Last week's post on the Globalization of Leadership ended with a clarion-call for change. Given that the entire US economy is built upon a foundation of energy and energy policy, it makes sense to start looking there to see where the biggest economic levers lie.  Here, I offer a somewhat more analytical approach than can be found in the general media.

A stunning new technology out of UCSF and recently published in Science is producing some of the most amazing 3-D images of living cells. “We threw the conventional microscope out the window and began again,” says John Sedat, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. Instead of focusing a small spot of light onto cells, the new microscope, which has a resolution of about 100 nanometers, illuminates cells with stripes of light called an interference pattern. When a fine cellular structure, such as a single cluster of proteins embedded in a cell nucleus, reflects this light, it changes the pattern slightly. The microscope collects this light; software is used to interpret changes in its pattern and create an image.” Check out some of the amazing images: Two adjoining cells prepare for division by condensing their DNA into chromosomes (red). The membranes around the cell nuclei are stained blue. The green filaments are protein structures called microtubules, which divide the cell’s genome into two equal parts and pull each part into the resulting daughter cells. The new 3-D microscope developed by University of California biophysicists has shown researchers that the nucleus, which contains the lion’s share of the genome, ...

Art and science complement each other very nicely in this incredibly cool and simple paper kit to build an articulated horse by James Watt from Clockwork Robotics.  (Any relation to the Steam Engine linkage inventor James Watt?) It may not look all that interesting in the static photo above, but check out this video of the model in motion! [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HILp4VyEi6g] The natural motion of the model is derived from a neat construct of linkages driven by a single small motor.  Here’s a small animated GIF of the CAD model that abstracts the linkages and the drive motor. James’ site has some great images of his initial brainstorming that led to a few art pieces and the eventual paper kit product. (Note that it all starts with a little brainstorming on the chalk board or notebook!) The folks over at Make magazine have a nice sequence of images outlining their step-by-step assembly of the ~$15 kit which only took them a few hours. For any of you participating in the FIRST or other similar robotics competitions, this kit is a great intro to customizing complex motions through multi-arm linkage design.  For you artist-types, don’t let the enginering mumbo-jumbo put you off, as it’s only a few hours of ...

I’ve been fiddling around with all sorts of compressed-air engines over the past few years, but these Lego Technic engines by Alex Zorko are really something.   Check out these two examples, an inline 4 cylinder and a V8, each of which goes over 1000 RPMs.  You really can make anything with Legos.  Assembly instructions, parts lists, and live videos of the running engines after the jump.

The strange looks combined with the gasps of horror are starting to get to me. I thought that after all these years I was getting used to it, but it happened again at a recent conference.  At Stanford, no less.  I had made the mistake in public company of mentioning how much I loved math and getting kids excited about it through WISE.  “Really?  Uhmm, that’s nice,” they said just before wandering off to refresh their drinks. But in defense of the common man, I am here to tell you that math is simply misunderstood.  Worse yet, even the broader institution of K-12 Math Education (note the capital letters to indicate the authorities that comprise “Big Math”) as a whole fails rather drastically to understand what math is.  There are even a number of Universities that don’t really get it (see below). So it’s not really all that surprising that our schools and even our culture at large fail to grasp the significance, the beauty, the elegance, or the joy of practicing mathematics. When you say “math” at a party, most people remember those painful moments in high school of rote formula memorization and the mechanical repetition of plugging in numbers, the ...

The older I get, the more I am a believer in the power of free markets.  The natural balancing and moderating influences of free trade have been fundamental to our nation’s economic power and health.   I’m also a big believer in exposing people to what this means in their daily lives as early as possible.  So I couldn’t resist forwarding this post from Janet over at her “Adventures in Science and Ethics” blog entitled “I owe my soul to the classroom store.” There was a great chapter in Rafe Esquith’s book “Teach Like Your Hair is On Fire” on how he uses a classroom funny-money currency throughout the school year to teach students about fundamental economics.  But this post by Dr. Stemwedel about a conversation with her kids on the very topic got me to wondering whether their economy really was open, whether the kids really experienced free trade.  I couldn’t stop chuckling about it all day yesterday.  These are my people.  I reproduce it here for your enjoyment, but do join in the commentary at Janet’s blog at the link above. Friday Sprog Blogging: I owe my soul to the classsroom store. Category: Kids and science Posted on: September 5, 2008 12:00 PM, ...

Did anyone else happen to notice the new buildings going up in Dubai?  I mean besides the giant artificial islands they have been creating in the gulf over the last several years. The nearly completed Burj Dubai is now the world’s tallest building, a true marvel of architecture, Art, design, engineering, and initiative.  And oh yes, it is a beacon that screams of the fantastic economic wealth that underpins the great endeavor.

Here's a neat image of the Bay Area taken from the International Space Station. I particularly like the visible outflow from the receding tide through the Golden Gate as well as the visible colored salt ponds in the south bay. In this photograph of the San Francisco Bay area taken from the International Space Station during Expedition 4, the gray urban footprint of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and their surrounding suburbs contrasts strongly with the green hillsides. ISS004-E-10288 (April 21, 2002, 105 mm lens) Click on the image for full-resolution version.

During my trip to Boston last week for the National Science Teacher's Association conference (more on that later) I totally lucked out in also catching the FIRST Robotics League Northeastern Regional Championships. If you haven't been to one, you simply must go. As remarkable as this sounds, there is almost certainly one in your area. It was AWESOME. There were more than 7,000 people in attendance in the Agganis Arena at Boston University to see the real deal, professionally produced and run, very well-organized, with pro announcers, cameramen and lighting. Over forty teams of high school students were running robots that they built from nothing inside of 6 weeks to accomplish a VERY complicated challenge. They were so FANTASTIC that I am going to run out of superlatives before getting to the end of this post. The very idea that this organization has grown since 1992 to reach more than 13,000 schools across the US, and that there are 41 REGIONAL competitions before the upcoming late April finals in Atlanta is just incredible. Better yet, FIRST has clearly been very successful in perpetuating and growing a model that is self-sustaining, with many teams having competed for several years, with former ...