were accompanied by an Aha! experience. The quantitative assessment remained stable across time in all five dimensions. Happiness was rated as the most important dimension. This primacy of positive emotions was also reflected in participants' qualitative self-reports which contained more emotional than cognitive aspects. Implementing magic tricks as problem solving task, we could show that strong Aha! experiences can be triggered if a trick is solved. We could at least partially capture the phenomenology of Aha! by identifying one prevailing aspect (positive emotions), a new aspect (release of tension upon gaining insight into a magic trick) and one less important aspect (impasse). PMID:25538658

The Big Splat, or How Our Moon Came to Be

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacKenzie, Dana

2003-03-01

The first popular book to explain the dramatic theory behind the Moon's genesis This lively science history relates one of the great recent breakthroughs in planetary astronomy-a successful theory of the birth of the Moon. Science journalist Dana Mackenzie traces the evolution of this theory, one little known outside the scientific community: a Mars-sized object collided with Earth some four billion years ago, and the remains of this colossal explosion-the Big Splat-came together to form the Moon. Beginning with notions of the Moon in ancient cosmologies, Mackenzie relates the fascinating history of lunar speculation, moving from Galileo and Kepler to George Darwin (son of Charles) and the Apollo astronauts, whose trips to the lunar surface helped solve one of the most enigmatic mysteries of the night sky: who hung the Moon? Dana Mackenzie (Santa Cruz, CA) is a freelance science journalist. His articles have appeared in such magazines as Science, Discover, American Scientist, The Sciences, and New Scientist.

Case Study: The Mystery of the Seven Deaths--A Case Study in Cellular Respiration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gazdik, Michaela

2014-01-01

Cellular respiration, the central component of cellular metabolism, can be a difficult concept for many students to fully understand. In this interrupted, problem-based case study, students explore the purpose of cellular respiration as they play the role of medical examiner, analyzing autopsy evidence to determine the mysterious cause of death…

Women of Mystery: Investigating Learning Pathways of Canadian and American Female Crime Fiction Writers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gouthro, Patricia A.

2014-01-01

This article explores the learning pathways of 15 Canadian and American female crime fiction authors. Using a critical feminist perspective, it argues that despite the neoliberal rhetoric of individual choice, as in most careers, there are social-structural factors that create opportunities and barriers for women mystery writers. The article…

Bringing Female Scientists into the Elementary Classroom: Confronting the Strength of Elementary Students' Stereotypical Images of Scientists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buck, Gayle A.; Leslie-Pelecky, Diandra; Kirby, Susan K.

2002-01-01

Explores the effectiveness of bringing female scientists into elementary classrooms to promote change in the stereotypical images of scientists. Indicates that despite the efforts of the scientists to encourage students to question their image of a scientist, students held onto stereotypical images. Uses both qualitative and quantitative methods…

Another Kind of Scientist Activism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marino, Lori

2009-01-01

In a well-cited 1996 editorial in "Science," "The Activist Scientist," Jaleh Daie calls for scientists to take an assertive role in educating politicians and the public about the importance of government support for research. She writes that most scientists are reluctant to become involved in political lobbying for a variety of reasons--time…

Developing School-Scientist Partnerships: Lessons for Scientists from Forests-of-Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falloon, Garry; Trewern, Ann

2013-02-01

The concept of partnerships between schools and practicing scientists came to prominence in the United States in the mid 1980s. The call by government for greater private sector involvement in education to raise standards in science achievement saw a variety of programmes developed, ranging from short-term sponsorships through to longer-term, project-based interactions. Recently, school-scientist partnerships (SSPs) have been rekindled as a means of assisting schools to motivate and inspire students in science, improve levels of teachers' science knowledge, and increase awareness of the type and variety of career opportunities available in the sciences (Rennie and Howitt, 2009). This article summarises research that used an interpretive case study method to examine the performance of a two-year SSP pilot between a government-owned science research institute, and 200 students from two Intermediate (years 7 and 8) schools in New Zealand. It explored the experiences of scientists involved in the partnerships, and revealed difficulties in bridging the void that existed between the outcomes-driven, commercially-focused world of research scientists, and the more process-oriented, tightly structured, and conservative world of teachers and schools. Findings highlight the pragmatic realities of establishing partnerships, from the perspective of scientists. These include acute awareness of the nature of school systems, conventions and environments; the science, technological and pedagogical knowledge of teachers; teacher workload issues and pressures, curriculum priorities and access to science resources. The article identifies areas where time and effort should be invested to ensure successful partnership outcomes.

From Scientist to Data Scientist: What Students and Educators Need to Know

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carver, R. W.

2014-12-01

Institutions have found while it is relatively easy to collect large heterogenous datasets, it is often difficult to gain insight from these collections. In response, the career of the data scientist has emerged to acquire, process, and analyze datasets for a wide range of problems. The relatively recent introduction of data scientists and the diversity of the tasks they perform present challenges for educators who want to prepare students for that role. In this contribution, I will describe the skillsets and expertise data scientist candidates should have when searching for a position. I will also discuss how educators should foster these skillsets and expertise in their students.

Consciousness platform: the greatest mystery of all time.

PubMed

Deutsch, Sid

2010-01-01

This article is about the model for a very controversial edifice--the many-sided foundation for consciousness. What I refer to is, undoubtedly, the greatest mystery of all time--why do we have an awareness of our own existence? What is the evolutionary advantage of consciousness? Much of the material printed about consciousness has a religious flavor, with references to the human spirit and/or extrasensory perception, but I will have none of that here. In this study, consciousness is tied in with a platform, not a physical platform, of course, but a conceptual platform. This is because we are most comfortable imagining or visualizing an actual platform that has many connections to various parts of the brain, a sort of an old-fashioned telephone switchboard.

Evolving Frameworks for Different Communities of Scientists and End Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graves, S. J.; Keiser, K.

2016-12-01

Two evolving frameworks for interdisciplinary science will be described in the context of the Common Data Framework for Earth-Observation Data and the importance of standards and protocols. The Event Data Driven Delivery (ED3) Framework, funded by NASA Applied Sciences, provides the delivery of data based on predetermined subscriptions and associated workflows to various communities of end users. ED3's capabilities are used by scientists, as well as policy and resource managers, when event alerts are triggered to respond to their needs. The EarthCube Integration and Testing Environment (ECITE) Assessment Framework for Technology Interoperability and Integration is being developed to facilitate the EarthCube community's assessment of NSF funded technologies addressing Earth science problems. ECITE is addressing the translation of geoscience researchers' use cases into technology use case that apply EarthCube-funded building block technologies (and other existing technologies) for solving science problems. EarthCube criteria for technology assessment include the use of data, metadata and service standards to improve interoperability and integration across program components. The long-range benefit will be the growth of a cyberinfrastructure with technology components that have been shown to work together to solve known science objectives.

Prions and lymphoid organs: solved and remaining mysteries.

PubMed

O'Connor, Tracy; Aguzzi, Adriano

2013-01-01

Prion colonization of secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs) is a critical step preceding neuroinvasion in prion pathogenesis. Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs), which depend on both tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) and lymphotoxin β receptor (LTβR) signaling for maintenance, are thought to be the primary sites of prion accumulation in SLOs. However, prion titers in RML-infected TNFR1 (-/-) lymph nodes and rates of neuroinvasion in TNFR1 (-/-) mice remain high despite the absence of mature FDCs. Recently, we discovered that TNFR1-independent prion accumulation in lymph nodes relies on LTβR signaling. Loss of LTβR signaling in TNFR1 (-/-) lymph nodes coincided with the de-differentiation of high endothelial venules (HEVs)-the primary sites of lymphocyte entry into lymph nodes. These findings suggest that HEVs are the sites through which prions initially invade lymph nodes from the bloodstream. Identification of HEVs as entry portals for prions clarifies a number of previous observations concerning peripheral prion pathogenesis. However, a number of questions still remain: What is the mechanism by which prions are taken up by HEVs? Which cells are responsible for delivering prions to lymph nodes? Are HEVs the main entry site for prions into lymph nodes or do alternative routes also exist? These questions and others are considered in this article.

Solving medical mysteries: hidden stresses and unexplained symptoms.

PubMed

Clarke, David D

2016-09-01

Medically unexplained symptoms and chronic functional syndromes are common but few healthcare professionals have had formal training about their connection to psychosocial issues. A systematic approach to diagnosis and treatment based on experience with over 7000 of these patients is described. Outcomes improve with assessment for and treatment of current life stresses, the prolonged impact of adversity in childhood and somatic presentations of depression, post-traumatic stress, and anxiety disorders.

The enigmatic star EZ Pegasi - A mystery solved?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howell, S. B.; Bopp, B. W.

1985-01-01

EZ Peg, a ninth-magnitude G star that has been classified by various authors as an irregular variable, a U Gem system, and a contact binary, is shown to have all the spectroscopic and photometric characteristics of an active-chromosphere RS CVn binary. It is suggested that the reported outburst of 1943, when the spectrum appeared to be that of a B star, never occurred. The strong Ca II H and K reversals, viewed with low spectral resolution, caused the photospheric Ca II absorption to appear abnormally weak, mimicking a much earlier spectral type.

Everyone Knows What a Scientist Looks Like: The Image of a Modern Scientist

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enevoldsen, Alice

2008-05-01

Children are inspired to follow career paths when they can imagine themselves there. Seeing pictures of adult individuals who look like them working in a given career can provide this spark to children's imaginations. Most (though not all) of the current available posters of scientists are of Einstein, and Einstein-like scientists. This is not representative of the current face of science. To change this, Pacific Science Center is hoping to host a photography exhibit: photographs of real, current scientists from all races, genders, beliefs, walks of life, and branches of science. Photos will be taken and short biographies written by Discovery Corps Interns (Pacific Science Center's youth development program) to increase the amount of direct contact between students and scientists, and to give the exhibit an emotional connection for local teachers and families. We hope to make the photographs from this exhibit available to teachers for use in their classrooms, in addition to being displayed at Pacific Science Center during the International Year of Astronomy. The objectives of this project are to fill a need for representative photographs of scientists in the world community and to meet two of the goals of International Year of Astronomy: to provide a modern image of science and scientists, and to improve the gender-balanced representation of scientists at all levels and promote greater involvement by underrepresented minorities in scientific and engineering careers. In this session I will present our preliminary plan for creating the photographs and working with the Discovery Corps youth, which will be available to other institutions interested in creating a similar project. I will also present more detail on the distribution plan for the photographs, so interested members and institutions can discuss contributing images to the project, or learn how they could receive copies of the photographs during IYA and beyond.

Trust in climate scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gauchat, Gordon

2018-06-01

Those who distrust climate scientists are more likely to be skeptical of climate change and reluctant to support mitigation policies. Now research shows that scientific interest in early adolescence is associated with increased trust in climate scientists in adulthood irrespective of political ideology.

Senior scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

A small task force of volunteer senior scientists and engineers was organized recently under the aegis of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) “to utilize its collective talents for the betterment of society and to provide opportunities for individual personal accomplishment and enrichment.” Among the projects under consideration are assisting the Washington, D.C., school system to improve its science and mathematics instruction and assessing the impact of technology on older persons.One of the task force's first projects is to develop a roster of retired scientists and engineers in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to garner volunteer talent for future projects.

Scientists and Human Rights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makdisi, Yousef

2012-02-01

The American Physical Society has a long history of involvement in defense of human rights. The Committee on International Freedom of Scientists was formed in the mid seventies as a subcommittee within the Panel On Public Affairs ``to deal with matters of an international nature that endangers the abilities of scientists to function as scientists'' and by 1980 it was established as an independent committee. In this presentation I will describe some aspects of the early history and the impetus that led to such an advocacy, the methods employed then and how they evolved to the present CIFS responsibility ``for monitoring concerns regarding human rights for scientists throughout the world''. I will also describe the current approach and some sample cases the committee has pursued recently, the interaction with other human rights organizations, and touch upon some venues through which the community can engage to help in this noble cause.

On Recursive Policy Envelopes and Exposure Management: The Mysterious Survival of a Governmental Guideline

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markussen, Rolf Andreas; Wackers, Ger

2015-01-01

Guidelines play a vital role in the governance of professional practitioners in the frontline of the welfare state towards practices based on scientific knowledge. However the viability of guidelines as a genre of governing devices is by no means self-evident. This article interrogates the somewhat mysterious survival of one particular guideline.…

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Brief Case of the Vile Humour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Ken

2012-01-01

This story is a chemical mystery with an emphasis on qualitative analysis. It is, as well, part of a body of work that presents a scientific problem in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters of 221B Baker Street. A break within the story allows readers to ponder and solve the mystery. Holmes and Watson provide the…

Half-lit Enceladus

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-10-12

A world whose mysteries are just coming to light, Enceladus has enchanted scientists and non-scientists alike. With its potential for near-surface liquid water, the icy moon may be the latest addition to the list of possible abodes for life

The Effect of Mystery Shopper Reports on Age Verification for Tobacco Purchases

PubMed Central

KREVOR, BRAD S.; PONICKI, WILLIAM R.; GRUBE, JOEL W.; DeJONG, WILLIAM

2011-01-01

Mystery shops (MS) involving attempted tobacco purchases by young buyers have been employed to monitor retail stores’ performance in refusing underage sales. Anecdotal evidence suggests that MS visits with immediate feedback to store personnel can improve age verification. This study investigated the impact of monthly and twice-monthly MS reports on age verification. Forty-five Walgreens stores were each visited 20 times by mystery shoppers. The stores were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Control group stores received no feedback, whereas two treatment groups received feedback communications every visit (twice monthly) or every second visit (monthly) after baseline. Logit regression models tested whether each treatment group improved verification rates relative to the control group. Post-baseline verification rates were higher in both treatment groups than in the control group, but only the stores receiving monthly communications had a significantly greater improvement than control group stores. Verification rates increased significantly during the study period for all three groups, with delayed improvement among control group stores. Communication between managers regarding the MS program may account for the delayed age-verification improvements observed in the control group stores. Encouraging inter-store communication might extend the benefits of MS programs beyond those stores that receive this intervention. PMID:21541874

Preparing Planetary Scientists to Engage Audiences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shupla, C. B.; Shaner, A. J.; Hackler, A. S.

2017-12-01

While some planetary scientists have extensive experience sharing their science with audiences, many can benefit from guidance on giving presentations or conducting activities for students. The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) provides resources and trainings to support planetary scientists in their communication efforts. Trainings have included sessions for students and early career scientists at conferences (providing opportunities for them to practice their delivery and receive feedback for their poster and oral presentations), as well as separate communication workshops on how to engage various audiences. LPI has similarly begun coaching planetary scientists to help them prepare their public presentations. LPI is also helping to connect different audiences and their requests for speakers to planetary scientists. Scientists have been key contributors in developing and conducting activities in LPI education and public events. LPI is currently working with scientists to identify and redesign short planetary science activities for scientists to use with different audiences. The activities will be tied to fundamental planetary science concepts, with basic materials and simple modifications to engage different ages and audience size and background. Input from the planetary science community on these efforts is welcome. Current results and resources, as well as future opportunities will be shared.

Fecundity of the Chinese mystery snail in a Nebraska reservoir

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stephen, Bruce J.; Allen, Craig R.; Chaine, Noelle M.; Fricke, Kent A.; Haak, Danielle M.; Hellman, Michelle L.; Kill, Robert A.; Nemec, Kristine T.; Pope, Kevin L.; Smeenk, Nicholas A.; Uden, Daniel R.; Unstad, Kody M.; VanderHam, Ashley E.; Wong, Alec

2013-01-01

The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) is a non-indigenous, invasive species in freshwater ecosystems of North America. We provide fecundity estimates for a population of these snails in a Nebraska reservoir. We dissected 70 snails, of which 29 were females. Nearly all female snails contained developing young, with an average of 25 young per female. Annual fecundity was estimated at between 27.2 and 33.3 young per female per year. Based on an estimated adult population and the calculated fecundity, the annual production for this reservoir was between 2.2 and 3.7 million young.

Spectroscopic Sleuthing. An Introduction to Forensic Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zdravkovich, Vera; Cunniff, Patricia A.

1991-01-01

Described is a program in which students learn about spectroscopy and instrumentation to solve a chemical forensic mystery. Infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, refractometry, and chromatographic techniques were used. An example of a mystery case is included. (KR)

Reconciling Scientists and Journalists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosner, H.

2006-12-01

The very nature of scientists' and journalists' jobs can put them at cross-purposes. Scientists work for years on one research project, slowly accumulating data, and are hesitant to draw sweeping conclusions without multiple rounds of hypothesis-testing. Journalists, meanwhile, are often looking for "news"—a discovery that was just made ("scientists have just discovered that...") or that defies conventional wisdom and is therefore about to turn society's thinking on its head. The very criteria that the mediamakers often use to determine newsworthiness can automatically preclude some scientific progress from making the news. There are other built-in problems in the relationship between journalists and scientists, some of which we can try to change and others of which we can learn to work around. Drawing on my personal experience as a journalist who has written for a wide variety of magazines, newspapers, and web sites, this talk will illustrate some of the inherent difficulties and offer some suggestions for how to move beyond them. It will provide a background on the way news decisions are made and how the journalist does her job, with an eye toward finding common ground and demonstrating how scientists can enjoy better relationships with journalists—relationships that can help educate the public on important scientific topics and avoid misrepresentation of scientific knowledge in the media.

Scientist Spotlight Homework Assignments Shift Students’ Stereotypes of Scientists and Enhance Science Identity in a Diverse Introductory Science Class

PubMed Central

Schinske, Jeffrey N.; Perkins, Heather; Snyder, Amanda; Wyer, Mary

2016-01-01

Research into science identity, stereotype threat, and possible selves suggests a lack of diverse representations of scientists could impede traditionally underserved students from persisting and succeeding in science. We evaluated a series of metacognitive homework assignments (“Scientist Spotlights”) that featured counterstereotypical examples of scientists in an introductory biology class at a diverse community college. Scientist Spotlights additionally served as tools for content coverage, as scientists were selected to match topics covered each week. We analyzed beginning- and end-of-course essays completed by students during each of five courses with Scientist Spotlights and two courses with equivalent homework assignments that lacked connections to the stories of diverse scientists. Students completing Scientist Spotlights shifted toward counterstereotypical descriptions of scientists and conveyed an enhanced ability to personally relate to scientists following the intervention. Longitudinal data suggested these shifts were maintained 6 months after the completion of the course. Analyses further uncovered correlations between these shifts, interest in science, and course grades. As Scientist Spotlights require very little class time and complement existing curricula, they represent a promising tool for enhancing science identity, shifting stereotypes, and connecting content to issues of equity and diversity in a broad range of STEM classrooms. PMID:27587856

Read Like a Scientist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mawyer, Kirsten K. N.; Johnson, Heather J.

2017-01-01

Scientists read, and so should students. Unfortunately, many high school teachers overlook science texts as a way to engage students in the work of scientists. This article addresses how to help students develop literacy skills by strategically reading a variety of science texts. Unfortunately, most science teachers aren't trained to teach…

Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific Thinking through an Investigation of Scientists Views about Superstitions and Religious Beliefs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coll, Richard K.; Lay, Mark C.; Taylor, Neil

2008-01-01

Scientific literacy is explored in this paper which describes two studies that seek to understand a particular feature of the nature of science; namely scientists' habits of mind. The research investigated scientists' views of scientific evidence and how scientists judge evidence claims. The first study is concerned with scientists' views of what…

Just like Real Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Betteley, Pat

2009-01-01

How do you inspire students to keep records like scientists? Share the primary research of real scientists and explicitly teach students how to keep records--that's how! Therefore, a group of third-grade students and their teacher studied the work of famous primatologist Jane Goodall and her modern-day counterpart Ian Gilby. After learning about…

Whose DNA is this? How relevant a question? (a note for forensic scientists).

