Category Archives for science

Mars

I can’t stop thinking about Mars. After last night’s Curiosity landing, it’s incredible to me that scientists are able to make things like this happen. I mean, they just landed a robot, on Mars, with a freaking parachute. I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that we’ve been able to get multiple rovers to another planet. I know they’re just robots, but I get a little sad thinking about them all alone up there. Space is lonely.

It just makes day to day life seem so mundane.

This quote from Discover Magazine helps solidify how special this all is, and how amazing science can be in uniting people around the world:

“The news these days is filled with polarization, with hate, with fear, with ignorance. But while these feelings are a part of us, and always will be, they neither dominate nor define us. Not if we don’t let them. When we reach, when we explore, when we’re curious–that’s when we’re at our best. We can learn about the world around us, the Universe around us. It doesn’t divide us, or separate us, or create artificial and wholly made-up barriers between us. As we saw on Twitter, at New York Times Square where hundreds of people watched the landing live, and all over the world: science and exploration bind us together. Science makes the world a better place, and it makes us better people. It’s what we can do, and what we must do.”

Information Overload | April 9, 2012

Today’s IO is environmental themed!

Total’s Elgin Platform Gas Leak Suffers Unfavorable Comparisons To BP | Huffington Post Green

Another oil spill off the coast of the coast of Scotland. While I agree that the spills are not equal, it’s always good to remind people of the disastrous consequences for relying on oil.

What America Can Learn From the Maldives About Tackling Climate Change | Good.is Environment

I just watched the interview with Mohamed Nasheed on The Daily Show last week. His story is pretty fascinating, and he makes some important points about how climate change is impacting communities around the world. I also liked this quote: “To switch from this old technology, fossil fuel… it’s a very, very old technology. I mean, you know, come on. It’s as old as the 1800s, and it’s such a surprise that the United States would think this is technology that is viable now.”

Algae Biofuels: The way of the future | Science Daily

My boyfriend works with algae biofuels at the Desert Research Institute (which we call Black Mesa, as Half-Life fans) so I’m interested to see in how feasible of an option this is to help solve our energy crisis.

Geek legend hacks together an off-grid smart home | Grist

Ahh, two of my loves: hacking and sustainability. Andrew (my bf as previously mentioned) and I would like to build our own home someday, and I would love to be able to function off grid.

You Can Do It! First-Time Vegetable Gardening for the Black-Thumbed | Apartment Therapy

All of my attempts to grow anything have been disastrous. I kill everything. I forget to water, I water too much, I leave the plants outside in a windstorm, etc. etc. But since I’m moving soon, I’m determined to grow at least one or two things at my new place. I’m thinking about just growing herbs to start. These are some good tips for noob gardeners like me.

We don’t need new roads | Salon.com

I really, really like this article. I’ve been thinking a lot about public transportation. I grew up in the Bay area so taking BART was a regular thing. Then I moved toNevadawhere you have to drive to get anywhere, except for inReno, where there are things within walking distance and there is a bus route. I would use the bus more except that my schedule is generally pretty spontaneous, and I sometimes have to drive pretty far to cover stories. But I think it’s important for us to start reimagining transportation based on our priorities as a society. I would much rather spend an hour reading on the subway, talking to friends, listening to music and relaxing, etc. while getting to work every day than having to drive. Luckily I live pretty close to where I work and go to school, but I sincerely hope thatNorthern Nevadamakes more public transpo a bigger priority.

Space Pictures This Week: Cosmic Flower, Inside-Out Star | National Geographic

Not exclusively “environmental,” but since we are part of the universe, it’s nice to see the beauty of it beyond the earth. Amazing photography as only National Geographic can deliver.

Have a great week!

Oh, and if you stopped by because of my PirateBox post, welcome! Feel free to drop me a line on the Contact page.

PirateBox

I’ve been wanting to make a PirateBox ever since I heard about them a while back. Essentially, a PirateBox is an independent, wireless file sharing device. Which means that in the event of an apocalypse, we could still transfer files and communicate through chat.

Here’s a video from the official PirateBox website that demonstrates how it works:

The process is pretty simple. I chose the MR3020 router since it is small and very portable, and it has a USB port built into it. And it’s kind of stylish.

Other parts:

  • USB drive
  • Toggle switch
  • USB port
  • LED (optional, but I like using indicator lights to test if things are working. Plus lights make everything cooler.)
  • Wires, soldering equipment, etc.

The first thing I did was program the router and install the PirateBox software. This entails telnetting into the device and doing a bit of recoding so that all of the networks are open. It uses a program called OpenWrt.

Following the directions on the website, it’s pretty straightforward. The only thing I had an issue with was changing the SSID to PirateBox – Share Freely. Right now it is stuck on OpenWrt, but I can connect to it just fine. I might change the name of the SSID all together like, “Connect here for a good time.” ;)

Next came setting up the box. I had gone to the military surplus store and a thrift store to find a cool case to build it in, but didn’t find much. I just got a black project box instead and spray painted it a matte white. I then sprayed the official PirateBox logo on the top in black, with red eyes, just for some contrast.

Wiring the inside didn’t take very long. I wanted it to be powered by both USB cable and battery with the option to switch back and forth, so I installed a toggle switch with two options. I chose a red LED to match the red eyes on the front, and I crudely installed a USB port (they really need holders for USB ports, mine always look rough around the edges — literally.)

Here’s what it looks like on the inside:

And here it is all finished on the outside:

And here’s what it looks like when it’s connected (on my HTC EVO smartphone):

I have plans to add an antenna and replace the USB drive with a larger external harddrive since I have the space. I also may add a solar panel on it but that’s not really a priority now. I also have to add files to the USB drive. What kinds of cool stuff should I exchange with others? I think I might put my favorite manifestos on it, including the hacker manifesto, the cyberfeminist manifeso, and the open source way. I will probably also put some custom ezines on there, maybe cyberpunk themed. And maybe music? Or tutorials? I’ll have to think about that for a while.

