What's that Stuff? - At last, the explanation of 'pasteurized process cheese product' - not the why, mind you, but the what. A section of the Chemical & Engineering News magazine delves into the chemical mysteries of such wondrous things as light sticks, Silly Putty, Lycra/Spandex, hair coloring, self-tanning lotions, shampoo, fireworks, chocolate, and new car smell. That last heady scent comes from a group that includes benzenes, alkanes, and ketones, known as volatile organic compounds. And naturally, it isn't good to inhale very much of it. For those who know that the tan that comes from a bottle might be preferable to one that comes from a star whose surface temp is 10,000 degrees, it may be amusing to note that the reaction that works for this effect is the same used to give beer that lovely golden color. Rating: 10 out of 10 (8 February 2003) AD
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff.html
Coolmath.com - The mission of Coolmath.com is to make mathematics fun and the website succeeds admirably. Separate sections are aimed at kids, teenagers/adults, teachers and parents, with each designed to appeal to the targeted audience. For example, the kids section is very colourful with age appropriate interactive games, lessons, calculators, and puzzles. The sections aimed at the older age groups are more subdued in design and clearly explain concepts such as limits and exponentials. Parents can read articles about how to help and encourage their kids to learn, while teachers can find links to teaching resources and specific maths topics. The website maintainer is a maths teacher and even shares some of the tricks she uses in the classroom to make maths fun and easy. Too many kids thinks of maths as boring and hard to understand. Coolmath.com is an excellent way of showing them how maths works in a fun environment. Rating: 9 out of 10 (11 January 2003) KM
http://www.coolmath.com/
Engineering Magic - Sharp, pointy objects and inflatables generally don't coexist happily, and results are predictable. Or are they? When a magician passes a metal skewer through a balloon, he accomplishes the seemingly impossible, and an explanation is given for the illusion. Hint: There is prep work involved with the skewer, and the balloon has to be just so. But still, gasps are in order. And perhaps more than a few explosive pops till the trick is perfected by eager youngsters. Teachers' guides provide ideas for student discussion and further activities. There are six demos in all, including the egg in the bottle trick and disappearing milk. For those who don't want to endure the download times, there is a slide show option. Students will learn about air pressure, polymer elasticity, superabsorbent polymers, conversion of energy, and magnetic sheeting. And they will need several balloons. Rating: 9 out of 10. (21 June 2002) AD
http://www.asme.org/education/precollege/magic/
Neat stuff - Some evening, when the television listings are particularly depressing, you can just shoot the TV. Using a movie camera. Since creating a movie takes energy you don't have at the end of the day, follow the guidance of an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Arkansas. Set the tv to play the images from the camera, then point the camera at the screen. By varying the angle of the camera, an eyepopping series of black and white images will appear, rotate, and evolve. Some are fractals, while others resemble patterns that occur when granular materials are vibrated. It certainly beats a rerun of another tedious program. Other topics include mobius strips, dodecafoam, paper dolls, symmetry, and rope tricks, and the author has plans for more. Rating: 9 out of 10 (5 June 2002) AD
http://comp.uark.edu/~cgstraus/expo.html
Levitation - I approached this site with a little trepidation. Were they about to reveal a new "natural law" that would allow me to take to the air, perhaps? Or, was it simply a scientific look at that story about the boy wizard? Thankfully, the site is neither. It's a great introduction to the properties of diamagnets from a physics team at the University of Nijmegen. Diamagnetic materials "exclude" a magnetic field and as such provide a repulsive force that can lift objects, such as a frog or a sumo wrestler standing on a slab of diamagnet, and all with no external power supply. The site ties in with superconductor research, superconductors being the archetypal diamagnetic materials, totally excluding a magnetic field at low temperature. The site's layout is rather old-school and they could do with bringing some of the material up to date - a bit of topical levitation news would not go amiss for instance. Rating 7 out of 10 (12 May 2002) DB
http://www-hfml.sci.kun.nl/levitate.html
Babylon Head Box - Oh, the things you can do with Flash animation. At this concept site, the visitor is drawn into a minimal environment, given few directions, and turned loose to explore. Wireframe spheres, cylinders, and random objects appear, are sometimes attracted to one another, and can be manipulated by your mouse. There are plasma images to admire, parapsychological games, and an interactive star chart that can be rotated, magnified, scrolled. Mousing over certain stars will reveal their constellations. The author promises more content to come, and after spending time at this Tron-inspired playground (remember Tron?), you might be looking forward to additions, hopefully with a bit more meat. On the down side, the skinny fonts against a black background can be extremely difficult to see, especially on the star chart. From the designer's viewpoint, the font choice is understandable, but some consideration should be given to the viewer. Rating: 7 out of 10 (30 March 2002) AD
http://www.babylonheadbox.fsnet.co.uk/
The Evil Tutor's Guide to Graphs and Figures - Aimed squarely at the beleagured scholar faced with endless graphing chores, this site offers a more creative approach to data points and axes. The use of rulers, for example, is not needed, and the nurturing of artistic talent is definitely encouraged. Such mundane features as trend lines and legends are dispensed with, and the standard for data point size has something to do with fly feces. Teachers may find the information less than amusing, but students of all ages will be able to find a new means of expressing themselves. In addition, there are helpful hints on turning in those finished papers, including invaluable advice regarding wooden clothes pegs. Not recommended for your latest submission to Nature. (17 October 2001) AD
http://www.psreporter.com/evil/eviltutor0.html