PubMed

Taroni, Franco; Biedermann, Alex; Vuille, Joëlle; Morling, Niels

2013-07-01

This communication seeks to draw the attention of researchers and practitioners dealing with forensic DNA profiling analyses to the following question: is a scientist's report, offering support to a hypothesis according to which a particular individual is the source of DNA detected during the analysis of a stain, relevant from the point of view of a Court of Justice? This question relates to skeptical views previously voiced by commentators mainly in the judicial area, but is avoided by a large majority of forensic scientists. Notwithstanding, the pivotal role of this question has recently been evoked during the international conference "The hidden side of DNA profiles. Artifacts, errors and uncertain evidence" held in Rome (April 27th to 28th, 2012). Indeed, despite the fact that this conference brought together some of the world's leading forensic DNA specialists, it appeared clearly that a huge gap still exists between questions lawyers are actually interested in, and the answers that scientists deliver to Courts in written reports or during oral testimony. Participants in the justice system, namely lawyers and jurors on the one hand and forensic geneticists on the other, unfortunately talk considerably different languages. It thus is fundamental to address this issue of communication about results of forensic DNA analyses, and open a dialogue with practicing non-scientists at large who need to make meaningful use of scientific results to approach and help solve judicial cases. This paper intends to emphasize the actuality of this topic and suggest beneficial ways ahead towards a more reasoned use of forensic DNA in criminal proceedings. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Some Psychological Knowledge for Scientists' Use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miclea, Mircea

2008-01-01

Relying on empirical evidences our paper presents the most salient personality traits, developmental factors and cognitive characteristics of the scientists. We claim that a sound exploration of scientists' mind and patterns of behavior could improve public support for science and enhance scientists' mutual understanding.

Scientists Like Me: Faces of Discovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enevoldsen, A. A. G.; Culp, S.; Trinh, A.

2010-08-01

During the International Year of Astronomy, Pacific Science Center is hosting a photography exhibit: Scientists Like Me: Faces of Discovery. The exhibit contains photographs of real, current astronomers and scientists working in astronomy and aerospace-related fields from many races, genders, cultural affiliations and walks of life. The photographs were taken and posters designed by Alyssa Trinh and Sarah Culp, high school interns in Discovery Corps, Pacific Science Center's youth development program. The direct contact between the scientists and the interns helps the intended audience of teachers and families personally connect with scientists. The finished posters from this exhibit are available online (http://pacificsciencecenter.org/scientists) for teachers to use in their classrooms, in addition to being displayed at Pacific Science Center and becoming part of Pacific Science Center's permanent art rotation. The objective of this project was to fill a need for representative photographs of scientists in the world community. It also met two of the goals of International Year of Astronomy: to provide a modern image of science and scientists, and to improve the gender-balanced representation of scientists at all levels and promote greater involvement by all people in scientific and engineering careers. We would like to build on the success of this project and create an annual summer internship, with different interns, focusing on creating posters for different fields of science.

Physician-scientist, heal thyself . . .

PubMed

Marks, Andrew R

2007-01-01

Historically, physician-scientists have had dual roles in caring for patients and in performing investigative research that could potentially lead to new diagnostics and therapeutics. Physician-scientists conducted teaching rounds in the hospital, surrounded by eager house staff and medical students, and were often avidly pursued as the most important sources of new knowledge for trainees. But alas, times have changed. Now physician-scientists are rarely seen in the hospital; they are most often spotted at their desks tapping out yet another grant application. Most struggle to find the time to mentor students and clinical trainees, let alone to care for patients in the hospital, even though these interactions are often the motivating forces for scientific creativity.

A mystery of black-hole gravitational resonances

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hod, Shahar; The Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem 91010

More than three decades ago, Detweiler provided an analytical formula for the gravitational resonant frequencies of rapidly-rotating Kerr black holes. In the present work we shall discuss an important discrepancy between the famous analytical prediction of Detweiler and the recent numerical results of Zimmerman et al. In addition, we shall refute the claim that recently appeared in the physics literature that the Detweiler-Teukolsky-Press resonance equation for the characteristic gravitational eigenfrequencies of rapidly-rotating Kerr black holes is not valid in the regime of damped quasinormal resonances with ℑω/T{sub BH}≫1 (here ω and T{sub BH} are respectively the characteristic quasinormal resonant frequencymore » of the Kerr black hole and its Bekenstein-Hawking temperature). The main goal of the present paper is to highlight and expose this important black-hole quasinormal mystery (that is, the intriguing discrepancy between the analytical and numerical results regarding the gravitational quasinormal resonance spectra of rapidly-rotating Kerr black holes).« less

Scientist Examines Tornado Vortex

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

In this Quick Time movie, a scientist examines what appears to be a tornado vortex (blue) coming out of a thunderstorm. The scientist uses 3D glasses to be able to see in 3 dimensions the different flows going out into the vortex. Earth science and weather studies are an important ongoing function of NASA and its affiliates.

Mysterious Roving Rocks of Racetrack Playa

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

The rocks are famous because they move, leaving tell-tale trails in the clay, like this one. This happens at several playa in California and Nevada. There's no record of anybody seeing one of the rocks move, and scientists aren't quite sure how it happens. But they know that it's not the work of animals, gravity, or earthquakes. Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/Cynthia Cheung To read a feature story on the Racetrack Playa go to: www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/roving-rocks.html NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. Follow us on Twitter Join us on Facebook

Physical Biology of the Materials-Microorganism Interface.

PubMed

Sakimoto, Kelsey K; Kornienko, Nikolay; Cestellos-Blanco, Stefano; Lim, Jongwoo; Liu, Chong; Yang, Peidong

2018-02-14

Future solar-to-chemical production will rely upon a deep understanding of the material-microorganism interface. Hybrid technologies, which combine inorganic semiconductor light harvesters with biological catalysis to transform light, air, and water into chemicals, already demonstrate a wide product scope and energy efficiencies surpassing that of natural photosynthesis. But optimization to economic competitiveness and fundamental curiosity beg for answers to two basic questions: (1) how do materials transfer energy and charge to microorganisms, and (2) how do we design for bio- and chemocompatibility between these seemingly unnatural partners? This Perspective highlights the state-of-the-art and outlines future research paths to inform the cadre of spectroscopists, electrochemists, bioinorganic chemists, material scientists, and biologists who will ultimately solve these mysteries.

Scientists Talking to Students through Videos

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Junjun; Cowie, Bronwen

2014-01-01

The benefits of connecting school students with scientists are well documented. This paper reports how New Zealand teachers brought scientists into the classrooms through the use of videos of New Zealand scientists talking about themselves and their research. Two researchers observed lessons in 9 different classrooms in which 23 educational videos…

Investigating How the Biographies of Today's Scientists Affect 8th Graders' Scientist Image

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karaçam, Sedat

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate how a poster study focusing on the biographies of today's scientists affected 8th graders' scientist images. The study utilized a mixed model which combined qualitative and quantitative research techniques. 142 8th graders from a secondary school in Ankara Province Keçiören District participated in the study.…

Unveiling MERCURY's Mysteries with Bepicolombo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benkhoff, J.; Fujimoto, M.; Murakami, G.; Zender, J.

2017-09-01

NASA's MESSENGER mission has fundamentally changed our view of the innermost planet. Mercury is in many ways a very different planet from what we were expecting. Now BepiColombo has to follow up on answering the fundamental questions that MESSENGER raised and go beyond. The authors are the JAXA and ESA Project Scientists of this wonderful mission.

Engaging Scientists in NASA Education and Public Outreach: Tools for Scientist Engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Meinke, B. K.; Hsu, B.; Shupla, C.; Grier, J. A.; E/PO Community, SMD

2014-01-01

The NASA Science Education and Public Outreach Forums support the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and its education and public outreach (E/PO) community through a coordinated effort to enhance the coherence and efficiency of SMD-funded E/PO programs. The Forums foster collaboration between scientists with content expertise and educators with pedagogy expertise. We present tools and resources to support astronomers’ engagement in E/PO efforts. Among the tools designed specifically for scientists are a series of one-page E/PO-engagement Tips and Tricks guides, a sampler of electromagnetic-spectrum-related activities, and NASA SMD Scientist Speaker’s Bureau (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/speaker). Scientists can also locate resources for interacting with diverse audiences through a number of online clearinghouses, including: NASA Wavelength, a digital collection of peer-reviewed Earth and space science resources for educators of all levels (http://nasawavelength.org), and EarthSpace (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace), a community website where faculty can find and share teaching resources for the undergraduate Earth and space sciences classroom. Learn more about the opportunities to become involved in E/PO and to share your science with students, educators, and the general public at http://smdepo.org.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Death Puzzle at 221B Baker Street

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rybolt, Thomas R.; Waddell, Thomas G.

1999-04-01

This story describes a chemical mystery with an emphasis on medicinal chemistry and qualitative analysis. It is the tenth article in a series presenting a scientific problem in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where the reader (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes then provides his solution.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Ghost of Gordon Square

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waddell, Thomas G.; Rybolt, Thomas R.

2000-04-01

This story describes a scientific mystery with an emphasis on chemical magic. It is the 11th in a series presenting chemical problems in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where the reader (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break.

Helping Young People Engage with Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leggett, Maggie; Sykes, Kathy

2014-01-01

There can be multiple benefits of scientists engaging with young people, including motivation and inspiration for all involved. But there are risks, particularly if scientists do not consider the interests and needs of young people or listen to what they have to say. We argue that "dialogue" between scientists, young people and teachers…

Developing the Talents of Teacher/Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, George

2004-01-01

Going on an expedition enables teachers to become better scientists and researchers and, thus, better classroom instructors. Teachers have the opportunities to go on exotic field trips around the world as amateur research assistants, do hands on research in their own backyards, or vicariously experience another scientist?s work via the Internet. A…

Connect the Book: The Tarantula Scientist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brodie, Carolyn S.

2005-01-01

This column describes the book, "The Tarantula Scientist," that features the work of arachnologist Sam Marshall, a scientist who studies spiders and their eight-legged relatives. Marshall is one of only four or five scientists who specializes in the study of tarantulas. The informative text and outstanding photographs follow Sam as he…

Swedish Scientists have Solved Honey's Enigma

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Recently, it was discovered by Olofsson and Vasquez (2008) that a novel flora composed of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, exists in the honey stomach of the honey bee Apis mellifera. The twelve different flora members varied numerically with the sources o...

Characterizing Mystery Cell Lines: Student-driven Research Projects in an Undergraduate Neuroscience Laboratory Course.

PubMed

Lemons, Michele L

2012-01-01

Inquiry-based projects promote discovery and retention of key concepts, increase student engagement, and stimulate interest in research. Described here are a series of lab exercises within an undergraduate upper level neuroscience course that train students to design, execute and analyze their own hypothesis-driven research project. Prior to developing their own projects, students learn several research techniques including aseptic cell culture, cell line maintenance, immunocytochemistry and fluorescent microscopy. Working in groups, students choose how to use these techniques to characterize and identify a "mystery" cell line. Each lab group is given a unique cell line with either a neural, astrocyte, or Schwann cell origin. Working together, students plan and execute experiments to determine the cellular origin and other unique characteristics of their mystery cell line. Students generate testable hypotheses, design interpretable experiments, generate and analyze data, and report their findings in both oral and written formats. Students receive instructor and peer feedback throughout the entire project. In summary, these labs train students the process of scientific research. This series of lab exercises received very strong positive feedback from the students. Reflections on student feedback and plans for future improvements are discussed.

Professional Ethics for Climate Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peacock, K.; Mann, M. E.

2014-12-01

Several authors have warned that climate scientists sometimes exhibit a tendency to "err on the side of least drama" in reporting the risks associated with fossil fuel emissions. Scientists are often reluctant to comment on the implications of their work for public policy, despite the fact that because of their expertise they may be among those best placed to make recommendations about such matters as mitigation and preparedness. Scientists often have little or no training in ethics or philosophy, and consequently they may feel that they lack clear guidelines for balancing the imperative to avoid error against the need to speak out when it may be ethically required to do so. This dilemma becomes acute in cases such as abrupt ice sheet collapse where it is easier to identify a risk than to assess its probability. We will argue that long-established codes of ethics in the learned professions such as medicine and engineering offer a model that can guide research scientists in cases like this, and we suggest that ethical training could be regularly incorporated into graduate curricula in fields such as climate science and geology. We recognize that there are disanalogies between professional and scientific ethics, the most important of which is that codes of ethics are typically written into the laws that govern licensed professions such as engineering. Presently, no one can legally compel a research scientist to be ethical, although legal precedent may evolve such that scientists are increasingly expected to communicate their knowledge of risks. We will show that the principles of professional ethics can be readily adapted to define an ethical code that could be voluntarily adopted by scientists who seek clearer guidelines in an era of rapid climate change.

Scientist Spotlight Homework Assignments Shift Students' Stereotypes of Scientists and Enhance Science Identity in a Diverse Introductory Science Class.

PubMed

Schinske, Jeffrey N; Perkins, Heather; Snyder, Amanda; Wyer, Mary

2016-01-01

Research into science identity, stereotype threat, and possible selves suggests a lack of diverse representations of scientists could impede traditionally underserved students from persisting and succeeding in science. We evaluated a series of metacognitive homework assignments ("Scientist Spotlights") that featured counterstereotypical examples of scientists in an introductory biology class at a diverse community college. Scientist Spotlights additionally served as tools for content coverage, as scientists were selected to match topics covered each week. We analyzed beginning- and end-of-course essays completed by students during each of five courses with Scientist Spotlights and two courses with equivalent homework assignments that lacked connections to the stories of diverse scientists. Students completing Scientist Spotlights shifted toward counterstereotypical descriptions of scientists and conveyed an enhanced ability to personally relate to scientists following the intervention. Longitudinal data suggested these shifts were maintained 6 months after the completion of the course. Analyses further uncovered correlations between these shifts, interest in science, and course grades. As Scientist Spotlights require very little class time and complement existing curricula, they represent a promising tool for enhancing science identity, shifting stereotypes, and connecting content to issues of equity and diversity in a broad range of STEM classrooms. © 2016 J. N. Schinske et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

How can we improve problem solving in undergraduate biology? Applying lessons from 30 years of physics education research.

PubMed

Hoskinson, A-M; Caballero, M D; Knight, J K

2013-06-01

If students are to successfully grapple with authentic, complex biological problems as scientists and citizens, they need practice solving such problems during their undergraduate years. Physics education researchers have investigated student problem solving for the past three decades. Although physics and biology problems differ in structure and content, the instructional purposes align closely: explaining patterns and processes in the natural world and making predictions about physical and biological systems. In this paper, we discuss how research-supported approaches developed by physics education researchers can be adopted by biologists to enhance student problem-solving skills. First, we compare the problems that biology students are typically asked to solve with authentic, complex problems. We then describe the development of research-validated physics curricula emphasizing process skills in problem solving. We show that solving authentic, complex biology problems requires many of the same skills that practicing physicists and biologists use in representing problems, seeking relationships, making predictions, and verifying or checking solutions. We assert that acquiring these skills can help biology students become competent problem solvers. Finally, we propose how biology scholars can apply lessons from physics education in their classrooms and inspire new studies in biology education research.

How Can We Improve Problem Solving in Undergraduate Biology? Applying Lessons from 30 Years of Physics Education Research

PubMed Central

Hoskinson, A.-M.; Caballero, M. D.; Knight, J. K.

2013-01-01

If students are to successfully grapple with authentic, complex biological problems as scientists and citizens, they need practice solving such problems during their undergraduate years. Physics education researchers have investigated student problem solving for the past three decades. Although physics and biology problems differ in structure and content, the instructional purposes align closely: explaining patterns and processes in the natural world and making predictions about physical and biological systems. In this paper, we discuss how research-supported approaches developed by physics education researchers can be adopted by biologists to enhance student problem-solving skills. First, we compare the problems that biology students are typically asked to solve with authentic, complex problems. We then describe the development of research-validated physics curricula emphasizing process skills in problem solving. We show that solving authentic, complex biology problems requires many of the same skills that practicing physicists and biologists use in representing problems, seeking relationships, making predictions, and verifying or checking solutions. We assert that acquiring these skills can help biology students become competent problem solvers. Finally, we propose how biology scholars can apply lessons from physics education in their classrooms and inspire new studies in biology education research. PMID:23737623

Solving Differential Equations in R: Package deSolve

EPA Science Inventory

In this paper we present the R package deSolve to solve initial value problems (IVP) written as ordinary differential equations (ODE), differential algebraic equations (DAE) of index 0 or 1 and partial differential equations (PDE), the latter solved using the method of lines appr...

The effects of using diagramming as a representational technique on high school students' achievement in solving math word problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Banmali

Methods and procedures for successfully solving math word problems have been, and continue to be a mystery to many U.S. high school students. Previous studies suggest that the contextual and mathematical understanding of a word problem, along with the development of schemas and their related external representations, positively contribute to students' accomplishments when solving word problems. Some studies have examined the effects of diagramming on students' abilities to solve word problems that only involved basic arithmetic operations. Other studies have investigated how instructional models that used technology influenced students' problem solving achievements. Still other studies have used schema-based instruction involving students with learning disabilities. No study has evaluated regular high school students' achievements in solving standard math word problems using a diagramming technique without technological aid. This study evaluated students' achievement in solving math word problems using a diagramming technique. Using a quasi-experimental experimental pretest-posttest research design, quantitative data were collected from 172 grade 11 Hispanic English language learners (ELLS) and African American learners whose first language is English (EFLLs) in 18 classes at an inner city high school in Northern New Jersey. There were 88 control and 84 experimental students. The pretest and posttest of each participating student and samples of the experimental students' class assignments provided the qualitative data for the study. The data from this study exhibited that the diagramming method of solving math word problems significantly improved student achievement in the experimental group (p<.01) compared to the control group. The study demonstrated that urban, high school, ELLs benefited from instruction that placed emphasis on the mathematical vocabulary and symbols used in word problems and that both ELLs and EFLLs improved their problem solving success

High school students' understanding and problem solving in population genetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soderberg, Patti D.

This study is an investigation of student understanding of population genetics and how students developed, used and revised conceptual models to solve problems. The students in this study participated in three rounds of problem solving. The first round involved the use of a population genetics model to predict the number of carriers in a population. The second round required them to revise their model of simple dominance population genetics to make inferences about populations containing three phenotype variations. The third round of problem solving required the students to revise their model of population genetics to explain anomalous data where the proportions of males and females with a trait varied significantly. As the students solved problems, they were involved in basic scientific processes as they observed population phenomena, constructed explanatory models to explain the data they observed, and attempted to persuade their peers as to the adequacy of their models. In this study, the students produced new knowledge about the genetics of a trait in a population through the revision and use of explanatory population genetics models using reasoning that was similar to what scientists do. The students learned, used and revised a model of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to generate and test hypotheses about the genetics of phenotypes given only population data. Students were also interviewed prior to and following instruction. This study suggests that a commonly held intuitive belief about the predominance of a dominant variation in populations is resistant to change, despite instruction and interferes with a student's ability to understand Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and microevolution.

