This learn node is centered in the 2008 discovery at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of how the dolphin kicks with huge power — something that has been a mystery called Gray’s Paradox. Six nodes emerge from the open internet in this animation, providing connected places to learn about dolphins and their power kick.
In this learn node the 2008 discovery of how the dolphin kicks with huge power is spotlighted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where the discovery was made. For decades, scientists have puzzled over the sea mammal’s speed, since “Gray’s Paradox” was described, as the Rensselaer website explains:
There was something peculiar about dolphins that stumped prolific British zoologist Sir James Gray in 1936. He had observed the sea mammals swimming at a swift rate of more than 20 miles per hour, but his studies had concluded that the muscles of dolphins simply weren’t strong enough to support those kinds of speeds. The conundrum came to be known as “Gray’s Paradox.”
Over 45% of all the fuel burned by U.S. manufacturers is consumed to raise steam. Steam is used to heat raw materials and treat semi-finished products. It is also a power source for equipment, as well as for building heat and electricity generation. Many manufacturing facilities can recapture energy through the installation of more efficient steam equipment and processes.
Remote sensing imagery and study materials abound on the internet. An excellent cluster of information can be found at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program which “is a multi-laboratory, interagency program, and is a key contributor to national and international research efforts related to global climate change. A primary objective of the program is improved scientific understanding of the fundamental physics related to interactions between clouds and radiative feedback processes in the atmosphere. ARM focuses on obtaining continuous field measurements and providing data products that promote the advancement of climate models.”
To learn scientific and technical background for the field MIT offers open couseware on Atmospheric Radiation that is “an introduction to the physics of atmospheric radiation and remote sensing including use of computer codes. Subjects covered include: radiative transfer equation including emission and scattering, spectroscopy, Mie theory, and numerical solutions. We examine the solution of inverse problems in remote sensing of atmospheric temperature and composition.”
Phoenix Mars Lander is the topic of a magnificent learn node in the New York Science times today. Like any quality learn node, this one in the Times focuses on a small hunk of a subject: the scheduled landing of the vehicle this week on Mars. The node has internal links to superb supporting materials such as the graphic from which a piece is shown at the top of this post – although the graphic regretfully does not have a url of its own. Other internal links do, such as the slide show.
The node aspects are stunted here because there are not links beyond the NY Times to related material, such as The University of Arizona’’s Phoenix Mars Mission home webpage and NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander homepage. The great news is that the New York Times no longer posts its science materials for free and then a few days later closes them behind a paid subscription. Since it will remain open online, this Phoenix Mars Lander node will remain available to link into other networks of space exploration and related subjects.
The above image combines a map from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program with a formula from a Connexions module by Sunil Kumar Singh that teaches forced oscillation. The map was captured as a screenshot from the USGS website 2 days after the Sichuan Earthquake began, and as the large squares on the map indicate, the aftershocks were continuing.
The resonance is an interesting feature of oscillation. This phenomenon attracts interest as it makes possible to achieve extra-ordinary result (material failure of large structure) with small force! Resonance also explains why earthquake causes differentiating result to different structures – most devastating where resonance occurs! The condition for maximum amplitude is obtained by differentiating amplitude function with respect to applied frequency as [the illustrated formula sets out.]
Thomas L. Pratt, who teaches research geophysicists at the University of Washington, provides a webpage that explains frequencies, periods, and resonance in which he includes this simple explanation: “Resonance is when motion at a given frequency is amplified by waves of that same frequency. For example, when a child is being pushed on a swing, the swinging is increased by a push being applied at the right time (at the correct frequency) during each swing.”
Sprinkler irrigation coverage is illustrated in the image here that comes from Lecture 3 in a course in the Biological and Irrigation Engineering department at Utah State University. Agricultural students anywhere across the world can learn water handling and conservation from the Utah State lectures.IrrigationTutorials.com is a website with a broad range of tutorials on the practicalities of selecting and installing irrigation systems. Extensive details of sprinkler irrigation are provided by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in a website section on factors to consider in selecting a farm Irrigation system. Websites about irrigation are interconnected richly, making one of humankind’s most ancient technologies a click or two away from anyone with Net access who wants to understand and implement irrigation.
If you have been wondering just how dangerous it is to break one of the new energy-saving light bulbs, click to play this video to find out. As it has recently been opening more of its content online, the Wall Street Journal is becoming a valuable resource for learning content. The above video is an example. Students interested in the health an safety implications from the video can flip on some outstanding expertise from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health course materials. An introductory lecture includes this definition of Industrial Hygiene:
Science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of those workplace environmental factors which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant discomfort and inefficiency among workers or among citizens of the community.
If you have time to listen to the complete brief video, you will get a preview on LED lighting, which this expert predicts as the future of lighting. You can also copy the code by clicking the icon on the video, and embed it in teaching, learning or other bright idea online locations.
The triangle of information shown in this learn node is a phase diagram thermodynamic calculation for solder Bi-Pb-Sn. So who care about something like that? In the advancing complexity of metallurgy, depth of detail is important. This is the explanation of the NIST host of the diagram, whose Web site explains the mission:
The NIST Metallurgy Division is working closely with materials suppliers and users to develop the measurement and standards infrastructure needed in diverse technological areas – from steelmaking to the fabrication of nanostructured multilayers for magnetic recording heads. . . .
On August 1, 2007, the Interstate Highway 35W bridge that crosses the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed during the afternoon rush hour. The video above captures the collapse itself. A a Web feature called 35W Bridge Collapse In Minneapolis at Science Museum of Minnesota Community looks at many subjects related to the disaster. Included is a link to the official website of the building of the replacement: I-35W St. Anthony Falls Bridge which gives these features for the new bridge:
100-year life span
10 lanes of traffic, five in each direction—two lanes wider than the former bridge
189 feet wide—the previous bridge was 113 feet wide
13 foot wide right shoulders and 14 foot wide left shoulders, the previous bridge had no shoulders
Light Rail Transport-ready which may help accommodate future transportation needs
Another bridge disaster that is very famous is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse. A Web exhibit at the University of Washington Library offers this invitation:
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened in 1940 with the third longest suspension span in the world. Four months after traffic began crossing the bridge it collapsed. On the webpages here the University of Washington Library interfaces the story of the bridge with narrative and images from its historic collections. Engineering students can visit these pages to virtually live a professional nightmare.
The illustration below shows a learn node, which you can use as an educator to make webpages more findable. The top little circles illustrate links out to content nodes related to the subject of the large circle. Bottom left, experts connect to the node affirming its quality - giving it juice. Bottom right, a student connects to the node to learn the subject of its content.
The center node takes you to the work of Timothy Wei, professor and acting dean of Rensselaer’s School of Engineering, to see how he has solved Gray’s Paradox using his new state-of-the-art water flow diagnostic technology — Digital Particle Image Velocimetry DPIV — that measures the force a dolphin generates with its tail. Other nodes are about DPIV, how the US Navy trains dolphins (a retired Navy dolphin stars in the Rensselear video), general dolphin information (from the San Diego Zoo), and open courseware from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine on marine mammal medicine including care of dolphins, who are cetaceans.
