Phorum 5

[Meeting Minutes] Oct_13_2007_Minutes

mar_m_m — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 08:57:05 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; October 13, 2007; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ In attendance were: Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, Pete, David, Norman, Vincent, and Mar. Mar led off the meeting mentioning her website, being brought up to support her thesis work for Emergency Management Mobiles. Mentioning the book "Five Equations that Changed the World", discussion quickly focused on what the 5 were, and what was not mentioned! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Equations_That_Changed_the_World:_The_Power_and_Poetry_of_Mathematics Mark related his visit to the NJ Mycological Associations Open House. He recommends the next one to anyone interested in mushrooms. Mark noted they had various talks, showed how to do "Spore Prints" and motivated him to start cultivating Oyster Mushrooms. We'll have to see how that turns out! Animal personalities were discussed, focusing on how octopus are thought to have individual personalities and be playful. A UTube video was shown and discussed. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/magazine/22animal.html?pagewanted=3 http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/inksstory.php (and check out UTube!!) Mark 'donated' a disk drive to be demolished as he proceeded to deconstruct one to show how the powerful magnets can be retrieved. The magnets are very strong, as we found out when Mark passed them around! http://www.reuk.co.uk/Hard-Disk-Drive-Magnets-For-Wind-Turbines.htm The latest evidence for String Theory, presented in the Auguest Scientific American was discussed. http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/ Returning to the discuss on Rail Guns, it was noted Richard Marshall's record still stands http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5297468.html http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/print/5296 Bringing up the DNA for the Wooly Mammoth was decoded, the possibilities for a Jurrasic Park were considered. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4535190.stm http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/0408_050408_woollymammoth.html And discussion on DNA brought up the efforts to identify Columbus's final resting place as well as efforts to find his country of origin: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077130/ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/us/08columbus.html?ex=1349496000&en=0b5a8da0c266bb76&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Upcoming events: November 10 2007 Next NJSAS Meeting Note: These minutes can be found on the NJSAS Forum website. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: [njsas.org] Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Sept_8_2007_Minutes

mar_m_m — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 08:20:41 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; September 8, 2007; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ In attendance were: Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, Rachel, Pete, David, Norman, Vincent, and Mar. The first meeting since the summer break had everyone talking about their Vacation doings. The NJSAS Field Trip to the Lakota Wolf Preserve, in Columbia, NJ was a hit. We had great weather,the campgrounds were beautiful, the wolves were fabulous, everyone learned a lot. It is worth another trip in the Fall/Winter when the wolves will have their fur coats . [www.lakotawolf.com] [www.camptaylor.com] Mark related his trip to the Kennedy Space Center; how they are refurbishing the Saturn V Rocket. The Center constructed special housing for it. Mark brought in a solar cooker he made. Mark and Rachel demonstrated the cooker, constructed of cardboard and aluminum foil. It offers a low-cost method of cooking; eliminates the requirement to search for fuel and cuts down on pollution. Mark was able to boil water and cook eggs in his! Check these out: http://www.solarcooking.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cooker The discussion moved to Water Wheels; large wheel-type enclosures that can be filled with water and then used to transport the water by rolling it like a tire. Mark pointed out that these type of devices can help the quality of life for many people. Pete spoke about Flatland and illustrated some points about finding areas of circles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland Mark showed a homemade lazer and demonstrated it's power. Using a black balloon, and pointing the lazer on it, the balloon burst!!!! The telescope on the Canary Islands was discussed: http://wwwmagic.mppmu.mpg.de/ as well as augmented reality: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality and adaptive optics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_optics Upcoming events: October 6 2007 Open House at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/ Note: These minutes can be found on the NJSAS Forum website. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: [njsas.org] Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] June 2 2007 Minutes

mar_m_m — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:25:46 -0500

NJSAS Meeting; June 2, 2007; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ In attendance were: Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, Pete, Vincent, and Mar. The final meeting of the year before the summer break didn�t start until 11:00am, as everyone was catching up on trips/plans/doings. Mar offered some possibilities for the Field Trip, and it was decided to make the trip to the Lakota Wolf Preserve, in Columbia, NJ tentatively set for a weekend in July. The Preserve is located on the grounds of Camp Taylor, and the price gives access to the preserve and grounds. The tour is 1-1/2 hours; we can have a picnic and then hike on the grounds. http://www.lakotawolf.com/ http://www.camptaylor.com/ That decided, Pete gave a presentation on engines� deriving the power formulas and comparing the efficiencies of a number of internal engines. Pete covered the Carnot Cycle; Otto Cycle; the Ericsson Cycle, Brayton Cycle, Stirling Engine. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/carnot.html http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~piccard/phys202/carnot/carnot.html http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/otto.html http://www.keveney.com/otto.html http://www.answers.com/topic/ericsson-cycle http://www.rustyiron.com/engines/stable/ericsson.html http://travel.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine1.htm http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/brayton.html http://web.me.unr.edu/me372/Spring2001/Brayton%20Cycle.pdf Efficiencies in Temperature, Pressure and Volume for various engines/cycles. Range of Temperature Pressure Volume Carnot 1 7 7 Stirling 1 2 1 Ericsson 1 1 2 Brayton 4 3 6 Diesel 5 4 5 Duel Cycle 6 5 4 Otto 7 6 3 Even with such ineffiency, the Otto cycle is in use... check out recent patents: http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7062915-description.html Pete also gave a presentation on a Planimeter. K&E, most noted for their slide rules, also made planimeters. Very interesting to see!!!! Find out more: http://whistleralley.com/planimeter/planimeter.htm Upcoming events: July 2007 (date to be announced) - NJSAS Field Trip to the Lokota Wolf Preserve Watch for announcements. Fridays, throughout the Summer: AAI will host observatory viewings every Friday night at the William Miller Sperry Observatory located at Union County College, 1033 Springfield Ave., Cranford, NJ. Weather permitting, the scopes are open and in Summer it�s fun as lots of members bring their own telescopes to set up outside on the grounds. Free parking is provided. Check out �Fridays at Sperry� as there are talks being planned into July. http://www.asterism.org/ For more information on AAI and directions visit _www.asterism.org_ (http://www.asterism.org) or call 908-276-STAR. Note: These minutes can be found on the NJSAS Forum website. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] May 5 2007 Minutes

mar_m_m — Thu, 31 May 2007 20:56:00 -0500

NJSAS Meeting; May 5, 2007; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Cinco de Mayo, the fabulous weather and other events proved too strong a pull to have a quorum, so the meeting became an informal gathering, allowing us to catch up with one another's adventures. Mar brought in the pressure pumps used to drain flooded areas during the recent Nor'eastern deluge. Mark said the same types of pumps as used to drain waterbeds. The flowing water creates a vacumn, enabling the pump to operate without electricity. Before leaving to pick up his puppy, Pete gave an update on Gravity probe B � mentioned in Aviation Week 4/23/07. He also mentioned the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, showing a poster from National Geographic. The article: A World Transformed/When Cultures Collided. National Geographic, 2007, supplement to May 2007 issue [map, 20 x 31 inches, 2-sided] The Poster: Side one compares Werowocomoco, a Powhattan native American settlement to Jamestown, both physically and culturally. On reverse side, two maps show Indian settlements in 1491 as compared to 1650, showing what happened as the colonists settled in America. Major epidemics and conflicts are highlighted. Mark discussed some issues in quantum mechanics, with Vince rising to the challenge of discussing them. Mark referred the an article on the quantum computer featured in Wired: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/02/72734 Vincent spoke to the validty of some comments. Our last formal meeting before the summer break will be June 2nd. Suggestions for the summer field trip will be discussed. Upcoming events: June 2nd 2007 - NJSAS June Meeting 10:30am New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Pete plans to discuss Heat Engine�s and Maxwell�s Demon. Note: These minutes can be found on the NJSAS Forum website. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] April 7 2007

mar_m_m — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:47:42 -0500

NJSAS Meeting; April 7, 2007; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ In attendance: Mark Streitman ( NJSAS President ), Rachel, Pete, Vincent, Norman and Mar. As everyone got right into the demos, with birds flyin� and Van de Graaff generators hissin�� Mark did not open the �formal� meeting until 11am! I think that is an NJSAS record! We were treated to a lively demonstration of static electricity when Norman set up his Van de Graaff generator and allowed everyone to �get close�! Some of us saw/felt the sparks!!! Find out more about the Van de Graaff generator and how to build one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_de_Graaff_generator http://amasci.com/emotor/vdg.html http://www.howstuffworks.com/vdg.htm Pete�s bird ornithopter was impressive� taking flight. It proved it flew! Find out more about these flying bird machines, and the theory behind them: http://www.ornithopter.org/ http://www.ornithopter.org/birdflight/freebird.shtml http://www.turnertoys.com/G1/flyingbird/default.htm http://www.ornito.zp.ua/eng/index.html When Mark finally got to open the meeting, he thanked everyone for their participation in Super Science Saturday!! We had a great turnout and everyone had a good time. Mar mentioned Stewart sent over some info on AAI�s Astronomy Day, being held on May 5th. Check the �Upcoming Events� below for information! Mar also reported that candidates for the Summer Field Trip are: *A visit to Princeton *A trip to the Franklin Mine Observatory *A visit to Edison�s lab/home in West Orange and a Great Swamp trip is a possibility. Mark said he attended the talk given at Princeton on Ion Engines and saw Stewart there! A discussion continued on the topic with Pete illustrating some of the issues with thermal management. Mark also went over his recent appearance at the National Science Teacher�s Convention. He said Toyota had a hit with their Robotic demonstrations. Pete went over some articles he�d found, including The Economist�s article on geomagnetism: http://perso.ens-lyon.fr/romain.volk/Economist_2007_02_01.htm Looking forward, Mark mentioned a tentative talk schedule for the remaining meetings before the summer break: For the May meeting, David mentioned speaking on Power Plants. For June, Pete would like to discuss Heat Engines and Maxwell�s Demon. Upcoming events: May 5th 2007 (morning) - NJSAS May Meeting 10:30am New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ May 5th, 2007 (afternoon/evening) (Thanks to Stewart Meyers for the info!) On Saturday, May 5, 2007, Amateur Astronomers Inc. will observe Astronomy Day. Astronomy Day originated in 1974 in San Francisco with the purpose of showing the public how interesting and how much fun astronomy can be. AAI will run two sessions at the William Miller Sperry Observatory located at Union County College, 1033 Springfield Ave., Cranford, NJ. 2:00 to 4:00 PM The afternoon session will feature solar viewing, weather permitting, in the narrow hydrogen-alpha band using AAI's 10 inch telescope and a Solar system Walk conducted by Dr. Ivan Strom, Professor of Astronomy at Union County college.. Presentations will include "Traveling from the Sun to Pluto" and "The Sun" given by Mr. Ray Shapp, Chairman of the AAI Computer Services Department. 7:30 to 11:00 PM The evening session will feature celestial viewing, weather permitting, of Saturn, Venus, and the globular cluster, M13. At 7:30 Dr Lewis Thomas will present "Astronomy Questions and Answers". Dr. Thomas holds a Ph.D in Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D in Astronomy from University of London. He was employed by Bell Laboratories where he did orbital work for the Telstar Satellite. At 8:15 Mr. Alan P. Witzgall will present "Reaching for a New World: The Exploration of 4 Vesta" Mr. Witzgall holds a B.S. in Planetary Geology from Kean University. Four meteorites will be among the many free prizes awarded by drawings throughout the event. Astronomy Day has no admission fee and is open to the public. Free parking is provided. F or more information on AAI and directions visit _www.asterism.org_ (http://www.asterism.org) or call 908-276-STAR. Note: These minutes can be found on the NJSAS Forum website. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] February 3 2007 Minutes