What Is the (ethical) Role of Scientists?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oreskes, N.

2014-12-01

Many scientists are reluctant to speak out on issues of broad societal importance for fear that doing so crosses into territory that is not the scientists' domain. Others fear that scientists lose credibility when they address ethical and moral issues. A related concern is that discussing social or ethical questions runs the risk of politicizing science. Yet history shows that in the past, scientists often have spoken out on broad issues of societal concern, often (although not always) effectively. This paper explores the conditions under which scientists may be effective spokesmen and women on ethical and moral choices, and suggests some criteria by which scientists might decide when and whether it is appropriate for them to speak out beyond the circles of other technical experts.

Who Believes in the Storybook Image of the Scientist?

PubMed

Veldkamp, Coosje L S; Hartgerink, Chris H J; van Assen, Marcel A L M; Wicherts, Jelte M

2017-01-01

Do lay people and scientists themselves recognize that scientists are human and therefore prone to human fallibilities such as error, bias, and even dishonesty? In a series of three experimental studies and one correlational study (total N = 3,278) we found that the "storybook image of the scientist" is pervasive: American lay people and scientists from over 60 countries attributed considerably more objectivity, rationality, open-mindedness, intelligence, integrity, and communality to scientists than to other highly-educated people. Moreover, scientists perceived even larger differences than lay people did. Some groups of scientists also differentiated between different categories of scientists: established scientists attributed higher levels of the scientific traits to established scientists than to early-career scientists and Ph.D. students, and higher levels to Ph.D. students than to early-career scientists. Female scientists attributed considerably higher levels of the scientific traits to female scientists than to male scientists. A strong belief in the storybook image and the (human) tendency to attribute higher levels of desirable traits to people in one's own group than to people in other groups may decrease scientists' willingness to adopt recently proposed practices to reduce error, bias and dishonesty in science.

The mystery of language evolution

PubMed Central

Hauser, Marc D.; Yang, Charles; Berwick, Robert C.; Tattersall, Ian; Ryan, Michael J.; Watumull, Jeffrey; Chomsky, Noam; Lewontin, Richard C.

2014-01-01

Understanding the evolution of language requires evidence regarding origins and processes that led to change. In the last 40 years, there has been an explosion of research on this problem as well as a sense that considerable progress has been made. We argue instead that the richness of ideas is accompanied by a poverty of evidence, with essentially no explanation of how and why our linguistic computations and representations evolved. We show that, to date, (1) studies of nonhuman animals provide virtually no relevant parallels to human linguistic communication, and none to the underlying biological capacity; (2) the fossil and archaeological evidence does not inform our understanding of the computations and representations of our earliest ancestors, leaving details of origins and selective pressure unresolved; (3) our understanding of the genetics of language is so impoverished that there is little hope of connecting genes to linguistic processes any time soon; (4) all modeling attempts have made unfounded assumptions, and have provided no empirical tests, thus leaving any insights into language's origins unverifiable. Based on the current state of evidence, we submit that the most fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of our linguistic capacity remain as mysterious as ever, with considerable uncertainty about the discovery of either relevant or conclusive evidence that can adjudicate among the many open hypotheses. We conclude by presenting some suggestions about possible paths forward. PMID:24847300

The mystery of language evolution.

PubMed

Hauser, Marc D; Yang, Charles; Berwick, Robert C; Tattersall, Ian; Ryan, Michael J; Watumull, Jeffrey; Chomsky, Noam; Lewontin, Richard C

2014-01-01

Understanding the evolution of language requires evidence regarding origins and processes that led to change. In the last 40 years, there has been an explosion of research on this problem as well as a sense that considerable progress has been made. We argue instead that the richness of ideas is accompanied by a poverty of evidence, with essentially no explanation of how and why our linguistic computations and representations evolved. We show that, to date, (1) studies of nonhuman animals provide virtually no relevant parallels to human linguistic communication, and none to the underlying biological capacity; (2) the fossil and archaeological evidence does not inform our understanding of the computations and representations of our earliest ancestors, leaving details of origins and selective pressure unresolved; (3) our understanding of the genetics of language is so impoverished that there is little hope of connecting genes to linguistic processes any time soon; (4) all modeling attempts have made unfounded assumptions, and have provided no empirical tests, thus leaving any insights into language's origins unverifiable. Based on the current state of evidence, we submit that the most fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of our linguistic capacity remain as mysterious as ever, with considerable uncertainty about the discovery of either relevant or conclusive evidence that can adjudicate among the many open hypotheses. We conclude by presenting some suggestions about possible paths forward.

The mysterious demise of an ice-age relic: exposing the cause of yellow-cedar decline.

Treesearch

Jonathan Thompson

2007-01-01

For more than a century, yellow-cedar has been inexplicably dying throughout the northern coastal rain forests of the Pacific Northwest. Yellow-cedar mortality has been mapped on more than a half million acres in southeastern Alaska, yet until recently the cause of death was a stubborn mystery. Researchers are hopeful, after several decades of investigation, that they...

ER-2 #809 and DC-8 in Arena Arctica hangar in Kiruna, Sweden prior to the SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE)

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-01-23

NASA ER-2 # 809 and its DC-8 shown in Arena Arctica before the SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE). The two airborne science platforms were based north of the Arctic Circle in Kiruna, Sweden, during the winter of 2000 to study ozone depletion as part of SOLVE. A large hangar built especially for research, "Arena Arctica" housed the instrumented aircraft and the scientists. Scientists have observed unusually low levels of ozone over the Arctic during recent winters, raising concerns that ozone depletion there could become more widespread as in the Antarctic ozone hole. The NASA-sponsored international mission took place between November 1999 and March 2000 and was divided into three phases. The DC-8 was involved in all three phases returning to Dryden between each phase. The ER-2 flew sample collection flights between January and March, remaining in Sweden from Jan. 9 through March 16. "The collaborative campaign will provide an immense new body of information about the Arctic stratosphere," said program scientist Dr. Michael Kurylo, NASA Headquarters. "Our understanding of the Earth's ozone will be greatly enhanced by this research."

Big Mysteries: Dark Energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lincoln, Don

2014-04-15

Scientists were shocked in 1998 when the expansion of the universe wasn't slowing down as expected by our best understanding of gravity at the time; the expansion was speeding up! That observation is just mind blowing, and yet it is true. In order to explain the data, physicists had to resurrect an abandoned idea of Einstein's now called dark energy. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln tells us a little about the observations that led to the hypothesis of dark energy and what is the status of current research on the subject.

Big Mysteries: Dark Energy

ScienceCinema

Lincoln, Don

2018-01-16

Scientists were shocked in 1998 when the expansion of the universe wasn't slowing down as expected by our best understanding of gravity at the time; the expansion was speeding up! That observation is just mind blowing, and yet it is true. In order to explain the data, physicists had to resurrect an abandoned idea of Einstein's now called dark energy. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln tells us a little about the observations that led to the hypothesis of dark energy and what is the status of current research on the subject.

The identity of the mysterious "Azara's Parakeet" Sittace flaviventris Wagler, 1832.

PubMed

Smith, Paul

2018-06-25

Sittace flaviventris Wagler, 1832 was the name given to Azara's No. 276 "Maracaná cabeza y encuentro roxos", but since then the identity of the species has remained a mystery. Based on a tail-less domestic individual, it has most often been attributed to an aberrant Aratinga parakeet, and is currently considered a doubtful taxon. In this note the identity of "Azara's Parakeet" is confirmed as Red-spectacled Amazon Amazona pretrei (Temminck, 1830), a species that still occurs today in the region from where Azara described it. Sittace flaviventris is thus a junior synonym of Amazona pretrei.

The physician-scientists: rare species in Africa.

PubMed

Adefuye, Anthonio Oladele; Adeola, Henry Ademola; Bezuidenhout, Johan

2018-01-01

There is paucity of physician-scientists in Africa, resulting in overt dependence of clinical practice on research findings from advanced "first world" countries. Physician-scientists include individuals with a medical degree alone or combined with other advanced degrees (e.g. MD/MBChB and PhD) with a career path in biomedical/ translational and patient-oriented/evaluative science research. The paucity of clinically trained research scientists in Africa could result in dire consequences as exemplified in the recent Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, where shortage of skilled clinical scientists, played a major role in disease progression and mortality. Here we contextualise the role of physician-scientist in health care management, highlight factors limiting the training of physician-scientist in Africa and proffer implementable recommendations to address these factors.

Successful scientist: What's the winning formula?

PubMed

Stull, April J; Ciappio, Eric D

2014-11-01

What does it take to become a successful scientist? This question is usually asked or thought about at some point in a young scientist's career. The early stages of a scientific career are fraught with many hardships, and achieving success can seem impossible and daunting. After encountering many obstacles, it becomes easy to focus on failures and lose sight of career goals. The journey to success can seem so simple when looked upon from the outside, but even the best scientists have endured many hardships, which are often not communicated. This educational symposium featured a diverse panel of 5 accomplished scientists representing different work environments, such as government, industry, and academia. They discussed tips on how to have a successful career journey and the key qualities of a successful scientist. Also, they revealed the secret to what's in the winning formula for success. © 2014 American Society for Nutrition.

Scientists and Educators Working Together: Everyone Teaches, Everyone Learns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebofsky, Larry A.; Lebofsky, N. R.; McCarthy, D. W.; Canizo, T. L.; Schmitt, W.; Higgins, M. L.

2013-10-01

The primary author has been working with three of the authors (Lebofsky, McCarthy, and Cañizo) for nearly 25 years and Schmitt and Higgins for 17 and 8 years, respectively. This collaboration can be summed up with the phrase: “everyone teaches, everyone learns.” What NASA calls E/PO and educators call STEM/STEAM, requires a team effort. Exploration of the Solar System and beyond is a team effort, from research programs to space missions. The same is true for science education. Research scientists with a long-term involvement in science education have come together with science educators, classroom teachers, and informal science educators to create a powerful STEM education team. Scientists provide the science content and act as role models. Science educators provide the pedagogy and are the bridge between the scientists and the teacher. Classroom teachers and informal science educators bring their real-life experiences working in classrooms and in informal settings and can demonstrate scientists’ approaches to problem solving and make curriculum more engaging. Together, we provide activities that are grade-level appropriate, inquiry-based, tied to the literacy, math, and science standards, and connected directly to up-to-date science content and ongoing research. Our programs have included astronomy camps for youth and adults, professional development for teachers, in-school and after-school programs, family science events, and programs in libraries, science centers, and museums. What lessons have we learned? We are all professionals and can learn from each other. By engaging kids and having them participate in activities and ask questions, we can empower them to be the presenters for others, even their families. The activities highlighted on our poster represent programs and collaborations that date back more than two decades: Use models and engage the audience, do not just lecture. Connect the activity with ongoing science and get participants outside to

Images of Science and Scientists: A Study of School Teachers' Views. I. Characteristics of Scientists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rampal, A.

1992-01-01

Examines trends in teachers' beliefs about scientists and the nature of science. Discusses teachers' questionnaire responses on the following qualities of scientists: minimum educational qualifications; creativity; temperament; stereotyped image; and personal beliefs about indigenous systems of medicine and astrology. (Contains 63 references.)…

A Comparison of the Mystery Motivator and the "Get 'Em On Task" Interventions for Off-Task Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraemer, Elisabeth E.; Davies, Susan C.; Arndt, Kelli Jo; Hunley, Sawyer

2012-01-01

Attending to instruction is a critical behavior for academic success. Many elementary school teachers, however, identify disruptive and inattentive classroom behaviors as key barriers to students' successful educational performance. This study examined the impact of two class-wide positive behavior support programs. The Mystery Motivator and…

Investigating Nature's Mysteries for Drug Development

Cancer.gov

More than half of the drugs approved to treat cancer come from a natural product or a natural product prototype. Scientists in NCI-Frederick's Natural Products Branch are exploring ways to harness chemicals produced by marine invertebrates, other animals, plants, and microbes for cancer drug discovery.

The 'Razorback' Mystery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The pointy features in this image may only be a few centimeters high and less than 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) wide, but they generate major scientific interest. Dubbed 'Razorback,' this chunk of rock sticks up at the edge of flat rocks in 'Endurance Crater.' Based on their understanding of processes on Earth, scientists believe these features may have formed when fluids migrated through fractures, depositing minerals. Fracture-filling minerals would have formed veins composed of a harder material that eroded more slowly than the rock slabs.

Possible examination of these features using the instruments on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity may further explain what these features have to do with the history of water on Mars. This false-color image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera.

Beginning of a journey: unraveling the mystery of chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Kumaresan, Jacob; Seneviratne, Ruwanika

2017-06-30

Globally, chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) is observed in several areas and among specific ethnic or occupational groups. Given the widespread environmental pollution and the proportions of agriculture workers world-wide, CKDu may be the next global public health issue demanding attention. Recent escalation of CKDu in Sri Lanka has caused a serious public health crisis in the country, made worse by lack of national data. The specific geographic distribution, preponderance among farming population, similar histology findings and absence of usual risk factors for kidney disease indicate undetected nephrotoxic agents playing a role in causation. Some of the challenges for the country are uncoordinated preventive efforts, diverse opinions among stakeholders on causality and fragmented research efforts with limited focus on potential causes of CKDu. As a result, accurate estimation of the CKDu burden, identification of causative agents and implementation of effective actions have been delayed. Stakeholder engagement, with involvement of international experts has been the starting point for finalizing a working case definition to establish community based surveillance as a future platform to conduct long-term research. The country is now poised to contribute to global knowledge by solving the mystery of 'u' in CKDu. This commentary highlights the importance and the mechanisms of making an effective breakthrough as early as possible; failing which CKDu can progress rapidly as demonstrated by the situation in Sri Lanka.

Revisiting Jenner's mysteries, the role of the Beaugency lymph in the evolutionary path of ancient smallpox vaccines.

PubMed

Damaso, Clarissa R

2018-02-01

In 1796, Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine consisting of pustular material obtained from lesions on cows affected by so-called cow-pox. The disease, caused by cowpox virus, confers crossprotection against smallpox. However, historical evidence suggests that Jenner might have used vaccinia virus or even horsepox virus instead of cowpox virus. Mysteries surrounding the origin and nature of the smallpox vaccine persisted during the 19th century, a period of intense exchange of vaccine strains, including the Beaugency lymph. This lymph was obtained from spontaneous cases of cow-pox in France in 1866 and then distributed worldwide. A detailed Historical Review of the distribution of the Beaugency lymph supports recent genetic analyses of extant vaccine strains, suggesting the lymph was probably a vaccinia strain or a horsepox-like virus. This Review is a historical investigation that revisits the mysteries of the smallpox vaccine and reveals an intricate evolutionary relationship of extant vaccinia strains. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Who Believes in the Storybook Image of the Scientist?

PubMed Central

Veldkamp, Coosje L. S.; Hartgerink, Chris H. J.; van Assen, Marcel A. L. M.; Wicherts, Jelte M.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Do lay people and scientists themselves recognize that scientists are human and therefore prone to human fallibilities such as error, bias, and even dishonesty? In a series of three experimental studies and one correlational study (total N = 3,278) we found that the “storybook image of the scientist” is pervasive: American lay people and scientists from over 60 countries attributed considerably more objectivity, rationality, open-mindedness, intelligence, integrity, and communality to scientists than to other highly-educated people. Moreover, scientists perceived even larger differences than lay people did. Some groups of scientists also differentiated between different categories of scientists: established scientists attributed higher levels of the scientific traits to established scientists than to early-career scientists and Ph.D. students, and higher levels to Ph.D. students than to early-career scientists. Female scientists attributed considerably higher levels of the scientific traits to female scientists than to male scientists. A strong belief in the storybook image and the (human) tendency to attribute higher levels of desirable traits to people in one’s own group than to people in other groups may decrease scientists’ willingness to adopt recently proposed practices to reduce error, bias and dishonesty in science. PMID:28001440

Derivative free Davidon-Fletcher-Powell (DFP) for solving symmetric systems of nonlinear equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mamat, M.; Dauda, M. K.; Mohamed, M. A. bin; Waziri, M. Y.; Mohamad, F. S.; Abdullah, H.

2018-03-01

Research from the work of engineers, economist, modelling, industry, computing, and scientist are mostly nonlinear equations in nature. Numerical solution to such systems is widely applied in those areas of mathematics. Over the years, there has been significant theoretical study to develop methods for solving such systems, despite these efforts, unfortunately the methods developed do have deficiency. In a contribution to solve systems of the form F(x) = 0, x ∈ Rn , a derivative free method via the classical Davidon-Fletcher-Powell (DFP) update is presented. This is achieved by simply approximating the inverse Hessian matrix with {Q}k+1-1 to θkI. The modified method satisfied the descent condition and possess local superlinear convergence properties. Interestingly, without computing any derivative, the proposed method never fail to converge throughout the numerical experiments. The output is based on number of iterations and CPU time, different initial starting points were used on a solve 40 benchmark test problems. With the aid of the squared norm merit function and derivative-free line search technique, the approach yield a method of solving symmetric systems of nonlinear equations that is capable of significantly reducing the CPU time and number of iteration, as compared to its counterparts. A comparison between the proposed method and classical DFP update were made and found that the proposed methodis the top performer and outperformed the existing method in almost all the cases. In terms of number of iterations, out of the 40 problems solved, the proposed method solved 38 successfully, (95%) while classical DFP solved 2 problems (i.e. 05%). In terms of CPU time, the proposed method solved 29 out of the 40 problems given, (i.e.72.5%) successfully whereas classical DFP solves 11 (27.5%). The method is valid in terms of derivation, reliable in terms of number of iterations and accurate in terms of CPU time. Thus, suitable and achived the objective.

Working with Scientists Who Interact with Public Audiences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schatz, D.; Witzel, L.; Gurton, S.; McCann, S. E.

2015-11-01

President Obama has called for all STEM-based federal employees to share their expertise and passion with the public. Alan Leshner, Executive Director of AAAS, has advocated the same for all scientists. But what are the best ways to prepare scientists as effective science communicators? How do scientists find resources to become better science communicators? How do scientists connect with other scientists interested in education and outreach? This panel, with representatives from an informal science education institution, a university, and a professional association, offered insights to answer these questions from their experience of working with scientists engaged with public audiences.

Goddard Visiting Scientist Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

Under this Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, USRA was expected to provide short term (from I day up to I year) personnel as required to provide a Visiting Scientists Program to support the Earth Sciences Directorate (Code 900) at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The Contractor was to have a pool, or have access to a pool, of scientific talent, both domestic and international, at all levels (graduate student to senior scientist), that would support the technical requirements of the following laboratories and divisions within Code 900: 1) Global Change Data Center (902); 2) Laboratory for Atmospheres (Code 910); 3) Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics (Code 920); 4) Space Data and Computing Division (Code 930); 5) Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes (Code 970). The research activities described below for each organization within Code 900 were intended to comprise the general scope of effort covered under the Visiting Scientist Program.

Environmental Problems and the Scientist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Batisse, Michel

1973-01-01

Suggests that any environmental problem can be traced at biosphere, technosphere, sociosphere, and noosphere level. Scientists have generally ignored the latter two spheres in making scientific discoveries. New social ethics need to be recognized that are based on progress, and scientists must consider how these ethics are influenced by their…

Toward Solving the Problem of Problem Solving: An Analysis Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roesler, Rebecca A.

