The New Curiosity Shop

The Story Of Apollo

The New Curiosity Shop has just launched a new kind of course. A mix between a science course and a history course, The Story Of Apollo will take learners back to the cold war era to examine the cultural factors and the engineering that made possible the US moon missions and the eventual landing of men on the Moon in 1969.

Astronomy tutor, Mark Toner said, “It is nice to branch out into another field that is of interest to me. Now the events which inspired me as a child are the stuff of history. I hope that I can transmit some of my enthusiasm to the students who take this new course.”

The Story Of Apollo is live now, and you can investigate it on the NCS web site.

Dr John Medina has applied recent developments in neuroscience to come up with a twelve-point plan for maximising brainpower. You can give your brain a workout over at his web site, Brain Rules.

Some of the ideas may be surprising but are founded in science. Rule 1 suggests that our brains will work better when we are walking. The reason is evolutionary. Humans walk and have walked over vast areas of the globe and our brains developed on the move. So going for a walk to mull over a problem is probably a good idea. Sleep is the subject of rule 7. NASA pilots found they could concentrate better after a 26-minute nap and other research backs up the brain organising benefits of good sleep and the occasional nap.

Next time you are having problems gathering your thoughts or making a decision, have a look through the 12 brain rules and see if there is a way forward for you there.

Government ministers have called for science teachers to work harder to attract pupils to science. It appears that Scotland is no longer the leader in science education that it used to be, falling behind countries like Kazakhstan, Slovenia and Armenia.

The biggest gap in cool science is in the crucial earlier years, from primary school up to Standard Grade. Pupils are not being challenged to rethink stereotypes of scientists nor being turned on to the importance of science to our 21st century society.

The Scottish government has awarded a grant of £2.1 million to the Scottish Schools Equipment Research Centre to support the professional development of science teachers and technicians, and has provided £250,000 for the continuous professional development of primary teachers, to be administered at the four science centres across the country. It has also provided pilot funding of £140,000 to help set up and strengthen school science clubs.

More from the Times Online ….

NASA has announced the names of the researchers who will start the Lunar Science Institute. The seven scientists will head research teams in a number of areas of lunar science, all directed towards making the best use of future lunar exploration. While the engineering work on a new manned spacecraft system is under review, possibly forcing NASA to fall back on existing technology such as Atlas, the creation of a Science Institute is probably a more convincing step in showing the commitment of the US to a return to the Moon.

Carle Pieters of Brown University will head a group investigating the Moon in the context of the early development of Earth, Venus, Mercury and Mars. The scientific and exploration potential of the lunar poles will be investigated by a team led by Ben Bussey of  Johns Hopkins University. David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Institute will be looking at how impacts were important in the formation of the Moon. The lunar environment will be investigated by William Farrell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. William Bottke, Southwest Research Institute, will lead the team researching the history of impacts on the Moon. Jack Burns, University of Colorado, will head a group with the interesting goal of exploring the cosmos from the Moon. Finally, Mihaly Horanyi, also of University of Colorado, will take charge of the Colorado Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Studies.

More from the Lunar Science Institute…

Life is full of risks and uncertainties and, if you worried about every little potential problem, you would never get out of bed in the morning. So which risks should you avoid and which should you take? How do you weigh up the relative dangers?

Now there is a web site which makes it all clear: Understanding Uncertainty. Learn the mathematics of coincidence, explore the outcomes of the National Lottery and figure out how long you have to live. Yes, it can be serious stuff. A little understanding of the statistics of risk can resolve your irrational fears and substitute some rational ones instead.

Cloisters 22, the latest edition of our magazine is out now. It’s our Christmas edition, with lots more to get your brain teeth into, while your dentures tackle another mince pie. If you want to make any comments please add them to this post.

Have a jolly old Christmas, and a romping New Year. We’re taking a couple of weeks or so to wind down, before embarking on what, we hope, will be a top notch 2009. Keep smiling.

From all at the NCS.

NASA Image

Spacecraft watchers have found a new object to track as it orbits the Earth. Edward Light saw an orbiting tool bag using 10×50 binoculars as it sailed over his backyard in Lakewood, New Jersey, after sunset on November 22nd. The toolbag had been dropped during a spacewalk by shuttle astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and has proved to be a surprisingly bright orbiting object despite its small size. You can find out more about the flying toolbag on NASA’s Spaceweather site.

Meanwhile, European leaders are meeting to discuss the goals of Europe’s activities in space. More from the BBC…

The Portable Antiquities Scheme has just released its Treasure Annual Report at a special event in the British Museum. The scheme coordinates a network of Finds Liaison Officers who take reports from people who find ancient artifacts on their land or while out walking or metal detecting and, this year, they have 1,257 archaeological finds to report, including a  golden torc  from the Iron Age, a single hoard of over 3,600 Roman coins and an Anglo Saxon roundel depicting the Hand of God.

There is more about the event on the 24 Hour Museum site, and full details of the report from the Portable Antiquities Scheme itself.

We're Going To The Moon For Christmas

Progressive space folk band Arbelos is offering its Christmas single for free on the band’s website. Song writer Mark Toner explains that, while the song is a typical fun Christmas song, it also draws attention to the fortieth anniversary of Apollo 8′s historic Moon mission and asks questions about what the world did with all the promise of better things that was raised in those days. The song is entitled “We’re Going To The Moon For Christmas” and carries a hopeful message in our troubled times.

Jane Chidwick, wife of keyboard player Noel Chidwick, suggested that a Christmas song would be a good opportunity to do some good in the world and the single is offered for a free download, but with an invitation to pay whatever the listener considers it is worth to UNICEF. The band hope that UNICEF will do very well out of this arrangement and that the musicians will build up some positive Christmas spirit for themselves in the process. More from the Arbelos website….

Happy Halloween

It’s Hallowe’en and it looks like man’s own creations are out to get us. From the man-eating toilet to virus-carrying electronics, the news has been full of horror stories beyond the imaginings of hollywood.

A man travelling on a French train had a narrow escape this week, when the toilet tried to eat his arm. Rescue workers had to kill the toilet  bowl to free him but it was still clinging to his arm as they carried the man from the train. More in BBC News…

Researchers at the University of Virginia have found high levels of the cold virus on household taps, refrigerator doors and TV remotes. This hardy virus enters the home on a family member’s hands and quickly transfers itself to every available surface ready to infect the whole household. More from Reuters…

So for a healthy and happy Hallowe’en this year, keep away from trains and wear gloves at all times.