mar_m_m — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 16:58:38 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; February 3, 2007; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ NOTE: Before getting into the Minutes, I have to extend a heartfelt �Thank You� to Pete, who presented me with my OWN Mason Bee House at the meeting. I LOVE it, and I hope the Mason Bees in my area will find it. If any of them happen to be reading this, it�s on the tree at the back of the garage, facing the Eastern sun!!!! Thank you SO MUCH Pete!!!! Now.. the Minutes: Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, welcomed everyone to the meeting on a nice February morning. In attendance were: Pete, Bailin, David, Vincent, Norman and Mar. This particular meeting got off to a competitive start: Pete set up & demonstrated his newly built Trebuchet. It worked!!!! (Fortunately, no librarians were in the area!!! ) Pete had objects sailing across the room�. On defense, Norman demonstrated the Blow Gun he built, working from the plans mentioned last month. Paper cones went thru Styrofoam cups.... and Mark is still pleading for professional demeanor on Super Science Saturday!!!! As the meeting settled down, Mark mentioned Dr. Shawn requested a link to NJSAS minutes be placed on the SAS main Web site. :-) Mark mentioned the two meetings he attended since our last meeting: Mark and other members of NJSAS attended the January 19th meeting of The Amateur Astronomers, Inc.(AAI) held on the Cranford campus of Union County College. We were made to feel EXTREMELY welcome by the AAI members!! A special �Thank you� goes out to Stewart Meyers for arranging our visit, and to Vincent Henderson, AAI President for the consideration and to all the members we met and spoke with. Great meeting!!!! From the Featured Speaker's (Dr. Orsola DeMarco's) presentation, to the Meet & Greet held at the Observatory, we were made to feel really welcome!! To find out more about the terrific AAI group, check out their web page: http://www.asterism.org/ and take a look at one of their newsletters: www.asterism.org/newsletter/2006-08.pdf And we�ll give a shout out to the Program Chair of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton, Ken Kremer, who extended an invitation to all to attend any of their club meetings. The club is based in Princeton, (Mercer County) New Jersey. Take a look: http://www.princetonastronomy.org/ Mark gave a summary of the talk that night by Dr. DeMarco, �Stellar Duets: How Companions Shape the Life and Evolution of Stars� for those who missed the meeting. Dr DeMarco was very impressive, and we wish her luck with her continuing research. Mark was busy this month: Mark, with a few members of NJSAS, also attended the Rutgers Geology Museum Open House on January 27th. Held every year, this year�s Open House was great. For more info, check out: http://geology.rutgers.edu/ http://www.ahherald.com/content/view/1092/27/ http://geology.rutgers.edu/museum.shtml Mark showed off some new acquisitions, including amethysts and geodes he picked up at the Open House. Bailin also mentioned he was able to get a very large marble sphere, and the offerings were extensive. At the Open House, Mark attended a session given by Brother Consolmagno, the Vatican Astronomer presently based at Fordham University. Brother Consolmagno was on committee that decided Pluto�s fate, and he presented some background and insight on what happened and why. We all know what the final decision was! More info on Brother Consolmagno see: http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/public_affairs/inside_fordham/november_27_2006/news/vatican_astronomer_o_24492.asp Of course, the demotion of Pluto set off another round of discussion among the group! I do believe some challenges were issued during the discussion, so there will be more on this topic in the future! Mark mentioned that there would be no formal meeting next month. Continuing our annual tradition, NJSAS will be taking part in Super Science Saturday (SSS): The 19th Annual Super Science Saturday 9:00am - 1:00pm, March 3rd, 2007 Ridgewood High School 627 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07451 Check the website: http://supersciencesaturday.org/ We�ll be in the Cafeteria again this year, so come out and see the demos! Mark, Norman, Vincent and Pete have promised to wow us! (And should the Trebuchet be out, remember to duck!) Our SSS theme this year is �Energy� and there will be demos on the conversion, use and application of various forms. Some of the �stuff� NJSAS members are planning to display include the: Testla coil, Sterling Engine & the Dippy Bird - (Check out Mar�s posters on how these work!!), Magnets and Electricity. One effect of the AAI visit on NJSAS is Mark is now recruiting people to do more wrt club activities. After a short discussion, assignments were: Mark: President Vincent: Vice President/Web Master/Meeting coordinator Pete: Treasurer/Guest Speakers Mar: Secretary, and now the �OFFICIAL� Ambassador to other clubs. Bailin: Membership/Cable liaison A motion to have a refreshments lead was defeated. Mark also mentioned organizing more trips: Lamont-Doherty Rutgers Geology Museum Great Swamp Mar agreed to look into organizing a field trip during the summer break. Mark also wants to provide sessions on �basic stuff�: How to build things, tutorials on soldering. The meeting continued with Pete mentioning the Super Collider in Switzerland. Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/science/08cnd-collider.html?ex=1171861200&en=a1062eab1b89b9ca&ei=5070 After all the info and discussions, Mark presented a talk on Adhesives. In the course of making a manufacturable product, Mark has had to investigate various adhesives, and wanted to share his knowledge with the group. He mentioned the 3M website and their excellent Technical support hotline was very helpful: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Manufacturing/Industry/Product-Catalog/Bonding-Solutions/?WT.mc_id=www.3m.com/us/mfg_industrial/adhesives/ During his talk, Mark covered the various products available to join one material to another, their uses, what the best application might be. We�re hoping he�ll decide to make it into an article for SAS publication. Mark covered: Hot Glues (Industrial Hot Glue Gun) http://www.hotmelt-tech.com/ Elmer�s Wood Glue: http://www.elmers.com/product/product_page.asp?pCode=E700 PVC Cement: http://www.gorillapvc.com/index.shtml 2-part acrylics http://www.acrylic-designs.com/plastic_FAQ's.htm Duco Cement: . http://www.devcon.com/devconfamilyproduct.cfm?familyid=207 Weldon #16 http://www.cityplastics.com.au/pdf/weldon%2016%20msds.pdf http://www.rplastics.com/weldonguide.html 2�part Epoxies http://www.permabond.com/en/en-epoxy.htm Spray Adhesive http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-spray-adhesive.htm http://www.pearlpaint.com/shop~ocID~1000~parentID~1000~categoryID~984.htm SuperGlues http://science.howstuffworks.com/question695.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate Rubber Cement http://www.answers.com/topic/rubber-cement Solid 2-part Epoxies � http://chrono.org/puzzles/puttyprimer.html Silicone http://www.dowcorning.com/content/etronics/etronicsseal/etronics_newaas_tutorial4.asp?DCWS=Electronics&DCWSS= Gorilla glue � http://www.gorillaglue.com/ Alene�s tacky glue� http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0040&channelid= Very interesting and informative, Mark! If you are looking to glue something to something, check out Michaels �Glue It to It� Glue finder: http://www.michaels.com/art/online/GlueIt Upcoming events: Note: there will be no regular NJSAS meeting next month (March). March 3, 2007 (morning/afternoon) The 19th Annual Super Science Saturday 9:00am - 1:00pm, March 3rd, 2007 Ridgewood High School 627 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07451 http://supersciencesaturday.org/ March 3, 2007 (afternoon/evening) (Thanks to Stewart Meyers for the info!) On Saturday, March 3, 2007, starting at 5:30 PM Amateur Astronomers Inc. will conduct a special session featuring a total eclipse of the moon at the William Miller Sperry Observatory located at Union County College, 1033 Springfield Ave., Cranford, NJ. The eclipse will already be in progress when the moon rises at 5:44 PM. Totality ends at 6:58 PM and the partial phase ends at 8:12, so there will be ample time to observe this celestial event if weather permits. Club members will be available with telescopes and binoculars to assist with viewing and to discuss details as the eclipse occurs. Following the total portion of the eclipse, Mr. Alan P. Witzgall will give a presentation on "The Nature of Eclipses". Mr Witzgall holds a B.S.in Planetary Geology from Kean University and is a long time member of AAI. Refreshments will be served. Following the presentation, guests will be invited to view Saturn through the club's two large telescopes. This event is open to the public and has no admission fee. Free parking is provided. For directions and more information on AAI visit _www.asterism.org_ (http://www.asterism.org) . If the weather is inclement, the eclipse presentation will still take place. Visit the "Special Notice" section of the web site for a revised schedule. Note: These minutes can be found on the NJSAS Forum website. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] January 6 2007 Minutes

mar_m_m — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:52:29 -0600

NJSAS Meeting: January 6, 2007; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, welcomed everyone to NJSAS�s first meeting of 2007! In attendance were: Vincent, Norman, Bailin, Pete and Mar. When Mark�s display came up upside down, and he worked to straighten it, a discussion ensued about the Hall Effect and Accelerometers.. Get some info on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_effect http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/hall.html http://www.eeel.nist.gov/812/effe.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer http://www.dimensionengineering.com/accelerometers.htm Mar showed her new laptop, which made taking notes for the minutes a lot easier! Mark mentioned he is hoping for a guest speaker next month. And reminded everyone about Super Science Saturday on the first weekend in March. Mark showed a demo that illustrated the concepts behind the Foucault pendulum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foucault_pendulum http://science-design.com/ Pete brought in some interesting articles and topics for discussion: 1) �Special Forces take Wing:� Machine Design 9/15/2006 describing how lightweight carbon-fiber monowings could let troops jump from high altitudes and glide 120 miles or more before landing. Read the article at: http://www.machinedesign.com/asp/viewSelectedArticle.asp?strArticleId=61005&strSite=MDSite&catId=2 2) Proof of Dark Matter. Discover�s November 2006 issue had an article with a picture of how a collision of galaxies is providing proof dark matter exists. http://www.discover.com/issues/nov-06/rd/dark-matter-universe/ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060822-dark-matter.html http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06297_CHANDRA_Dark_Matter.html http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/1e0657/ 3) Celestron SkyScout � Time Magazine's featured "Cool Gear" item in their Tech Buyer's Guide 2006: $399 Using GPS technology, it allows the user to point it at the sky and find what stars are in that area. Check it out: http://www.astronomics.com/main/category.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/G9DK21N6Q6128LA4FH56H6S853/Page/1 4) Atacama: Pete mentioned the telescope array being constructed in Chile. The Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) will be one of astronomy's most powerful telescopes. http://www.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/projects/alma_e.html http://www.tierramerica.net/english/2006/0506/iarticulo.shtml http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/22/alma.telescope/index.html 5) The Economist had an article on the polonium-210 poisoning that was in the news in latter 2006. Check out their conclusions: http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8407475 6) Edmund Scientific has a Hologram Kit available. Mark spoke about building an Building an Ornithopter, based on a project in MAKE: 08 magazine: http://makezine.com/08/orly/ Mark also mentioned there was a great article in the same issue on making molds by Adam Savage of the Myth Busters. Norman added that the Myth Busters were doing a show on the Discovery Channel concerning the Hindenburg: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/01/06/the-mythbusters-look-at-whether-hydrogen-caused-the-hindenburg-d/ http://dsc.discovery.com/tvlistings/episode.jsp?episode=72&cpi=25369&gid=0&channel=DSC Mar showed a set of magnetic stones picked up in the Poconos. Interesting things! Pete said one of his gifts was Edmund Scientifics� Trebuchet Wooden Model Kit. Pete�s promised to finish it time to bring it to Super Science Saturday. Which prompted Norman to describe the blowgun his son and a friend were trying out: made from a paper cone and copper tubing, and dangerous to Styrofoam cups! http://tomshiro.org/pdart/primer.html All of which prompted Mark to plead for sanity and calm at the Science Fair. Finally, Norman showed his latest construction for Super Science Saturday: A St. Louis Motor. An open motor design using magnets and armatures to show the fundamentals of motors and generators, Norman built this demo to show the conversion of electrical energy to rotary. This certainly fits with the Energy Theme of Super Science Saturday! Thanks Norman! Read more on this type of motor at: http://www.sciencefirst.com/vw_prdct_mdl.asp?prdct_mdl_cd=10155 http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Electric_Motors/St._Louis_Motor/St_%20Louis_Motor.html Mar put up a table listing the various demos NJSAS members have built. Many of them fit into the Energy Theme for Super Science Saturday. Mark mentioned NJSAS would be attending the AAI meeting on January 19th. There will be a regular AAI meeting, and then guest speaker Dr. Orsala DeMarco. The meeting will take place at the Cranford Campus of Union County College, in the Roy Smith Theater. After the talk, the telescopes will be open for viewing. JANUARY 19, 2007 "Stellar Duets: How Companions Shape the Life and Evolution of Stars." - Dr. Orsola DeMarco Dr. DeMarco received her PhD in Astrophysics from University College, London in 1997, and is currently with the American Museum of Natural History. (ROY SMITH THEATER) Check the web site: http://www.asterism.org/ For directions and maps of the campus, click on the �Directions and Maps� section of the web page. Hope to see y�all there! Mark mentioned the current movie: Night at the Museum is bringing people to the Museum of Natural History. Check out the trailer: http://www.nightatthemuseum.com/ Mark visited the museum recently and said the two main exhibits are Lizards and Snakes and Gold! Which of course meant checking the current price of Silver, Gold and Platinum! ($12, $605, $332) As the meeting wound down, the topic switched to science, education, how schools teach the topic. Norman described how engineering students are introduced to engineering: And how he likes to introduce students today� How they build things� The meeting ended when we were essentially �moved out� of the meeting room! Some meetings go like that! Upcoming events: Jan 19, 2007 - AAI meeting and Observatory Visit, Cranford Campus of Union County College, "Stellar Duets: How Companions Shape the Life and Evolution of stars." - Dr. Orsola DeMarco. Dr. DeMarco received her PhD in Astrophysics from University College, London in 1997, and is currently with the American Museum of Natural History. (ROY SMITH THEATER of Union County College, Cranford Campus.) Feb 3, 2007 - Next NJSAS meeting March 3, 2007 � Super Science Saturday Note: These minutes can be found on the NJSAS Forum website. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] dec22006minutes

