Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, was revealed to the world in 1997

Dolly (1996 – 2003) was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh in Scotland. She was born on 5 July 1996 and she lived until the age of six. She has been called "the world's most famous sheep" by sources including BBC News and Scientific American. On 14 February 2003, Dolly was euthanised because she had a progressive lung disease and severe arthritis.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Welcome to the fascinatingworld of cloning
Subject: Biotechnology / Genetic Engineering
Grade level: Middle School - Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair ($400)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2007
Description: Main topics: Clonings history, cloning techniques, benefits and negative sides. Biographies of three important scientists who contributed to the field.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/shah7a2/
 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Space Shuttle Columbia was lost, on this day, in 2003

The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members, shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission.

The loss of Columbia was a result of damage sustained during launch when a piece of foam insulation the size of a small briefcase broke off the Space Shuttle external tank (the main propellant tank) under the aerodynamic forces of launch. The debris struck the leading edge of the left wing, damaging the Shuttle's thermal protection system (TPS), which protects it from heat generated with the atmosphere during re-entry. While Columbia was still in orbit, some engineers suspected damage, but NASA managers limited the investigation, on the grounds that little could be done even if problems were found.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Is there life in outer space?
Subject: Space Exploration
Grade level: Middle School - Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2007
Description: Main topics: life in space; the search for life in space; the debate on the existence of extra-terrestrial life; Panspermia (the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, and may be distributed to habitable bodies, in microbial form, by comets, meteoroids, asteroids and planetoids.).

Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/back7n2/