Showing posts with label STEM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label STEM. Show all posts

Monday, November 18, 2019

Who Is That?

You know who this is...




And this....



But do you know these people??? What changes have they made in the world?

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1.  Sonia Sotomayor, the first person of Hispanic descent to serve as an Associate Justice (judge) on the United States Supreme Court and the third female Associate Justice. She is originally from New York. The other 2 women are Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

2.  Malala Yousefzi. At the age of 14, she was the youngest person to ever win a Nobel Prize. She is outspoken about women's rights, particularly focusing on education. She was shot in the head for being so outspoken, survived, and continues to speak out for womens' rights.
Read about her: Triogenius, 1-6-2014: The Rebel.

3. Greta Thunberg. She is a climate-change activist from Sweden and is not quite 16 years old. She began her call for climate awareness by protesting outside the Swedish Parliament building. She travels the world to spread support for protecting the world's climate. She also is autistic, and calls that her 'superpower'. 


Are you interested in learning about young people that have influenced our lives? Check this out: http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/responsible-living/photos/8-amazing-kids-who-have-changed-the-world/get-ready
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4. Nelson Mandela. He is a South African man who spoke out against apartheid, and spent 27 years of his life in prison. Read about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

5. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft,, which provides many basic computer programs we all use or have used . Read about him at Triogenius, 9-1-2014. 

6. Rosa Parks, considered a pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement, refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in 1955, and was arrested. This is a picture of her being fingerprinted, and yes, she was actually arrested over a dispute about a seat on a bus. Her case was heard in court and eventually, the court found in her favor.  Read more about Rosa here:  http://www.rosaparks.org/biography/


7.  Mother Theresa, a highly regarded nun who was born in Albania and served in Calcutta, India, the founder of the Missions of Charity, serving the poorest people of the country and those suffering from AIDs, leprosy, and other diseases. She also was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

8.  Stephen Hawking. Hawking was a physicist who studied things like how the universe began, black holes, and time: He wrote a book, "A Brief History of Time." He suffered from motor neuron disease, which eventually robbed him of the ability to speak as you and I do, but communicated using a computer*..  He died in 2018 at the age of 76.

*learn about the person who developed this sort of computer..beginning when she was 12 years old--Rachel Zimmerman:  http://women-inventors.com/Rachel-Zimmerman.asp

9.  Sally Ride, the first female astronaut in the U.S. Ms. Ride was born in 1951. She was the first American woman in space, flying twice on the space shuttle Challenger and spending over 14 days in space. . She was the youngest person at age 32 to orbit the Earth. After she retired from NASA, she was a physics professor. Ms. Ride died in 2012.

10. Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin. He did research on the staphylococcus germ, watching how it grew and behaved when invading healthy cells. He planned to go on a holiday and stacked his samples in a pile, and when he returned he noticed there was some other kind of mold in some of the staph samples that was consuming and destroying it. His remark was, "That's funny.." Penicillin in many forms is still used as the first antibiotic to fight infections. Fleming lived from 1881 to 1955. He was born in Scotland and lived in England.

11.  Jane Goodall, born 1934. She is an Englishwoman who has devoted her life to the study of chimpanzees, living among them and discovering that they use tools, for one thing. Ms. Goodall still advocates for protection of chimpanzees as well as  promoting the saving of the environment,especially that of endangered species. Did you know that her notes and records were first digitized by the University of Minnesota? Here is more on her life:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall

12. Martin Cooper, the inventor of the cell phone (an early prototype is pictured). He worked for Motorola. The first cell phone conversation was Cooper calling a friend while standing on the streets of New York City.

Now you know some important people...
Think of more that you can explore:
  • Who invented something you use every day, and when did that happen?
  • Who has achieved great success, and how did he or she do it?
  • Who would be a role model for you?
  • Who rose from humble beginnings to accomplish great things?





Monday, April 15, 2019

What is the EPA?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, established in 1970, says this about its mission:
Our Mission
The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.
EPA works to ensure that:
  • Americans have clean air, land and water;
  • National efforts to reduce environmental risks are based on the best available scientific information;
  • Federal laws protecting human health and the environment are administered and enforced fairly, effectively and as Congress intended;
  • Environmental stewardship is integral to U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy;
  • All parts of society--communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal governments--have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks;
  • Contaminated lands and toxic sites are cleaned up by potentially responsible parties and revitalized; and
  • Chemicals in the marketplace are reviewed for safety.
Visit their website for more info: https://www.epa.gov/