2016-01-01

Teaching is replete with problem solving. Problem solving as a skill, however, is seldom addressed directly within music teacher education curricula, and research in music education has not examined problem solving systematically. A framework detailing problem-solving component skills would provide a needed foundation. I observed problem solving…

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Blackwater Escape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waddell, Thomas G.; Rybolt, Thomas R.

2003-04-01

The following story is a chemical mystery with an emphasis on qualitative inorganic analysis, laboratory observations, and oxidation reduction processes. This is the 14th article in a series presenting a scientific problem in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where readers (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Burning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waddell, Thomas G.; Rybolt, Thomas R.

1998-04-01

This story describes a chemical mystery with an emphasis on forensic chemistry, physical properties, and qualitative organic analysis. This is the ninth article in a series presenting a scientific problem in mystery form in the context of the popular and beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where the reader (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Autopsy in Blue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waddell, Thomas G.; Rybolt, Thomas R.

2004-04-01

This story is a chemical mystery with an emphasis on qualitative inorganic analysis, forensic chemistry, and medicinal substances. This is the 15th article in a series presenting a scientific problem in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where readers (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Shroud of Spartacus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waddell, Thomas G.; Rybolt, Thomas R.

2001-04-01

The following story is a chemical mystery with emphasis on a blood test, qualitative analysis, and the properties of biological substances. This is the twelfth article in a series presenting a scientific problem in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where readers (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of Three

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rybolt, Thomas R.; Waddell, Thomas G.

2002-04-01

This story is a chemical mystery with an emphasis on simple physical properties and chemical characterization of metals. It is the 13th in a series presenting scientific problems in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where the reader (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break.

A testable theory of problem solving courts: Avoiding past empirical and legal failures.

PubMed

Wiener, Richard L; Winick, Bruce J; Georges, Leah Skovran; Castro, Anthony

2010-01-01

Recent years have seen a proliferation of problem solving courts designed to rehabilitate certain classes of offenders and thereby resolve the underlying problems that led to their court involvement in the first place. Some commentators have reacted positively to these courts, considering them an extension of the philosophy and logic of Therapeutic Jurisprudence, but others show concern that the discourse surrounding these specialty courts has not examined their process or outcomes critically enough. This paper examines that criticism from historical and social scientific perspectives. The analysis culminates in a model that describes how offenders are likely to respond to the process as they engage in problem solving court programs and the ways in which those courts might impact subsequent offender conduct. This Therapeutic Jurisprudence model of problem solving courts draws heavily on social cognitive psychology and more specifically on theories of procedural justice, motivation, and anticipated emotion to offer an explanation of how offenders respond to these programs. We offer this model as a lens through which social scientists can begin to address the concern that there is not enough critical analysis of the process and outcome of these courts. Applying this model to specialty courts constitutes an important step in critically examining the contribution of problem solving courts. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proceedings of the Conference on Joint Problem Solving and Microcomputers (San Diego, California, March 31 - April 2, 1983). Technical Report No. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Michael; And Others

A group of American and Japanese psychologists, anthropologists, linguists, and computer scientists gathered at the University of California, San Diego, to exchange ideas on models of joint problem solving and their special relevance to the design and implementation of computer-based systems of instruction. Much of the discussion focused on…

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Ghost of Gordon Square.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waddell, Thomas G.; Rybolt, Thomas R.

2000-01-01

Describes a scientific mystery with an emphasis on chemical magic presented in the context of the characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The story contains a break where students and teachers pause to ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break. (WRM)

'How many female scientists do you know?'.

PubMed

Jones, Robert A

2005-06-01

The stereotypical scientist wears a lab-coat, is often eccentric and is usually male. Images of female scientists in popular culture remain rare. Some of the first portrayals of women in science occurred in a handful of British films made during the 1950s and 1960s. These films reflected the difficulties experienced by women in science at the time, but they might also explain why representations of female scientists in film continue to downplay their role as scientists and emphasize their identity as women.

Mars Rock Formation Poses Mystery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This sharp, close-up image taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device, or 'arm,' shows a rock target dubbed 'Robert E,' located on the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists are studying this area for clues about the rock outcrop's composition. This image measures 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across and was taken on the 15th day of Opportunity's journey (Feb. 8, 2004).

Subsurface chlorophyll maximum layers: enduring enigma or mystery solved?

PubMed

Cullen, John J

2015-01-01

The phenomenon of subsurface chlorophyll maximum layers (SCMLs) is not a unique ecological response to environmental conditions; rather, a broad range of interacting processes can contribute to the formation of persistent layers of elevated chlorophyll a concentration (Chl) that are nearly ubiquitous in stratified surface waters. Mechanisms that contribute to the formation and maintenance of the SCMLs include a local maximum in phytoplankton growth rate near the nutricline, photoacclimation of pigment content that leads to elevated Chl relative to phytoplankton biomass at depth, and a range of physiologically influenced swimming behaviors in motile phytoplankton and buoyancy control in diatoms and cyanobacteria that can lead to aggregations of phytoplankton in layers, subject to grazing and physical control. A postulated typical stable water structure characterizes consistent patterns in vertical profiles of Chl, phytoplankton biomass, nutrients, and light across a trophic gradient structured by the vertical flux of nutrients and characterized by the average daily irradiance at the nutricline. Hypothetical predictions can be tested using a nascent biogeochemical global ocean observing system. Partial results to date are generally consistent with predictions based on current knowledge, which has strong roots in research from the twentieth century.

Solving the Mystery of Galaxy Bulges and Bulge Substructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erwin, Peter

2017-08-01

Understanding galaxy bulges is crucial for understanding galaxy evolution and the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Recent studies have shown that at least some - perhaps most - disk-galaxy bulges are actually composite structures, with both classical-bulge (spheroid) and pseudobulge (disky) components; this calls into question the standard practice of using simple, low-resolution bulge/disk decompositions to determine spheroid and SMBH mass functions. We propose WFC3 optical and near-IR imaging of a volume- and mass-limited sample of local disk galaxies to determine the full range of pure-classical, pure-pseudobulge, and composite-bulge frequencies and parameters, including stellar masses for classical bulges, disky pseudobulges, and boxy/peanut-shaped bulges. We will combine this with ground-based spectroscopy to determine the stellar-kinematic and population characteristics of the different substructures revealed by our WFC3 imaging. This will help resolve growing uncertainties about the status and nature of bulges and their relation to SMBH masses, and will provide an essential local-universe reference for understanding bulge (and SMBH) formation and evolution.

Do scientists trace hot topics?

PubMed

Wei, Tian; Li, Menghui; Wu, Chensheng; Yan, Xiao-Yong; Fan, Ying; Di, Zengru; Wu, Jinshan

2013-01-01

Do scientists follow hot topics in their scientific investigations? In this paper, by performing analysis to papers published in the American Physical Society (APS) Physical Review journals, it is found that papers are more likely to be attracted by hot fields, where the hotness of a field is measured by the number of papers belonging to the field. This indicates that scientists generally do follow hot topics. However, there are qualitative differences among scientists from various countries, among research works regarding different number of authors, different number of affiliations and different number of references. These observations could be valuable for policy makers when deciding research funding and also for individual researchers when searching for scientific projects.

Do scientists trace hot topics?

PubMed Central

Wei, Tian; Li, Menghui; Wu, Chensheng; Yan, Xiao-Yong; Fan, Ying; Di, Zengru; Wu, Jinshan

2013-01-01

Do scientists follow hot topics in their scientific investigations? In this paper, by performing analysis to papers published in the American Physical Society (APS) Physical Review journals, it is found that papers are more likely to be attracted by hot fields, where the hotness of a field is measured by the number of papers belonging to the field. This indicates that scientists generally do follow hot topics. However, there are qualitative differences among scientists from various countries, among research works regarding different number of authors, different number of affiliations and different number of references. These observations could be valuable for policy makers when deciding research funding and also for individual researchers when searching for scientific projects. PMID:23856680

Do scientists trace hot topics?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Tian; Li, Menghui; Wu, Chensheng; Yan, Xiao-Yong; Fan, Ying; di, Zengru; Wu, Jinshan

2013-07-01

Do scientists follow hot topics in their scientific investigations? In this paper, by performing analysis to papers published in the American Physical Society (APS) Physical Review journals, it is found that papers are more likely to be attracted by hot fields, where the hotness of a field is measured by the number of papers belonging to the field. This indicates that scientists generally do follow hot topics. However, there are qualitative differences among scientists from various countries, among research works regarding different number of authors, different number of affiliations and different number of references. These observations could be valuable for policy makers when deciding research funding and also for individual researchers when searching for scientific projects.

Scientists and the Press: Are They Really Strangers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunwoody, Sharon; Scott, Bryon T.

A group of 111 basic and applied scientists from two Ohio university campuses was interviewed to gather data about the amount of contact between scientists and media reporters, and the effects of such contact on scientists' attitudes toward media coverage of science. The data indicated that scientists had been interviewed by journalists much more…

Collaborating with Scientists in Education and Public Engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shupla, Christine; Shaner, Andrew; Smith Hackler, Amanda

2016-10-01

The Education and Public Engagement team at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is developing a scientific advisory board, to gather input from planetary scientists for ways that LPI can help them with public engagement, such as connecting them to opportunities, creating useful resources, and providing training. The advisory board will assist in outlining possible roles of scientists in public engagement, provide feedback on LPI scientist engagement efforts, and encourage scientists to participate in various education and public engagement events.LPI's scientists have participated in a variety of education programs, including teacher workshops, family events, public presentations, informal educator trainings, and communication workshops. Scientists have helped conduct hands-on activities, participated in group discussions, and given talks, while sharing their own career paths and interests; these activities have provided audiences with a clearer vision of how science is conducted and how they can become engaged in science themselves.This poster will share the status and current findings of the scientist advisory board, and the lessons learned regarding planetary scientists' needs, abilities, and interests in participating in education and public engagement programs.

Collaborating with Scientists in Education and Public Engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shupla, C. B.; Shaner, A. J.; Hackler, A. S.

2016-12-01

The Education and Public Engagement team at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is developing a scientific advisory board, to gather input from planetary scientists for ways that LPI can help them with public engagement (such as connecting them to opportunities, creating useful resources, and providing training). The advisory board will also assist in outlining possible roles of scientists in public engagement, provide feedback on LPI scientist engagement efforts, and encourage scientists to participate in various education and public engagement events. LPI's scientists have participated in a variety of education programs, including teacher workshops, family events, public presentations, informal educator trainings, and communication workshops. Scientists have helped conduct hands-on activities, participated in group discussions, and given talks, while sharing their own career paths and interests; these activities have provided audiences with a clearer vision of how science is conducted and how they can become engaged in science themselves. We will share the status and current findings of the scientist advisory board, and the resulting lessons learned regarding scientists' needs, abilities, and interests in participating in education and public engagement programs.

Exploring Middle School Girls' Science Identities: Examining Attitudes and Perceptions of Scientists when Working "Side-by-Side" with Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farland-Smith, Donna

2009-01-01

This article is the culmination of an extensive inquiry-focused interactive experience involving female middle school students and five university scientists, which demonstrated that middle school girls' perception of science and scientists can be successfully improved. The study exposed students to adult professional scientists over a period of a…

Uncovering the Mystery of Gliding Motility in the Myxobacteria

PubMed Central

Nan, Beiyan; Zusman, David R.

2012-01-01

Bacterial gliding motility is the smooth movement of cells on solid surfaces unaided by flagella or pili. Many diverse groups of bacteria exhibit gliding, but the mechanism of gliding motility has remained a mystery since it was first observed more than a century ago. Recent studies on the motility of Myxococcus xanthus, a soil myxobacterium, suggest a likely mechanism for gliding in this organism. About forty M. xanthus genes were shown to be involved in gliding motility, and some of their protein products were labeled and localized within cells. These studies suggest that gliding motility in M. xanthus involves large multiprotein structural complexes, regulatory proteins, and cytoskeletal filaments. In this review, we summarize recent experiments that provide the basis for this emerging view of M. xanthus motility. We also discuss alternative models for gliding. PMID:21910630

Natural gas hydrates and the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gruy, H.J.

1998-03-01

Natural gas hydrates occur on the ocean floor in such great volumes that they contain twice as much carbon as all known coal, oil and conventional natural gas deposits. Releases of this gas caused by sediment slides and other natural causes have resulted in huge slugs of gas saturated water with density too low to float a ship, and enough localized atmospheric contamination to choke air aspirated aircraft engines. The unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft along with their crews and passengers in the Bermuda Triangle may be tied to the natural venting of gas hydrates. The paper describes whatmore » gas hydrates are, their formation and release, and their possible link to the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.« less

ScienceCast 176: The Mystery of Nanoflares

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-03-18

Tiny solar flares on the sun may be having an outsized effect on the temperature of the sun's atmosphere. To investigate, scientists will observe these "nanoflares" using a space telescope built for black holes.

Where The Wild Seafloor Scientists Are: Using Interactive Picture Books To Educate Children About Sub-seafloor Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurtz, K.

2015-12-01

Sub-seafloor scientific research has the power to spark the imaginations of elementary age children with its mysterious nature, cutting-edge research, and its connections to kid friendly science topics, such as volcanoes, the extinction of dinosaurs and the search for extraterrestrial life. These factors have been utilized to create two interactive eBooks for elementary students and teachers, integrating high quality science information, highly engaging and age-appropriate illustrations, and rhyming text. One book introduces children to the research and discoveries of the JOIDES Resolution research vessel. The second focuses on the discoveries of microbial life in the sub-seafloor. The eBooks present information as traditional, linear, illustrated children's books, but the eBook format allows the book to be available online for free to anyone and allows teachers to project the book on a classroom screen so all students can easily see the illustrations. The iPad versions also provide an interactive, learner-led educational experience, where cognitively appropriate videos, photos and other forms of information can be accessed with the tap of a finger to answer reader questions and enrich their learning experience. These projects provide an example and model of the products that can result from high level and meaningful partnerships between scientists, educators, artists and writers.

Scientist in Residence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thiel, David V.

1990-01-01

Describes a secondary school visitation program by scientists in Australia. The program was designed to increase students' motivation related to science, especially physics. Discusses the effects of the program. (YP)

Still Persistent Global Problem of Scientists' Image

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Türkmen, Hakan

2015-01-01

Pre-service teachers' views of science and scientists have been widely studied. The purpose of this study is to identify whether there is problem of image of scientists and determine where they receive about scientist image. Three hundred thirty five (105 from Turkey, 162 from Europe, 68 from US) elementary pre-service teachers participated in…

How Middle Schoolers Draw Engineers and Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fralick, Bethany; Kearn, Jennifer; Thompson, Stephen; Lyons, Jed

2009-02-01

The perceptions young students have of engineers and scientists are often populated with misconceptions and stereotypes. Although the perceptions that young people have of engineers and of scientists have been investigated separately, they have not been systematically compared. The research reported in this paper explores the question "How are student perceptions of engineers and scientists similar and how are they different?" Approximately 1,600 middle school students from urban and suburban schools in the southeastern United States were asked to draw either an engineer or a scientist at work. Drawings included space for the students to explain what their person was doing in the picture. A checklist to code the drawings was developed and used by two raters. This paper discusses similarities and differences in middle school perceptions of scientists and engineers. Results reveal that the students involved in this study frequently perceive scientists as working indoors conducting experiments. A large fraction of the students have no perception of engineering. Others frequently perceive engineers as working outdoors in manual labor. The findings have implications for the development and implementation of engineering outreach efforts.

Information needs of academic medical scientists at Chulalongkorn University.

PubMed Central

Premsmit, P

1990-01-01

The information needs of scientists in English-speaking countries have been studied and reported in the library literature. However, few studies exist on the information-seeking patterns of scientists in developing countries, and no study has examined the information needs of medical scientists in developing Asian countries. This study investigated the information needs of academic medical scientists at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. The results indicate that medical scientists have three types of information needs: identifying up-to-date information, obtaining relevant studies and data, and developing research topics. Thai scientists' information-seeking behavior was different from that of scientists in developed countries. The study shows a high use of libraries as information providers; Thai medical scientists rely heavily on information from abroad. PMID:2224302

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Problem of Woolthshrap Prison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rybolt, Thomas R.; Waddell, Thomas G.

1995-12-01

A story describing a chemical mystery with an emphasis on scientific observation and the criminal use of classic reaction of chemistry is related. This is the seventh article in a series presenting a scientific problem in mystery form in the context of the popular and beloved characters, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where the reader (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break.

Sherlock Holmes and the Nebulous Nitro

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waddell, Thomas G.; Rybolt, Thomas R.

1996-12-01

The following story describes a chemical mystery with an emphasis on knowledge in basic organic chemistry, scientific observation, and reasoning skills. This is the eighth article in a series presenting a scientific problem in mystery form in the context of the popular and beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1 - 7). There is a break in the story where the reader (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following this break.

Citizen Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Katherine

2010-01-01

The Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Program provides teachers and students with the opportunity and materials to participate in regionally focused ecological studies under the guidance of a mentor scientist working on a similar study. The Harvard Forest is part of a national network of ecological research sites known as the Long Term Ecological…

Scientists Needed! The Year of the Solar System: Opportunities for Scientist Involvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipp, S. S.; Buxner, S.; Cobabe-Ammann, E. A.; Scalice, D.; Bleacher, L.

2011-12-01

Spanning a Martian Year - 23 months from October 2010 through August 2012 - the Year of the Solar System (YSS) celebrates the amazing discoveries of numerous new and ongoing NASA missions and research efforts as they explore our near and distant neighbors and probe the outer edges of our solar system. The science revealed by these endeavors is dramatically revising our understanding of the formation and evolution of our solar system. YSS offers opportunities for planetary scientists to become involved in education and public outreach (E/PO) in meaningful ways. By getting involved in YSS E/PO activities, scientists can help to raise awareness of, build excitement in, and make connections with educators, students and the public about current planetary science research and exploration. Each month during YSS a different compelling aspect of the solar system - its formation, volcanism, ice, life - is explored. The monthly topics, tied to the big questions of planetary science, include online resources that can be used by scientists to engage their audiences: hands-on learning activities, demonstrations, connections to solar system and mission events, ideas for partnering with other organizations, and other programming ideas. Resources for past, present, and future YSS monthly topics can be found at: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss. Scientists are encouraged to get involved in YSS through an avenue that best fits their available time and interests. Possible paths include: contacting the YSS organizational team to provide content for or to review the monthly topics; integrating current planetary research discoveries into your introductory college science classes; starting a science club; prompting an interview with the local media, creating a podcast about your science, sharing YSS with educators or program coordinators at your local schools, museums, libraries, astronomical clubs and societies, retirement homes, or rotary club; volunteering to present your science in one

Scientist contributions

Treesearch

R. Blank; W. Burkhardt; J. Chatterton; W. Dollarhide; L. James; D. Klebenow; W. Krueger; S. Leonard; E. Miller; N. Rimbey; K. Sanders; S. Swanson; R. Tausch; P. Tueller; N. West; J. Young

2008-01-01

The primary impetus for this Wildfire Forum is a document authored by John McLain and Sheila Anderson of Resource Concepts, Inc. entitled "Urgent Need for a Scientific Review of the Ecological and Management History of the Great Basin Natural Resources and Recommendations to Achieve Ecosystem Restoration." This document urged prominent scientists who have...

National Conference on Student & Scientist Partnerships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barstow, D.

