Earlier this month, PASCO Scientific hosted its Global Science Partners Meeting in Roseville, California.  More than 35 countries from around the world were represented – Australia, Taiwan, Chile and Italy to name just a few.

PASCO launched several new products for both the post-secondary and K-12 markets and Distributors shared regional stories and successes.

During the day we had an opportunity to play with PASCO’s crown jewel for physics and engineering educators – the new 850 Datalogger and Capstone software.

At night we had an opportunity to mingle and mix it up with our Global Partners. We enjoyed an Awards Dinner at the Firehall Restaurant in Old Sacremento where our PASCO Canada Division was recognized for the third year in a row for growing the science education market in Canada.

But probably the most fun was the Pizza and Bowling Night where Team AYVA (pictured above) managed to hold their own amongst some stiff competition.

It was a great week and the culmination of a great deal of hard work by our wonderful hosts at PASCO Scientific.  We learned a lot and are anxious to share the latest developments and releases with our customers.

[Pictured: A rendition of the Curiosity Mars Rover. Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons]

February: IBM’s Watson computer defeats Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, two (human) Jeopardy champions. This year, Watson will begin using its analytical skills to help improve patient diagnosis and treatment options.

March: Following the Japan earthquakes, the nuclear reactor in the Fukushima power plant becomes compromised, sparking fears of a massive meltdown akin to Chernobyl. Thanks to the tireless efforts of plant workers, a large-scale disaster was averted – although it will take years to properly clean up the site.

June: Taking a page out of science fiction, scientists at University of Southern California (USC) and Wake Forest University were successfully able to “insert” memories into the brains of rats via injection. This may be applied to humans in the decades to come – making it theoretically possible to master a task in a matter of minutes.

October: Apple inventor and CEO Steve Jobs dies. Widely described as a “genius”, Jobs is likely to go down in history as one of the greatest inventors of our time. Praised as a trailblazer for his conviction that electronics can be functional and aesthetically pleasing, Apple was the first company to successfully market touch screen devices – and the iPhone has revolutionized the smart phone industry.

November: NASA sends Curiosity – a $2 billion unmanned robotic probe to Mars. Equipped with a lab to drill and analyze soil samples on the Red Plant, Curiosity will reach its destination in August, 2012.

December: NASA telescope Kepler finds this first planet in the “habitable zone”, which means the planet could harbour temperatures that allow for the formation of liquid water, and possibly human life. The planet has been named Kepler 22b, and it is approximately 600 light years away.

December was also the month that physicists at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) announced they are close to discovering the Higgs particle – which may provide information crucial to understanding the big bang theory.

We’ve seen light flurries here in Oakville, Ontario – but the real winter weather is yet to come. And when it does, we’re likely to receive a dumping of snow!

While we start to mentally prepare for the wintery weather, here’s some background information on one of the season’s biggest players: the snowflake.

How snowflakes are formed

There’s a lot more to snowflakes than most people realize. They’re formed when the water droplets in a cloud freeze. As more droplets condense and freeze around it, a snowflake is eventually created. When the snowflake becomes heavy enough, it leaves the cloud and falls to the ground.

Snowflake characteristics

There are as many as eighty different types of snowflakes, but they typically fall into eight main categories (which you can read about here). No two snowflakes are alike, and their size and shape are determined by the manner in which the water molecules freeze while up in the clouds, along with the weather conditions present in the atmosphere.

Studying snowflakes

Young scientists can study snowflakes at home with a magnifying glass and a piece of black felt that’s been cooled in the refrigerator half an hour prior to use (this will prevent snowflakes from melting too quickly). Catch a few snowflakes from outside on the felt and use the magnifying glass to study their characteristics.

Happy snowgazing!

Residents of southern Alberta are enjoying a renewed interest in science and innovation, thanks to the October 29^th grand opening of the TELUS Spark Centre. The state-of-the art, $160 million facility represents the culmination of 10 years of hard work. It’s being touted as a “place for inquiry” that encourages people of all ages to embrace science, technology and art.

It’s also the first new science centre to be built in Canada in more than 25 years.

“We are a nation of innovators, and nowhere is that more apparent than here in the City of Calgary,” TELUS Spark CEO Jennifer Martin said in a press release. “TELUS Spark … will foster engagement, collaboration, critical thinking and dialogue and we expect some of the ideas born here will have far-reaching impacts that will help make the world a better place.”

PASCO will play a role in the new centre. Several SPARK dataloggers will be used at the TELUS Spark Centre. The inquiry-based labs that are embedded in them make them a good fit for the facility.

Click here to read more about the new science centre. And while we’re on the topic of innovation, take a look at our SPARKvue app.

2011 has been a big year for environmental science and research. It is, after all, the international year of chemistry, the one hundredth anniversary of Parks Canada and the year the Bay of Fundy was inducted as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

To commemorate these environmental and scientific milestones, five female students from Riverview, New Brunswick participated in the “Riverview High School Water Project.” Under the guidance of chemistry teacher Ian Fogerty, and with the help of PASCO probeware, Robyn O’Dell, Marlise O’Brien, Rebecca Laffoley, Shandelle Murray, and Ha-Gyoung Yoon mapped and analyzed water quality throughout the Fundy Biosphere Reserve.