Anyway, this is a really fun project, and I think everyone should make one so we can have a better independent network to exchange information.

Altoid case phone charger

I think that everyone should mod an Altoid container sometime in their life, because they are cool little tins with a lot of potential. I’ll admit that I had never made something in an Altoid tin before, and after watching my boyfriend build a phone charger last week, I thought it would make a perfect project to do one for myself.

The most difficult part was getting it all to fit correctly in the tin, since it’s a pretty tight fit. I used a blue LED for the indicator light and a toggle switch, since I thought the finish went nicely with the metal case. Andrew had some USB ports from another hub that we used. Cutting into the container was difficult since we didn’t have metal cutters at home, but with a drill we were able to make enough room to wiggle in the port, the switch and the LED holder. After it was in, I secured it with hot glue and super glue. Then I soldered a few wires and resistors together, and that was pretty much it! It seems to be working pretty well.

The glue is remnants of the other hub we took it from.

The gooey stuff is dried hot glue. It’s not the greatest looking thing inside, but it’s all sturdy!

Innovative 2011

As an academic, it’s always good to know that your research and interests are considered “innovative”—or at the very least, relevant and necessary. Which is why I was so surprised that nearly every topic I’ve tackled (or plan to tackle) in my graduate research was featured in this article by GOOD Magazine, a website/publication of which I am very fond. Basically, the next time someone asks me what I investigate under the label of “literacy,” I’m going to show them this article.

The article references “seven innovations changing the way the world learns,” which are as follows:

1. Open source learning – I was so thrilled to see this as the first listing! MIT’s program is excellent (and will be discussed more in an upcoming Open Learning Series installment). As you well know, if you’re reading this blog, there are many other resources besides just that one, but it’s so great to get some media acknowledgement about alternative, and free, coursework. I’m very optimistic that sometime in the near future, Americans will be able to receive an excellent education for free (cue the socialist hate… womp woooommmmp).

2. Gaming technology – About freakin’ time. It’s so nice to see gaming get the credit it deserves, and is acknowledged as an innovative, extremely creative and challenging art form that packs a ton of possibility for learning in every subject. In the past year or so, I investigated the use of open-world games like Minecraft and role playing games like The Elder Scrolls as a tool to inspire and improve narrative writing (guess what… it works. Kids are inspired when they get to play. Who knew?!). I also did a thorough literature review on research involving female students, gaming and physics, and found that the correlation between girls feeling alienated from both video game culture and hard sciences was linked—which means that if we invite young girls into both, they will have a greater desire to become immersed in hard sciences later in life. Cool stuff! This article also references the use of apps, which I honestly haven’t explored much although I am very open to the idea. I really want full immersive games to be researched though since they are such rich opportunities for learning.

3. Social media – I’ve gotten into a few debates with other educators on this topic. I really think that if students are using something as much as social networking outside of the classroom, then we should absolutely be bringing it into it, otherwise we’re ignoring a very prevalent part of their lives. Many teachers are reluctant to discuss this topic but I know of several who have successfully used Twitter, blogs, Facebook, text messaging, etc. to encourage students to discuss and learn on a more casual, familiar platform.

4. Twitter – Although they singled out Twitter specifically, I think it can be included in social networking, although Twitter offers a lot of potential that other mediums don’t. The article highlights the use of hashtags for collaborative discussions, which is an awesome idea. I personally love using hashtags and find it hard to Tweet without them, because I feel like I’m contributing to a conversation on a particular topic. Excited to see where this goes.

5. Tech literacy – It’s great to see the word “literacy” actually used! All of these ideas listed above encompass literacy, but the word is still confusing to many who consider it to be solely about reading and writing. Guess what… it’s not! Literacy is about how people learn, every subject (check out my “What is Literacy?” series for more detailed overviews of different types of literacy). STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) literacy was the focus of this, which is exciting. What I love about STEM literacy research is that it uses many of the other ideas mentioned above. For instance, when I was researching girls and gaming, STEM literacy is directly related. It’s also extremely important that our students who use technology so faithfully have a sense of how it actually works, so that they can use it safely, and also to its full potential.

6. Conceptual and creative thinking – This is such a necessary idea that should be embraced by all educators. When I was in the National Writing Project research program last summer, these ideas came up a lot, especially in the context of STEM learning, writing and technology. It’s important that students—and the public—begin to see each subject as being both abstract and creative. When I was teaching writing, it was interesting how many students consider writing to be solely creative and text-based, when it is actually quite technical, abstract and visual. Same goes for math—it’s not just about an established series of equations; it takes creative, out-of-the-box thinking to come to the right solution, especially when it comes to mathematics-based subjects like computer programming or chemistry.

7. Libraries – Ahhhh! I nearly cheered out loud when I saw this on the list. Thank you, GOOD, for acknowledging libraries and aptly calling it “The Library Revolution.” There IS a revolution underway—an information revolution, where the quest for the truth is what matters to people, and where the role of librarian has once again become sacred as they serve as keepers of knowledge and protectors of it. Once society stops viewing libraries as archaic institutions without outdated information—and has a greater appreciation for the necessary role librarians play in our world—the possibilities are endless. Three cheers for libraries! Check out my past blogs about libraries and librarians.

Thanks again, GOOD, for the excellent article, and for highlighting the many exciting opportunities we have as a society to challenge and grow. I can’t wait to delve into more research in 2012. :)