2001-05-01

Science education is turning an exciting corner with the development of a new class of projects called Student and Scientist Partnerships for authentic research. Examples include GLOBE, Hands-On Universe and EarthKAM. These projects engage students as learners and as participants in authentic research.Through such projects scientists acquire new research partners. At the same time, students experience real science, learning up-to-date science content and developing essential investigation skills. To better understand the nature and potential of these partnerships, an invitational conference was held in Washington, D.C.,from October 23-25, 1996. The conference, funded by the National Science Foundation and coordinated by TERC and the Concord Consortium, brought together 60 leaders in science and education who have research backgrounds, practical experience, or a high interest in Student, Scientists & Partnerships. The participants confirmed that this shift from the "student as recipient" to the "student as partner" model can be of real and substantive benefit for both the scientists and the students. The primary and most obvious benefits for the students are the excitement of doing authentic science, a new context for hands-on experiential learning, and the linkage of school learning with the "real world." For the scientists, the primary benefits are the help of student partners who enable the scientists to do research that might not otherwise be possible and the personal rewards of supporting education. Beyond these primary benefits, however, is a secondary and perhaps deeper level of benefits, resulting from the cross-fertilization between these two rich cultures. In each partnership, it helps to recognize and articulate what I call "the three authentics". Authentic Science-The science must be real science. It must contribute new knowledge. The research must be central to the scientists' work, and the student participation must contribute in a meaningful way to

Record breaking achievements by spiders and the scientists who study them.

PubMed

Mammola, Stefano; Michalik, Peter; Hebets, Eileen A; Isaia, Marco

2017-01-01

Organismal biology has been steadily losing fashion in both formal education and scientific research. Simultaneous with this is an observable decrease in the connection between humans, their environment, and the organisms with which they share the planet. Nonetheless, we propose that organismal biology can facilitate scientific observation, discovery, research, and engagement, especially when the organisms of focus are ubiquitous and charismatic animals such as spiders. Despite being often feared, spiders are mysterious and intriguing, offering a useful foundation for the effective teaching and learning of scientific concepts and processes. In order to provide an entryway for teachers and students-as well as scientists themselves-into the biology of spiders, we compiled a list of 99 record breaking achievements by spiders (the "Spider World Records"). We chose a world-record style format, as this is known to be an effective way to intrigue readers of all ages. We highlighted, for example, the largest and smallest spiders, the largest prey eaten, the fastest runners, the highest fliers, the species with the longest sperm, the most venomous species, and many more. We hope that our compilation will inspire science educators to embrace the biology of spiders as a resource that engages students in science learning. By making these achievements accessible to non-arachnologists and arachnologists alike, we suggest that they could be used: (i) by educators to draw in students for science education, (ii) to highlight gaps in current organismal knowledge, and (iii) to suggest novel avenues for future research efforts. Our contribution is not meant to be comprehensive, but aims to raise public awareness on spiders, while also providing an initial database of their record breaking achievements.

Record breaking achievements by spiders and the scientists who study them

PubMed Central

Michalik, Peter; Hebets, Eileen A.

2017-01-01

Organismal biology has been steadily losing fashion in both formal education and scientific research. Simultaneous with this is an observable decrease in the connection between humans, their environment, and the organisms with which they share the planet. Nonetheless, we propose that organismal biology can facilitate scientific observation, discovery, research, and engagement, especially when the organisms of focus are ubiquitous and charismatic animals such as spiders. Despite being often feared, spiders are mysterious and intriguing, offering a useful foundation for the effective teaching and learning of scientific concepts and processes. In order to provide an entryway for teachers and students—as well as scientists themselves—into the biology of spiders, we compiled a list of 99 record breaking achievements by spiders (the “Spider World Records”). We chose a world-record style format, as this is known to be an effective way to intrigue readers of all ages. We highlighted, for example, the largest and smallest spiders, the largest prey eaten, the fastest runners, the highest fliers, the species with the longest sperm, the most venomous species, and many more. We hope that our compilation will inspire science educators to embrace the biology of spiders as a resource that engages students in science learning. By making these achievements accessible to non-arachnologists and arachnologists alike, we suggest that they could be used: (i) by educators to draw in students for science education, (ii) to highlight gaps in current organismal knowledge, and (iii) to suggest novel avenues for future research efforts. Our contribution is not meant to be comprehensive, but aims to raise public awareness on spiders, while also providing an initial database of their record breaking achievements. PMID:29104823

An evolutionary cosmology for scientists--and the modern world in general.

PubMed

Charlton, Bruce G

2007-01-01

I believe that people will not feel comfortable and positive about the contemporary world until we can endorse and believe an evolutionary cosmology which is appropriate to modern conditions. A cosmology is a mythical account of the universe as it presents itself to the human mind; it needs to be poetic, symbolic, inspiring of a sense of awe and mystery. Furthermore, a complete cosmology should include the three levels of macro-, meso- and micro-cosm, in order to understand the nature of the universe, human society, and the individual's relation to them. Traditional cosmologies described an eternal underlying structure to ultimate reality--a static ideal state towards which the world ought to gravitate. However, modern life is characterized by rapid growth, novelty, destruction and fluidity of all kinds of structures, a feature which traditional static cosmologies interpret negatively and pessimistically. A modern cosmology therefore needs to be focused on underlying dynamic process instead of structure and stasis. Biologists are better placed than many to appreciate a cosmology based on evolutionary change; because this is the mainstream understanding of adaptation and diversity in the natural world. The same dynamic, neophiliac and open-ended process of 'creative destruction' can be seen at work in science, economics, and modern spirituality. But a modern cosmology will only be experienced as both deep and spontaneous when it takes the form of a mythic account that is first encountered and assimilated during childhood. Since myths arise as a consequence of human creativity; there is a vital future mythogenic role for artists in the realm of ideas, images and stories: people such as mystics, poets and philosophers--including, I hope and expect, creatively inspired scientists.

An Overview of the SOLVE-THESEO 2000 Campaign

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, Paul A.; Harris, Neil R. P.; Adriani, Alberto; Amanatidis, Georgios T.; Anderson, James G.; Braathen, Geir O.; Brune, William H.; Carslaw, Kenneth S.; Craig, Michael T.; DeCola, Philip E.

2001-01-01

Between November 1999 and April 2000, two major field experiments, the SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE) and the Third European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone (THESEO 2000), collaborated to form the largest field campaign yet mounted to study Arctic ozone loss. This international campaign involved more than 500 scientists from over 20 countries spread across the high and mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere. The main scientific aims of SOLVE-THESEO 2000 were to study (a) the processes leading to ozone loss in the Arctic vortex and (b) the effect on ozone amounts over northern mid-latitudes. The campaign included satellites, heavy lift balloon launches, 6 different aircraft, ground stations, and scores of ozone-sonde. Campaign activities were principally conducted in 3 intensive measurement phases centered on early December 1999, late January 2000, and early March 2000. Observations made during the campaign showed that temperatures were unusually cold in the polar lower stratosphere over the course of the 1999-2000 winter. These cold temperatures resulted in the formation of extensive polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) across the Arctic. Heterogeneous chemical reactions on the surfaces of the PSC particles produced high levels of reactive chlorine within the polar vortex by early January. This reactive chlorine catalytically destroyed about 60% of the ozone in a layer near 20 km between late January and mid-March 2000.

Media and the making of scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Keeffe, Moira

This dissertation explores how scientists and science students respond to fictional, visual media about science. I consider how scientists think about images of science in relation to their own career paths from childhood onwards. I am especially interested in the possibility that entertainment media can inspire young people to learn about science. Such inspiration is badly needed, as schools are failing to provide it. Science education in the United States is in a state of crisis. Studies repeatedly find low levels of science literacy in the U.S. This bleak situation exists during a boom in the popularity of science-oriented television shows and science fiction movies. How might entertainment media play a role in helping young people engage with science? To grapple with these questions, I interviewed a total of fifty scientists and students interested in science careers, representing a variety of scientific fields and demographic backgrounds, and with varying levels of interest in science fiction. Most respondents described becoming attracted to the sciences at a young age, and many were able to identify specific sources for this interest. The fact that interest in the sciences begins early in life, demonstrates a potentially important role for fictional media in the process of inspiration, perhaps especially for children without access to real-life scientists. One key aspect to the appeal of fiction about science is how scientists are portrayed as characters. Scientists from groups traditionally under-represented in the sciences often sought out fictional characters with whom they could identify, and viewers from all backgrounds preferred well-rounded characters to the extreme stereotypes of mad or dorky scientists. Genre is another aspect of appeal. Some respondents identified a specific role for science fiction: conveying a sense of wonder. Visual media introduce viewers to the beauty of science. Special effects, in particular, allow viewers to explore the

Radiation scientists and homeland security.

PubMed

Rose, Christopher M

2002-05-01

Radiation scientists represent an important resource in homeland defense. Security analysts worry that a crude but deadly radiological bomb might be fashioned from stolen nuclear material and a few sticks of dynamite. Such a device could kill dozens, hundreds, and possibly thousands and could contaminate a square mile or more. Emergency workers may call upon radiation scientists to aid the injured. Educational materials are available on the ACR, ASTRO, and RRS websites, linked to the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to provide radiation workers material that they can use to help emergency room and civil defense personnel after a terrorist attack. Radiation scientists are urged to obtain these materials and contact their local hospital and public health authorities to volunteer their services and expertise.

Staff Scientist | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

The scientist will be tasked with independent research projects that support and/or further the scope of our laboratory goals as determined by the Principal Investigator. The scientist will be responsible for overseeing daily operations and coordination of projects in close conjunction with all laboratory personnel. The scientist will participate in teaching laboratory methods to first-time post-docs, research fellows, and students. The scientist will work closely with a full-time research biologist, both in collaboration of research projects and in the lab-critical administrative tasks of IRB-approval, animal protocols, budget, etc. Our laboratory has two post-doctoral researchers at any given time. This is a great opportunity for candidates who are interested in cancer biology and want to grow their research career by working in our program with outstanding support of other established laboratories and core facilities in the National Cancer Institute.

Playing Scientist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Ashley

2012-01-01

Engaging students in the study of genetics is essential to building a deep understanding of heredity, a core idea in the life sciences (NRC 2012). By integrating into the curriculum the stories of famous scientists who studied genetics (e.g., Mendel, Franklin, Watson, and Crick), teachers remind their students that science is a human endeavor.…

Male access to emergency contraception in pharmacies: a mystery shopper survey.

PubMed

Bell, David L; Camacho, Elvis J; Velasquez, Andrew B

2014-10-01

Pharmacy access to emergency contraception (EC) could involve men in pregnancy prevention. The objectives were to assess the availability and cost of EC. Male mystery shoppers visited 158 pharmacies in three neighborhoods in New York City. They asked for EC and its cost and noted weekend hours. Twenty-two (73.3%) of 30 pharmacies created barriers to get EC. The cost of EC was higher in the higher-socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhood (p<.001), and the higher-SES neighborhood pharmacies had a greater number of weekend hours (p<.001). Overall, males had a 20% probability of not being able to access EC. The national dialogue should include males. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Evolution of the Data Scientist.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsons, M. A.

2011-12-01

When did the data scientist come into being? The National Science Board formally defined the term in 2005. Prior to that, the term was used sporadically, but typically to refer to statisticians or analysts. Nevertheless, the data scientist function has existed for a long time. Those who performed the function were called data managers or librarians or curators. Their role with digital data was critical but ill defined and poorly understood, especially by outsiders. Today, the tem data scientist is gaining currency and the discipline is gaining prominence, but it is a very dynamic field. And while it may be better defined, the term is still poorly understood. This lack of understanding can partly be attributed to the dynamic and evolutionary nature of the field. Domain scientists have developed new expectations for technology and services that enhance their ability to handle massive and complex data and present new challenges to data scientists. In response, data scientists are redefining and adapting their role to these rapidly changing demands of data-driven science and the fourth paradigm. In this paper, I explore the recent evolution of the field of data science as a socio-technical discipline. I discuss what has changed as well as what has remained the same and how some things that seem new may be a recasting of old problems. I take the view that data science is necessarily an evolutionary field that will need to continue to adapt in response to known and unknown challenges in order to ensure a healthy data ecosystem.

History and Outcomes of 50 Years of Physician-Scientist Training in Medical Scientist Training Programs.

PubMed

Harding, Clifford V; Akabas, Myles H; Andersen, Olaf S

2017-10-01

Physician-scientists are needed to continue the great pace of recent biomedical research and translate scientific findings to clinical applications. MD-PhD programs represent one approach to train physician-scientists. MD-PhD training started in the 1950s and expanded greatly with the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), launched in 1964 by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health. MD-PhD training has been influenced by substantial changes in medical education, science, and clinical fields since its inception. In 2014, NIGMS held a 50th Anniversary MSTP Symposium highlighting the program and assessing its outcomes. In 2016, there were over 90 active MD-PhD programs in the United States, of which 45 were MSTP supported, with a total of 988 trainee slots. Over 10,000 students have received MSTP support since 1964. The authors present data for the demographic characteristics and outcomes for 9,683 MSTP trainees from 1975-2014. The integration of MD and PhD training has allowed trainees to develop a rigorous foundation in research in concert with clinical training. MSTP graduates have had relative success in obtaining research grants and have become prominent leaders in many biomedical research fields. Many challenges remain, however, including the need to maintain rigorous scientific components in evolving medical curricula, to enhance research-oriented residency and fellowship opportunities in a widening scope of fields targeted by MSTP graduates, to achieve greater racial diversity and gender balance in the physician-scientist workforce, and to sustain subsequent research activities of physician-scientists.

The Mystery of the Sparkling Spheres

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This image, taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity 's instrument deployment device, or 'arm,' reveals shiny, spherical objects embedded within the trench wall at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists are highly intrigued by these objects and may further investigate them. The area in this image measures approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.

The Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program

PubMed Central

Whyte, John; Boninger, Michael; Helkowski, Wendy; Braddom-Ritzler, Carolyn

2016-01-01

Physician scientists are seen as important in healthcare research. However, the number of physician scientists and their success in obtaining NIH funding have been declining for many years. The shortage of physician scientists in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is particularly severe, and can be attributed to many of the same factors that affect physician scientists in general, as well as to the lack of well developed models for research training. In 1995, the Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program (RMSTP) was funded by a K12 grant from the National Center of Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR), as one strategy for increasing the number of research-productive physiatrists. The RMSTP's structure was revised in 2001 to improve the level of preparation of incoming trainees, and to provide a stronger central mentorship support network. Here we describe the original and revised structure of the RMSTP and review subjective and objective data on the productivity of the trainees who have completed the program. These data suggest that RMSTP trainees are, in general, successful in obtaining and maintaining academic faculty positions and that the productivity of the cohort trained after the revision, in particular, shows impressive growth after about 3 years of training. PMID:19847126

An overlooked source of physician-scientists.

PubMed

Puljak, Livia

2007-12-01

A shortage of physician-scientists in the United States is an ongoing problem. Various recommendations have been made to address this issue; however, none of them have ameliorated the situation. Foreign medical school graduates with postdoctoral training in the United States are an overlooked and untapped resource for combating the dearth of physician-scientists. Evaluation of the scientific staff at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center revealed that 11% of all postdoctoral fellows were international medical graduates. Interestingly, a survey taken by these individuals revealed a lack of institutional and/or mentor support for career development and preparation for becoming physician-scientists. Foreign postdoctoral fellows with medical degrees are not even eligible for physician-scientist grants and awards since they are not US citizens. Although physicians educated in the United States usually matriculate from medical school with high educational debt that prevents most of them from entering into scientific careers, doctors trained outside the United States generally have minimal, if any, debt. Furthermore, many of them have a keen interest in remaining in the United States once they complete their postdoctoral training. Thus, foreign-trained medical professionals who have pursued scientific training in the United States can be one of the solutions for the current dearth of physician-scientists.

Scientists in Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Joseph P.

1973-01-01

Discusses the scientific objectives of the space missions to illustrate the role of scientists in space-borne research studies. Included is a tentative list of demonstration experiments worth conducting in order to attain pedagogical goals. (CC)

The mystery of the thymus gland.

PubMed

Liu, Daniel; Ellis, Harold

2016-09-01

The thymus is the last organ in the human body to have its mechanisms fully understood, having had its function fully delineated more than 50 years ago (Miller , Tissue Antigens 63:509-517). Prior to this, the thymus gland has had an interesting history with theories having included a role in fetal growth and development before becoming more sinisterly, a cause of sudden infant death in the late 19th century known as status lymphaticus (Paltauf , Wien Klin Wochenschr 2:877-881). Until Miller (, Lancet 278:748-749) eventually proved its primarily immunological role, the history of this mysterious gland has closely mirrored the history of medicine itself, troubling the minds of pathologists such as Virchow (, Ueber die Chlorose und die damit zusammenhängenden Anomalien im Gefässapparate, insbesondere über "Endocarditis puerperalis," vorgetragen in der Sitzung der Berliner Geburtshülflichen Gesellschaft vom 12) and Grawitz (, Deut Med Wochenschr 22:429-431), surgeons such as Astley Cooper (, The Anatomy of the Thymus Gland) and Keynes (1953, Ann R Coll Surg 12:88), and eminent medical epidemiologists such as Greenwood and Woods [, J Hyg (Lond) 26:305-326]. This article will hopefully be of interest therefore to both clinician and historian alike. Clin. Anat. 29:679-684, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Mrs. Hudson's Golden Brooch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, Ken

2009-04-01

This story is a chemical mystery with an emphasis on qualitative analysis, metallurgy, and gravimetric analysis. It is, as well, yet another article in the continuing series, created by Thomas Waddell and Thomas R. Rybolt, that presents a scientific problem in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where readers (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following the break.

Constructing an Engineering Model for Raising an Egyptian Obelisk

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beck, Charles R.

2009-01-01

One of the greatest mysteries of ancient times is how the Egyptians managed to raise huge obelisks using very simple technology. This remarkable task has puzzled engineers for thousand of years. After failing to raise an obelisk with simple machines, such as levers and pulleys, a team of modern engineers solved the mystery using a sandpit and the…

The Six Streams of the Emerging Scientist

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sun, Sidney

2017-01-01

NASA invests in professional coaching as a way to accelerate the development of its staff. The speaker shares one foundational human development model in coaching - the Six Streams - and applies it to the challenges that new scientists face. The speaker also describes how a new scientist can develop greater capabilities in the Six Streams so that they can become a more effective scientist and feel more satisfaction with their work.

Dr. Earl N. Meyer, in the Lab, with a Scalpel: A Murder Mystery as a Biochemistry Recruitment Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vulcu, Felicia; Heirwegh, Meagan

2015-01-01

Increasing student participation in science is an ongoing challenge for many universities. In this active learning workshop, centered on inquiry and teamwork, we introduce high-school students to biochemistry and molecular biology techniques using a murder mystery activity. During this intensive 3 hr workshop, we engage students in a murder…

A Scientist's Guide to Science Denial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenau, J.

2012-12-01

Why are so many scientifically uncontroversial topics, from evolution and the age of the earth to climate change and vaccines, so contentious in society? The American public respects science and scientists, yet seems remarkably unaware of - or resistant to accepting - what scientists have learned about the world around us. This resistance holds back science education and undermines public policy discussions. Scientists and science communicators often react to science denial as if it were a question of scientific knowledge, and respond by trying to correct false scientific claims. Many independent lines of evidence show that science denial is not primarily about science. People reject scientific claims which seem to conflict with their personal identity - often because they believe that accepting those claims would threaten some deeply-valued cultural, political, or religious affiliation. Only by identifying, addressing, and defusing the underlying political and cultural concerns can educators, scientists, and science communicators undo the harm done by science denial.