mar_m_m — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:40:51 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; December 2, 2006; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, welcomed everyone to NJSAS�s last 2006 meeting! In attendance were: Vincent, Norman, David, Bailin, Pete and Mar. Note: Norman�s article �Bending SpaceTime in the Basement: Is it Bogus� can be read in The Citizen Scientist: http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2006/2006-12-01/feature2/index.html Mark opened the meeting announcing Super Science Saturday. Held the first Saturday of March, NJSAS has been a regular for the past few years. The group agreed to have a theme for this year�s presentations: �Energy�. Several of our demonstrations fall under this topic and Mark hopes the new ones developed for the 2007 show will enhance our offerings. As the meeting went on, Mark had NASA�s screensaver onscreen. It constantly presented new images. He also showed the tree of life: http://www.zo.utexas.edu/faculty/antisense/tree.pdf With radiation poisoning in the news, some discussion ensued on radiation and it�s effects. Vincent mentioned the Table of Elements on the NJSAS homepage. Polonium: http://www.njsas.org/elements/84.php A Homopolar generator was demoed. Norman explained it is a high-current, low-voltage Generator. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_generator http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/HomopolarMotor http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/farhom.htm http://depalma.pair.com/ And a Rail Gun was explained: http://science.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun1.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_gun http://web.mit.edu/mouser/www/railgun/halluc/intro.html Everyone was wished a terrific Holiday Season & Happy New Year! Note: These minutes can be found on the NJSAS Forum website. Upcoming events: Jan 6, 2007 - Next NJSAS meeting Jan 19, 2007 - AAI meeting and Observatory, Cranford Campus of Union County College, "Stellar Duets: How Companions Shape the Life and Evolution of stars." - Dr. Orsola DeMarco. Dr. DeMarco received her PhD in Astrophysics from University College, London in 1997, and is currently with the American Museum of Natural History. (ROY SMITH THEATER) SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Nov42006minutes

mar_m_m — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 10:22:51 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; November 4, 2006; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, welcomed everyone to NJSAS�s first �3-D� meeting! In attendance were: Vincent, Norman, David, Bailin and Mar. NOTE: Mark mentioned the December NJSAS meeting might have a guest speaker from the Lamont-Doherty Laboratory!!!! Mark will provide more information! Please check with Mark, mark your calendars and bring your friends! Vincent started the themed presentations showing some fantastic eBay acquisitions that dealt with 3-D viewing. Anyone remember �Viewmasters�? These devices take reels of tiny slides & make them appear as 3-D pictures. The Fisher-Price website claims 65 years of providing 3-D viewing. While Vincent�s older reels dealt with National parks, today, the Viewmaster choices are rather diverse: http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?t=page&a=go&s=viewmaster&p=landing_flash&site=us&campaign=Google_preschool_toys Mark then went into his presentation on the current technology of creating 3-D pictures, or more technically, � Anaglyph images �. The Wiki decripes Anaglyph images as images which � contain two differently colored images, one for each eye, which, when viewed through "anaglyph glasses" containing color filters, deliver an integrated stereoscopic image. The visual cortex fuses this preception of a three dimensional scene or composition. Complete with 3-D viewing glasses (in a couple shades of colors) required to view anaglyph images, Mark started off with a 3-D slide show, featuring pictures from NASA, other 3-D image web sites, and some he produced using software on his computer. After the slide show, Mark discussed the software available to create 3-D today, and finished his presentation by taking a picture in real-time and creating a 3-D view of it using his computer! The group looked very scientific in 3-D!!! It was a very interesting presentation, and Mark has been approached by other organizations to present it to their members! Remember, you saw it first at NJSAS!!!! Mark said that given today�s technology, 3-D imaging is regaining popularity, and many scientific researchers are making use of it, using 3-D images to provide better understanding of complex systems. Mark provided a summary of the websites that provided the images for his presentation, as well as the software and commerce, including where he got the 3-D glasses! From Mark: These are picture sites: http://www.marsunearthed.com/ http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaglyph_image http://www.flickr.com/groups/anaglyph/pool/ http://www.rollanet.org/%7Evbeydler/van/3dreview/index.htm http://past3d.free.fr/menue3d.htm http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=2eyes;action=list http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.shtml This has the free 3D stereo picture maker software http://stereo.jpn.org/eng/stphmkr/ I got the 3D glasses from here. http://www.3dstereo.com/ As the meeting closed, Mark reminded everyone that Upcoming events: Dec 2, 2006 - Next NJSAS meeting Jan 19, 2007 - AAI meeting and Observatory, Cranford Campus of Union County College, "Stellar Duets: How Companions Shape the Life and Evolution of stars." - Dr. Orsola DeMarco. Dr. DeMarco received her PhD in Astrophysics from University College, London in 1997, and is currently with the American Museum of Natural History. (ROY SMITH THEATER) SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Oct142006Minutes

mar_m_m — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 16:19:56 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; October 14, 2006; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, welcomed everyone to the meeting held on the second Saturday! This month, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory held an Open House on our regularly scheduled meeting date and as many members wanted to attend that event, it was decided to reschedule the NJSAS meeting. In attendance were: Vincent, Norman, Pete and Mar. The Lamont-Doherty Open House was the opening topic, of course, with those who attended giving an overview of the highlights. Mark�s invited a few of the scientists he met to be guest speakers for NJSAS in the future. It was decided to visit the Amateur Astronomy group and the Sperry Observatory, in January 2007. The speaker sounds great, and the skies are usually better for viewing in the winter, so we�ll plan on it! That�s January 19, 2007: "Stellar Duets: How Companions Shape the Life and Evolution of stars." - Dr. Orsola DeMarco. Dr. DeMarco received her PhD in Astrophysics from University College, London in 1997, and is currently with the American Museum of Natural History. (ROY SMITH THEATER) Gravity and attraction between large objects was the next topic of discussion. Norman spoke about the discrepancies he noticed in an experiment he found on a website, and which was also reprinted as an article in a SAS newsletter a couple years ago. Norman recreated the experiment given in �Bending Spacetime in the Basement� by John Walker. Norman had different results, which he made available to the group. More information on John Walker and on the original experiment can be found on the following web Sites: http://www.fourmilab.ch/ http://www.fourmilab.ch/gravitation/ http://www.fourmilab.ch/gravitation/foobar/ Mark introduced a new topic by demonstrating a homopolar motor. Find out more about this unique device at: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/HomopolarMotor And somehow, the Menthos Geyser became a topic of discussion.. Check it out! http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5341058 Pete brought pictures and charts on the mason bee nest block project! Pete made a lot of mason bees happy with their new home this year!! Pete also brought in his Dinosaur Plant that he picked up at Edmund Scientific� Next the topic of 3-D movies came up, with various movies mentioned, along with All the gimmicks and equipment used to produce the effect. The exploration of Victoria Crater was discussed� Find out more at: Victoria Crater Aviation Week and Space Technology, Oct 2 2006: http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=7845 Finally Pete also showed a result of a 3-body problem, using MATLAB to show the traces. Mark would like all of us to think about a theme for this year. Come prepared to suggest a theme at the next meeting! Upcoming events: Nov 4, 2006 - Next NJSAS meeting SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Sept092006

