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Monthly Archives: May 2012

Solar Landfills: The future?

Friday, May 25th, 2012 | STEPHEN BRONI | No Comments

An innovative  approach to alternative energy
Using landfills to generate solar power.
Mark Roberts of HDR Engineering is working on two of these solar landfill projects in Texas and Georgia.

Have a listen to the 7 min audio clip below from Radio NZ National’s ` This Way Up’ programme.  ( Scroll down to `Solar Landfill’)
 http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thiswayup/20120519

 and check out the detail on this website
http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/display/article-display/0438199780/articles/waste-management-world/volume-11/issue-6/features/solar-landfills-the-future.html

Why don’t parts of standing waves form in open pipes?

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012 | EMILY HALL | No Comments

At school today we were looking at the different harmonics and how they set up in strings, open and closed pipes. One of the students asked a cool question. He could see the closed pipe and string examples where there was “something” at the end of the length to reflect the wave, but didn’t understand why the waves would set up in the open pipe since it was open at both ends. Why didn’t the wave “fall out” the ends of the pipe? Or set up only partly in the tube and partly in the air or whatever medium was outside? Well, the answer is to do with the fact that although in the Year 13 book we are using at my school, and in most texts, the wave is represented as transverse, it is actually a longitudinal wave. This means that it is compressing and rarefacting in the pipe. The pressure at the ends of the pipe come in to play because the wave is setting up between these two areas of pressure which kind of act like the ends of the string. This is a pretty easy to read explanation of what is going on here. Also there’s a whole course of Physics lectures from MIT on waves online here. video 9 is where he goes into fundementals, harmonics and relates it to musical instruments.

Quick Introduction…

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012 | EMILY HALL | No Comments

Hi

Just a quick post to introduce myself – I am Emily, here to (hopefully) help you out with the phantasical world of Physics (see what I did there?) I’m a full time teacher of Physics at Queen’s High in Dunedin. I also have a karate group at Queen’s where I can force introduce students to my other passion which is karate. In addition, I’m working on a Master of Science Communication degree in teaching Physics through…….. wait for it……… KARATE! (bet no one saw that coming). In my spare time I run around after my two little boys who luckily for me love karate and Science. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone in person in July and virtually before then.

Over and out

Emily

2012 International Science Festival

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

About the festival

From the strange to the serious, the NZ International Science Festival brings Dunedin alive this winter. With everything from hands on workshops for the kids through to the science behind why we take risks and international guest speakers there will be something for all ages. At times you’ll be shocked, scared or surprised as we bring a side to science that you’ve never seen before

When: 30th June through to 8th July

Check out the website:  http://www.scifest.org.nz/

You will also see information about the Science Idol competition on this site – you may even recognise Tom McFadden (one of our most memorable greenshirt helpers!).  Tom is touring nationally at the moment so keep an eye out as he may even be coming to a school near you!

“Chemistry Matters” – Radioactivity in you and me

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

Radioactivity in you and me

By Associate Professor Allan Blackman.  This article was orignally published in the Otago Daily Times on Friday 18 May 2012.

Late last month, a soccer ball that had washed up on Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska, was discovered by a technician at the radar station there. The ball was found to have come from a school in Japan, some 6000 km away, which was struck by the Tsunami of March 11th, 2011. In addition to the enormous amount of debris swept into the Pacific Ocean, the Tsunami also caused extensive damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and released significant amounts of radioactive material into the environment.

It is a tragedy that the cities of Fukushima, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Chernobyl will for ever be associated with the word “radioactivity”. It is, in my opinion, fair to say that a significant number of people think of radioactivity as resulting solely from the actions of human beings, by way of nuclear power stations or nuclear weapons, and that it didn’t exist prior to the 20th century. So it may come as some surprise to you that your body, my body, and, indeed, the bodies of everybody on planet Earth, are teeming with radioactive atoms, the majority of which derive from a natural source – the element potassium.

Potassium (elemental symbol K) is an essential element for life. Humans require around two to four grams a day, and this is generally obtained from such foods as potatoes, spinach and bananas. But it turns out that, of all the potassium atoms we ingest, a small percentage are radioactive. Natural potassium consists of three isotopes, 39K, 40K and 41K. All three contain 19 positively-charged protons in their nucleus, but differ in the number of neutrons – 20, 21 and 22, respectively. The 40K isotope is radioactive, and comprises about 0.012% of all the atoms of potassium on Earth. It has a half-life of just over one billion years, meaning that one half of any sample of 40K will disappear over this time, and it decays by emitting beta particles and gamma rays, both of which are potentially harmful to humans.

