Mathematics & Science Education Resource Center

Girls as Good at Math as Boys : Discovery News : Discovery Channel

clyderob — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:32:11 +0000

Girls as Good at Math as Boys : Discovery News : Discovery Channel

Darwin series: Baboons benefit from strong social networks, expert says

clyderob — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:29:42 +0000

Darwin series: Baboons benefit from strong social networks, expert says

2:07 p.m., May 6, 2009—-Monkey communication expert Robert Seyfarth began his lecture on May 5, the kick-off of the University of Delaware’s Year of Darwin celebration, with a true story, documented in 1961, about a female baboon that herded goats in an African village.

The baboon knew all of the relationships between the goats so well that at night she would carry a bleating kid from one barn directly to its mother in another barn.

“For all the centuries we’ve bred dogs, no dog has exhibited this knowledge of kids and mothers,” said Seyfarth, who is a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “The question is where does this mind come from?”

Seyfarth transported an audience of about 200 people into the fascinating world of the baboons of Botswana’s Okavanga Delta, which he and Dorothy Cheney, his research partner, fellow Penn professor, and spouse, studied from 1992 to 2008.

Today’s Problem: Fish and Chips Takeaway

clyderob — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:29:15 +0000

Creative Commons License: Attribute http://www.flickr.com/people/f10n4/

Bob’s Fishery restaurant is now serving a healthier version of its famous fish and chips.

Here is the nutritional info for each

Category	Original Version	Healthier Version
Calories	1575	Two-thirds less
Fat	90 grams	Four-fifths less
Sodium	1850 milligrams	40% less
Carbohydrates	137.5 grams	60% less

What are the numerical values of each of the nutrients in the healthier version?

Sea Shells Used To Clean Up Heavy Metals

clyderob — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:18:01 +0000

full story @ www.msnbc.msn.com

Technique could save millions of lives in coastal cities in developing world

By Michael Reilly

On the banks of the Saigon River in Vietnam, researchers have just completed tests on a new way to combat water pollution that could save millions of lives in coastal cities throughout the developing world.

In factories on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, Stephan Kohler of the Graz University of Technology in Austria and a team of researchers have cleansed water tainted with toxic metals like cadmium, zinc, lead and iron. And they’ve done it using nothing but one of the cheapest, most abundant material around: seashells.

Kohler’s team has found that pouring metal and acid-laden water over a bed of crushed clam or mussel shells provides an easy fix. The shells are made of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate (CACO3) that readily swaps out its calcium atoms in favor of heavy metals, locking them into a solid form. The shells are naturally basic, too — when dissolved they have a pH of 8.3.

Today’s Problem: Mystery Set

clyderob — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:49:21 +0000

A set of five numbers have the following properties:

The mode of the set is 0 and 4.
The median of the set is 4.
The mean of the set is 4.

What are the five numbers in the set?

T Rex’s Dino Ancestors Unearthed

clyderob — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:01:58 +0000

full story @ news.bbc.co.uk

Dinosaur fossils found in China have got scientists pretty excited as they say they’ll help them learn loads more about the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Found near the city of Jiayuguan, the remains are from a type of tyrannosaur being called Xiongguanlong baimoensis.

The name may be a bit of a mouthful, but it’s thought the fossils could provide the missing link between the huge T Rex and its smaller ancestors.

They date from part of the Cretaceous period – about 100 million years ago.

Today’s Problem: Seychelles Flag

clyderob — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:01:27 +0000

Seychelles Flag

Find the area of each section of the Seychelles flag.

The flag is x inches tall by 2x inches wide. The top edge is divided into 3 equal lengths. The right edge is divided into 3 equal lengths.

Image pinpoints all 5 million atoms in viral coat

clyderob — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:52:05 +0000

full story @ www.media.rice.edu

Researchers decipher protective shield used by hundreds of viruses

BY JADE BOYD

Rice News staff

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Rice University’s precise new image of a virus’ protective coat is seriously undervalued. More than three years in the making, the image contains some 5 million atoms — each in precisely the right place — and it could help scientists find better ways to both fight viral infections and design new gene therapies.

The stunning image, which appears online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals the structure of a type of protein coat shared by hundreds of known viruses containing double-stranded RNA genomes. The image was painstakingly created from hundreds of high-energy X-ray diffraction images and paints the clearest picture yet of the viruses’ genome-encasing shell called a “capsid.”

“When these viruses invade cells, the capsids get taken inside and never completely break apart,” said lead researcher Jane Tao.

Scientists Discover A Nearly Earth-Sized Plant

clyderob — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:21:59 +0000

full story at news.yahoo.com

By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer

HATFIELD, England – In the search for Earth-like planets, astronomers zeroed in Tuesday on two places that look awfully familiar to home. One is close to the right size. The other is in the right place. European researchers said they not only found the smallest exoplanet ever, called Gliese 581 e, but realized that a neighboring planet discovered earlier, Gliese 581 d, was in the prime habitable zone for potential life.

Today’s Problem: Cylinder Volume

clyderob — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:49:15 +0000

Take a piece of letter-sized paper and tape the short ends to make a tube. Label this tube A.

Take another piece of letter-sized paper and tape the long ends to make another tube. Label this tube B.

Place each tube on a flat surface, so that they stand up on end.

Using the formula for the volume of a cylinder, find out which tube will hold more stuff (like popcorn or candy)?

Hints:
Letter-sized paper is 8.5 inches wide by 11 inches tall.
To find the radius of each tube, use the circumference formula, C = 2πr