G-day Labbies!
Thank you again for the invitation to speak at your conference! I had a ball! I hope you all had a cracking time and are recharged for another year of fun and hard yakka in the prep room. As promised, below the photo of Kepnock State High School’s Super Labbies Linda and Jo-Anne, are all the links to the demos and books I spoke about. Feel free to leave comments below and click here if you’re looking for more info about my school visits. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you all and I hope to catch up again soon.
Cheers,
Ruben
ps luckily, I am so slow to pack up that I was still around for Debbie Wallace’s talk… fantastic!
Intro stuff:
Surfing Scientist ABC Web page
Tumblewing Gliders at my ABC web page
Hammer & Feather Drop on the moon NASA Video
Bad Science book by Dr Ben Goldacre with chapter about bogus moisturiser claims (Ben is also a driving force behind the fantastic All Trials petition)
Science on social media:
I f@#king love science the Facebook page with 8.6 million likes
Science is awesome the G-Rated version with 600,000 likes
Elise Andrew’s Twitter founder of the “I f@#king love science” Facebook page
What makes online content viral? J. Berger & K. Milkman (2012) American Journal of Marketing Research Vol 49 No 2
Big unanswered questions in science:
The Immortal Life Henrietta Lacks book by Rebecca Skloot
Prof Elizabeth Blackburn’s Nobel Lecture Why do we die?
“A Universe From Nothing” book about the origin of the universe by Lawrence Krauss
“A Universe From Nothing” YouTube video of Lawrence Krauss’s lecture that led to his book
NOAO’s High Res Solar Spectrum the “missing” black lines of light in Sunlight and distant stars that tell us that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate
There are many more unanswered questions eg where and how did life begin / why do we need to sleep / what causes ageing / where did all the water molecules on planet Earth come from… the list goes on and if we want to discover the answers, we need more kids doing science!
Science on television and radio:
Prof Julius Sumner Miller’s “Why is it so?” ABC Science Online website with clips
“The Curiosity Show” opening credits YouTube clip to remind you
Christmas Lectures for Children Royal Institution video archive
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki’s website
Roller Coaster ABC Television’s afternoon programming for kids (2005 – 2009)
Prof Slo & Dr Mo: Slot Car + Sparkler + Hydrogen Balloon (YouTube)
Studio 3 some clips (including Liquid Nitrogen + 1500 ping pong balls)
Play School science activity segments
Climate change:
…and some excuses for optimism about humanity and the future
Nuclear disarmament UN Web Page
“The Better Angels of Our Nature” that book about peace Professor Steven Pinker (2011)
Steven Pinker’s TED Talk about his book and an even better 30 min summary here
“The surprising decline in violence” Steven Pinker’s 20min TED Talk
“The Mean IQ of Americans: Massive Gains 1932 to 1978″ James Flynn (1984) Psychological Bulletin Vol. 95 No. 1 The original paper that led to the term “The Flynn Effect”
The Flynn Effect summary of the hypotheses (Dr Jonathan Plucker, Indiana University)
Plus all the links to what I talk about in my school Climate Change talk here
Weight loss:
The Mathematics of Weight Loss my TEDx Talk at QUT with dry ice demos, liquid nitrogen and more
Journal article that asks if existing adipocytes get bigger or if you grow new ones during weight gain. The answer is “both”: existing adipocytes (fat cells) grow in abdomen, new adipocytes grow in upper legs and buttocks.
Synchronised Metronomes:
Synchronising metronomes Studio 3 video clip and notes
32 Metronomes filmed at Ikeguchi Laboratory 2012 (YouTube)
Champagne pouring & Mentos + Diet Coke:
“On the Losses of Dissolved CO2 During Champagne Serving” Gerard Liger-Belair et al (2010) Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry Vol. 58
“Uncorked: The Science of Champagne” book by Gerard Liger-Belair (2004)
“Diet Coke and Mentos: What is really behind this physical reaction?” Tonya S Coffey (2008) American Journal of Physics Vol. 76 No. 6 [ Note: downloading this paper requires journal subscription which your school may have ]
Background and a fascinating discussion about Diet Coke + Mentos by Tonya Coffey [ no subscription required ]
First Diet Coke + Mentos demo on TV (Lee Marek in 1999 on David Letterman) Lee’s whole website is worth exploring
Eepybird.com these blokes make a living from the Mentos & Diet Coke reaction!! More evidence that we live in a wonderfully weird world!
Thoroughly enjoyed listening, watching and now investigating some of the ideas, experiments and reading materials. Cheers 😀