Keeping the environment clean and safe includes...
  • Cutting down on dangerous emissions from vehicles, from cars to buses to trains to planes
  • Eliminating substances such as lead from drinking water, and updating old underground infrastructure of pipes as well as water processing plants
  • Setting standards for monitoring and removing mold from homes
  • Encouraging testing for Radon in homes
  • Making sure soil is safe for growing food
  • Prohibiting waste emissions from businesses that pollute the air we breathe
  • Promoting alternate energy such as electric-powered cars, large windmills, or solar energy for homes


 
We can thank the EPA for....
  • A ban on lead in paint, and standards to remove lead paint from existing homes
  • A ban on the pesticide DDT
  • Protection of the Great Lakes from pollution
  • Removing lead from gasoline
  • Clamping down on factory pollution
  • The Clean Air Act
  • Safer storage of toxic chemicals
  • Studying the efffects of second-hand smoke

There are some areas not covered by the EPA but by other agencies, such as workplace environments (handled by OSHA) or testing of cosmetics (handled by the FDA). Here are some further examples: https://publicaccess.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/212071687-Does-EPA-handle-all-environmental-concerns-


Possible career paths with the EPA


  • Science: Biology/Marine Biology, geology
  • EPA Law
  • Education
  • Statistics/trends
  • Engineering - finding ways to combat pollution with technology
  • Alternative energy
  • Communications
  • Meteorologist
  • Public affairs
  • Budget management
https://www.epa.gov/careers This part of their website also talks about student internships!


Did you know they have a Pinterest page? They do, and it's called Green Your Dorm or Your Home https://www.pinterest.com/epagov/green-your-dorm-or-your-home/



Monday, December 10, 2018

Biomed Careers

If you're interested in engineering and biology, or medicine, a Biomed degree may be right for you.


What is Biomedical Engineering? It is...
Applying engineering and design concepts to medicine and biology for health care purposes.

                                                            Imagine designing something to help people walk again.
Here are the different types of BioMed degrees:
  • 2-year Associates Degree: BioMed Technician - Generally, someone with a Biomed Associate of Science will be given the responsibility of troubleshooting medical equipment.  The median income for a Biomedical Engineering Technician is about $45,000.
  • Bachelor of Science/Biomedical Science, or /Biomedical Engineering - Someone with a 4 year degree usually does laboratory research. The median salary is about $53,500.  
  • Masters of Science/Biomedical Informatics, Biomedical Science - Someone with a Masters degree may do research, and in Informatics may deal with patient population and administration, as well as studying how hospitals can seek out ways to treat patients for the best result. With a Masters, positions median salary is about $67,000.  
  • PhD (Doctorate) of Biomedical Information - The average salary with a PhD is about $77,500. Those with an advanced degree may become managers or heads of departments.
*statistics from CareerTrend.com
                     There are lots of machines present in hospital rooms and surgeries. They need to be running perfectly at all times.


In the Biomedical field, you may work for a hospital, clinic, research facility, rehabilitation center, public health division, or in forensics for a law enforcement agency.
The Mayo Clinic describes the education involved:


Medtronic is a Minnesota-based company with locations worldwide, and is one of the largest manufacturers of medical devices. Here is a job description at Medtronic with the job title Biomedical Technician who would work in research: https://jobs.medtronic.com/jobs/biomedical-technician-51661
Here is a job listing for one who would work  in an advanced setting. Note a Bachelors is required, but a graduate degree is preferred. This position asks for quite a lot of experience:  https://jobs.medtronic.com/jobs/principal-biomedical-engineer-49181



There is a long list of areas in which a Biomedical Engineer might specialize. As you pursue your degree, you may find you have strong interest in one of these areas:
  • Clinical Lab Technician
  • Public Health Specialist
  • Forensic Science
  • Prosthetic Devices
  • Designing, improving, and repairing medical devices such as insulin pumps or pacemakers
  • Hospital Administration
  • Research
  • Toxicology
  • Surgical robotics
  • Medical Devices-development and function
  • 3D Printing of organs
                                                          Check out this robot suturing up a grape. Yes, a grape. Delicate work!
 
Some people who obtain their Biomedical degree go on to finish an M.D. (Medical Doctorate) so that they can practice medicine, or to accrue more knowledge to help in research.
                                                             Forensic scientists work with crime scene evidence.
 
 If you're into figuring out how things work, problem-solving, creativity, and science, then Biomedical Engineering may be a good fit for you.


Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Marie Curie

If you've heard of Marie Curie, you probably think: Radiation. Scientist. France. That's maybe all you know. But her story is much more than that.




'Marie' was born Maria Sklodowska in Poland November 7, 1867, to parents who were both teachers. Her father taught math and physics, and her mother ran a boarding house/school until Maria was born. While never wealthy, her father found it hard to get a job when he supported the Polish rebellion to free them from Russian rule. Maria's mother died when Maria was only 10.