An ‘average’ 75 kg person contains about 150 g of potassium. Of that 150 g, 0.018 g is due to the radioactive 40K isotope. This might not sound much, but when this mass is converted to an actual number of atoms, we find that it corresponds to about 270,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms of radioactive potassium in the body. That’s a lot. Given the billion year half-life of this isotope, you might perhaps expect that not many of these atoms would decay over our lifetime, but again, you may be surprised to find that around 7000 40K atoms decay per second. Each of these decays can potentially lead to DNA mutation, and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it! Obviously it is impossible for us to gauge the health effects of these radioactive decays, as it’s rather difficult to prepare a potassium-free human.

Like it or not, natural radioactivity, whether it be in the form of 40K, the most abundant radioactive isotope in the body, 14C, which we ingest primarily through breathing in 14CO2 from the air, or literally hundreds of other radioactive isotopes, is ubiquitous, and will always be with us – well, at least for the next few billion years, anyway.

My Synthesis Notes in Knowledge Forum

Monday, May 21st, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

Hi OUASSA Students,

Just a reminder that your My Synthesis note in Knowledge Forum is due by Friday of this week (the 25th of May).  This is a compulsory task for you all to complete.

The Marine Science Group are leading the charge with some really well written notes.  Have a read of these and you may find that you could use some of them as a guideline to compose your own Synthesis note i.e. they give you an idea of what is required and provide a good starting point for building your own note.  Likewise, the Maths Group have also got the ball rolling and have made some great contributions.  Well done guys!

If you are yet to do your My Synthesis note – please make sure you set aside some time to do so before Friday.

If you need help – or are struggling with the KF programme or access then please email me directly.

All details of the task required have been sent to your personal email and are also in KF itself.

Kind regards,

Kate

Scholarship Opportunity – Engineering Technology 2013

Friday, May 18th, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

As part of the Maintenance Engineering Society of New Zealand’s objective to encourage New Zealand students into tertiary education in the field of engineering technology, a MESNZ Engineering Scholarship worth up to $5,000 is being offered for the specific purpose of covering tuition fees in 2013.  This scholarship is available to assist students commencing study towards an IPENZ accredited engineering degree, diploma or certificate from any year level through a New Zealand University, Polytechnic or Industry Training Organisation.  Exemplar qualifications include Bachelor of Engineering or Bachelor of Engineering Technology degrees, National or New Zealand Diplomas in Engineering and the National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering (Maintenance Engineering).
Applications are now being sought from candidates interested in maintenance engineering as a career.
Please would you forward the attached information sheet and application form to any final year students at your school who may be considering, or you think may be interested in, study towards a relevant engineering qualification.  Please note that applications close on 31 August 2011.
Further details are available on the MESNZ website http://www.mesnz.org.nz/scholarship/

Science Idol – 2012

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

http://www.scifest.org.nz/competitions/science-idol-2012

US science rapper Tom McFadden is hitting the road from 20th May on his New Zealand tour – visiting schools from Auckland to Dunedin thanks to support from the US Embassy and Klablab. Science Idol is a way of sharing Tom’s contagious passion for biology, rap, and making science fun.
Get involved and enter your own science rap, and you could win a trip to Dunedin for you and a guardian to get your rap professionally recorded – just pick a topic that has something to do with “what makes us tick?” and then get all creative!

We’ll update you on how to enter soon, so keep updated by signing up for the newsletter or facebook site
Your song can be rap, pop, or punk. It can be an original or a cover. Perform it by yourself or with a group. Not feeling musical? It can even be spoken word.
Get scientific, get creative and have fun! As long as your performance is accurate, entertaining and conveys a scientific concept, you are good to go.
If you still have more questions – contact us at programmes@scifest.org.nz

Knowledge Forum: Synthesis of Project A Discussion Views

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 | STEPHEN BRONI | No Comments

 Hi  All
Your task is a simple one:
You are each to make to a New Note that pulls together the knowledge you have gained from the knowledge building discussion on your Project A View (Maths, Physics, Marine Science or Zoology). 

We have added a new set of scaffolds entitled ‘My Synthesis’ to help you do this.

Use these scaffolds to help you synthesise what you have learned from your Project A discussion and to highlight the ideas, posts and links that helped your knowledge building most. 

Post your synthesis as a New Note titled `My Synthesis’ within your Project view.

This task should take you no more than 30 minutes.

Date Due:  Fri 25th of May

We look forward to reading your ‘My Synthesis’ post. 

Don’t forget if you have ANY technical problems using Knowledge Forum let us know right away.  For those of you who haven’t been in for a while, have forgotten how to use the software or have lost the starter guide given you at the January camp, we are happy to  email you another copy and/or run a short refresher on-line using OtagoConnect.

Soon we will be posting the Project B views (Chemistry, Biochemistry/Genetics, Computer Science and Geography) to create an on-line discussion and to synthesize ideas generated between now and the July camp. 

May we take this opportunity to remind you that we expect you to access Knowledge Forum at least once a week to read the posts of others and to make a new note. This is your contribution to the Academy between camps and is part of  the  commitment  you undertook when you applied to The OUASSA.

