Build a roller coaster!!

Hi kids, i found these websites where you can build your own roller-coaster.

*Warning: you might suffer from giddiness :p

1. http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/coaster/
2. http://www.abc.net.au/spark/games/rollercoaster.htm
3. http://www.sci-quest.org/home/just_for_kids/coaster.phtml
4. http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/physical/giambattista/roller/roller_coaster.html

14 challenges for next 50 years

Experts believe solving these problems will make life better for mankind:

1. Make solar energy affordable.
2. Provide energy from nuclear fusion.
3. Develop methods to capture carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels and tackle global warming.
4. Manage the rate at which human activity removes nitrogen from the air, worsening global warming.
5. Provide access to clean water.
6. Restore and improve urban infrastructure while preserving the environment.
7. Advance health informatics so that doctors can track carefully patients' biological information.
8. Engineer better medicines.
9. Reverse engineer the brain and determine how it works.
10. Prevent nuclear terror by finding ways to protect energy sources.
11. Secure cyberspace from identity thefts and viruses.
12. Enhance virtual reality so that it can be used for training experts and treating patients.
13. Advance personalised learning by using Internet courses or virtual reality.
14. Engineer the tools for scientific discovery.


Which do you think is the most important?

Materials and Manufacturing

Challenges in the aviation industry

GLOBAL CHALLENGES:
Materials and manufacturing

• Titanium

Titanium is used in the aerospace industry because of its lightness, but cutting it to shape is challenging.

The tool bits of machines used to cut and shape the metal wear out easily.

Shards of titanium - the waste from the cutting process - have been known to stick to the piece of titanium being cut and become obstacles to manipulating the material.

Titanium has to be cut slowly, which does not augur well for an industry already plagued by delays in delivery of planes.

• Magnesium

This could be used as aircraft material, but it oxidises easily and is not easy to manipulate.

• Self-healing material

Aerospace researchers want to develop a material which, when cracked, can release an adhesive to seal the crack by itself.

• Composite material

This is getting popular in the industry for the external body of the plane.

But not much is known about how electricity is conducted by composite material, unlike metal whose properties are established. Information on its conductivity will have implications for flights amid lightning storms.

• The process

Research is being done on how components, damaged as they are delivered from the manufacturing plant, can be repaired.

• In operation

Titanium and nickel are valued in aerospace for their ability to withstand the high temperatures and pressures of combustion in aircraft engines, but technology in advanced cooling systems is also needed to prevent overheating.

• Inspection and testing

Composite materials are also becoming popular in the making of the external body of the plane, but engineers need to find a way of detecting cracks in a material which is made up of a mesh of different materials.

• Repair and maintenance

Every hour an aircraft is not in the air is money not coming in for airlines. The challenge, therefore, is to develop new techniques of maintaining and repairing aircraft parts without having to take them to a hangar elsewhere for disassembly.

A towering sight off the east coast

The following article is taken from Straits Times Interactive website

THOUSANDS of people from the city centre to Changi were transfixed yesterday afternoon as a large water spout appeared off the east coast.

The water funnel rose majestically from the sea, and sent people scrambling for their cameras and cellphones.

In fact, the water spout broke all previous records for reader reaction at The Straits Times' online portal Stomp, with 150 SMSes, MMSes and e-mails streaming in within 10 minutes.

In all, Stomp received more than 500 images and videos from readers, who used various terms to describe the phenomenon: a tornado, cyclone, hurricane and even 'a finger of God'.

The spout was large enough to be spotted from Marina Bay, Shenton Way, Kallang, Bedok, the East Coast and even at Changi.

Staff at Equinox Restaurant - atop the 226m-tall Swissotel The Stamford hotel - were amazed by its size.

Its manager, Mr Mutto Kawary, 30, said the huge column seemed like it was more than twice the hotel's height.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement that the spout appeared at about 2.30pm off Marine Parade and lasted about 30 minutes.

Mr Benjamin Li, 24, said he saw an aircraft in its vicinity and feared for the plane's safety. The account executive was in his 31st-storey office in Springleaf Tower in Anson Road.

'Everyone went quiet,' he said. The plane emerged unscathed.

Water spouts appear when a type of cloud, cumuliform, forms during thunderstorms, creating low-pressure pockets. A column of water is then sucked up towards the base of the cloud.

The NEA said water spouts are common in tropical waters and there are usually one or two sightings off Singapore in a year. The last spout was seen in August last year.

Spouts seem to dissipate fairly quickly. While they can pose a threat to small boats in the water, they usually weaken and vanish when they come nearer to shore.

andreao@sph.com.sg


The pictures below were taken by friends:

Hybrid embryo ban 'unnecessary'

The following article is adapted from BBC news

Government plans to ban the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos could potentially harm UK science, say MPs. The government has proposed a ban because of what it has called "public unease". Opponents say there is "global" opposition to such research and a letter from 223 medical charities and patient groups has called for the government to sanction it.

Some researchers want to mix human and animal cells to create a source of stem cells to help fight human diseases. Genetic material would be taken from humans and put into a host animal egg to create hybrid embryos. It is hoped their stem cells might help in the fight against conditions such as Alzheimer's or motor neurone disease.

The science and technology select committee called for regulation of such work instead of an "unnecessary" ban. Scientists, funders, the regulator and patient interest groups - even the DTI and the prime minister - have spoken out against the Department of Health's proposals Phil Willis, MP

After a public consultation, the government proposed an outright ban on hybrid embryos and is due to publish a draft Bill next month.

WHAT'S YOUR VIEW?

Do you think that creation of human-animal hybrid embryos should be banned?

Online Resources for Solar System

For online resources on the solar system, try the following:-

• Mrs Wirt's Space Collection
• BBC Space
• Flash Earth
• Virtual Solar System
• Moon Phase Calculator
• Lunar Phase simulation

Do you have good websites to share? Post them under comments :)

Science Puzzle #4

What goes uphill faster than it goes downhill?