Benoit Mandelbrot passed away at age 85. RIP
For those familiar with Jonathan Coulton’s song Mandelbrot Set, his thoughts are posted here.
And if you’re not familiar with the song, listen below.
Jonathan Coulton – ‘Mandelbrot Set’ from Best. Concert. Ever.
(Parental note: There is some language in this song)
Well it’s Christmas Season again. And I thought I would repost the instructions on how to make Borax Crystal Snowflakes. Our weather has been swinging from 50s to 30s back to 50s again – so no snow here.
So, what do you need?
Now what you’ll want to do is to shape a snowflake frame from the pipe cleaners, such that one of the pipe cleaners is vertical, and the other two cross in the middle, twisting them together in the middle so that all of the points are equally apart from each other. Next tie the string to one of the points and string along to each pipe cleaner point to make the snowflake shape.
After this tie a length of string from the top point of the snowflake to the pencil, so that the flake will be entirely in the jar, but not touching the bottom.
Now pour the boiling water into the jar and begin adding the Borax into it, stirring in one tablespoon at a time, until you begin to see a little no longer dissolving into the water (now its supersaturated). If you want to use the food coloring, add it in at this point.
Now place the snowflake frame into the solution, using the pencil to hang at the top of the jar and let sit overnight. By the next day, you should have crystals growing on the snowflake!
In thinking of what I should write about as a “Christmastime blog”, I thought of things such as the science behind the Christmas Star (and how much the jury is still out on what exactly it could be, should it be some astronomical event), how Mars is particularly close to Earth today and therefore brighter than usual, so you could tell your young kids that it could be Rudolph leading Santa’s team, or perhaps breaking down how does Santa exactly get to all those kids houses in one night? (This link provides some curious animations of how things would look at near light speed travel.)But in the end though, I thought it would be cool to do something nice and simple. Something that you could do with your kids over the Christmas break – grow some Borax crystal snowflakes!
So, what do you need?
Now what you’ll want to do is to shape a snowflake frame from the pipe cleaners, such that one of the pipe cleaners is vertical, and the other two cross in the middle, twisting them together in the middle so that all of the points are equally apart from each other. Next tie the string to one of the points and string along to each pipe cleaner point to make the snowflake shape.
After this tie a length of string from the top point of the snowflake to the pencil, so that the flake will be entirely in the jar, but not touching the bottom.
Now pour the boiling water into the jar and begin adding the Borax into it, stirring in one tablespoon at a time, until you begin to see a little no longer dissolving into the water (now its supersaturated). If you want to use the food coloring, add it in at this point.
Now place the snowflake frame into the solution, using the pencil to hang at the top of the jar and let sit overnight. By the next day, you should have crystals growing on the snowflake!
And if you wanted to get the more scientific details about Borax, you can go here.
Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Safe Christmas and Holiday Season!
Making science accessible to kids with regular household items, Mr. Wizard’s World was one of the great shows I was a fan of as a kid in the 80s, airing on the then fairly new Nickelodeon network. Mr. Wizard, Don Herbert, has passed away today.
So thank you, Mr. Wizard, for your part in bringing science appreciation to this kid… and as I also found from the article below, your service to this country.
TV’s ‘Mr. Wizard’ Don Herbert Dies at 89
Jun 12, 6:41 PM EST
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Don Herbert, who as television’s “Mr. Wizard” introduced generations of young viewers to the joys of science, died Tuesday. He was 89. Herbert, who had bone cancer, died at his suburban Bell Canyon home, said his son-in-law, Tom Nikosey.
“He really taught kids how to use the thinking skills of a scientist,” said former colleague Steve Jacobs. He worked with Herbert on a 1980s show that echoed the original 1950s “Watch Mr. Wizard” series, which became a fond baby boomer memory.
In “Watch Mr. Wizard,” which was produced from 1951 to 1964 and received a Peabody Award in 1954, Herbert turned TV into an entertaining classroom. On a simple, workshop-like set, he demonstrated experiments using household items.
“He modeled how to predict and measure and analyze. … The show today might seem slow but it was in-depth and forced you to think along,” Jacobs said. “You were learning about the forces of nature.”
Herbert encouraged children to duplicate experiments at home, said Jacobs, who recounted serving as a behind-the-scenes “science sidekick” to Herbert on the ’80s “Mr. Wizard’s World” that aired on the Nickelodeon channel.
When Jacobs would reach for beakers and flasks, Herbert would remind him that science didn’t require special tools.
“‘You could use a mayonnaise jar for that,’” Jacobs recalled being chided by Herbert. “He tried to bust the image of scientists and that science wasn’t just for special people and places.”
Herbert’s place in TV history was acknowledged by later stars. When “Late Night with David Letterman” debuted in 1982, Herbert was among the first-night guests.
Born in Waconia, Minn., Herbert was a 1940 graduate of LaCrosse State Teachers College and served as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. He worked as an actor, model and radio writer before starting “Watch Mr. Wizard” in Chicago on NBC.
The show moved to New York after several years.
He is survived by six children and stepchildren and by his second wife, Norma, his son-in-law said. A private funeral service was planned.
In case you had started spring cleaning and came across some old 3-D glasses, hold on to them for now. NASA just published pictures of the sun. While the sun is no stranger to the photo shoot, this is the first done in 3-D by STEREO – a spacecraft based binocular vision. In case you had already thrown out those old glasses, you can make your own here. This would make a great project for kids in science class as part of their study of the sun – that big flaming ball that is incredibly average amongst its peers, yet does a great job of playing its role of keeping things going here. I admit that I no longer own a pair. Perhaps a trip to A.C. Moore is in order…
