Thursday, February 18, 2016

February Science Newsletter

As you work through the cold February weather, we at Capital Microscope would like to help you find the perfect material to bring science alive for your students. You can contact us directly to get personal assistance in determining the best products for your science lab. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

And don't forget to schedule your microscope service. Click here for full information. Servicing and repairing your microscopes is very economical. Your students enjoy working with a good microscope.

We hope that you enjoy the information contained in this Science Newsletter. Share the interesting science facts with your students and encourage them to discover more about the world in which they live.

February Featured Products

National DCS-213-RLED

The DCS-213-RLED features high-speed, full resolution imaging technology built into one of our most popular microscopes. Use it as a conventional microscope or share live images with your class using WiFi tablets, wireless laptops, and HD-ready LCD monitors/projectors through HDMI. More Info.

Frog Dissection Model
Our frog dissection model is 3X life size and accurately demonstrates the morphology of a frog. The ventral dissection allows the internal organs to be removed for closer examination. A key card is included and identifies over 15 important structures. More Info.

Laser Optical Demonstrator
This optical geometric apparatus offers a compact, convenient and comprehensive set up with a metal dish template that has 360ยบ 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. Includes instruction manual and two AAA batteries. More Info.

General Science History
In 1947, Edwin H. Land gave the first demonstration his invention of instant photography at a meeting of the Optical Society of America. On 28 Nov 1948, his Polaroid Land Camera first went on sale, at a Boston department store. The 40 series, model 95 roll film camera went on sale for $ 89.75. This first model was sold through 1953, and was the first commercially successful self- developing camera system. A sepia-coloured photograph took about one minute to produce. His first commercial success came in 1939 with his invention of Polaroid filters for lenses in products such as ski goggles, sunglasses and slip-on sunglasses for optical glasses.

Biology
In 1944, DNA was identified as the hereditary agent in a virus, published in a report by O.T. Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty. This crucial discovery in molecular genetics - that genetic information is carried in the nucleotide sequence of DNA - arose incidentally while studying pneumococcus to monitor the epidemic spread of pneumonia. Since 1928, when British physician Frederick Griffith had found that extracts of a pathogenic strain of that virus could transform a harmless strain into a pathogenic one, scientists had searched for the "transforming factor." The work by Avery, et al., now identified the transforming molecule as DNA, having ruled out, through extract digestions, RNA, protein, and polysaccharide capsular material.

Chemistry
In 1937, Dr. Wallace Carothers, a research chemist for DuPont, who invented nylon, received a patent for the synthetic fiber. The U.S. patent, No. 2,071,250, which was assigned to the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Inc. The patent covered synthetic linear condensation polymers capable of being drawn into strong pliable fibres, as well as the process for making them. One of the first consumer uses of this new wonder plastic was replacing hog bristles in tooth brushes. Du Pont began production of such bristle filament on 24 Feb 1938, at their Arlington, N.J. factory. Commercial production of yarn for nylon hosiery followed at their Seaford, Delaware factory on 15 Dec 1939.

Physics

Far from our galaxy, in the vast darkness of space, two massive black holes merged into a single, larger hole.

And now researchers say they have detected rumblings from that cataclysmic collision as ripples in the very fabric of space-time itself. The discovery comes a century after Albert Einstein first predicted such ripples should exist.
"It's a really big event," says Saul Teukolsky, a theoretical astrophysicist at Cornell University. "This is probably the most exciting episode of my professional career."
Einstein predicted the existence of such ripples, known officially as gravitational waves, in 1916, as part of his general theory of relativity. General relativity re-imagines the gravitational pull between heavy objects like Earth and the sun as a "warping" of space and time. When very heavy objects such as black holes are involved, the theory predicts that gravitational waves will emerge and ripple across the entire universe.

Earth Science
In 1948, Miranda, a famous moon of Uranus, was photographed for first time. It was discovered by Gerard Kuiper, the Dutch astronomer, who also found Neptune's moon Nereid (1949). Miranda is the smallest of the five 5 major satellites of Uranus, and has a diameter of 480 km. When Voyager 2 passed closely by Miranda in 1986, it showed it was one of the most interesting satellites in the solar system, with a complex geological history. The numerous pictures it took of the surface showed a vast and diverse array of fractures, faults, grooves and craters unlike anything ever seen before. The large (318 km diam.) circular region is named the Arden Corona. Miranda is named after a character in Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Arden is the name of a forest, in which his play "As You Like It." is set.

Quote
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. - Anne Bradstreet

Thank you for your support of Capital Microscope. Together we can bring the joy and excitement of science to students. They will then carry this knowledge into the future. Contact us when you need assistance in determining the best science materials for your classroom. We look forward to working with you.