Bullets flying past my face,
After the enemy like a chase.
Grenades landing right beside me,
I’ve now deployed my RC-XD.
Staying camouflaged on my hands and knees,
LOOKOUT, SNIPERS IN THE TREES!
A silenced weapon keeps me stealthy,
Kill the enemy, with my Valkyrie.
Dolphin dive onto the ground,
My magazine is almost out of rounds.
I get shot with a pistol,
In the back of the head.
My teammate tries to revive me,
But it’s too late, I’m already dead.
The BBC has an excellent article on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) launched on the second to last shuttle flight to investigate the origins of the universe. NASA’s page is giving regular updates.
What’s nice is that the basic physics of magnetic spectrometers, where magnets are used to deflect the motion of charged particles, should be accessible to middle school students once they get into electricity and magnetism.
Transition Radiation Detector determines highest-energy particle velocities Silicon Trackers follow particle paths; how they bend reveals their charge Permanent Magnet is core component of AMS and makes particles curve Time-of-flight Counters determine lowest-energy particle velocities Star Trackers scan star fields to establish AMS’s orientation in space Cerenkov Detector makes accurate velocity measurements of fast particles Electromagnetic Calorimeter measures energy of impacting particles Anti-coincidence Counter filters signal from unwanted side particles
‘Tis true, the stuff I bring for sale
Is not so brisk a brew as ale:
Out of a stem that scored the hand
I wrung it in a weary land.
But take it: if the smack is sour,
The better for the embittered hour;
It should do good to heart and head
When your soul is in my soul’s stead;
And I will friend you, if I may,
In the dark and cloudy day.
— Alfred Housman (1896): from A Shropshire Lad viaUSCC.
My students just presented their Individual Research Projects (IRPs) to their peers and their parents, and, I have to say, they did quite a good job.
Image by Ryan W.
They’re called IRPs, but while they are independent projects, they actually don’t all have to be research. This year we had a number of research papers, a few experiments, a short story, and computer program. The last two were by graduating eight graders, who I like to encourage to do something different that aligns with their interests: one wants to be a writer, while the other is really interested in programming.
Now you’re thinking, “That family is mean!” You could say that, but that’s not why we do it.
– From “Beverly” by P.Z.
Graph by Ben T.
It helped that it was a friendly audience who’d just been fed (food always helps), but it was nice to see how confident they were, and, as one parent remarked to me, how much progress they make from year to year. Even my shyest student had everyone laughing with her short story.
Even better still, was the fact that although I did not have the time to review all the presentations in great detail (students have to write a report first, which tends to be the focus of my reviews), the peer-review process, and the experience they’ve had doing presentations all year, really paid off.
And on average, an increase of .100 OPS adds 2 million to the player’s salary. So players on steroids on average get $12,512,630 more throughout their career.
-Michael F. in ” ‘roids”
Tomorrow is graduation, which I always find to be anticlimactic; after all, it’s the work that important and interesting, not so much the diploma at the end. These excellent presentations however, were a great way to cap off the year.
The worst of this spring’s flood has passed Memphis, but they’re still dealing with the water downstream on the Mississippi.
PBS has before and after pictures of the opening of the Morganza Spillway, which is intended to stave off flooding in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
The Coastlines Project blog is also aggregating a lot of information about the effect of the flooding. I found the post on the effect of the flooding on New Orleans) to be particularly provocative. It’s probably a good candidate for a Socratic dialogue, because it points out the tradeoff between the ecology of the Mississippi delta and the health and utility of New Orleans. The Corps of Engineers have been regulating the Mississippi along its present course for the last half a century, but this has prevented the river from avulsing and flowing down the Atchafalaya river instead of its current course. This would leave New Orleans high and dry (but not for long) but be a great boon for the Atchafalaya part of the delta.
The current Mississippi River is in blue, while the Atchufalaya River is in green. The Atchufalaya takes a much more direct route to the Gulf of Mexico, and that is the route the Mississippi would take if it were not for the levees. This map also shows the different deltas built up by the Mississippi River as it has changed its course over the last 10,000 years (the Holocene). Image adapted from Aslan et al. (2005; pdf).
Coastlines Project also deals with other issues, such as how the lingering effects of the BP oil spill, affecting the Gulf coast. It’s an interesting blog to follow, especially since we’ll be on that coast next week for our end-of-year trip.
Robin Nixon has an excellent article on why “[…] self-compassion may be the most important life skill, imparting resilience, courage, energy and creativity.”
She cites the work of Kristin Neff who says self-compassion has three parts to it:
mindfulness: accepting your thoughts and feelings without being carried away by them,
common humanity: the recognition that everyone goes through similar hardships, frustrations and disappointments, and,
being kind to yourself: by being aware (mindful) of your anguish, and recognizing that others have shared similar feelings, you can commit to actions that reduce suffering in the future.