mar_m_m — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 18:38:33 -0500

NJSAS Meeting; September 9, 2006; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the first formal meeting of the 2006-2007 SAS season. In attendance were: Vincent, Norman, Pete, David, Jim R., Jim S., Bailin and Mar. Mark opened the meeting welcoming everyone back from the Summer break. A special welcome went out to Jim R., Jim S. and Bailin! Mark mentioned the SAS conference, noting Norman and Pete were the NJSAS representatives. The 2006 Citizen Science Conference was held in Providence, Rhode Island August 24 to 27th. Mark thanked Norman for all his efforts in promoting NJSAS at the conference. Mark went over some goals for the year, and spoke about deciding on a theme, and maybe focusing on creating projects that illuminate more basic principles of science. And there�s Super Science Saturday, to be held the first Saturday in March, 2007, where he�d like NJSAS to be represented once again. Mar mentioned Stewart Meyers, (sfmeyers@skyweb.net) from the Amateur Astronomy Inc., affiliated with the Sperry Observatory, extended an invitation to our group to attend a meeting/talk. You can check the schedule of AAI's regular monthly meetings for the upcoming season at: http://www.asterism.org/meetings/momeet01.htm Stewart also answered some questions we had on other Astronomy clubs in the area: There is an observatory in Voorhees State Park which is operated by the NJAA (New Jersey Astronomical Association - http://www.njaa.org/) Their reflector is a 26" which is a little bigger than ours and their site is darker. However, their hours are Saturdays from 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM from the end of May to the end of October. They are closed at other times. There is an observatory complex located at Jenny Jump State Park in Hope. It is operated by the UACNJ (United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey), an umbrella organization of 18 astronomy clubs including AAI. You can get more details from the UACNJ website at http://www.uacnj.org/ and some of the member clubs have satellite observatories there. The UACNJ website also has links to the member clubs, so you can find out more about them. Hopefully we'll be able to decide on a night and visit Stewart & the Observatory!! There were other ideas suggested for NJSAS this year: Vincent suggested a visit to Brookhaven Labs. Check out their website at: http://www.bnl.gov/world/ Pete is following up on Edison�s Laboratory. The website for the Edison National Historic site is: http://www.nps.gov/edis The Menlo Park Museum website is: http://www.menloparkmuseum.com/ Norman mentioned participating in the �Members Night Presentations� at Liberty Science Center. LSC is in the midst of an expansion right now, check out their website: for the latest: http://www.lsc.org/ Mark asked Norman and Pete to give some of their recollections of the SAS Conference. Eventually, all presentations given at the conference should be available from the SAS website. Some of the noted presentations were: KiteShip; Wind Power for Ships by David Culp. From the SAS website: Unlike other sources of alternate energy, sailing; the transfer of momentum from a moving mass of air to the momentum of a moving vessel, can be nearly 100% efficient, up to the Betz limit. Norman said one of the biggest issues with employing this technology is the scheduling of ships arrival at the docks. Others are exploring this alternative energy source: http://alt-e.blogspot.com/2005/02/hybrids-hybrid-boats-hybrid-ships-and.html http://www.primidi.com/2005/03/07.html There was a presentation again on putting ping-pong balls into space: http://www.jpaerospace.com/pongsat/index.htm Mark mentioned wanting to have his daughter�s class take part in this. Also interesting were: Microlaunchers: The Case for Very Small Spacecraft by Charles Pooley. From the SAS website: This presentation makes the case for developing a very small integrated spacecraft launch system as a way to break through the present high cost paradigm which restricts access to space exploration and a wide scale of participation So You Think You Know About Tornadoes... by George Hrabovsky. From the SAS website: A veteran storm chaser with more than twenty years experience (and another ten before that as a spotter), Mr. Hrabovsky prowls the upper Midwest looking for tornadic storms to both better understand them, and to provide early warning to the public. After the discussion of conference presentations, Vincent unveiled a �Sterling Engine�, run by an ordinary freezer ice pack. It was amazing! Vincent�s model came from www.stirlingengine.co.uk Other websites for Stirling Engines are: http://travel.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine.htm http://www.stirlingengines.org.uk/ Mark & Vincent obviously got the �Stirling Engine� memo, as Mark then showed the Stirling Engine he made! Mark�s project came from Make Magazine: http://www.makezine.com/ http://makezine.com/images/07/p92new.pdf Mark went over his efforts in making the engine, and some of the modifications he made to the original plans. Pete discussed an orchard mason bee nest block that he constructed, and went over some of his observations. He�s kept pretty good notes on what happened with the nesting block he put out in early Spring. You can learn more about orchard mason bees at: http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse006/inse006.htm and how to construct an orchard mason bee nesting block: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=10743 Finally, Pete conjectured: IF I have two children, and I tell you one is a boy, what is the probability that I also have 1 girl. Curious? Check it out: http://www.wizardcards.com/viewthread.php?tid=761 http://www.skepchick.org/skepticsguide/viewtopic.php?p=4970&sid=3d6f6e386b365553e8bc0aad118f3f62 and check out: http://www.csicop.org/si/ Mark would like all of us to think about a theme for this year. Come prepared to suggest a theme at the next meeting! Upcoming events: October 5, 2006 - The North Jersey IEEE invites you to the 21st Annual Symposium and Mini-Show on Thursday, October 5 at the Birchwood Manor in Whippany, NJ. The conference presents a series of 9 lectures describing the state-of-the-art in Microwave, RF, Communications, and Wireless Technologies. The speakers are leaders in their respective fields, working at Ansoft, BAE Systems, Dielectric Labs, Linearizer Technology, Lucent Technologies, and Texas Instruments. The Mini-Show presents a group of displays and demonstrations representing the state-of-the-art in products from leading companies in these technologies. The Exhibits include components, subsystems, test equipment and CAD tools. Technical representatives will be on-site to assist you. Registration is on-site and there is no charge to attend. IEEE Membership is not required. For further information, please refer to the "21st Annual Symposium and Mini-Show" at the following address: http://www-ec.njit.edu/~ieeenj/NEWSLETTER.html October 7, 2006 � Next NJSAS meeting October 7, 2006 http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/ SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[General] new phorum version

VincentG — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 19:36:06 -0500

I've upgraded to the latest phorum release. Makes it easier to delete users -- great for spam control :) V.

[Meeting Minutes] June062006minutes

mar_m_m — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 16:18:10 -0500

June 3, 2006; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the last formal meeting of the 2005-2006 session. There will be no formal NJSAS meetings for July and August. In attendance were: Vincent, Norman, Pete and Marie. The next formal NJSAS meeting is scheduled for September 9, 2006. Remember, you’re invited to the SAS conference in August: Shawn Carlson, Executive Director of the Society for Amateur Scientists, invites you to the 2006 Citizen Science Conference to be held in Providence, Rhode Island, from August 24 (Thursday) through August 27 (Sunday). For more details see the website: www.sas.org Mark opened the meeting giving an update on some SAS activities. An article on measuring light with a microwave oven was cause for a lively discussion. Pete brought out his knowledge on the subject, and the question on the effect of a fan was raised. For more info check out: http://apps.caes.uga.edu/sbof/main/lessonPlan/MeasuringSpeedLightChocolate.pdf This method of measuring the speed of light was mentioned on the SAS website, along with other ways to measure the speed of light using foods: http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2005/2005-06-17/wanderings/index.html Note: Many articles on this subject reference an About.com article that doesn’t seem to be active at the moment. http://superpositioned.com/articles/2006/03/09/measure-the-speed-of-light-with-chips Mar asked why it’s possible to use some metals in the microwave ovens these days when they used to caution against it. Check this out: http://home.att.net/~mrmicrowave/docs/youcanusemetal.html Some other microwave sites: http://margo.student.utwente.nl/el/microwave/ http://www.amasci.com/weird/microwave/voltage3.html Mark gave his impressions on being the guest speaker for the Morris Micro-Computer Club. The club website is: http://www.morrismicro.com/ Mar mentioned how well Mark’s topic was received. Mark is thinking about doing another talk in the future. Pete mentioned the Edison Museum is being renovated, and will keep us informed. Mark and Pete went over some of the puzzles in the Clay Millennium Math Problems. http://www.claymath.org/millennium/ Two of those discussed were the Poincare Conjecture http://www.claymath.org/millennium/Poincare_Conjecture/ and the Riemann Hypothesis http://www.claymath.org/millennium/Riemann_Hypothesis/ Pete took the floor and dazzled us with math (as usual), bringing everyone up the finer points of sequences and primes. Mar mentioned putting together a Summer Reading List. Suggested were: - An Imaginary Tale: The Story of i [the square root of minus one] by Paul J. Nahin - e: The Story of a Number by Eli Maor - Journey Through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics by William W. Dunham - Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall - Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics by John Derbyshire - An Enemy of the People (Play) by Henrik Ibsen - Breaking the Code (Play 'Breaking the Code' by Hugh Whitemore, Movie directed by Herbert Wise (1996) Plot Summary: A biography of the English mathematician Alan Turing, who was one of the inventors of the digital computer ) Mark suggested having a *lending library* for the group, if members are willing to lend out books they've read that are just sittin' on their shelves... That's something to discuss in the future. Additionally, Mar is making this “A Summer of Plays”. She's reading one play per week from now until September, taken from an anthology by Paul Kozelka, “15 American One-Act Plays”. Anyone who would like to discuss any of these plays, either in person or as an e-discussion, please contact Mar at mar_m_m@att.net. The schedule is as follows: Week of: Play, Author June 3, 2006 Thursday Evening, Christopher Morley June 10, 2006 Dust of the Road, Kenneth S. Goodman June 17, 2006 The Undercurrent, Fay Ehlert June 24, 2006 The Man Who Died at 12 O’Clock,Paul Green July 1, 2006 Aria Da Capo, Edna St. Vincent Millay July 8, 2006 The Lottery, Adapted by Brainerd Duffield form a story by Shirley Jackson July 15, 2006 Red Carnations, Glenn Hughes July 22, 2006 Feathertop, Adapted by Maurice Valency form a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne July 30, 2006 Sorry, Wrong Number, Lucille Fletcher August 5, 2006 The Still Alarm, George S. Kaufman August 12, 2006 Trifles, Susan Glaspell August 19, 2006 The Trysting Place, Booth Tarkington August 26, 2006 The Neighbors, Zona Gale September 2, 2006 Impromptu, Tad Mosel September 9, 2006 The Devil and Daniel Webster, Stephen Vincent Benet Upcoming events: August 24-27, 2006 The Citizen Science Conference, Providence, Rhode Island September 9, 2006 – Next NJSAS meeting SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Apr012006meeting

mar_m_m — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 13:43:56 -0500

NJSAS Meeting: April 1, 2006; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the meeting. In attendance were: Pete, Vincent, David and Marie. Mark opened the meeting with an update on some SAS activities. Shawn has been very busy with Lab Rats and Conference preparations. Mark would like NJSAS to display some of the hands-on demos from Super Science Saturday at the Conference Poster session. Mark also brought up some topics featured in this weeks “The Citizen Scientist”… http://www.sas.org/tcs/. He mentioned how an Amateur Scientist discovered two impact craters in Africa! Read all about it: http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2006/2006-03-24/editorial-p/index.html Mark showed some slides from Super Science Saturday. Vincent went into more detail on the Chladni Plates he demonstrated there. Chladni plates, named after Ernst Chladni are a way of visualizing sound waves. Vincent’s begun to catalog the different patters/frequencies he’s been able to show. Ernest Florens Friedrich Chladni (1756 - 1827) performed many experiments to study the nodes of vibration of circular and square plates, generally fixed in the center and driven with a violin bow. The modes of vibration were identified by scattering salt or sand on the plate, these small particles end up in the places of zero vibration. Ernst Chladni first demonstrated this at the French Academy of Science in 1808, it caused such interest that the Emperor offered a kilogram of gold to the first person who could explain the patterns. Sophie Germain was one of the first to explain the patterns. The basic experiment that is given the name "Chladni" consists of a plate or drum of some shape, possibly constrained at the edges or at a point in the center, and forced to vibrate historically with a violin bow or more recently with a speaker. A fine sand or powder is sprinkled on the surface and it is allowed to settle. It will do so at those parts of the surface that are not vibrating, namely at the nodes of vibration. The equation for the zeros of the standing wave on a square Chladni plate (side length L) constrained at the center is given by the following. cos(n pi x / L) cos(m pi y / L) - cos(m pi x / L) cos(n pi y / L) = 0 where n and m are integers. (above taken from http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/modelling/chladni/ ) For more information , check out the following: Chladni Plates: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~scidemos/OscillationsWaves/ChladniPlates/ChladniPlates.html http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Acoustics/Chladni/Chladni.html http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/chladni.html Sophie Germain: http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/germain.htm http://www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/womeninmath/SophieGermain.html Pete mentioned wave guides, and traveling Electromagnetic Waves. Pete mentioned an article “Photonics Showcase” (Jan 2006) which mentioned a new way to monitor/assess Alzheimer’s disease/treatment. Scientists have found that structures in the eye have indicated the same protein as in the brains of Alzheimer’s. “Your eyes tell the story….A new science methodology for instance uses a weak red laser to look in the eye, thereby having the most advanced technique for early detection of Alzheimer's disease (:ANC & Photonics Showcase p6). February 8, 2006. (from http://www.angelfire.com/stars/promotions/Nov5Mar6.html) Mark gave some lucky 6th graders a talk on Puzzles. He brought several to the meeting, and went over the talk. Mark recommended Jerry Slocum’s book, The Puzzle Arcade. http://www.puzzleworld.org/PuzzleWorld/books/puzzle_arcade.htm Mark mentioned that almost all of the puzzles were new to a generation raised on computers and Xbox! Mark went over the Categories of Puzzles, demonstrating one or more examples of each. We got to try them and see how much fun they were!!! Categories 1. “Put Together” Puzzles: Where you put together objects. Examples: Soma Blocks (http://www.mathcats.com/grownupcats/geometrykits.html --scroll down to Soma Blocks) 2. “Disassembly Puzzles: Where an assembled object is taken apart. 3. “Interlocking” Puzzles: Where objects are interlocked and have to be separated. 4. “Impossible Object” Puzzles: Usually there’s a trick to dealing with these puzzles, like the Japanese Puzzle Box. Pete knows a supplier: http://www.puzzleboxworld.com/ 5. “Sequential Movement” Puzzles: Like the “15 Puzzle” this goes back to the 1850s! Try it online: http://www.javaonthebrain.com/java/puzz15/ 6. “Entanglement” Puzzles: The Blacksmith puzzles (named for puzzles Blacksmiths made/did in their ‘down time’) where it seems impossible to un-entangle some objects, but you can if you know the trick! http://www.tavernpuzzle.com/ 7. “Dexterity” Puzzles: Mark had an example where you had to swing a hat on a string onto the main character’s head. Mark said these types of puzzles had to do with a ‘methodology’. These also could be matchstick puzzles. 8. “Vanishing” Puzzles: These are where a cutting and rearranging a puzzle yields different results: http://www.archimedes-lab.org/page5b.html Mark demonstrated this type with “The Vanishing Leprechaun” where 15 leprechauns become 14, and a King of Hearts puzzle from Jerry's book. Mark will be at the National Science Teachers Association conference this week! Good luck!! http://www.nsta.org/ Finally, the date for the trip to the Darwin exhibit has been set for April 29, 2006. Mark will be sending out more information. Upcoming events: April 29, 2006 NJSAS trip to the Darwin exhibit, American Museum of Natural History For a preview, check out: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/?src=h_h May 6, 2006 Next NJSAS formal meeting. Mark and Pete will present theClay Millennium Math Problems. http://www.claymath.org/millennium/ May 11, 2006 Mark is the scheduled speaker for the May meeting of the Morris Micro-Computer Club; Morris County Library, 7pm. Everyone is invited to attend! You DO NOT have to be a member to attend Mark's talk. The President of the MMCC invites all of NJSAS to attend. http://www.morrismicro.com/ From the MMCC website: May 11, 2006 Meeting "Doing Science on Computers" Man was sent to the Moon and back with less computing power than you have in your cell phone. Your home computer has more processing power than the world’s fastest supercomputers in 1982, yet these were considered national treasures by the countries that had them at the time. Mark Streitman, president of the New Jersey Society for Amateur Scientists, will start by giving a short history of using computers for science. He will then talk about science projects that you can do at home for free or low cost using your home computer. Some of these projects can contribute to professional science. Some are just for the home user to to do experiments or to just explore the world and the cosmos. IF anyone would like an e-copy of the MMCC brochure, please email Mar @ mar_m_m@att.net SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net. Post Edited (04-03-06 14:20)

