The school year is in full swing and we realize that you have a lot of exciting activities happening both in your science classroom and in the school. We are here to relieve some of the pressure of finding the best in science equipment to enhance science for your students. Please feel free to
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We hope you and your students continue to enjoy the science facts included with every newsletter. Let us know if you would like to see a particular item discussed.
November Featured Products
Handheld Digital Camera
This easy to use 5.0MP USB handheld digital microscope camera is versatile, suitable for testing, measuring, and photographing specimen at home, in an educational setting, or in the lab. Compact in design, this camera is perfect for scientific research, industrial inspection, and hobby and leisure. Images and video can be taken by pressing the button on the camera or through included imaging software.
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Swift Compound Microscope
Introducing a new look to our flagship model of the Swift Optical education line. The new Swift M3600 series continues the Swift tradition for innovation, quality and student-proof features, and updates our well-known M3500 classic model series with a brand new look and design. Built-in handle, built-in mechanical stage (M3602 models only), variable LED illumination and lead-free objectives, are just some of the state-of-the-art features that makes this series in a class of its own. Ideal for high schools and advanced grade levels.
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Laser Optical Demonstrator
This optical geometric apparatus offers a compact, convenient and comprehensive set up with a metal dish template that has 360º rotation. 13 optical components are included such as a rectangular prism, a trapezoid prism, a right angle prism, a semicircular lens, a convex lens and a concave lens. Students can also examine light ray paths in liquids with a rectangular acrylic cell and two mirrors with combined concave and convex planes. A periscope model, a Galilean telescope model, a Kepler telescope model and an optical fiber unit are included.
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General Science History
In 1873, Joseph F. Glidden began manufacturing his new invention of barbed wire, having filed for a patent a few days before, on 27 Oct 1873 which was issued on 24 Nov 1874. The barbs were cut from sheet metal and were inserted between two wires which were twisted considerably more than with today's common design. This product would transform the West. Before this innovation, settlers on the treeless plains had no easy way to fence livestock away from cropland, and ranchers had no way to prevent their herds from roaming far and wide. Glidden's barbed wire opened the plains to large-scale farming, and closed the open range, bringing the era of the cowboy and the round-up to an end.
Biology
In 1977, the identification of methanogens, a form of life dating back some 3.5 billion years, was reported by scientists at the University and Illinois. Microbiologist Carl R. Woese had long studied the evolutionary track of DNA and RNA. In 1976, he was approached by his colleague Ralph Wolfe, who presented a group of methane producing organisms. Woese studied their RNA and recognized their lack of the entire oligonucleotide sequences. He discovered the organisms were so different from bacteria, they deserved their own branch of the family tree as the third domain of life, Archaea. Methanogens are found in oxygen-deficient environments, and mostly obtain their energy by reducing carbon dioxide and oxidizing hydrogen, with the production of methane.
Chemistry
In 1772, Antoine Lavoisier reported in a note to the Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences that in the previous week he had discovered that sulphur and phosphorus when burned increased in weight because they absorbed "air," while the metallic lead formed when litharge was heated with charcoal weighed less than the original litharge because it had lost "air." The exact nature of the airs concerned in the processes he could not yet explain, and he proceeded to study the question extensively. Lavoisier's investigation of the role of air in combustion would change the way chemists viewed combustion.
Physics
In 1943, the X-10 nuclear reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory went "critical" with a self-sustaining fission reaction - the world's second reactor to achieve one. The reactor took just nine urgent months to build. Over the next year, the reactor performed flawlessly, irradiating thousands of fuel slugs, which were disassembled and dissolved so the plutonium could be extracted, bit by precious bit. It was an experimental reactor far larger and more advanced than Fermi's Chicago pile: a graphite cube 24 feet on each side, with seven-foot-thick concrete walls for radiation shielding. By the end of 1944, the reactor's most urgent mission had been completed and its focus shifted to radioisotope production for medicine and research.
Earth Science
In 1572, a supernova was first noted by Wolfgang Schuler of Wittenberg (?-1575) in the W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia but was seen by many observers throughout Europe and in the Far East. It appeared as a new star, adjacent to the fainter star seen just northwest of the middle of the "W." Tycho Brahe first noticed this new star on 11 Nov 1572, and he began to meticulously record its appearance. Although he was not the first to see it, he gained fame from his book Stella Nova (Latin: "new star"). For two weeks it was brighter than any other star in the sky and visible in daytime. By month's end, it began to fade and change colour, from bright white to yellow and orange to faint reddish light. It was visible to the naked eye for about 16 months until Mar 1574.
Quote
The secret of a good memory is attention, and attention to a subject depends upon our interest in it. We rarely forget that which has made a deep impression on our minds. - Tryon Edwards
Thank you for your support of Capital Microscope. We are very proud to be your representatives and look forward to providing you with the personal and professional support for your science education needs.
