We report development of a simple and affordable radio interferometer suitable as an educational laboratory experiment. With the increasing importance of interferometry in astronomy, the lack of educational interferometers is an obstacle…
Doing is understanding: science fun in India
In India, as in many countries, the main focus in science classrooms is on exams rather than musing on the fascinating concepts and understanding of the world that science offers. This can…
Student facility with ratio and proportion: Mapping the reasoning space in introductory physics
Six specific modes of reasoning about ratio and proportion have been delineated as a means of operationalizing expert practice. These modes stem from consideration of how physicists reason in context, are informed…
Announcing DreamUp, PBC
“NanoRacks and its parent company, XO Markets, are excited to announce they are creating a new company dedicated to lowering the barriers to student and university research: DreamUp, PBC. As such, we…
Student-Made Devices Compete in 2015 JPL Invention Challenge
“Middle- and high-school teams will demonstrate unique devices they have built to compete in the “Ball Fling Contest,” the annual Invention Challenge hosted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, on Friday,…
NASA Early Stage Innovations Space Technology Research Grants
“NASA has selected 15 university-led proposals for the study of innovative, early stage technologies that address high priority needs of America’s space program. The Early Stage Innovations awards from NASA’s Space Technology…
Dale Andersen's Astrobiology Field Report 20 November 2015
“Novolazarevskya Station, Antarctica: We spent the day packing gear onto the sled that will be towed by the Everest tracked vehicle across the ice to Lake Untersee. We made pretty good progress…
Student Image of Northwest Australia Taken by the Sally Ride EarthKAM
“This stunning image of the northwest corner of Australia was snapped by a student on Earth after remotely controlling the Sally Ride EarthKAM aboard the International Space Station. The EarthKAM program allows…
United Launch Alliance Reveals CubeSat Launch Program
“ULA will offer universities the chance to compete for at least six CubeSat launch slots on two Atlas V missions, with a goal to eventually add university CubeSat slots to nearly every…
Dale Andersen's Astrobiology Field Reports
“14 Nov 2015 11:00 am ET: The weather went down a bit and they could not keep up with the conditions to clear the ice-runway of snow. You can see in the…
Crowdsourcing Quality Control for Dark Energy Survey Images
“We have developed a crowdsourcing web application for image quality control employed by the Dark Energy Survey. Dubbed the “DES exposure checker”, it renders science-grade images directly to a web browser and…
Free Online Course: Monitoring Climate from Space
“As the crucial COP21 Paris Climate Summit approaches, detailed evidence about the process and impact of climate change is needed more than ever. Satellite Earth Observation technology provides a powerful and compelling…