Her father brought home experiments for her and her siblings to try out, and taught them as his own students. When she finished her basic schooling, Maria found she was not allowed to attend college in Poland because she was a woman.




One option was the 'Flying University' or 'Floating University,' a sort of underground school for women to learn the same as men. She and her sister Bronislawa took courses there, and then decided that since a woman could study alongside men in Paris, that first Bronislawa would go while Maria supported her, and then Maria would go while her sister supported her. To earn money, Maria took jobs as a governess. In one home, while she took care of the younger children, there was a grown son named Kaczmeirz with whom she fell in love. However, his parents didn't approve of him marrying a penniless woman (meaning, her father was poor), and so sadly they had to break up. Ironically, her sister Bronislawa fell in love with another man also named Kaczmeirz and did marry him.


                                                                Maria on the left, Bronislawa on the right, 1886. Maria is 21.
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It wasn't until 1891 that Maria left Poland for France (at age 26)
to finish her college degree at The Sorbonne in Paris. She barely had enough to get by and almost starved in the process, but she persevered, being interested in the qualities of magnetism. She met Pierre Curie, a French man who taught physics there. They were married in 1895. She wanted to return to Poland to teach, and Pierre declared he loved her so much, he would stop what he was working on and move to Poland with her; but when she realized she wouldn't be allowed to teach, she decided to remain in Paris, and she became a French citizen, then going by 'Marie.' She and Pierre had two daughters, Eve and Irene.


In 1903, Marie became the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her study of radiation. That prize was shared with her husband Pierre and Henri Bequerel. Pierre died in 1906. He was run over by a horse and carriage. In 1911, Marie once again won a Nobel Prize for her work in chemistry. This made her the first person, and the only woman, to win twice. In her acceptance speech, she noted that she felt she shared the award with Pierre. As an adult, their daughter Irene would also study radioactivity and would also be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.


From NobelPeacePrize.org, a description of what Marie studied:
Marie Curie studied the radiation of all compounds containing the known radioactive elements, including uranium and thorium, which she later discovered was also radioactive. She also found out that:
- you can exactly measure the strength of the radiation from uranium;
- the intensity of the radiation is proportional to the amount of uranium or thorium in the compound - no matter what compound it is;
- the ability to emit radiation does not depend on the arrangement of the atoms in a molecule; it must be linked to the interior of the atom itself - a revolutionary discovery!

When she realized that some uranium and/or thorium compounds had stronger radiation than uranium, she made the following hypothesis: there must be an unknown element in the compound which had a stronger radiation than uranium or thorium. Her work aroused the interest of her husband, Pierre Curie, who stopped his own research on crystals and joined the "detective work" with his wife. And Marie was proven right: in 1898 the Curies discovered two new radioactive elements: radium (named after the Latin word for ray) and polonium (named after Marie's home country, Poland).  
                                 This watch with 'glow in the dark' hands was quite a novelty in its time. Did you ever have a toy that glowed in the dark?



The 'laboratory' Marie and Pierre used to study was nothing but a shed with bad ventilation. A proper lab wasn't built for them until 1906.


They were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Physics in 1903, but declined to travel to Stockholm to accecpt it. The money from the prize helped fund their research going forward.


While another scientist, Roentgen, discovered X-rays, the Curies studied radium and discovered it could be used to create Xrays as well. It has some relation to phosphorescence, like in these fish:
During World War I, Marie Curie helped create and manage traveling X-ray trucks to help with the wounded. Initially, it was thought X-rays were completely harmless. While that is not true, and X-rays these days use a fraction of the substance that they used to, X-rays led to the development of radiation therapy to shrink tumors. Digital photography is also used now, for such applications as dental imaging. Without first knowing about X-rays, we would not have CT scans or MRIs to 'see' into the body to diagnose injuries and illnesses. The Curies' work also led to the concept of using sound waves to create images. One important use of Ultrasound is to diagnose and pinpoint heart disease.
Not dancing creatures, but a heart pumping.

While her work was recognized as very important, she still did not have the respect of her countrymen in France or in Poland. She was harshly criticized for an affair she had, and was 'accused' of being a Jewish terrorist, spy, and all manner of fabricated things, mostly because she was a woman. Marie died at age 66 of anemia due to such massive exposure to radiation: her books and personal items are placed in lead boxes and can only be handled if proper safety precautions  are followed. However, her contributions to science and medicine will improve lives forever.




Monday, July 23, 2018

3D Printers: Problem Solved?

Have you heard the term "3D Printer" and wondered what that was all about?

Here's a basic explanation:

The official term for this process is actually "Additive Manufacturing"  or "Rapid Prototyping," but the term 3D Printer seems to have stuck. It's called "Additive" because the process adds materials instead of subtracting, which is the case with a CNC machine. Those machines waste materials because they make the object but it will have to be trimmed.