Probing Scientists' Beliefs: How Open-Minded Are Modern Scientists?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coll, Richard; Taylor, Neil

2004-01-01

Just how open-minded are modern scientists? In this paper we examine this question for the science faculty from New Zealand and UK universities. The Exeter questionnaire used by Preece and Baxter (2000) to examine superstitious beliefs of high school students and preservice science teachers was used as a basis for a series of in-depth interviews…

What Are Scientists Really Like? The Acclaim Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenton, Sharon; Jordan, Julie

2001-01-01

Introduces the Acclaim Project which aims to familiarize school children and the public with today's scientists. Focuses on scientists' activities in daily life and laboratories as well as participant scientists' comments. Explains how this project can be implemented at the elementary education level. (YDS)

MATHEMATICAL ROUTINES FOR ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kantak, A. V.

1994-01-01

The purpose of this package is to provide the scientific and engineering community with a library of programs useful for performing routine mathematical manipulations. This collection of programs will enable scientists to concentrate on their work without having to write their own routines for solving common problems, thus saving considerable amounts of time. This package contains sixteen subroutines. Each is separately documented with descriptions of the invoking subroutine call, its required parameters, and a sample test program. The functions available include: maxima, minima, and sort of vectors; factorials; random number generator (uniform or Gaussian distribution); complimentary error function; fast Fourier Transformation; Simpson's Rule integration; matrix determinate and inversion; Bessel function (J Bessel function for any order, and modified Bessel function for zero order); roots of a polynomial; roots of non-linear equation; and the solution of first order ordinary differential equations using Hamming's predictor-corrector method. There is also a subroutine for using a dot matrix printer to plot a given set of y values for a uniformly increasing x value. This package is written in FORTRAN 77 (Super Soft Small System FORTRAN compiler) for batch execution and has been implemented on the IBM PC computer series under MS-DOS with a central memory requirement of approximately 28K of 8 bit bytes for all subroutines. This program was developed in 1986.

Scientists' Views about Communication Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Besley, John C.; Dudo, Anthony; Storksdieck, Martin

2015-01-01

This study assesses how scientists think about science communication training based on the argument that such training represents an important tool in improving the quality of interactions between scientists and the public. It specifically focuses on training related to five goals, including views about training to make science messages…

Scientists' and Teachers' Perspectives about Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Munson, Bruce H.; Martz, Marti Ann; Shimek, Sarah

2013-01-01

The emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is resulting in more opportunities for scientists and teachers to collaborate. The relationships can result in failed collaborations or success. We recently completed a 6-year regional project that used several approaches to develop scientist-teacher relationships.…

Scientists as role models in space science outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, D.

The direct participation of scientists significantly enhances the impact of any E/PO effort. This is particularly true when the scientists come from minority or traditionally under-represented groups and, consequently, become role models for a large number of students while presenting positive counter-examples to the usual stereotypes. In this paper I will discuss the impact of scientists as role models through the successful implementation of a set of space physics games and activities, called Solar Week. Targetted at middle-school girls, the key feature of Solar Week is the "Ask a Scientist" section enabling direct interaction between participating students and volunteer scientists. All of the contributing scientists are women, serving as experts in their field and providing role models to whom the students can relate. Solar Week has completed four sessions with a total of some 140 edcuators and 12,000+ students in over 28 states and 9 countries. A major success of the Solar Week program has been the ability of the students to learn more about the scientists as people, through online biographies, and to discuss a variety of topics ranging from science, to careers and common hobbies.

Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences: A Scientist-Educator Partnership to Prepare the Next Generation of Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halversen, Catherine; Tran, Lynn Uyen

2010-01-01

Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences (COSIA) is a college course that creates and develops partnerships between science educators in informal science education institutions, such as museums, science centers and aquariums, and ocean scientists in colleges and universities. For the course, a scientist and educator team-teach…

Building the Next Generation of Earth Scientists: the Deep Carbon Observatory Early Career Scientist Workshops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratt, K.; Fellowes, J.; Giovannelli, D.; Stagno, V.

2016-12-01

Building a network of collaborators and colleagues is a key professional development activity for early career scientists (ECS) dealing with a challenging job market. At large conferences, young scientists often focus on interacting with senior researchers, competing for a small number of positions in leading laboratories. However, building a strong, international network amongst their peers in related disciplines is often as valuable in the long run. The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) began funding a series of workshops in 2014 designed to connect early career researchers within its extensive network of multidisciplinary scientists. The workshops, by design, are by and for early career scientists, thus removing any element of competition and focusing on peer-to-peer networking, collaboration, and creativity. The successful workshops, organized by committees of early career deep carbon scientists, have nucleated a lively community of like-minded individuals from around the world. Indeed, the organizers themselves often benefit greatly from the leadership experience of pulling together an international workshop on budget and on deadline. We have found that a combination of presentations from all participants in classroom sessions, professional development training such as communication and data management, and field-based relationship building and networking is a recipe for success. Small groups within the DCO ECS network have formed; publishing papers together, forging new research directions, and planning novel and ambitious field campaigns. Many DCO ECS also have come together to convene sessions at major international conferences, including the AGU Fall Meeting. Most of all, there is a broad sense of camaraderie and accessibility within the DCO ECS Community, providing the foundation for a career in the new, international, and interdisciplinary field of deep carbon science.

Scientists' Prioritization of Communication Objectives for Public Engagement.

PubMed

Dudo, Anthony; Besley, John C

2016-01-01

Amid calls from scientific leaders for their colleagues to become more effective public communicators, this study examines the objectives that scientists' report drive their public engagement behaviors. We explore how scientists evaluate five specific communication objectives, which include informing the public about science, exciting the public about science, strengthening the public's trust in science, tailoring messages about science, and defending science from misinformation. We use insights from extant research, the theory of planned behavior, and procedural justice theory to identify likely predictors of scientists' views about these communication objectives. Results show that scientists most prioritize communication designed to defend science from misinformation and educate the public about science, and least prioritize communication that seeks to build trust and establish resonance with the public. Regression analyses reveal factors associated with scientists who prioritize each of the five specific communication objectives. Our findings highlight the need for communication trainers to help scientists select specific communication objectives for particular contexts and audiences.

Reinventing Biostatistics Education for Basic Scientists

PubMed Central

Weissgerber, Tracey L.; Garovic, Vesna D.; Milin-Lazovic, Jelena S.; Winham, Stacey J.; Obradovic, Zoran; Trzeciakowski, Jerome P.; Milic, Natasa M.

2016-01-01

Numerous studies demonstrating that statistical errors are common in basic science publications have led to calls to improve statistical training for basic scientists. In this article, we sought to evaluate statistical requirements for PhD training and to identify opportunities for improving biostatistics education in the basic sciences. We provide recommendations for improving statistics training for basic biomedical scientists, including: 1. Encouraging departments to require statistics training, 2. Tailoring coursework to the students’ fields of research, and 3. Developing tools and strategies to promote education and dissemination of statistical knowledge. We also provide a list of statistical considerations that should be addressed in statistics education for basic scientists. PMID:27058055

Jets Spout Far Closer to Black Hole Than Thought, Scientists Say

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2004-01-01

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taking advantage of multiple unique views of black hole particle jets over the course of a year with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, have assembled a "picture" of the region that has revealed several key discoveries. They have found that the jets may be originating five times closer to the black hole than previously thought; they see in better detail how these jets change with time and distance from the black hole; and they could use this information as a new technique to measure black hole mass. Presented today in a press conference at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Atlanta, the observation will ultimately help solve the mystery of the great cosmic contradiction, in which black holes, notorious for pulling matter in, somehow manage to also shoot matter away in particle jets moving close to the speed of light. The observation is of a familiar source named SS 433 -- a binary star system within our Galaxy in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle, about 16,000 light years away. The black hole and its companion are about two-thirds closer to each other than the planet Mercury is to the Sun. The jets shoot off at 175 million miles per hour, 26 percent of light speed. "The high-speed jets in nearby SS 433 may be caused by the same mechanisms as the powerful outflows in the most distant and much more massive black holes, such as quasars," said Laura Lopez, an undergraduate student at MIT and lead author on a paper about the result. "SS 433 provides a nice local laboratory to study the formation of and conditions in relativistic jets." Dr. Herman Marshall, Ms. Lopez's research supervisor, led the investigation. Matter from the companion star pours into the black hole via a swirling accretion disk, much like water down a drain. Black hole particles jets are thought to be produced as some of the matter encounters strong magnetic fields close to the black hole. SS 433 is angled in such a way that

A Transdisciplinary Training Program for Behavioral Oncology and Cancer Control Scientists

PubMed Central

McDaniel, Anna M.; Champion, Victoria L.; Kroenke, Kurt

2008-01-01

Transdisciplinary health research training has been identified as a major initiative to achieve the vision for research teams of the future as articulated in the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. To address the need for scientists who can integrate diverse scientific approaches and work in transdisciplinary teams to solve complex health problems, Indiana University has designed an innovative training program that will provide the didactic and research experiences to enable trainees to establish productive careers in behavioral oncology and cancer control research. Development of a successful transdisciplinary training program requires mentorship, research, and a specialized curriculum that encompass a broad range of disciplines. The program capitalizes on a unique set of existing and emerging training opportunities resulting from the collaborative activities of the Indiana University (IU) Simon Cancer Center, the IU Schools of Nursing and Medicine, and multiple research institutes and academic centers located in Indiana and neighboring states. PMID:18501750

[Scientists in cartoons: humanizing science].

PubMed

Fioravanti, Carlos Henrique; Andrade, Rodrigo de Oliveira; Marques, Ivan da Costa

2016-01-01

Published daily from 1994 to 2002 in Correio Popular, a Campinas-based newspaper, Os cientistas (The scientists) comic strips produced by Brazilian researchers and journalists presented science critically and irreverently, exposing the insecurities and frustrations of scientists, as well as the conflicts between them and their communication difficulties with other groups, like journalists. This article shows the diversity of personalities, subjects, graphic styles, and potential meanings in a sample of comic strips published in the first four years.

Young Engineers and Scientists: a Mentorship Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boice, Daniel C.; Wuest, Martin; Marilyn, Koch B.

The Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) Program is a community partnership between Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and local high schools in San Antonio Texas (USA). It provides talented high school juniors and seniors a bridge between classroom instruction and real-world research experiences in physical sciences and engineering. YES consists of two parts: 1) an intensive three-week summer workshop held at SwRI where students experience the research environment first-hand; develop skills and acquire tools for solving scientific problems attend mini-courses and seminars on electronics computers and the Internet careers science ethics and other topics; and select individual research projects to be completed during the academic year; and 2) a collegial mentorship where students complete individual research projects under the guidance of their mentors during the academic year and earn honors credit. At the end of the school year students publicly present and display their work acknowledging their accomplishments and spreading career awareness to other students and teachers. YES has been highly successful during the past 10 years. All YES graduates have entered college several have worked for SwRI and three scientific publications have resulted. Student evaluations indicate the effectiveness of YES on their academic preparation and choice of college majors.

Resolving the mystery of transport within internal transport barriersa)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staebler, G. M.; Kinsey, J. E.; Belli, E. A.; Candy, J.; Waltz, R. E.; Greenfield, C. M.; Lao, L. L.; Smith, S. P.; Grierson, B. A.; Chrystal, C.

2014-05-01

The Trapped Gyro-Landau Fluid (TGLF) quasi-linear model [G. M. Staebler, et al., Phys. Plasmas 12, 102508 (2005)], which is calibrated to nonlinear gyrokinetic turbulence simulations, is now able to predict the electron density, electron and ion temperatures, and ion toroidal rotation simultaneously for internal transport barrier (ITB) discharges. This is a strong validation of gyrokinetic theory of ITBs, requiring multiple instabilities responsible for transport in different channels at different scales. The mystery of transport inside the ITB is that momentum and particle transport is far above the predicted neoclassical levels in apparent contradiction with the expectation from the theory of suppression of turbulence by E ×B velocity shear. The success of TGLF in predicting ITB transport is due to the inclusion of ion gyro-radius scale modes that become dominant at high E ×B velocity shear and to improvements to TGLF that allow momentum transport from gyrokinetic turbulence to be faithfully modeled.

Resolving the mystery of transport within internal transport barriers

DOE PAGES

Staebler, Gary M.; Kinsey, Jon E.; Belli, Emily A.; ...

2014-05-02

Here, the Trapped Gyro-Landau Fluid (TGLF) quasi-linear model, which is calibrated to nonlinear gyrokinetic turbulence simulations, is now able to predict the electron density, electron and ion temperatures and ion toroidal rotation simultaneously for internal transport barrier (ITB) discharges. This is a strong validation of gyrokinetic theory of ITBs, requiring multiple instabilities responsible for transport in different channels at different scales. The mystery of transport inside the ITB is that momentum and particle transport is far above the predicted neoclassical levels in apparent contradiction with the expectation from the theory of suppression of turbulence by E × B velocity shear.more » The success of TGLF in predicting ITB transport is due to the inclusion of ion gyro-radius scale modes that become dominant at high E × B velocity shear and to improvements to TGLF that allow momentum transport from gyrokinetic turbulence to be faithfully modeled.« less

The Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4) Budget: Mystery or Not

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liang, Qing; Newman, Paul A.; Daniel, John S.; Reimann, Stefan; Hall, Bradley; Dutton, Geoff; Kuijpers, Lambert J. M.

2014-01-01

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a major anthropogenic ozone-depleting substance and greenhouse gas and has been regulated under the Montreal Protocol. However, atmospheric observations show a very slow decline in CCl4 concentrations, inconsistent with the nearly zero emissions estimate based on the UNEP reported production and feedstock usage in recent years. It is now apparent that there are either unidentified industrial leakages, an unknown production source of CCl4, or large legacy emissions from CCl4 contaminated sites. In this paper we use a global chemistry climate model to assess the budget mystery of atmospheric CCl4. We explore various factors that affect the global trend and the gradient between the Northern and Southern hemispheres or interhemispheric gradient (IHG): emissions, emission hemispheric partitioning, and lifetime variations. We find a present-day emission of 30-50 Gg per yr and a total lifetime 25 - 36 years are necessary to reconcile both the observed CCl4 global trend and IHG.

The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Serpentine Remains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, Ken

2008-04-01

This story is a chemical mystery with an emphasis on qualitative analysis, descriptive chemistry, and forensics. It is as well yet another article in the continuing series, first presented by Thomas Waddell and Thomas R. Rybolt, which presents a scientific problem in mystery format in the context of the popular and beloved characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is a break in the story where readers (students and teachers) can ponder and solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes provides his solution in the paragraphs following the break.

The Great Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meadows, Jack

1989-11-01

This lively history of the development of science and its relationship to society combines vivid biographies of twelve pivotal scientists, commentary on the social and historical events of their time, and over four hundred illustrations, including many in color. The biographies span from classical times to the Atomic Age, covering Aristotle, Galileo, Harvey, Newton, Lavoisier, Humboldt, Faraday, Darwin, Pasteur, Curie, Freud, and Einstein. Through the biographies and a wealth of other material, the volume reveals how social forces have influenced the course of science. Along with the highly informative color illustrations, it contains much archival material never before published, ranging from medieval woodcuts, etchings from Renaissance anatomy texts, and pages from Harvey's journal, to modern false-color x-rays and infrared photographs of solar flares. A beautifully-designed, fact-filled, stimulating work, The Great Scientists will fascinate anyone with an interest in science and how history can influence scientific discovery.

Cosmic-Ray Energetics and Mass Processing - Bonding

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-20

Research that started aboard balloons a century ago will soon culminate in a three-year stint aboard the International Space Station as scientists work on solving a fundamental astrophysics mystery: What gives cosmic rays such incredible energies, and how does that affect the composition of the universe? The Cosmic-Ray Energetics and Mass investigation, known as CREAM, places a highly successful balloon-borne instrument aboard the International Space Station where it gathers an order of magnitude (ten times) more data, which has lower background interference because Earth's atmosphere is no longer interfering. CREAM's instruments measure the charges of cosmic rays ranging from hydrogen up through iron nuclei, over a broad energy range. The modified balloon instrument is carried aloft on a SpaceX Dragon Lab cargo supply mission and placed on the Japanese Exposed Module for a period of at least three years.

Cosmic-Ray Energetics and Mass Processing - Unbagging and Inspection

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-22

Research that started aboard balloons a century ago will soon culminate in a three-year stint aboard the International Space Station as scientists work on solving a fundamental astrophysics mystery: What gives cosmic rays such incredible energies, and how does that affect the composition of the universe? The Cosmic-Ray Energetics and Mass investigation, known as CREAM, places a highly successful balloon-borne instrument aboard the International Space Station where it gathers an order of magnitude (ten times) more data, which has lower background interference because Earth's atmosphere is no longer interfering. CREAM's instruments measure the charges of cosmic rays ranging from hydrogen up through iron nuclei, over a broad energy range. The modified balloon instrument is carried aloft on a SpaceX Dragon Lab cargo supply mission and placed on the Japanese Exposed Module for a period of at least three years.

Scientists want more children.

PubMed

Ecklund, Elaine Howard; Lincoln, Anne E

2011-01-01

Scholars partly attribute the low number of women in academic science to the impact of the science career on family life. Yet, the picture of how men and women in science--at different points in the career trajectory--compare in their perceptions of this impact is incomplete. In particular, we know little about the perceptions and experiences of junior and senior scientists at top universities, institutions that have a disproportionate influence on science, science policy, and the next generation of scientists. Here we show that having fewer children than wished as a result of the science career affects the life satisfaction of science faculty and indirectly affects career satisfaction, and that young scientists (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) who have had fewer children than wished are more likely to plan to exit science entirely. We also show that the impact of science on family life is not just a woman's problem; the effect on life satisfaction of having fewer children than desired is more pronounced for male than female faculty, with life satisfaction strongly related to career satisfaction. And, in contrast to other research, gender differences among graduate students and postdoctoral fellows disappear. Family factors impede talented young scientists of both sexes from persisting to research positions in academic science. In an era when the global competitiveness of US science is at risk, it is concerning that a significant proportion of men and women trained in the select few spots available at top US research universities are considering leaving science and that such desires to leave are related to the impact of the science career on family life. Results from our study may inform university family leave policies for science departments as well as mentoring programs in the sciences.

The climate change consensus extends beyond climate scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlton, J. S.; Perry-Hill, Rebecca; Huber, Matthew; Prokopy, Linda S.

2015-09-01

The existence of anthropogenic climate change remains a public controversy despite the consensus among climate scientists. The controversy may be fed by the existence of scientists from other disciplines publicly casting doubt on the validity of climate science. The extent to which non-climate scientists are skeptical of climate science has not been studied via direct survey. Here we report on a survey of biophysical scientists across disciplines at universities in the Big 10 Conference. Most respondents (93.6%) believe that mean temperatures have risen and most (91.9%) believe in an anthropogenic contribution to rising temperatures. Respondents strongly believe that climate science is credible (mean credibility score 6.67/7). Those who disagree about climate change disagree over basic facts (e.g., the effects of CO2 on climate) and have different cultural and political values. These results suggest that scientists who are climate change skeptics are outliers and that the majority of scientists surveyed believe in anthropogenic climate change and that climate science is credible and mature.

Scientists Involved in K-12 Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robigou, V.