Don’t forget the Curriculum Views are there  to post questions asking for advice or assistance with internals and externals etc. We will gladly help where we can!

2011 Students Studying at Otago University

Friday, May 11th, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

Hello there,

A huge thank you to those of you who attended the 2011 OUASSA Lunch held on campus on Wednesday.  It was so lovely to see you all again, to hear how well you are doing and how the Academy impacted on your tertiary pathways/career options.

Please be sure to keep in touch!

Kind regards The OUASSA Team

Science Alert – Website

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

An excellent website with the latest news and research developments.  http://www.sciencealert.com.au/  There are many great articles to read and links to follow…. here is an example of a good article about human endogenous rhythms and the potential role of the liver.  All of you Y13 Biology students will be studying biological timing mechanisims in preparation for the external AS ‘Describe animal behaviour and plant responses in relation to environmental factors’.

Liver helps ‘set’ body clock

The University of Sydney
Friday, 04 May 2012
A disrupted body clock can cause a higher risk of obesity and diabetes, but this breakthrough suggets a new target for treatments to ‘reset’ the clock.

International travellers, shift workers and even people suffering from obesity-related conditions stand to benefit from a key discovery about the functioning of the body’s internal clock.
Professor Chris Liddle, from the Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, the University of Sydney, worked with a team from the Salk Institute based in California, to demonstrate the importance of circadian receptors found in the brain and the liver. Their findings are published in Nature today.
“The research is important as these are the first core component of the circadian clock identified that can be targeted with drugs, which could provide relief for those affected by disrupted circadian rhythms,” said Professor Liddle.
The circadian clock is an internal daily body clock that controls alertness, appetite, sleep timing and hormone secretions.
“Previously we have known that there are body ‘clocks’ not only in the brain but in most other body tissues including the liver, part of the focus of this study. While the brain clock is mainly cued by light, these other clocks are cued by factors such as exercise and diet as well as receiving nerve and hormone signals from the central clock in the brain.”
People with circadian disturbances tend to have a higher incidence of health concerns such as obesity, diabetes and related metabolic disorders. It is much more than simply a problem of disturbed sleep.
“People tend to think that the clock is just something that happens in the brain but it’s a whole-body issue. Literally you do not feel like exercising and your metabolism slows when you are in a certain part of the cycle. This contributes to obesity-related problems.
“When you fly overseas, not only do you wake up in the middle of the night, you probably notice you want to eat in the middle of the night, and that during the day you have reduced energy. The liver is a key player in the regulation of energy and we now understand quite a bit more how liver genes ‘clock in’ to the circadian cycle.”
Professor Liddle, a liver expert who has worked on liver genes for more than a decade with the Salk Institute, said the team had been able to show that these receptors in the liver were important in controlling the metabolism of fats and other genes related to diet, nutrition, digestion and energy expenditure.
“This is a very exciting discovery. We have now shown that these receptors in the body’s tissues do not have a peripheral role but are core components for setting our body clock that we can potentially use drugs on.
“The promise of this research for the future is that we can specifically target drug treatments at these receptors. The hope is that not only problems like jet lag and disturbed sleep can be more easily managed but other associated health concerns can be addressed more effectively,” Professor Liddle said.

In the news – ‘Super moon’ to rise over New Zealand

Friday, May 4th, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

 A “super moon” will rise in New Zealand skies on Sunday.

It will be 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than any other full moon this year, the US space agency NASA says.

Known as a “perigee moon”, it occurs when the moon reaches its closest point to Earth.

The full moon will occur at 3.35pm on Sunday, New Zealand time, but will not be visible here until moonrise over New Zealand at 5.23pm.

With a clear sky, it guarantees Sunday night will be a bright one.

NASA says the super moon has a reputation for trouble, causing high tides, making dogs howl and keeping people awake.

The space agency says the best time to look at it is when the moon is near the horizon.

“For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects.

“This moon illusion will amplify a full moon that’s extra-big to begin with. The swollen orb rising in the east at sunset should seem super indeed.”

Super perigee moons are fairly common, with the moon becoming full within a few hours of its closest approach to Earth about once a year on average.

The last such event occurred on March 19 last year, producing a full moon that was almost 400km closer than this one.

The “super moon” will produce spring tides around New Zealand, with a 3.6 metre high tide at 7.51am on Monday in Auckland.

By Michael Field

Contribution to Knowledge Forum

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 | hamvi58p | No Comments

Hey OUASSA Students,

Just a bit of house keeping from me…. this is a friendly reminder that you need to be going into KF once a week throughout the reaminder of this term in the lead up to the July camp. The expectation is a half an hour of your time per week.  If you know that you are perhaps not contributing the way that you could be, now would be an ideal time to start.  Remember that if you have any problems logging in etc just email me directly and I will do my best to get any issues sorted.

Those of you who are regular KF contributors – keep up the good work!

Kind regards,

Kate