Samuel Johnson, best known for his dictionary of the English language, died on this day, 226 years ago.

After nine years of work, Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755; it had a far-reaching effect on Modern English and has been described as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship." Until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later, Johnson's dictionary was viewed as the pre-eminent British dictionary.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Statistical estimation of the the growth of the English language vocabulary over the years.
Subject: Statistics / Lexicography
Grade level: Middle School - Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Fair Projects and Experiments (juliantrubin.com)
Year: 2010
Description: A statistical estimation of the No. of headwords in a dictionary, the size of your vocabulary and the growth of the English language vocabulary over the years. This is achieved by using the systematic sampling method by counting the number of words on dictionary pages placed at regular intervals from each other, beginning at a random page number.
Link: http://www.juliantrubin.com/encyclopedia/mathematics/dictionary_statistics.html

 

The 2010 Mount Carmel (Israel) Forest Fire

The Mount Carmel forest fire was a deadly forest fire that started on Mount Carmel in northern Israel, just south of Haifa. The fire began at about 11:00 local time on 2 December 2010, and spread quickly, consuming much of the Mediterranean forest covering the region. The fire claimed at least 42 lives, making it the deadliest in Israeli history. The dead were mostly Israel Prison Service officer cadets, as well as three senior police officers, among them the chief of the Haifa District. More than 17,000 people were evacuated, including several villages in the vicinity of the fire, and there was considerable property and environmental damage. The fire was defeated on 5 December after raging for four days.

Israel Police suggested that the fire was caused due to a bonfire that was lit by local residents and not extinguished properly and in time.

The main cause for the large-scale fire was an unusually warm autumn and dry conditions Israel had been experiencing.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: The relationship between global warming and the emissions of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) by forest fires.
Subject: Ecology
Grade level: High School - Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Medium
Awards: 2st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2003)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2003
Description: Fuel moisture determines a forest fire's depth of burn. Fires will burn deeper into the ground where global warming causes drought. Organic matter samples from different depths were burned to analyze the amount of carbon dioxide released. It was concluded that more carbon dioxide is released per unit volume of soil the deeper a fire burns.
Link: http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2003/vanfr3j/public_html/

 

The Antarctic Treaty was signed, preserving the Antarctic continent for scientific research, 51years ago

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The treaty, entering into force in 1961 (opened for signature on December 1, 1959) and eventually signed by 47 countries, sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on that continent. The treaty was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat headquarters have been located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since September 2004.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Will Ice Melting at the North or South Poles Cause Sea Levels to Rise?
Subject: Earth Sciences
Grade level: Primary School - Grades K-3
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Buddies (Author: Kristin Strong)
Description: This project demonstrates that melting ice cubes elevate water level in a container.
Link: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/OceanSci_p015.shtml

The First Manned Hot-Air Balloon Flight Was Made 227 Years Ago

On Nov 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created on Dec 14, 1782 by the Montgolfier brothers.

King Louis XVI had originally decreed that condemned criminals would be the first pilots, but de Rozier, along with Marquis François d'Arlandes, successfully petitioned for the honor.

The first military use of a hot air balloon happened during the battle of Fleurus where the French used the balloon l'Entreprenant as an observation post.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Which Material Is Best For Hot Air Balloons: Nylon Or Polyester?
Subject: Aviation
Grade level: Elementary School Grades 4-6
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Selah Junior High School
Year: 2000
Description: A countersink was dropped on the stretched tested materials, nylon or polyester, and the number of impacts it took to tear the fabric were counted. Then the samples of the same materials were heated in an oven and the tests were run again.

Link: http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/SOAR/SciProj2000/HeatherK.html

 

Johannes Kepler, the Astronomer Who Discovered "Kepler's Laws", Died 380 Years Ago

Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution. He is best known for his three laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works that also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.

Kepler's laws give a description of the motion of planets around the Sun.

Kepler's laws are:

1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci.
2. A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.
3. The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Stars And What They Can Become
Subject: Aviation
Grade level: Primary School, Grades K-3
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2008)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2008
Description: Main topics: How are stars born? What different types of stars are there? How do stars die? What are binary stars? All about our sun.

Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2008/lafl8s2/

 

115th Anniversary of the Discovery of X-Rays

On November 8, 1895, German physics professor Wilhelm Röntgen stumbled on X-rays while experimenting with Lenard and Crookes tubes and began studying them. He wrote an initial report "On a new kind of ray: A preliminary communication" and on December 28, 1895 submitted it to the Würzburg's Physical-Medical Society journal. This was the first paper written on X-rays. Röntgen referred to the radiation as "X", to indicate that it was an unknown type of radiation. The name stuck, although (over Röntgen's great objections) many of his colleagues suggested calling them Röntgen rays. They are still referred to as such in many languages, including German and Russian. Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Research the technology and applications of today's modern forms of diagnostic imaging (X-Rays, CAT Scans, and MRIs).
Subject: Medicine
Grade level: high School - Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2004)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2004
Description: Main topics: X-rays: discovery, physics, protection; CAT scan: invention, technology, procedure, applications; MRI: procedure, compared to X-rays and CAT scans, safety and risks, applications.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2004/sitt4b0/public_html/

 

George Boole, the Founder of Boolean Algebra, Was Born

George Boole (1815 – 1864) was an English mathematician and philosopher. As the inventor of Boolean logic—the basis of modern digital computer logic—Boole is regarded in hindsight as a founder of the field of computer science.

Boole proposed that logical propositions should be expressed as algebraic equations - logic is reduced to algebra. Boole replaced the operation of multiplication by the word and and addition by the word or. For example, if x is the set of all brown cows and y is the set of all fat cows, then x+y is the set of all cows that are brown or fat, and xy is the set of all cows that are brown and fat.

Let z = the set of all Irish cows. Then z(x+y) = zx+zy; in other words 'the set of Irish cows that are either brown or fat is the same as the collection of cows that are Irish and brown or Irish and fat'.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Implementing Logic Gates With Relays
Subject: Mathematics / Electronics
Grade level: Middle and High School, Grades 7-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Medium
Affiliation: Science Fair Projects and Experiments
Description: For beginners: Build from relays common logic gates and demonstrate their truth tables with LEDs or suitable bulbs connected at the input and output.
For advanced students: Construct from relay logic gates half or full adders and demonstrate their truth tables. Adders are central components in any modern computer's ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit - the main part of CPU). Build from relays alarms, counters etc.
Link: http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/zusecomputer.html