2004-12-01

The publication of countless reports documenting the dismal state of science education in the 1980s, and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) report (1996) called for a wider involvement of the scientific community in K-12 education and outreach. Improving science education will not happen without the collaboration of educators and scientists working in a coordinated manner and it requires a long-term, continuous effort. To contribute effectively to K-12 education all scientists should refer to the National Science Education Standards, a set of policies that guide the development of curriculum and assessment. Ocean scientists can also specifically refer to the COSEE recommendations (www.cosee.org) that led to the creation of seven regional Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence. Scientists can get involved in K-12 education in a multitude of ways. They should select projects that will accommodate time away from their research and teaching obligations, their talent, and their interest but also contribute to the education reform. A few examples of effective involvement are: 1) collaborating with colleagues in a school of education that can lead to better education of all students and future teachers, 2) acting as a resource for a national program or a local science fair, 3) serving on the advisory board of a program that develops educational material, 4) speaking out at professional meetings about the value of scientists' involvement in education, 5) speaking enthusiastically about the teaching profession. Improving science education in addition to research can seem a large, overwhelming task for scientists. As a result, focusing on projects that will fit the scientist's needs as well as benefit the science reform is of prime importance. It takes an enormous amount of work and financial and personnel resources to start a new program with measurable impact on students. So, finding the right opportunity is a priority, and stepping

Values in environmental research: Citizens' views of scientists who acknowledge values.

PubMed

Elliott, Kevin C; McCright, Aaron M; Allen, Summer; Dietz, Thomas

2017-01-01

Scientists who perform environmental research on policy-relevant topics face challenges when communicating about how values may have influenced their research. This study examines how citizens view scientists who publicly acknowledge values. Specifically, we investigate whether it matters: if citizens share or oppose a scientist's values, if a scientist's conclusions seem contrary to or consistent with the scientist's values, and if a scientist is assessing the state of the science or making a policy recommendation. We conducted two 3x2 factorial design online experiments. Experiment 1 featured a hypothetical scientist assessing the state of the science on the public-health effects of exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), and Experiment 2 featured a scientist making a policy recommendation on use of BPA. We manipulated whether or not the scientist expressed values and whether the scientist's conclusion appeared contrary to or consistent with the scientist's values, and we accounted for whether or not subjects' values aligned with the scientist's values. We analyzed our data with ordinary least squares (OLS) regression techniques. Our results provide at least preliminary evidence that acknowledging values may reduce the perceived credibility of scientists within the general public, but this effect differs depending on whether scientists and citizens share values, whether scientists draw conclusions that run contrary to their values, and whether scientists make policy recommendations.

Geological mysteries on Ganymede

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image shows some unusual features on the surface of Jupiter's moon, Ganymede. NASA's Galileo spacecraft imaged this region as it passed Ganymede during its second orbit through the Jovian system. The region is located at 31 degrees latitude, 186 degrees longitude in the north of Marius Regio, a region of ancient dark terrain, and is near the border of a large swathe of younger, heavily tectonised bright terrain known as Nippur Sulcus. Situated in the transitional region between these two terrain types, the area shown here contains many complex tectonic structures, and small fractures can be seen crisscrossing the image. North is to the top-left of the picture, and the sun illuminates the surface from the southeast. This image is centered on an unusual semicircular structure about 33 kilometers (20 miles) across. A 38 kilometer (24 miles) long, remarkably linear feature cuts across its northern extent, and a wide east-west fault system marks its southern boundary. The origin of these features is the subject of much debate among scientists analyzing the data. Was the arcuate structure part of a larger feature? Is the straight lineament the result of internal or external processes? Scientists continue to study this data in order to understand the surface processes occurring on this complex satellite.

The image covers an area approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) by 52 kilometers (32 miles) across. The resolution is 189 meters (630 feet) per picture element. The images were taken on September 6, 1996 at a range of 9,971 kilometers (6,232 miles) by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov.

The professional and the scientist in nineteenth-century America.

PubMed

Lucier, Paul

2009-12-01

In nineteenth-century America, there was no such person as a "professional scientist". There were professionals and there were scientists, but they were very different. Professionals were men of science who engaged in commercial relations with private enterprises and took fees for their services. Scientists were men of science who rejected such commercial work and feared the corrupting influences of cash and capitalism. Professionals portrayed themselves as active and useful members of an entrepreneurial polity, while scientists styled themselves as crusading reformers, promoters of a purer science and a more research-oriented university. It was this new ideology, embodied in these new institutions, that spurred these reformers to adopt a special name for themselves--"scientists". One object of this essay, then, is to explain the peculiar Gilded Age, American origins of that ubiquitous term. A larger goal is to explore the different social roles of the professional and the scientist. By attending to the particular vocabulary employed at the time, this essay tries to make clear why a "professional scientist" would have been a contradiction in terms for both the professional and the scientist in nineteenth-century America.

Development and Field Test of the Modified Draw-a-Scientist Test and the Draw-a-Scientist Rubric

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farland-Smith, Donna

2012-01-01

Even long before children are able to verbalize which careers may be interesting to them, they collect and store ideas about scientists. For these reasons, asking children to draw a scientist has become an accepted method to provide a glimpse into how children represent and identify with those in the science fields. Years later, these…

Performance analysis of successive over relaxation method for solving glioma growth model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, Abida; Faye, Ibrahima; Muthuvalu, Mohana Sundaram

2016-11-01

Brain tumor is one of the prevalent cancers in the world that lead to death. In light of the present information of the properties of gliomas, mathematical models have been developed by scientists to quantify the proliferation and invasion dynamics of glioma. In this study, one-dimensional glioma growth model is considered, and finite difference method is used to discretize the problem. Then, two stationary methods, namely Gauss-Seidel (GS) and Successive Over Relaxation (SOR) are used to solve the governing algebraic system. The performance of the methods are evaluated in terms of number of iteration and computational time. On the basis of performance analysis, SOR method is shown to be more superior compared to GS method.

Mystery shopping and alcohol sales: do supermarkets and liquor stores sell alcohol to underage customers?

PubMed

Gosselt, Jordy F; van Hoof, Joris J; de Jong, Menno D T; Prinsen, Sander

2007-09-01

The Dutch national policy regarding alcohol and youth relies on retailers' willingness to refuse to sell alcohol to underage customers. This study examined unobtrusively whether supermarkets and liquor stores do indeed comply with the legal age restrictions for alcohol sales. A research protocol was developed based on the methodology of mystery shopping. Using the protocol, 150 supermarkets and 75 liquor stores were visited by 15-year-old adolescents who tried to buy soft alcoholic beverages (legal age, 16 years), and 75 liquor stores were visited by 17-year-old adolescents who tried to buy strong alcoholic beverages (legal age, 18). Of all 300 buying attempts, 86% were successful. In supermarkets, 88% of all attempts succeeded. In liquor stores, a difference was found between the purchase of strong alcohol by 17-year-olds (89%) and the purchase of soft alcoholic beverages by 15-year-olds (77%). In only 71 of all visits, mystery shoppers were asked for an ID. In 39% of these cases, they were still able to buy alcohol. Female adolescents were more successful in buying alcohol than male adolescents. The results show that supermarkets and liquor stores generally fail to see the need for extra care when young customers try to buy alcohol. Legal age restrictions without enforcement and facilitation clearly do not suffice to protect adolescents from early exposure to alcohol.

Evaluation of Pharmacists' Services for Dispensing Emergency Contraceptive Pills in Delhi, India: A Mystery Shopper Study.

PubMed

Saxena, Pikee; Mishra, Archana; Nigam, Aruna

2016-01-01

Although emergency contraceptive pills are available over the counter, the quality of consultation, including key areas of contraceptive counseling and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STI), has not been well documented. To evaluate actual pharmacist services while dispensing emergency contraception through a mystery shopper technique. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 81 pharmacies situated in Delhi by 4 trained mystery shoppers posed as customers over a period of 6 months. None of the pharmacists asked about the time lapsed since last unprotected sexual intercourse or last menstrual period before deciding the eligibility of the customer. The majority were unclear about side effects associated with emergency contraception (78.57%) or with anticipated changes in menstrual flow (78.57%); 85.71% did not know whether subsequent unprotected intercourse would be protected. Only 15.71% counseled shoppers regarding risk of STI on asking leading questions and 88.5% did not provide any contraceptive advice. There is a huge gap in the technical knowledge and mindset of the pharmacists when it comes to checking for the eligibility of the client and providing advice regarding use of regular contraception and barrier for protection from STI, which needs to be addressed in order to realize the full benefit of making emergency contraceptive pills available over the counter.

Scientists in the Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundin, J.

2009-12-01

High school science is often the first time students are presented with the scientific method as a tool to assist discovery. I aim to help students ‘think like a scientist’, through my role as a graduate student NSF GK-12 fellow in the Ocean and Coastal Interdisciplinary Science (OACIS) program, where I am paired with a high school science teacher and their classes for the year. To help students gain a familiarity and understanding of how scientists approach research, I will (1) utilize technology, including youtube, powerpoint, and research modeling applications; (2) bring in experts from the University to demonstrate the diversity of the science community; (3) connect with the classroom research from meetings, journals and reports. The goal is to broaden the scope of how research science is conducted, but also to allow individual students to be involved in projects, from developing a hypothesis to presenting their data. A survey at the beginning of the academic year and a survey before the AGU Fall meeting will be compared to assess the influence of having a research scientist present. Results will include how students view of science and scientists has changed, feedback on how successfully technology has improved students’ comprehension, and ideas for making science approachable for diverse high school learners.

Reading as Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shanahan, Marie-Claire

2010-01-01

Using an adapted version of a recently published scientific article, a group of sixth graders worked together identifying conclusions, deciding on appropriate evidence, suggesting improvements for the study, and recommending further investigations for scientists. This experience provided opportunities for these students to use reading to decide on…

Probing stereotypes through students' drawings of scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahm, Jrène; Charbonneau, Paul

1997-08-01

The Draw-A-Scientist Test is an assessment tool devised to explore and measure children's stereotypical views of scientists. We administered this test to a group of 49 undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in a teacher certification program. While this was originally intended as a purely pedagogical exercise, we were struck by the degree to which the drawings so produced resembled, in stereotypical content, those usually produced by children. This suggests that stereotypes of science and scientists formed during childhood, presumably via the influence of the media, remain largely unaffected by the subsequent passage through high school and college, despite the fact that numerous real-life figures of science teachers and scientists are presumably encountered throughout those formative years. We argue that this state of affairs has subtle and far reaching consequences, and is worthy of our collective attention.

Education and Outreach: Advice to Young Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopes, R. M. C.

2005-08-01

Carl Sagan set an example to all scientists when he encouraged us to reach out to the public and share the excitement of discovery and exploration. The prejudice that ensued did not deter Sagan and, with the passing of years, more and more scientists have followed his example. Although at present scientists at all ranks are encouraged by their institutions to do outreach, the balancing of a successful scientific career with teaching and outreach is often not an easy one. Young scientists, in particular, may worry about how their outreach efforts are viewed in the community and how they will find the time and energy for these efforts. This talk will offer suggestions on how to balance an active science research program with outreach activities, the many different ways to engage in education and public outreach, and how the rewards are truly priceless.

Development of a problem solving evaluation instrument; untangling of specific problem solving assets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, Wendy Kristine

The purpose of my research was to produce a problem solving evaluation tool for physics. To do this it was necessary to gain a thorough understanding of how students solve problems. Although physics educators highly value problem solving and have put extensive effort into understanding successful problem solving, there is currently no efficient way to evaluate problem solving skill. Attempts have been made in the past; however, knowledge of the principles required to solve the subject problem are so absolutely critical that they completely overshadow any other skills students may use when solving a problem. The work presented here is unique because the evaluation tool removes the requirement that the student already have a grasp of physics concepts. It is also unique because I picked a wide range of people and picked a wide range of tasks for evaluation. This is an important design feature that helps make things emerge more clearly. This dissertation includes an extensive literature review of problem solving in physics, math, education and cognitive science as well as descriptions of studies involving student use of interactive computer simulations, the design and validation of a beliefs about physics survey and finally the design of the problem solving evaluation tool. I have successfully developed and validated a problem solving evaluation tool that identifies 44 separate assets (skills) necessary for solving problems. Rigorous validation studies, including work with an independent interviewer, show these assets identified by this content-free evaluation tool are the same assets that students use to solve problems in mechanics and quantum mechanics. Understanding this set of component assets will help teachers and researchers address problem solving within the classroom.

Education: Mutualistic Interactions between Scientists and Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Condon, Marty

1991-01-01

A project that introduced scientists to students and engaged students in creative scientific activities is described. Students were asked to help scientists identify patterns on the wing of a species of fruit fly. A combined research/education program is recommended. (KR)

Increasing both the public health potential of basic research and the scientist satisfaction. An international survey of bio-scientists.

PubMed

Sorrentino, Carmen; Boggio, Andrea; Confalonieri, Stefano; Hemenway, David; Scita, Giorgio; Ballabeni, Andrea

2016-01-01

Basic scientific research generates knowledge that has intrinsic value which is independent of future applications. Basic research may also lead to practical benefits, such as a new drug or diagnostic method. Building on our previous study of basic biomedical and biological researchers at Harvard, we present findings from a new survey of similar scientists from three countries. The goal of this study was to design policies to enhance both the public health potential and the work satisfaction and test scientists' attitudes towards these factors. The present survey asked about the scientists' motivations, goals and perspectives along with their attitudes concerning  policies designed to increase both the practical (i.e. public health) benefits of basic research as well as their own personal satisfaction. Close to 900 basic investigators responded to the survey; results corroborate the main findings from the previous survey of Harvard scientists. In addition, we find that most bioscientists disfavor present policies that require a discussion of the public health potential of their proposals in grants but generally favor softer policies aimed at increasing the quality of work and the potential practical benefits of basic research. In particular, bioscientists are generally supportive of those policies entailing the organization of more meetings between scientists and the general public, the organization of more academic discussion about the role of scientists in the society, and the implementation of a "basic bibliography" for each new approved drug.

Studying PubMed usages in the field for complex problem solving: Implications for tool design

PubMed Central

Song, Jean; Tonks, Jennifer Steiner; Meng, Fan; Xuan, Weijian; Ameziane, Rafiqa

2012-01-01

Many recent studies on MEDLINE-based information seeking have shed light on scientists’ behaviors and associated tool innovations that may improve efficiency and effectiveness. Few if any studies, however, examine scientists’ problem-solving uses of PubMed in actual contexts of work and corresponding needs for better tool support. Addressing this gap, we conducted a field study of novice scientists (14 upper level undergraduate majors in molecular biology) as they engaged in a problem solving activity with PubMed in a laboratory setting. Findings reveal many common stages and patterns of information seeking across users as well as variations, especially variations in cognitive search styles. Based on findings, we suggest tool improvements that both confirm and qualify many results found in other recent studies. Our findings highlight the need to use results from context-rich studies to inform decisions in tool design about when to offer improved features to users. PMID:24376375

The Scarcity of Orthopaedic Physician Scientists.

PubMed

Buckwalter, Joseph A; Elkins, Jacob M

2017-01-01

Breakthrough advances in medicine almost uniformly result from the translation of new basic scientific knowledge into clinical practice, rather than from assessment, modification or refinement of current methods of diagnosis and treatment. However, as is intuitively understood, those most responsible for scientific conception and creation-scientists - are generally not the ones applying these advances at the patient's bedside or the operating room, and vice versa. Recognition of the scarcity of clinicians with a background that prepares them to develop new basic knowledge, and to critically evaluate the underlying scientific basis of methods of diagnosis and treatment, has led to initiatives including federally funded Physician-Scientist programs, whereby young, motivated scholars begin a rigorous training, which encompasses education and mentorship within both medical and scientific fields, culminating in the conferment of both MD and PhD degrees. Graduates have demonstrated success in integrating science into their academic medical careers. However, for unknown reasons, orthopaedic surgery, more than other specialties, has struggled to recruit and retain physician-scientists, who possess a skill set evermore rare in today's increasingly complicated medical and scientific landscape. While the reasons for this shortfall have yet to be completely elucidated, one thing is clear: If orthopaedics is to make significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases and injuries, recruitment of the very best and brightest physician-scientists to orthopaedics must become a priority. This commentary explores potential explanations for current low-recruitment success regarding future orthopaedic surgeon-scientists, and discusses avenues for resolution.

Scientists' Perceptions of Communicating During Crises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dohaney, J. A.; Hudson-Doyle, E.; Brogt, E.; Wilson, T. M.; Kennedy, B.

2015-12-01

To further our understanding of how to enhance student science and risk communication skills in natural hazards and earth science courses, we conducted a pilot study to assess the different perceptions of expert scientists and risk communication practitioners versus the perceptions of students. These differences will be used to identify expert views on best practice, and improve the teaching of communication skills at the University level. In this pilot study, a perceptions questionnaire was developed and validated. Within this, respondents (geoscientists, engineers, and emergency managers; n=44) were asked to determine their agreement with the use and effectiveness of specific communication strategies (within the first 72 hours after a devastating earthquake) when communicating to the public. In terms of strategies and information to the public, the respondents were mostly in agreement, but there were several statements which elicited large differences between expert responses: 1) the role and purpose of the scientific communication during crises (to persuade people to care, to provide advice, to empower people to take action); 2) the scientist's delivery (showing the scientists emotions and enthusiasm for scientific concepts they are discussing); and 3) the amount of data that is discussed (being comprehensive versus 'only the important' data). The most disagreed upon dimension was related to whether to disclose any political influence on the communication. Additionally, scientists identified that being an effective communicator was an important part of their job, and agreed that it is important to practice these skills. Respondents generally indicated that while scientists should be accountable for the science advice provided, they should not be held liable.

Social scientist's viewpoint on conflict management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ertel, Madge O.

1990-01-01

Social scientists can bring to the conflict-management process objective, reliable information needed to resolve increasingly complex issues. Engineers need basic training in the principles of the social sciences and in strategies for public involvement. All scientists need to be sure that that the information they provide is unbiased by their own value judgments and that fair standards and open procedures govern its use.

Flexibility in Problem Solving: The Case of Equation Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Star, Jon R.; Rittle-Johnson, Bethany

2008-01-01

A key learning outcome in problem-solving domains is the development of flexible knowledge, where learners know multiple strategies and adaptively choose efficient strategies. Two interventions hypothesized to improve flexibility in problem solving were experimentally evaluated: prompts to discover multiple strategies and direct instruction on…

Scientist Spotlight Homework Assignments Shift Students' Stereotypes of Scientists and Enhance Science Identity in a Diverse Introductory Science Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schinske, Jeffrey N.; Perkins, Heather; Snyder, Amanda; Wyer, Mary

2016-01-01

Research into science identity, stereotype threat, and possible selves suggests a lack of diverse representations of scientists could impede traditionally underserved students from persisting and succeeding in science. We evaluated a series of metacognitive homework assignments ("Scientist Spotlights") that featured counterstereotypical…

Would a "one-handed" scientist lack rigor? How scientists discuss the work-relatedness of musculoskeletal disorders in formal and informal communications.

PubMed

Premji, Stephanie; Messing, Karen; Lippel, Katherine

2008-03-01

When research results concerning occupational health are expressed ambiguously, compensation and prevention can be affected. This study examined the language used by scientists to discuss the relation between work and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Language regarding work and MSDs in twenty articles from two peer-reviewed journals was compared with that in 94 messages on MSDs posted by published scientists to an internet list. Almost all the articles found some link between work and MSDs. However, few articles expressed belief in such a link unambiguously in the title or abstract, and language on links was often hard for a non-health scientist to interpret. Language and methods gave excess weight to negative results. On the listserve, many scientists expressed unambiguous views on linkages between work and MSDs. Scientists must express their opinions more forthrightly if they wish their results to be used to favour prevention and to foster access to workers' compensation.