A CNC machine:  "CNC" stands for Computer Numerical Control," which can involve milling, a lathe, or a grinder. Notice how large this machine is.


3D Printers make things in layers.They can use over 100 different materials , including plastic, metal (even titanium), nylon, and human tissue.  They have been used for over 30 years, but until recently were only used by businesses for commercial use and weren't available to everyone. They have become relatively inexpensive and easy to use so that some 'ordinary people' would be able to purchase one, and to understand the process of making things on these printers in our homes. Programs can be 'user-friendly' to make it possible for anyone to understand.
                                                   They could be helpful identifying or age-progressing images of missing people
 

A 3D printer can be very small or very large, depending on how large an item you want to create. You'll also need the materials to feed the machine. Then, you must have a computer program that 'understands' when you are telling it to make something. It's possible to use Microsoft Word when creating an object, but the computer needs to know what to do with your instructions. Once you have your concept of the object the way you want it, you send it to the 'printer' similar to when you send a document to your typical printer. The difference, of course, is that it isn't going to print on paper but rather manufacture what you sent to it using whatever materials your 'printer' is capable of. The printer 'understands' what the computer has instructed it to do.
 
Here's a great video that explains it further and shows some examples of what can be made using a 3D printer: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=video+clip+3d+printer&&view=detail&mid=46FDAAF0AA077E6A5ABE46FDAAF0AA077E6A5ABE&&FORM=VRDGAR


                                                           Smallest known 3D printer, about the size of a carton of milk.


These printers are currently available starting at about $100 and up. Some can use multiple materials, some only one. Some can use several colors in one production and others, only one. Producing your object can take an hour or several days, depending on how complex it is.


If you aren't one to design something from 'scratch,' you can scan an item and then have the computer 'read' how it is made, then make a copy, using the right software.

How is this useful?  3D printers can make:
  • Manufacturer prototypes and models
  • Toys
  • Jewelry
  • Shoes
  • Artwork


  • Glasses frames
  • Parts for virtually anything from engines to dishwashers
  • Human organs, using human tissue, especially using the person's own cells to avoid rejection
  • Prosthetics: Artificial limbs, eyes, etc., braces, and possibly dentures
  • Models for study by medical students
  • Musical instruments


  • Our military has used it to make unmanned drones
  • In theory, you could make all the parts necessary to make another printer

 
Imagine being able to make that one part for a car or a replacement part for a broken appliance...especially if the part is hard to find..or plumbing pipes, or a thermostat, or a lock, just by firing up the 3D printer and sending a file to print.

Mattel's 'Thingmaker' first came out in the 1960s, but it's now a 3D printer...   https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=manufacturing+toys+3d+printer+thingmaker&&view=detail&mid=BEEB7FF30D6EAE52BD1EBEEB7FF30D6EAE52BD1E&&FORM=VRDGAR

If a child wants to connect his Legos to Lincoln Logs and you have a creative side, you could design some kind of adapter and print that out on your 3D printer.

                                                          Action figures made on a 3D printer-some assembly required?


                                A 3D-Printer made this model of a house---it would make a fun dollhouse, too.

  • Innovative medical technology will let us use 3D printers for health purposes as well:
  • Artificial outer ear with hearing aid, the ear is from human tissue.


  •          This boy's dad made him an artificial hand for $10.
Here is a video of 3D printing a forearm plus hand: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=video+clip+3d+printer+making+a+prosthetic&&view=detail&mid=57B4920018E2378B87C557B4920018E2378B87C5&&FORM=VRDGAR



If you don't have your own 3D printer, as long as you have the instructions in your file, you can upload it to an online service and have someone else 'print' it at a reasonable price and ship it to you. In the future, these 3D print shops may be seen at your local mall just like any other business.

And what about the future? What will 3D printers be used for in a few years?

  • It is already being used for some airplane parts, and this will probably continue. These parts are lighter, making the plane more efficient to fly.
  • In the health field, titanium bone implants, orthodontics, and artificial veins and arteries may be made using 3D printing
  • 3D printers will probably be standard in schools from Kindergarten through college. They can be used to teach, creating models and copies to show students how things work
  • There is some discussion whether it might be a good idea to send 3D printers to disaster sites so that needed items can be produced on-scene---especially for health care
  • Items currently only available at museums could be copied, from historical clothing to animal bones, so that the 'cloned' exhibits can be brought around the country to people who can't travel to places such as the Smithsonian: http://www.3dprinter.net/3d-print-history-with-smithsonian-x-3d
  • A discussion on how 3D printers could be used in the space program: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenkotler/2013/10/21/the-future-is-here-how-3d-printing-is-opening-the-door-to-space-colonization/2/
What would you do with a 3D printer?