[Meeting Minutes] Feb042006meeting

mar_m_m — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 14:10:45 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; February 4, 2006; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the meeting. In attendance were: Pete, Vincent, Joe, Norman, David and Marie. If this meeting was any indication, NJSAS will be well represented at Super Science Saturday!! Several members demonstrated the experiments they are planning to bring to Super Science Saturday. It looks like it will be an interesting day! Hope everyone will be able to stop by and check out our demos. For information and directions for Super Science Saturday, check the website:(http://www.supersciencesaturday.org/) Norman plans to demonstrate various experiments that illustrate the many ways magnets provide useful work. With a series of demonstrations showing “Music from Magnets”, “Electricity from Magnets” and “Movements from Magnets”, there will be lots of ‘hands-on” science that illustrate these concepts. During the meeting, Norman went over the various demos, allowing the group to try them out, which was fun! Vincent gave a short ‘musical concert’ from long pipes. Demonstrating a relative of a “Kundt's tube”, named for August Adolf Eduard Eberhard Kundt, who investigated aerial waves within pipes. Sounds are generated stroking the pipe, illustrating resonating frequencies. For more information, come on by on Super Scince Saturday, and check out these sites: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/class/phscilab/kundt2.html http://www.intuitor.com/resonance/resDemo.html Some info on sound and other unusual musical instruments: http://www.intuitor.com/resonance/resDemo.html Mark plans to show several demos he's gone over during the past months, including the Foucault Pendulum. Pete left quite a few of his experiments with Joe, and along with Vincent and Mark’s demonstrations, it should be an interesting day!! Hope to see you there!! After the various demos, the meeting continued with Mark showing a matching website to the Celestia program he’s previously demonstrated. Celestia provides a simulation that lets you explore the universe. This sister site, Motherload provides lots of add-ons. http://www.shatters.net/celestia/ http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/ (Repository for add-ons) Joe displayed several CRT tubes ranging in size from 1” to 3” for the group to see. These tubes were used in oscilloscopes, aviation displays and control equipment. Pete also mentioned AviationNow.com’s articles on the commercial space business: http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/search/autosuggest.jsp?docid=366925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aviationnow.com%2Favnow%2Fnews%2Fchannel_awst_story.jsp%3Fview%3Dstory%26id%3Dnews%2F09274wna.xml as well as an article illustrating a “garbage pail motor”. Check out the Hobby Scientist website: http://amasci.com/ At the January meeting, Magellan was mentioned, with Norman recommending a book recounting the journey. The book is "Over the Edge of the World" by Laurence Bergeron. (ISBN 0-06-621173-5) “About – Entertainment” gave it a great review as well: http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/currentreviews/fr/overTheEdge.htm Thanks, Norman. Anyone planning to attend the National Science Teachers Association conference in April please coordinate with Mark. Check out the convention at the NSTA website:: http://www.nsta.org/ Mark is the scheduled speaker for the May meeting of the Morris Micro-Computer Club They meet at the Morris County Library on the second Thursday of the month. Everyone is invited to attend! You DO NOT have to be a member to attend Mark's talk. The President of the MMCC invites all of NJSAS to attend. http://www.morrismicro.com/ From the MMCC website: May 11, 2006 Meeting "Doing Science on Computers" Man was sent to the Moon and back with less computing power than you have in your cell phone. Your home computer has more processing power than the world’s fastest supercomputers in 1982, yet these were considered national treasures by the countries that had them at the time. Mark Streitman, president of the New Jersey Society for Amateur Scientists, will start by giving a short history of using computers for science. He will then talk about science projects that you can do at home for free or low cost using your home computer. Some of these projects can contribute to professional science. Some are just for the home user to to do experiments or to just explore the world and the cosmos. IF anyone would like an e-copy of the MMCC brochure, please email Mar @ mar_m_m@att.net Upcoming events: March 4, 2006 “Super Science Saturday”, no formal meeting. April 1 , 2006 Next formal meeting. The NJSAS trip to the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History is tentatively scheduled for April. For a preview, check out: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/?src=h_h SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Mar Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Jan072006meeting

mar_m_m — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 11:50:27 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; January 7, 2006; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, opened the first meeting of 2006 with New Year Greetings to all. In attendance were: Pete, Vincent, Joe, Norm, David and Marie. Mark announced he is planning to attend the National Science Teachers Association conference in April. Check it out at: http://www.nsta.org/ Cindy,, another SAS member, will be assisting Mark with his presentations at the conference. Mark has a limited number of passes available to those who might be interested in attending. David announced he has started his own business, allowing himself the opportunity to pursue some of his ideas. He will continue to teach Physics, Physical Science and Electronics for Rochelle Park. Congratulations, David, and “Good Luck!” Mark displayed some sky prints from the Hubble that he found on the Hubble Site. He had four sections of a skyview that would make a fabulous poster. Check out the Astronomy Printshop at the Hubble site: http://hubblesite.org/ In addition, you’ll find all sorts of Hubble information, pictures and activities. Vincent demo’d the carbon arc lamp and magnetic levitation station he brought to last year’s Super Science Saturday. Some of our current members hadn’t had the opportunity to see them before. The *best* part was when he actually got the spindle to levitate. YEAH Vincent!!!! Mark showed a game his daughter received: 20Q. Based on the game where the group decides on an object in the room, and the person playing has to guess what it is by asking 20 questions. For this game, you think of an object, and the 20Q asks you 20 questions, and tries to guess what the object is. Their website, http://20q.net/, has the slogan, “the neural-net on the internet”. Everyone had fun testing it! Mark demo’d a high end web camcorder that could be used to as a motion detector to monitor premises. It was fun as Mark recorded the group, using stop motion as we drifted in and out of the picture. He may bring it to Super Science Saturday. Pete continued his educational series on Pythagoras. He showed proofs and derivations for right and isosceles triangles both graphical and mathematical. Pete said he’d have to miss Super Science Saturday, as he has a trip scheduled. As Pete has quite a few demonstrations, he’ll be leaving them off with other members to show at the science fair. Pete also mentioned Aviation Week and Space Tech’s 1/2/2006 edition mentioned that the tsunami of Dec 2004 may have resulted in a shift in local gravity. Check out: http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/050425_quake_scar.html Find out more about GRACE and send a GRACE ecard at: http://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace/ Pete also recommended the text book: (check it out at Amazon.com) An Introduction to String Theory and D-Brane Dynamics (Hardcover) by Richard J. Szabo "To help introduce the topics which follow and their significance in high energy physics, in this chapter we will briefly give a non-technical historical account..." Mark again went over possible projects for Super Science Saturday, March 4th, 2006. (http://www.supersciencesaturday.org/) Some links for ideas: http://www.scitoys.com/ http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/ http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/projects.html http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/category0.html Mark is the scheduled speaker for the May meeting of the Morris Micro-Computer Club Their meetings are on the second Thursday of the month. http://www.morrismicro.com/ “Stardust” was returned to Earth this week when NASA's Stardust sample returned safely to Earth. NASA is setting up a distributed computing opportunity, stardust@home. For more information, check out: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/01/10_dust.shtml http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060109/stardust_spa.html?source=rss On Tuesday, January 17, 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft launches for a mission to Pluto. It is expected to reach Pluto in 2015. New Horizons will provide information on the Pluto class of planetary bodies, ice drawfs. Ice drawfs are the most populous group in the solar system. Upcoming events: March 4, 2006 “Super Science Saturday”, no formal meeting. The NJSAS trip to the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History is tentatively scheduled for April. For a preview, check out: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/?src=h_h The next NJSAS meeting is scheduled for February 4, 2006. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Dec32005meeting

mar_m_m — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 17:45:51 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; December 3, 2005; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ. Even before Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, was able to welcome everyone to the NJSAS December meeting, there were lively discussions going on! In attendance were: Pete, Vincent, Joe, Norm, David and Marie. Pete started things off with a graphical puzzle by Paul Curry, dealing with triangles and areas. Pete mentioned Paul Curry was a magician who was intrigued with puzzles. Some Websites discussing his puzzles are given below: http://www.puzzles.com/puzzleplayground/MagicSquare/MagicSquare.htm http://www.puzzles.com/PuzzleHelp/PuzzleHelpItems61_72.htm Norm demonstrated the latest phase of his superLED project. Turning on an ordinary looking searchlight, the light was extremely bright. Norm had housed his LED light in the searchlight, making for a brilliant searchlight. Norm explained it was brighter than a regular searchlight, using about half the power. Norm cut the lights to demo its Brightness. Mark again went over possible projects for Super Science Saturday, March 4th, 2006. (http://www.supersciencesaturday.org/) He mentioned if everyone did one or two, we could have a ‘NJSAS Museum’. Mark gave some links for the projects: http://www.scitoys.com/ http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/ http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/projects.html http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/category0.html It seems any trip to the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History will take place in the New Year, with Spring also being considered. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/?src=h_h The topic of proving the Pythagorean Theory came up, with Pete showing a Graphical proof of it. Pete showed one of the simplest, more are given on the following website: http://www.cut-the-knot.org/pythagoras/index.shtml Marie mentioned the Morris Micro-Computer Club is looking for speakers for their 2006 meetings. IF you’d like to propose a topic, please send an email to mar_m_m@att.net The next meeting of the M**2C**2 is this Thursday, 7pm; the topic is"How To Select a Digital Camera". The website is: http://www.morrismicro.com/ Mark briefly discussed the Boink project, successor to SETI distributed computing project. Mark then spoke on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and the testing requirements required for products destined for the marketplace. He’s working on certification for his products. Mark brought out a Spectrum Analyzer, and displayed the graph on his computer. Mark encouraged everyone to use their cell phones and see the results. Vincent took an antenna, which Mark provided, ‘on the road’ to see if various places in the meeting room produced different results. Pete mentioned there are two kinds of EMC: Radiate, which is signals/frequencies going out and Susceptibility, how a product reacts to signals/frequencies around it. Mark gave the 2006 Meeting Schedule: Jan 7, 2006 Feb 4, 2006 March 4, 2006 “Super Science Saturday”, no formal meeting. A website for project enthusiasts: www.allelectronics.com (A catalog showed up in the mail, and Joe thought it was pretty good.) A suggestion for ‘hard to get’ gifts: “Apocalypse Chow” (Simon & Schuster) Cooking in a powerless home! Some websites for gifts suggested by Pete: www.mindwareonline.com www.scientificsonline.com The meeting ended with a discussion session on various topics. The next NJSAS meeting is scheduled for January 7, 2006. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Oct12005