Fragility Extraordinaire: Unsolved Mysteries of Chromosome Fragile Sites.

PubMed

Feng, Wenyi; Chakraborty, Arijita

2017-01-01

Chromosome fragile sites are a fascinating cytogenetic phenomenon now widely implicated in a slew of human diseases ranging from neurological disorders to cancer. Yet, the paths leading to these revelations were far from direct, and the number of fragile sites that have been molecularly cloned with known disease-associated genes remains modest. Moreover, as more fragile sites were being discovered, research interests in some of the earliest discovered fragile sites ebbed away, leaving a number of unsolved mysteries in chromosome biology. In this review we attempt to recount some of the early discoveries of fragile sites and highlight those phenomena that have eluded intense scrutiny but remain extremely relevant in our understanding of the mechanisms of chromosome fragility. We then survey the literature for disease association for a comprehensive list of fragile sites. We also review recent studies addressing the underlying cause of chromosome fragility while highlighting some ongoing debates. We report an observed enrichment for R-loop forming sequences in fragile site-associated genes than genomic average. Finally, we will leave the reader with some lingering questions to provoke discussion and inspire further scientific inquiries.

Unsolved mysteries of Rag GTPase signaling in yeast.

PubMed

Hatakeyama, Riko; De Virgilio, Claudio

2016-10-01

The target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) plays a central role in controlling eukaryotic cell growth by fine-tuning anabolic and catabolic processes to the nutritional status of organisms and individual cells. Amino acids represent essential and primordial signals that modulate TORC1 activity through the conserved Rag family GTPases. These assemble, as part of larger lysosomal/vacuolar membrane-associated complexes, into heterodimeric sub-complexes, which typically comprise two paralogous Rag GTPases of opposite GTP-/GDP-loading status. The TORC1-stimulating/inhibiting states of these heterodimers are controlled by various guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and GTPase-activating protein (GAP) complexes, which are remarkably conserved in various eukaryotic model systems. Among the latter, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been instrumental for the elucidation of basic aspects of Rag GTPase regulation and function. Here, we discuss the current state of the respective research, focusing on the major unsolved issues regarding the architecture, regulation, and function of the Rag GTPase containing complexes in yeast. Decoding these mysteries will undoubtedly further shape our understanding of the conserved and divergent principles of nutrient signaling in eukaryotes.

Unsolved mysteries of Rag GTPase signaling in yeast

PubMed Central

Hatakeyama, Riko; De Virgilio, Claudio

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT The target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) plays a central role in controlling eukaryotic cell growth by fine-tuning anabolic and catabolic processes to the nutritional status of organisms and individual cells. Amino acids represent essential and primordial signals that modulate TORC1 activity through the conserved Rag family GTPases. These assemble, as part of larger lysosomal/vacuolar membrane-associated complexes, into heterodimeric sub-complexes, which typically comprise two paralogous Rag GTPases of opposite GTP-/GDP-loading status. The TORC1-stimulating/inhibiting states of these heterodimers are controlled by various guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and GTPase-activating protein (GAP) complexes, which are remarkably conserved in various eukaryotic model systems. Among the latter, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been instrumental for the elucidation of basic aspects of Rag GTPase regulation and function. Here, we discuss the current state of the respective research, focusing on the major unsolved issues regarding the architecture, regulation, and function of the Rag GTPase containing complexes in yeast. Decoding these mysteries will undoubtedly further shape our understanding of the conserved and divergent principles of nutrient signaling in eukaryotes. PMID:27400376

Advice to young behavioral and cognitive scientists.

PubMed

Weisman, Ronald G

2008-02-01

Modeled on Medawar's Advice to a Young Scientist [Medawar, P.B., 1979. Advice to a Young Scientist. Basic Books, New York], this article provides advice to behavioral and cognitive scientists. An important guiding principle is that the study of comparative cognition and behavior are natural sciences tasked with explaining nature. The author advises young scientists to begin with a natural phenomenon and then bring it into the laboratory, rather than beginning in the laboratory and hoping for an application in nature. He suggests collaboration as a way to include research outside the scientist's normal competence. He then discusses several guides to good science. These guides include Tinbergen's [Tinbergen, N., 1963. On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20, 410-433. This journal was renamed Ethology in 1986. Also reprinted in Anim. Biol. 55, 297-321, 2005] four "why" questions, Platt's [Platt, J.R., 1964. Strong inference. Science 146, 347-353, (http://weber.ucsd.edu/~jmoore/courses/Platt1964.pdf)] notion of strong inference using multiple alternative hypotheses, and the idea that positive controls help scientists to follow Popper's [Popper, K.R., 1959. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Basic Books, New York, p. 41] advice about disproving hypotheses. The author also recommends Strunk and White's [Strunk, W., White, E.B., 1979. The Elements of Style, third ed. Macmillan, New York] rules for sound writing, and he provides his personal advice on how to use the anticipation of peer review to improve research and how to decode editors' and reviewers' comments about submitted articles.

The physician-scientist in Canadian psychiatry.

PubMed

Honer, William G; Linseman, Mary Ann

2004-01-01

The objective of the study was to determine whether physician-scientists in psychiatry in Canada are in decline, as was reported for medicine overall during the 1990s in the United States. Federal databases were searched to study grant applications in the area of mental health submitted by physician-scientists compared with PhD-scientists for the period 1985-2001. A survey of Canadian Residency Training Program Directors was carried out for the graduating class of 2000. The Canadian publicly funded university system. Applicants to the Medical Research Council of Canada and its successor, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, for operating grant support and Residency Training Program Directors. None. Comparison over time between MD and PhD applicants regarding the number of grant applications submitted, the proportion of applications funded and the number of new applications submitted, with separation of applications submitted to a predominantly "biomedical" peer review committee and to a predominantly "clinical research" peer review committee. The survey obtained information about a number of variables related to research training. The situation for physician-scientists in psychiatry in Canada appeared remarkably similar to general findings in US studies. Relative to PhD applicants, fewer grant proposals were being made by physicians (paired t16 = 7.08, p < 0.001) and, in consequence, fewer proposals were funded. The proportion of proposals funded was similar for MD and PhD applicants (paired t16 = 0.27, p = 0.79). Grant applications made to the predominantly biomedical committee were more likely to be funded than applications to the committee with an orientation toward clinical research (paired t7 = 5.53, p < 0.001). Applications by PhD-scientists to the biomedical committee showed the largest increase over time and were the most successful. From the survey of graduating classes, close to one-third of residents had authored or co-authored a publication

The physician–scientist in Canadian psychiatry

PubMed Central

Honer, William G.; Linseman, Mary Ann

2004-01-01

Objective The objective of the study was to determine whether physician–scientists in psychiatry in Canada are in decline, as was reported for medicine overall during the 1990s in the United States. Design Federal databases were searched to study grant applications in the area of mental health submitted by physician–scientists compared with PhD–scientists for the period 1985–2001. A survey of Canadian Residency Training Program Directors was carried out for the graduating class of 2000. Setting The Canadian publicly funded university system. Participants Applicants to the Medical Research Council of Canada and its successor, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, for operating grant support and Residency Training Program Directors. Interventions None. Outcome measures Comparison over time between MD and PhD applicants regarding the number of grant applications submitted, the proportion of applications funded and the number of new applications submitted, with separation of applications submitted to a predominantly “biomedical” peer review committee and to a predominantly “clinical research” peer review committee. The survey obtained information about a number of variables related to research training. Results The situation for physician–scientists in psychiatry in Canada appeared remarkably similar to general findings in US studies. Relative to PhD applicants, fewer grant proposals were being made by physicians (paired t16 = 7.08, p < 0.001) and, in consequence, fewer proposals were funded. The proportion of proposals funded was similar for MD and PhD applicants (paired t16 = 0.27, p = 0.79). Grant applications made to the predominantly biomedical committee were more likely to be funded than applications to the committee with an orientation toward clinical research (paired t7 = 5.53, p < 0.001). Applications by PhD–scientists to the biomedical committee showed the largest increase over time and were the most successful. From the survey of

Teaching Scientists to Fish, as Inspired by Jack Dymond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franks, S. E.

2004-12-01

It is almost inconceivable that as Jack Dymond's graduate student for eight years, I never mastered the skill of fly-fishing, a pursuit so near and dear to his heart. In fact, Jack did inspire me, not to tie flies and cast, but eventually to teach fellow scientists to fish. The work I'll present - connecting scientists and educators to achieve societal benefit - is profoundly influenced by Jack's dedication to applying scientific understanding and critical thinking to societal issues. With colleagues in the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE), http://www.cosee.net/, I enable scientists to efficiently make meaningful contributions to educational outreach. A key goal of the multi-Center, national COSEE Network is helping scientists build the skills and acquire the resources needed to share their science with diverse audiences. At Scripps, we are piloting an innovative approach to helping scientists meet funding agencies' broader impact requirements. Key elements of the approach include: 1) services to identify educational outreach options that best fit scientists' research and preferences; 2) assistance establishing partnerships with educational outreach providers who have the skills and resources to develop and implement effective programs and exhibits; and 3) nuts and bolts (line and fly) assistance writing proposal text, drafting budgets, and coordinating with institutional business offices to ensure that the proposed educational outreach effort is compelling and sufficiently funded. Where does the fishing lesson come in? We facilitators of scientist-educator partnerships empower scientists to launch enduring collaborations. Once comfortable working with top-notch educational organizations, scientists can tap these resources, project after project, often with little or no additional involvement on our part. Our initial investment in brokering the relationships is richly rewarded. By helping scientists get started, it's as if we are teaching

About Comparative Research of Poems "Treasury of Mysteries" and "Iskandername" on the Basis of Manuscript Sources as the Multiculturalism Samples

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasanov, Elnur L.

2016-01-01

In this scientific paper for the first time were investigated the innovative approach of the local literary heritage of Ganja on the basis of various historic sources as manuscripts and archive materials. Have been researched the comparative materials of such poems as "Treasury of mysteries" and "Iskandername". Also were…

Visual self-images of scientists and science in Greece.

PubMed

Christidou, Vasilia; Kouvatas, Apostolos

2013-01-01

A popular and well-established image of scientists and science dominates in the public field, signifying a contradictory and multifaceted combination of stereotypes. This paper investigates crucial aspects of the visual self-image of Greek scientists and science as exposed in photographic material retrieved from relevant institutions' websites. In total 971 photos were analysed along dimensions corresponding to the image of scientists and science. Analysis demonstrates ambivalence in Greek scientists' self-images between traditional stereotypic characteristics and an intention to overcome them. Differences between the self-images of physics, chemistry and biology are determined, as well as between the "masculine" and "feminine" face of science. Implications concerning improvements in science and scientists' self-images and further research are presented.

Assessing scientists for hiring, promotion, and tenure.

PubMed

Moher, David; Naudet, Florian; Cristea, Ioana A; Miedema, Frank; Ioannidis, John P A; Goodman, Steven N

2018-03-01

Assessment of researchers is necessary for decisions of hiring, promotion, and tenure. A burgeoning number of scientific leaders believe the current system of faculty incentives and rewards is misaligned with the needs of society and disconnected from the evidence about the causes of the reproducibility crisis and suboptimal quality of the scientific publication record. To address this issue, particularly for the clinical and life sciences, we convened a 22-member expert panel workshop in Washington, DC, in January 2017. Twenty-two academic leaders, funders, and scientists participated in the meeting. As background for the meeting, we completed a selective literature review of 22 key documents critiquing the current incentive system. From each document, we extracted how the authors perceived the problems of assessing science and scientists, the unintended consequences of maintaining the status quo for assessing scientists, and details of their proposed solutions. The resulting table was used as a seed for participant discussion. This resulted in six principles for assessing scientists and associated research and policy implications. We hope the content of this paper will serve as a basis for establishing best practices and redesigning the current approaches to assessing scientists by the many players involved in that process.

Assessing scientists for hiring, promotion, and tenure

PubMed Central

Naudet, Florian; Cristea, Ioana A.; Miedema, Frank; Ioannidis, John P. A.; Goodman, Steven N.

2018-01-01

Assessment of researchers is necessary for decisions of hiring, promotion, and tenure. A burgeoning number of scientific leaders believe the current system of faculty incentives and rewards is misaligned with the needs of society and disconnected from the evidence about the causes of the reproducibility crisis and suboptimal quality of the scientific publication record. To address this issue, particularly for the clinical and life sciences, we convened a 22-member expert panel workshop in Washington, DC, in January 2017. Twenty-two academic leaders, funders, and scientists participated in the meeting. As background for the meeting, we completed a selective literature review of 22 key documents critiquing the current incentive system. From each document, we extracted how the authors perceived the problems of assessing science and scientists, the unintended consequences of maintaining the status quo for assessing scientists, and details of their proposed solutions. The resulting table was used as a seed for participant discussion. This resulted in six principles for assessing scientists and associated research and policy implications. We hope the content of this paper will serve as a basis for establishing best practices and redesigning the current approaches to assessing scientists by the many players involved in that process. PMID:29596415

Mystery Montage: A Holistic, Visual, and Kinesthetic Process for Expanding Horizons and Revealing the Core of a Teaching Philosophy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ennis, Kim; Priebe, Carly; Sharipova, Mayya; West, Kim

2012-01-01

Revealing the core of a teaching philosophy is the key to a concise and meaningful philosophy statement, but it can be an elusive goal. This paper offers a visual, kinesthetic, and holistic process for expanding the horizons of self-reflection, self-analysis, and self-knowledge. Mystery montage, a variation of visual mapping, storyboarding, and…

Thinking like a scientist: innateness as a case study.

PubMed

Knobe, Joshua; Samuels, Richard

2013-01-01

The concept of innateness appears in systematic research within cognitive science, but it also appears in less systematic modes of thought that long predate the scientific study of the mind. The present studies therefore explore the relationship between the properly scientific uses of this concept and its role in ordinary folk understanding. Studies 1-4 examined the judgments of people with no specific training in cognitive science. Results showed (a) that judgments about whether a trait was innate were not affected by whether or not the trait was learned, but (b) such judgments were impacted by moral considerations. Study 5 looked at the judgments of both non-scientists and scientists, in conditions that encouraged either thinking about individual cases or thinking about certain general principles. In the case-based condition, both non-scientists and scientists showed an impact of moral considerations but little impact of learning. In the principled condition, both non-scientists and scientists showed an impact of learning but little impact of moral considerations. These results suggest that both non-scientists and scientists are drawn to a conception of innateness that differs from the one at work in contemporary scientific research but that they are also both capable of 'filtering out' their initial intuitions and using a more scientific approach. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spheromaks and how plasmas may explain the ultra high energy cosmic ray mystery

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fowler, T. Kenneth; Li, Hui

In recent papers, we show how accretion disks around massive black holes could act as dynamos producing magnetic jets similar to the jets that create spheromaks in the laboratory. In this paper, we discuss how these magnetic astrophysical jets might naturally produce runaway ion beams accelerated tomore » $$10^{20}$$ eV or more, finally ejected as ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) long regarded as one of the mysteries of astrophysics. The acceleration is mainly due to the drift cyclotron loss cone kinetic instability known from plasma research. Finally, experiments and simulations are suggested to verify the acceleration process.« less

Spheromaks and how plasmas may explain the ultra high energy cosmic ray mystery

DOE PAGES

Fowler, T. Kenneth; Li, Hui

2016-10-10

In recent papers, we show how accretion disks around massive black holes could act as dynamos producing magnetic jets similar to the jets that create spheromaks in the laboratory. In this paper, we discuss how these magnetic astrophysical jets might naturally produce runaway ion beams accelerated tomore » $$10^{20}$$ eV or more, finally ejected as ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) long regarded as one of the mysteries of astrophysics. The acceleration is mainly due to the drift cyclotron loss cone kinetic instability known from plasma research. Finally, experiments and simulations are suggested to verify the acceleration process.« less

Taking the Scientist's Perspective. The Nonfiction Narrative Engages Episodic Memory to Enhance Students' Understanding of Scientists and Their Practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larison, Karen D.

2018-03-01

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States 2013) mandates that schools provide students an understanding of the skills and knowledge that scientists use to engage in scientific practices. In this article, I argue that one of the best ways to accomplish this goal is to have students take the perspective of the scientist by reading nonfiction narratives written by scientists and science writers. I explore the anthropological and neurological evidence that suggests that perspective-taking is an essential component in the learning process. It has been shown that by around age 4, the human child begins to be able to take the perspective of others—a process that neuroscientists have shown engages episodic memory, a memory type that some neurocognitive scientists believe is central in organizing human cognition. Neuroscientists have shown that the brain regions in which episodic memory resides undergo pronounced anatomical changes during adolescence, suggesting that perspective-taking assumes an even greater role in cognition during adolescence and young adulthood. Moreover, I argue that the practice of science itself is narrative in nature. With each new observation and experiment, the scientist is acting to reveal an emerging story. It is the story-like nature of science that motivates the scientist to push onward with new experiments and new observations. It is also the story-like nature of the practice of science that can potentially engage the student. The classroom studies that I review here confirm the power of the narrative in increasing students' understanding of science.

Solving Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hale, Norman; Lindelow, John

Chapter 12 in a volume on school leadership, this chapter cites the work of several authorities concerning problem-solving or decision-making techniques based on the belief that group problem-solving effort is preferable to individual effort. The first technique, force-field analysis, is described as a means of dissecting complex problems into…

How Scientists Develop Competence in Visual Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ostergren, Marilyn

2013-01-01

Visuals (maps, charts, diagrams and illustrations) are an important tool for communication in most scientific disciplines, which means that scientists benefit from having strong visual communication skills. This dissertation examines the nature of competence in visual communication and the means by which scientists acquire this competence. This…

Solving the mystery of the internal structure of casein micelles.

PubMed

Ingham, B; Erlangga, G D; Smialowska, A; Kirby, N M; Wang, C; Matia-Merino, L; Haverkamp, R G; Carr, A J

2015-04-14

The interpretation of milk X-ray and neutron scattering data in relation to the internal structure of the casein micelle is an ongoing debate. We performed resonant X-ray scattering measurements on liquid milk and conclusively identified key scattering features, namely those corresponding to the size of and the distance between colloidal calcium phosphate particles. An X-ray scattering feature commonly assigned to the particle size is instead due to protein inhomogeneities.

Solving the Mystery of the Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, Derek

2005-07-01

Eight years after the afterglow detections that revolutionized studies of the long-soft gamma-ray bursts, not even one afterglow of a short-hard GRB has been seen, and the nature of these events has become one of the most important problems in GRB research. The Swift satellite, expected to be in full operation throughout Cycle 14, will report few-arcsecond localizations for short-hard bursts in minutes, enabling prompt, deep optical afterglow searches for the first time. Discovery and observation of the first short-hard optical afterglows will answer most of the critical questions about these events: What are their distances and energies? Do they occur in distant galaxies, and if so, in which regions of those galaxies? Are they the result of collimated or quasi-spherical explosions? In combination with an extensive rapid-response ground-based campaign, we propose to make the critical high-sensitivity HST TOO observations that will allow us to answer these questions. If theorists are correct in attributing the short-hard bursts to binary neutron star coalescence events, then they will serve as signposts to the primary targeted source population for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors, and short-hard burst studies will have a vital role to play in guiding those observations.