After taking measurements of pH levels, temperature, dissolved oxygen, phosphate and nitrates, the team has set out to determine how these properties change throughout the day, while collecting baseline data for a citizen science legacy project.

Their efforts have resulted in an invitation to participate in the Chemistry World Youth Conference in Lima, Peru this November.

We’d like to congratulate the girls on their contribution to science and wish them luck at their upcoming conference. Their passion for science and environmental preservation is nothing short of inspiring.

Students in Camrose, Alberta were given some valuable insight into the world of physics last month, thanks to the help of two hot air balloon pilots.

Brant Leatherdale and Gary Fehr, competitors in the Canadian Hot Air Balloon Championship, paid a visit to sixth grade students at Jack Stuart School to talk about their sport.

According to Leatherdale, hot air balloons can climb up to 10,000 feet, but most flights hover at the 1,000-foot mark.

Nowadays, pilots employ modern technologies – like GPS devices, temperature sensors and communication tools, but the basic science behind the hot air balloon remains the same today as it was when the balloons first took flight in 1783.

Leatherdale and Fehr explained to students how heat from a propane burner causes the balloon to rise and that wind shears help carry the vessel through the sky.

What an excellent, real-life application of physics. We hope the students enjoyed learning about hot air balloons as much as we enjoyed reading about them!

Click here to learn more about Leatherdale and Fehr’s elementary school visit.

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Students in Edmonton are about to receive even more of an opportunity to learn about science and engineering.

Back in July the Minister of State – Science and Technology, Honourable Gary Goodyear announced a new federal investment aimed at making Canada a world leader in the science and engineering fields.

“Our government wants to encourage more young people to explore an education or career in science and engineering,” Mr. Goodyear was quoted as saying in a press release. “This program will give youth in communities across the country an opportunity to discover the benefits of these fields. In the long term, this will keep Canada’s economy growing and create the jobs of the future.”

The Government of Canada will provide $2.9 million over a period of three years to 58 Alberta organizations that promote science and engineering learning to youth. Funding for this initiative will be provided through the PromoScience program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Organizations that will benefit from the grant include, but are not limited to: universities, non-profits, museums and science centres.

To view a complete list of the PromoScience grant recipients, click here.

Researchers from the University of Northern Colorado and the United States Olympic Committee have determined that the PASPORT visual accelerometer is a viable training tool for professional weight lifters.

While the velocity and trajectory of a barbell has been well-documented, a large body of acceleration data had been difficult to find, largely due to the belief that the task was cumbersome and labour-intensive. In a 2009 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers set out to determine if a barbell’s acceleration could be accurately measured with the use of a commercial accelerometer.

Using PASCO’s visual accelerometer, researchers tested the accuracy of barbell acceleration data that was derived in compliance with the U.S. Olympic Committee’s testing protocols.

The data collected from the PASCO accelerometer was “nearly identical” to the acceleration data collected from a kinematic analysis of a movement sequence captured by high-speed video.

Because of its ability to capture accurate data and then display it in real-time, researchers determined that PASCO’s visual accelerometer is a valuable (and inexpensive) practical tool for monitoring training progress.

You can read more about the study here. To learn more about the PASPORT accelerometer, click here.

World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is expected to travel to Waterloo, Ontario in mid-September to commemorate the opening of a new research centre bearing his name.

The Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics will celebrate its grand opening September 16-18, but the exact date(s) that Mr. Hawking will attend have yet to be determined.

The Stephen Hawking Centre represents a $29 million expansion on the original Perimeter Institute building which has nearly doubled its size from 65,000 to 120,000 square feet. This space will be used to create facilities for 150 new researchers, who will work with the Institute’s existing 80 researchers to study many aspects of theoretical physics.

The grand opening celebration will include a public tour and talks, although it is not known if Mr. Hawking will give a lecture.

For more information, visit: http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/

There’s a great article in the Spring/Summer 2011 PASCO newsletter about how many science teachers have embraced the notion of “hands-on” learning by implementing “amusement park physics” days.

We love this innovative approach to science learning.  Amusement parks provide students with a great opportunity to observe real-life, large-scale applications of physics.

Who says learning needs to take place in a lab?

Thanks to mobile technology, like the SPARKvue app for iOS, students can use iPhones, iPads or iPod Touches to measure and graph the acceleration of roller coasters in real-time.

PASCO also offers a handy 15-piece amusement park physics kit consisting of springs as well as scaled and horizontal accelerometers that students can construct and calibrate for safe carriage on a ride.

What a great way to get students out of the classroom and learning about science in a fun and practical manner!

Click here to learn more about amusement park physics days in the Spring/Summer 2011 PASCO newsletter.