mar_m_m — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 13:09:43 -0500

NJSAS Meeting; October 1, 2005; 10:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the October meeting. In attendance were: Pete, Vincent, Joe, Norm, David and Marie. NOTE: November’s meeting will take place on Nov. 12th, the second Saturday of the month, 10:30am, due to scheduling conflicts. Mark welcomed everyone, bringing a lot of interesting things with him including a panoramic photo of Red Rock Canyon and a Basic Stamp. Mark sent along the websites: “Here are the links of items I mentioned at the Oct. meeting. For large photo printing http://www.elcocolor.com/hot_internet_only_specials.htm For Knoppix the official page is http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html for downloading mirrors http://knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html For the basic stamp http://www.parallax.com/ is the company that makes it. There are a number of companies that will sell it, but you might find one in stock at Radio Shack, it's a serial version though http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=276-625 or the robot version http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=276-629 Celebrating the Einsteinian Year, Mar brought in the book “E=mc2, A biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation” by David Bodanis. Mark mentioned that Nova will be doing a 2-hour program on it. PBS Nova will be presenting “Einsteins Big Idea.” For Channel 13, the dates/times are: Tuesday, October 11, 8:00pm Thursday, October 13, 12:30am Saturday, October 15, 4:00pm Check out the Nova Website for this: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/ Norm also mentioned the NY Times did a column on this. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/30/opinion/30greene.html?th&emc=3Dth Next, we were treated to a presentation of what is required to make a mirror for a telescope! Norm gave a very interesting presentation on how to make a telescope mirror. Mentioning that it intrigued him that these precision mirrors were made from simple technologies, he set about making his own. Norm gave an overview of the techniques used to turn a 1” thick pyrex disk into a telescope mirror. Showing the various grades of grit used, going from course to fine, and the random movements required, Norm took the group through the entire process, including using pitch to polish the ground mirror, and using a Foucault Tester to check the surface. Norm referenced the book: How to Make a Telescope, by Jean Texereau, in case you want to read more on this! After the mirror presentation, Norm showed the newscast of his appearance as an ‘expert witness’ in critiquing and debunking the claims for the Super TV Antenna. Thanks, Norm!!! Great presentation!!! The October 1st issue of the Star Ledger offered a “Super Sudoku”, with a 3x4 grid. For those who like even bigger challenges. Mark asked everyone to consider a new joint project for the year, that we could all work towards, and perhaps show at Super Science Saturday and the Convention. He also mentioned possibly everyone doing an individual project that could be brought to Super Science Saturday so we’d have a nice collection. The next NJSAS meeting is scheduled for November 12, 2005. Mar is scheduled to do a presentation on “Cold Fusion”. Hope to see you there! SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org www.njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Sep102005

mar_m_m — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 11:11:04 -0500

NJSAS Meeting; September 10, 2005; 11:30am; New Providence Library, New Providence, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the September meeting. In attendance were: Pete, Vincent, Joe, Jesse, Jerry, Norm, David and Marie. A “Welcome” goes out to David!!! Mark welcomed everyone back from the Summer break, pointing out the changes that have taken place in the New Providence Library since NJSAS met there last. We now have a big, bright, room off the main library area, with web access, to hold our meetings. The 11:30pm meeting time was for today only, October’s meeting is scheduled for 10:30am. Going over the summer activities, Mark gave an update on the SAS LabRats initiative, bringing science education to a wider audience. There are several groups started, and you can sign up for emails. Dr. Shawn Carlson also notes: SAS has forged a partnership with Edmund Scientific, Science Kit, and Wards Natural Science to bring you all the necessary materials of science at the best possible prices. Just surf over to http://www.scifair.org and click on the link to the LABRats Supply Bureau. Be sure to check out the SAS website. A historical view of technology led the discussion to mentioning PONG, http://www.pong-story.com/intro.htm, a discussion on copyrights, how older hardware and software are now handled, and a mention of the passing of Robert Moog , who invented the Moog synthesizer, http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/moog/ Pete, with a nod to Vincent’s demos at Super Science Saturday, mentioned Edmond Scientific has several magnetic floating demos and displays. http://www.edsci.com/ Pete also asked how we’ve been doing with Sudoku. He noted several newspapers like the NY Times, NY Daily News and Star Ledger have now added it to their pages, along with crosswords and cryptoquotes. Pete mentioned the July 11th issue of Aviation Week had some great shots of the July 4th crater impact. And an article Pete brought in from the NY Times on key nuclear warheads opened a discussion of the periodic table, atomic and hydrogen bombs in general, Little Boy and Fat Man specifically, as well as the phyics and chemistry required. David gave some history of the part various countries played in development of weapons. And everyone joined the discussion on the politics and technology of weapons. Cold Fusion was also mentioned, which gave way to a discussion on sub-atomic particles, and future energy sources. Mark demo’d some interesting finds he’s come across, that are of interest to amateur scientists. His "Show and Tell" included: A Digital Postal Scale, for accurate measurements. Smooth-on Plastics, providing an easy way to mold objects and prototypes. Their web-site: http://www.smooth-on.com/ A Cold Heat Solder Gun, available at Radio Shack. Mark HAD to demonstrate this!! http://www.coldheatsoldering.net/resources/5/cold-gun-hot-solder.html MicroChips microcontroller development package, with an entire development system. http://www.microchip.com Mark also went over the Printed Circuit Board options available: surface mount and thru-hole, and the benefits of each. Surface mount allows smaller chips, which means smaller space required, and no need to align with holes, which provides efficient manufacturing options. A reminder was also given to recycle electrical equipment and florescent lights. There are components used in the manufacturing process as well as solder that should be recycled rather than put in the trash. Judging by this first meeting, NJSAS is off to a great year! The next NJSAS meeting is scheduled for October 1, 2005 SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Jun2005Minutes

mar_m_m — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 17:15:05 -0500

NJSAS Meeting: June 4, 2005; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the June meeting. In attendance were: Pete T., Vincent G., Joe L., Jesse G., Jerry G., Norman S., Pat N., Jeanette S., Michael A. and Marie C. A �Welcome� goes out to Pat, Jeanette and Michael!!! Mark welcomed everyone to the June meeting, the last before the NJSAS Summer break. The next formal meeting will be held in September. Mark opened the meeting by going over recent NJSAS activites. After the preliminaries, Mark introduced the first speaker, Joe Levinson, who would give a presentation of his Cave Photography. Joe, currently a Director of the National Speleological Society (NSS), gave a slide show presentation of his Cave Photography. Featuring cave photos of caves from New York to New Mexico, Joe went a bit into the staging and lighting techniques required, as any �ambient light� in a cave isn�t!! Vincent remarked that it was possible the photos captured details the photographer might not even be aware of at the time, and Joe agreed. Because of the absolute darkness in a cave, lighting becomes paramount. Joe is schedule to give a �How to� session on slide duplication at the NSS convention. This year�s convention will be held in Huntsville, AL, July 4th-8th! The convention website is: http://www.nss2005.com The NSS website is: www.caves.org Next, Pete brought out his latest contraption (also known as the Kelvin Water Dropper): http://physics.about.com/cs/experiments/a/260303.htm http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/departments/physics/demo/kelvin.html http://www.amasci.com/emotor/kelvin.html WAY to go, PETE!!!!! Mark quickly went thru some pictures from Super Science Saturday, held March 5th, as well as some from the trip to the Great Swamp on May 14th, before showing some fabulous, free sites available through NASA: The first of these was World Wind� Quoting from the NASA site: http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/ World Wind lets you zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth. Leveraging Landsat satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, World Wind lets you experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if you were really there. The second NASA program was: Celestra: a Planet Exploration Activity http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/planets/index.html Thanks, Mark! Pete mentioned the Japanese game, Sudoku, and his efforts with it. The definition from Widipedia is: Sudoku, sometimes spelled Su Doku, is a number placement puzzle, also known as Number Place in the US. The aim of the puzzle is to enter a number from 1 through 9 in each cell of a grid, frequently a 9�9 grid made up of 3�3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various numbers given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column and region must only contain one instance of each number. Completing the puzzle requires only patience and modest logical ability (although some puzzles can be fiendishly difficult). Its classic grid layout is reminiscent of other newspaper puzzles such as crosswords and chess. Sudoku initially became immensely popular in Japan in 1986 and in the UK in 2005 stimulating international interest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku The web site gives an offer for a trial/purchase. http://www.sudoku.com/ This site offers puzzles for free: http://sudoku.com.au/ Pete also mentioned the Global Spec site: http://www.globalspec.com/ Where you find The specialized search engine focusing on engineering and technical information to provide you with more relevant search results and challenges. The latest is at: http://www.globalspec.com/newsletter/ViewIssue?Vol=Vol5Issue23&Pub=1&id=-1699208620 Some books available at the Madison Library: On Intelligence � Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee Handbook of Model Rocketry � Harry Stine & Bill Stine The Numbers Game: Baseball�s lifelong fascination with Statistics � Alan Schwarz Lost in Space � The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age -Greg Klerkx This was the last NJSAS meeting for the summer. Thanks Mark for another great year! And a special "Thank You" to everyone for making it an interesting year!! The next NJSAS meeting is scheduled for September 10th, 2005. Mark will put out a meeting notice as the date draws closer. Upcoming Events:- Observatory Nights � informal outings to the Sperry Observatory scheduled for late July and August. More info will be forwarded in mid-July. If you think you might be interested, please email Mar at mar_m_m@att.net so we are sure to update you. Shopping Spree � an informal outing to the Palisade Park Mall, with a possible side-trip to Pete�s Basement. Date: TBD More info will be available late July/August. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Apr2005Minutes

mar_m_m — Tue, 03 May 2005 10:16:38 -0500

NJSAS Meeting; April 9, 2005; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ. NOTE: The NJSAS Field Trip to the Great Swamp originally scheduled for our April meeting was postponed due to the delay in Spring-like conditions in the Swamp! Please see the Upcoming Events section below for the re-scheduled activities. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the April meeting, held the 2nd Saturday due to scheduling conflicts. In attendance were: Pete T., Vincent G., Joe L. and Marie C. Mark gave a summary of the National Science Teachers Association convention that he attended as a vendor. Their homepage is: http://www.nsta.org/ Mark showed slides from the convention and of his booth. For a backdrop, he had put together a beautiful planetary picture from the NASA website. He also showed the T-shirt and cow magnets he got at the convention. For info on cow magnets, check out: http://www.magnetsource.com/Solutions_Pages/cowmags.html Mark also brought back lots of goodies: a movie on Gravity Probe B, posters and information dealing with science and the art of teaching it. Mark also had slides from Super Science Saturday, held March 5th. While located in a larger venue this year, it looked just as crowded with demonstrations, activities and people! NJSAS was represented by Vincent, Mark, Pete, and Mar. Mark�s daughter, Rachel, was also there. Mark set up his Foucault Pendulum, and a few other experiments. Vincent wowed the crowd with his Carbon Arc Light, and Pete kept things interesting with several experiments. Older kids liked Vincent�s levitation station and Joe�s Oscilloscope. �Great show, everyone!� At the April meeting, Pete illustrated the principals of a harmonic series by setting up a �bridge of cards�. Starting with a deck of cards positioned on a desk in the library, he was able to gradually manipulate the cards and have them cantilever out from the desk. You wouldn�t believe possible, but our Wizard did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The following websites give some info on Harmonic Series: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/HarmonicSeries.html http://www.jimloy.com/algebra/hseries.htm Pete also went over some series results from �Prime Obsession�. http://olimu.com/Riemann/Riemann.htm This site allows you to ask the author of Prime Obsession a question, and buy neat Prime Obsession stuff. http://www.mathematicianspictures.com/MeetTheAuthor_jd01.htm and a review of Prime Obsession on slashdot, check out: http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/21/012218&tid=6&tid=14 In a preview to his slide show planned for the June meeting, Joe displayed some prints of his cave pictures. He�s planning to do a slide show showing various cave pictures for our June meeting. During the month, we discussed changing the format of the meeting minutes and NJSAS info. I�d like to start a Newsletter. If any of our members have information on software, or Ideas on Formats and suggestions for topics, please send me an email: mar_m_m@att.net with the Subject: "Newsletter Suggestions". THANKS! The next NJSAS meeting will be in May 7th. Upcoming Events: May 7th: Formal meeting of NJSAS May 14th: Field Trip to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Mark will send out more details, but mark your calendar & hope for good weather! June Meeting: Joe will present Cave Photography, showing some slides from his caving trips. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Feb2005Minutes

mar_m_m — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 13:10:30 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; February 5, 2005; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ. NOTE: There will be no formal NJSAS meetings in March and April, please see the Upcoming Events section below for scheduled activities. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the February meeting. In attendance: Pete T., Jesse G., Gerry G., Vincent G., Joe L. and Mar C. The meeting began with Gerry congratulating Joe on the successful cave rescue mission he took part in Jan 15th. Joe, who is an active caver, headed up the cave portion of the rescue when a caver was injured in a NY cave last month. �Good going, Joe.� Mark went over the highlights of the SAS 2005 Citizen Science Conference, held in Las Vegas, NV, January 13-16. Mark, Pete and Ana made presentations on behalf of NJSAS and Mark reported all the presentations were well received. Check out the writeups at: http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2005/2005-02-11/news2/index.html Pete mentioned the convention began Thursday evening with a trip to Red Rock Country. Mark made a video of the trip, which will be available on the website. www.redrockcanyon.blm.gov www.redrockcanyonlv.org The convention wrapped up with the Poster Sessions Sunday morning. Mark videoed the Poster Session and that will also be available on the SAS website. Be sure to catch the interview with H. Peter Friedrichs. He makes vacuum tubes!!!! Mark brought two of his books (available thru the SAS website) to the meeting for everyone to see. Very interesting! The books are: 1)Instruments of Amplification (fun with homemade tubes, transistors, and more) 2)The Voice of the Crystal (How to build working radio receiver components entirely from scratch) Both written and illustrated by H. Peter Friedrichs If it sounds like Mark was busy during the convention� It was because he was! Mark received a nice mention for all his contributions to the SAS Conference: http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2005/2005-01-28/news3/ �Thanks, Mark!� Pete also went over the PongSat program offered by JP Aerospace. http://www.jpaerospace.com/ http://www.jpaerospace.com/pongsat/index.htm From the website: A PongSat is an experiment that fits inside of a ping-pong ball. These ping-pong ball �satellites� are flown to the edge of space by balloon or launched in sounding rockets. The PongSats are then returned to the student. It�s an easy and inexpensive way to get students excited about science and engineering.� JP Aerospace flies PongSats at no cost to the student or school. Next, Mark discussed Super Science Saturday, which will be held March 5th. A room has been reserved for us! So far, Vincent, Mark, Pete, Mar and Joe will bring demos, and Dr. Shawn Carlson will be there as well. (Although Joe will be physically attending his NSS Board of Directors meeting, he�ll be sending something along!) Please let Mark know if you intend to bring something to display, so we can hold a place! (If you could hear Mark, Vincent and Pete planning, you�d realize it�s going to be a VERY interesting day!) ** We hope to see everyone there! ** During the open discussion, Vincent mentioned �Science News� and passed around several copies he brought. He mentioned the easily read magazine keeps him informed on various topics. Check out the online editions: http://www.sciencenews.org/ http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/ (this one mentioned Chocolate!!!!!) Mar mentioned the Morris County Library is hosting a display of Antique Hand Tools this month. A mention of Harlan Brothers talk at the Conference led to �mathematical� talk on calculating �e�, �gamma�, Euler, Fibonacci numbers, the Golden Mean, slide rules and Napier�s bones. From : http://pgs.k12.va.us/~ldarby/pi.htm ******************************************* The Top 10 Reasons that pi is better than e. ******************************************* 10) e is less challenging to spell than pi. 9) e ~ 2.718281828459045, which can be easily memorized, whereas pi takes skill to memorize. 8) The character for e is so cheap it is found on any keyboard, but pi is special and found under "special symbols". 7) Pi is the bigger piece of pie. 6) e has an easy limit definition while the limit definition of pi is much harder. 5) e you understand although you don't see it till pre-calculus. But pi, even after several years is hard to understand. 4) People easily confuse e, but there is only one pi. 3) e is named for a person, but pi stands for itself. 2) pi is much shorter and easier to say than "Euler's Number". 1) To read pi, you don't have to know that 'Euler' is pronounced 'Oiler'. Pete continued with an informal tutorial on �Napier�s Bones�, an invention of John Napier, used for mechanically multiplying dividing and taking square roots and cube roots, exponential expressions for trigonometric functions, and the decimal notation for fractions http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blnapier.htm http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/~greg/calculators/napier/ More �math� sites: http://www.spyrock.com/nadafarm/html/gm.html http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GoldenRatio.html The next NJSAS meeting will be in May! (May 7th) Upcoming Events: NOTE: There will be no formal meeting in March due to Super Science Saturday. Hope to see you there. The March NJSAS Meeting will be at Super Science Saturday, March 5th. SUPER SCIENCE SATURDAY Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, NJ March 5, 2005 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM This free event is a must-do for anybody! For over 20 years, The Benjamin Franklin Middle School hosted this "science fair on steroids" but last year, the event outgrew the school. That's why this year's "SSS" is taking place just a short distance away at Ridgewood High. Displays of all kinds - static, interactive, hands-on and more - will line the hallways and fill the classrooms. Come see live animals, model rocketry and Hackensack Riverkeeper, too! For more information, check out www.supersciencesaturday.org. Don't miss it! * *Write-up from http://www.hackensackriverkeeper.org/events.html NOTE: There will be no formal meeting in April. Instead, there will be a Field Trip to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge on April 9th. Mark will send out more details, but mark your calendar & hope for good weather! SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Jan2005Minutes

mar_m_m — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 20:37:11 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; January 8, 2005; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the January meeting. In attendance were: Pete T., Jesse G., Gerry G., Vincent G., Joe L., Ana E. S-C., Carl F., Kerry C. and Mar C. The meeting began with introductions and �Happy New Year�!! and Ana and Pete made a show of comparing their Cowboy hats! Not to be outdone, Mark showed off the NJSAS sweatshirt he designed using various pictures that had been taken throughout the year. Neat idea, and it�s sure to get noticed at the convention! Reminder: 2005 Citizen Science Conference in Las Vegas, NV on January 13-16. Safe journey to everyone who will be attending! Enjoy!! Mark opened the meeting for news and updates: This month�s Astronomy magazine has a 10-page feature on Einstein, marking the 100th year anniversary of his three papers. (See the General Forum area of the NJSAS website for more on the Einstein Year.) This month�s Antiques and Collecting Magazine features Chess Sets, one designed by Max Ernst. Jesse gave an update on his computers. The hard drive isn�t being recognized. Pete reported the November 2004 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology dealt with Mars and had a great article and pictures on �The Real Martians�. Pete also showed a poster from Wired, �Dive Dive Dive� showing what you�ll find at the various depths of the ocean. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/dive.html From Electronic Design News, Pete pointed out an article on Gravity Probe B � Einstein�s proof: http://www.edn.com/article/CA486569.html The book �A Concept of Limits� by Donald W. Hight, mentioned as a reference in a recent SAS newsletter math article is available at the Madison Public Library. However, Right now the copy is out, but will be returned Feb 5th! >smile< Ana had seen the movie �Life Aquatic�, and gave it a thumbs up. Jesse�s looking to see �White Noise.� Mark reported that Super Science Saturday will be the 1st weekend in March, and will be held at a new site, offering a larger venue. There was a bit of discussion on what the group may present, so everyone, please come up with some ideas. Dr. Shawn Carlson is planning on attending. Mark reviewed NJSAS presentations for the Convention. Our group will have three presentations: Mark- Making the Foucault Pendulum a commercial product Ana � �Endangered Puerto Rican Flora� Mark and Pete - A Scanning Tunneling Microscope Mark gave an overview of his presentation, including parts of his video. He mentioned using Visual Communicator to produce the video http://www.realnetworks.com/products/visualcommunicator/ and Solidworks for his 3D mechanical design software. http://www.solidworks.com/ Mark & Pete displayed their STM to the group. They hope to have it �live� for the convention. They went over the design, and the problems they ran into. We�ll just take a moment to wish Mark, Pete and Ana the best of luck at the convention. I�m sure their presentations will be well received! Upcoming Events: 2005 Citizen Science Conference in Las Vegas, NV on January 13-16. www.sas.org January 14th is the planned Titanic Lunar Landing. http://popularmechanics.com/science/space/2004/7/cassini_orbits_saturn/index4.phtml http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6742671/ NJSAS: next meeting is scheduled for February 5th. Hope you can make it! The March NJSAS Meeting will be Super Science Saturday, March 5th. SUPER SCIENCE SATURDAY Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, NJ March 5, 2005 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM This free event is a must-do for anybody! For over 20 years, The Benjamin Franklin Middle School hosted this "science fair on steroids" but last year, the event outgrew the school. That's why this year's "SSS" is taking place just a short distance away at Ridgewood High. Displays of all kinds - static, interactive, hands-on and more - will line the hallways and fill the classrooms. Come see live animals, model rocketry and Hackensack Riverkeeper, too! For more information, check out www.supersciencesaturday.org. Don't miss it!* *Write-up from http://www.hackensackriverkeeper.org/events.html A field trip is planned to the Great Swamp in April. We�ll discuss if this will be the April meeting or a separate meeting in February. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Dec2004Minutes

mar_m_m — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 18:42:48 -0600

NJSAS Meeting; December 4, 2004; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the December meeting. In attendance were: Pete T., Jesse G., Gerry G., Vincent G., Joe L., Special Guest David B., New Member and Guest Speaker Ana Eloisa Soto-Canino and Marie C. The meeting began with introductions for the new members and guests. Mark announced that NJSAS would be sponsoring a Rocketry group with Team America. The club we are sponsoring was formed with the goal of entering a rocket in a National Association of Rocketry (NAR) contest. Mark has met with the group, and will continue to interact with them. Find out more at: http://nar.org/TAchallenge.html . New member Ana Eloisa Soto-Canino gave a presentation on �Endangered Puerto Rican Flora�. Ana described her unique approach to documenting endangered species within their natural setting. She displayed some of her artwork, which stresses an ecological view of plants. Ana uses watercolors, ink, gold and salt in a pointillist process to create her original style. Look for more information on Ana�s website:www.academyartnj.com Ana will be making a presentation at the SAS Conference in January. �Welcome Ana!� Mark and Pete reported on their progress with the Scanning Tunneling Microscope. They intend to display it at the SAS Conference in January and demonstrate it at the January meeting. Mark will also demonstrate his Foucault Pendulum at the conference. You can see the new video at Mark�s website: www.science-design.com Pete brought in an experiment he put together to demonstrate the initial observations made by workers that led to the invention of Foucault Pendulum. Pete allowed us to try it, and yep, you could see that no matter how Pete changed the angle of the centerpiece, it the remained in the original plane. Kind of interesting� David was a first time visitor to the group! Interested in science and rocketry, David added his perspective and enthusiasm to the group. Dave has some interesting activities and just started his web site: http://www.accordiontodave.com/ Welcome Dave! Jesse brought in one of the computers he�s building to update us on his progress. After the presentations, Joe worked with Jesse on it, and they got it to the point it was recognizing the hardware and displaying the directory structures under DOS. WAY TO GO Jesse!!! (Thanks, Joe) The meeting ended with brainteasers with a mathematical twist� Our next meeting is scheduled for January 8th. Hope you can make it! Wishing everyone a very Happy, Healthy, Scientific and Interesting New Year! SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net. Post Edited (12-20-04 18:43)

[Meeting Minutes] Nov2004Minutes

mar_m_m — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 19:12:48 -0600

Minutes: NJSAS Meeting; November 6, 2004; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the November meeting. In attendance were: Pete T., Jesse G., Gerry G., Vincent G. and Marie C. (Joe was attending the NSS Board of Governors Meeting in Alabama.) The NJSAS October 2nd meeting was a field trip to the Great Swamp Wildlife Refuge, the Rapture Trust and The Rookery wildlife preserves. This was a fun outing that went so well Mark is scheduling another trip for the Spring! Anna, who was tentatively scheduled to present a lecture on � Endangered plants of Puerto Rico� had to cancel, and will be presenting her lecture at a future meeting. Anna will also be giving a talk at the SAS Conference. The November meeting began with Mark and Pete talking about their recent trip to Millersville University�s Open House. While there, they met with Dr. John Dooley, and attended Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson�s lecture: http://mu150.millersville.edu/event-details.php?id=45 Dr. Tyson is the director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium, and gave a talk on �14 Billion Years of Evolution�. Jerry and Jesse were also familiar with the lecture, having seen it on PBS: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3928876 While in Pennsylvania, our intrepid explorers also visited the National Watch and Clock Museum. http://www.nawcc.org/museum/museum.html Both Mark and Pete had known about the museum previously, and finally got the chance to visit. Pete brought in an article from the IEEE Spectrum Oct. 2004 issue. �Titan Calling� which describes how Boris Smeds, a Swedish Scientist, saved the Titan mission. The article is also available at the website: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/oct04/1004titan.html Mark applied for a patent for his Foucault Pendulum, and was happy to display the latest effort. This version is a lightweight portable unit with clear plastic legs, and an Earth-shaped pendulum. Mark will be giving a lecture at the SAS conference on turning an idea into a marketable product. To make the educational experience with the Foucault Pendulum more robust, Mark also has lesson plans available. Pete gave a small lecture on what started Foucault to think about the problem, where Pete�s new verb was debuted: �foucaulting� As in, �Mark, is the pendulum foucaulting yet?� :-) Jesse reported he has now put together 2 computers and bought a semi-preassembled one. He�s planning on bringing a sample to next month�s meeting. Mark and Pete showed their latest efforts on the Scanning Tunneling Microscope which they plan to bring to the SAS conference. Mark showed some of his efforts with the electronics and software, and Pete had some of the mechanical pieces to show. Mark showed pictures of his recent visit with Dr. Neil Tyson, the field trip to the Great Swamp, the lunar eclipse, and the Watch and Clock museum. A very nice show. The meeting finished off with Mark giving a brain teaser: Using the symbols and numbers: 2, 3, 4, 5, �+� and �=�, come up with a true equation. One of our �online� members, Greg Zalaskus (njzalaskus@comcast.net) sent in the following: �I have an interesting website worth checking: http://www.amasci.com/weird/microexp.html. �My kids and I carried out the "stable floating plasmoid" microwave experiment. It was a success and well worth the effort. I have a video if anyone is interested." Thanks for the information Greg! Our next meeting is scheduled for December 4th. Hope you can make it! >> Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net.

[Meeting Minutes] Sep2004Minutes

mar_m_m — Sun, 19 Sep 2004 18:05:41 -0500

NJSAS Meeting; September 11, 2004; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the September meeting. In attendance: Pete T., Jesse G., Gerry G., Vincent G., Joe L. and Marie C. Mark, (sporting a new laptop computer!) welcomed everyone back from the �NJSAS summer break�. Some time was spent with everyone discussing their summer activities and catching up. Pete went to Tahiti, and got the chance to walk on the bottom of the ocean! Using a breathing tube and hood, he was able to �get up close and personal� with the fishes. Pete spent some time explaining the culture and his experience there. Jesse put together a computer from various parts! He still has some work on it, and there were several suggestions offered from the group. Next month�s meeting (October 2nd) will be a field trip to the Great Swamp. There will be no regular meeting of NJSAS for October. Mark sent an email giving details: ******** from Mark�s email ********* �At our last meeting we decided on this years NJSAS science day trip. It's the area located between Morristown, Basking Ridge and Berkley Heights We are going to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. http://greatswamp.fws.gov/ We will be getting a guided tour from a member of the Friends of the Great Swamp. It's one of the last great wild areas in New Jersey. We will then proceed to the Great Swamp Environmental Education Center http://www.park.co.somerset.nj.us/PROGRAMS/EEC/eec_main.htm and then onto the Raptor Trust: http://www.theraptortrust.org/ . It's one of the largest wild bird rehabilitation centers in the country. The trip will take place on Oct 2 and we will meet at 9:00am. For all those interested in going, send me an email president@njsas.org and I'll send you the details.� ********* end of Mark�s email ********* Jesse brought up the recent Genesis news, where the parachutes didn�t deploy as expected. The latest news can be found on JPL�s website: http://www.genesismission.org/ This led into a discussion of deorbiting objects, the Hubble Telescope and Gyroscopes. Mark asked for updates on everyone�s �Seeing Atoms� projects. Mark and Pete are teaming up to make a Scanning Tunneling Microscope. http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.invent.org/hall%5Fof%5Ffame/1%5F1%5F6%5Fdetail.asp%3FvInventorID=14 They plan to have it done in time for the SAS Convention in January. Pete had some of machined parts to show. Pete also reported on the result of some of his experiments with oil drops. Remember, using the Forum area of the NJSAS web site is a great way to report progress. Mark brought everyone up to date on his Foucault Pendulum, going into some of the details on what it took to make it a manufacturable product. Mark will be giving two talks at the January convention. One on the NJSAS efforts on Seeing Atoms, the other on taking an idea from conception to product. Our next meeting will be a field trip to the Great Swamp scheduled for October 2nd. Hope you can make it! SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net. Post Edited (09-19-04 18:08)

[Meeting Minutes] May2004Minutes

mar_m_m — Tue, 04 May 2004 10:15:52 -0500

Minutes: NJSAS Meeting; May 1, 2004; 10:30am; Madison Public Library, Madison, NJ. Mark Streitman, NJSAS President, chaired the May 1st (May Day) meeting. In attendance were: Pete T., Jesse G., Renee S., Vincent G., Joe L. and Marie C. *NOTE*: Starting on May 5th, there will be activity in the sky. Comets!! Check of the JPL comet site: http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html Comet C/2001Q4 will be in the Western Sky from May 5th to May 26th. There will be another comet visible May 5th 4am in the eastern sky� Discussion started right in with how things haven�t changed in some areas of science. Mark and Vincent commented on how �if you know too much� or �if you believe too much� as to �what is what� you don�t question as much. Scientists need to be skeptical and try things. What �you know� may not, in fact, be the case. Gravity Probe B was launched April 20th. Gravity Probe B is the relativity gyroscope experiment developed by NASA and Stanford University to test two unverified predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. The experiment will check, very precisely, tiny changes in the direction of spin of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth satellite orbiting at 400-mile altitude directly over the poles. So free are the gyroscopes from disturbance that they will provide an almost perfect space-time reference system. They will measure how space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth, and, more profoundly, how the Earth's rotation drags space-time around with it. These effects, though small for the Earth, have far-reaching implications for the nature of matter and the structure of the Universe. Vincent gave a great explanation of the experiment. You can get more information at the following site: http://www.gravityprobeb.com/ einstein.stanford.edu/ Pete mentioned the new generation GPS that is being unrolled. Pete was involved with GPS and gave an overview of the techniques. Marie added that a �geocache� is in place in the Reed-Reeves Arboretum in Summit. Geocashing is a hobby where geocaches are placed, and people use GPS coordinates and clues to hunt them out. An entertaining adventure game for GPS users, participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the features and capability of a GPS unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache. Pete notified everyone that the �Transit of Venus� would be an event in June. The Sun, Venus and Earth will line up June 8th, and the shadow of Venus will transverse the Sun. Lasting about 6 hours, the main viewing areas will be in Europe, Asia and Africa. No living person has seen a transit of Venus because the most recent one occurred in 1882. By the time the sun rises in Eastern US, the Transit will be 3/4ths over� Everyone is cautioned to use the same safety techniques used for a solar eclipse if attempting to view this event. Should you be interested, please remember not to look at the Sun without Filters!!!!! Filters are available from Edmond Scientific; their website is given below. More information on viewing this event safely, can be found at www.transitofvenus.org/safety The May 2004 issue of Scientific America ran an Editorial on the state of science. �Bush-League Lysenkoism The White House bends science to its will� By The Editors http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=2&articleID=0001E02A-A14A-1084-983483414B7F0000 Renee added that scientists are speaking out against how this administration is �using� science. Renee also mentioned Air America regularly airs programs where scientists lecture. Pete distributed a copy of the Period Table of Elements. This version listed atomic numbers, weights and structure and even called out radioactive elements. We found Bismuth, which had a prominent place in last month�s discussion. Thanks, Pete! In November 2003, Pete took part in a trip to Costa Rica, sponsored by the Earth Watch Institute. The primary goal of the Costa Rican Sea Turtle Expedition is to gain a better understanding of the nesting biology of this endangered turtle on the beaches of Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas. Pete took part in surveying Turtles, monitoring their activities, and cataloging eggs laid during his week there. In addition to pictures, showing the beautiful lagoon he was stationed on, Pete had copies of the reports he filled out, the duty roster, where assignments were given, and the red- flashlight he used during the egg counting. Mark suggested that Pete should put together a lecture detailing his activities for the Convention. Mark asked everyone how they were doing on their project for �Seeing Atoms�. Vincent had an update� Remember, using the Forum area of the NJSAS web site is a great way to report progress. The meeting concluded with Mark challenging everyone with some puzzles: 1.IF you have 2 iron bars, 1 magnetic, 1 not, using just these two bars, how can you tell which one is magnetized? (No fair using paper clips or iron filings!!) 2.IF given the following: �4 5� what common symbol can you place between them to give a result greater than 4 and less than 6? 3.When looking into a mirror, we see things reflected reversed right to left, why don�t we see thing reflected reversed top and bottom? This led Pete to challenge everyone with a card trick�. Working with an accomplice, when someone picks 5 cards from a deck of regular cards, with 4 cards put down, you can immediately tell what the last card is. Pete referred everyone to the �World�s Best Card Tricks� for how it�s done! Our next meeting is scheduled for June 5th. Hope you can make it! SAS Web Site: www.sas.org NJSAS Web Site: http://njsas.org Some web sites: Transit of Venus: www.sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/transit/transit.html www.transitofvenus.org/safety sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/transit04.html sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/transit/venus0412.html Earth Watch Expeditions: http://www.earthwatch.org/ The Sea Turtle Expedition: http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/paladino/paladino_03.pdf Geocashing: www.geocaching.com Edmond Scientific: http://scientificsonline.com Meeting Minutes: Marie C. Please email comments/questions/corrections/announcements to: mar_m_m@att.net. Post Edited (05-04-04 10:16)