Round and Round: Angular Momentum

The MinutePhysics video series does an amazing job of breaking down complex ideas and adding some awesome cartooning work to be learning fun.  In their latest video, they cover the concept of angular momentum.

As the video says, angular momentum describes the "oomph" of things traveling in circles, just like regular momentum describes the "oomph" of things traveling in a straight line.

By understanding the way that rotating things move, we can understand the motion of things as small as electrons in an atom, to much larger things such as our solar system around in galaxy.

Check it out!

Apollo 14 & The Future of Astronaut Diversity

Image Credit: NASA. In this photo, Alan Shepard stands by the Modular Equipment Transporter (MET)

44 years ago, the Apollo 14 mission landed on the surface of the moon. Captain Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr, Major Stuart Allen Roosa, and Commander Edgar Dean Mitchell helped reestablish confidence in our space program after the prior mission, Apollo 13, suffered an explosion on board and had to return to Earth.

This group of brave astronauts, like most from the early NASA days, were white men.  As our astronaut pool becomes more diverse, there is more of a chance for space missions to truly reflect the diversity of our population.

Image Credit: NASA.  Pictured clockwise, starting from top L: Mae Jemison, Jeanette Epps, Yvonnne Cagle, Stephanie Wilson, and Joan Higginbotham.

I found a great profile of these women featured at a few sites - check them out! Some excerpts

• Mae Jemison (retired) - served as a science mission specialist during her historic flight to become the first Black woman in space in 1992 (yes, almost 30 years after we started sending people in space).
• Jeanette J. Epps, Ph.D. has experience as a technical intelligence officer in the CIA
• Yvonne Cagle, M.D. has served as a flight surgeon and has helped to establish astronaut medical standards and procedures 
• Stephanie D. Wilson served a the robotic "Canada" arm  operator, flight engineer, and space walking support for three different space shuttle missions
• Joan Higginbotham (retired) - worked on the shuttle payload bay reconfiguration for all shuttle missions and conducted electrical compatibility tests for all payloads flown aboard the shuttle.

Imagine looking at a NASA photo in the future with these women walking on the surface of another planet or moon. It will happen, and it will be as inspirational as seeing an African American US president.  Diversity matters - let's make it happen!

Post by James Walker.

3D Africa Helps to Diversify STEM

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/3d-africa/x/9504175 Script by Dianna Bai http://diannabai.wordpress.com Music by Travis Geer https://soundcloud.com/travis-geer

Right now, you can drop a few thousand dollars on a 3D printer and start making your own plastic trinkets. We've covered these awesome machines at various places such as the Consumer Electronics Show, your favorite library, and the homes of charitable folk. Wouldn't it be awesome if 3D printers were available to a wider audience?

3D Africa is a project of Nigeria's Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF). The aim of the project is to help give young girls the skills and confidence to succeed in STEM, as well as encourage their entrepreneurial spirit. CEO Njideka Harry told Techcrunch that "There are cultural biases that hold that science is the domain of males and that it is not important for girls’ future lives and that girls are not as capable as boys when it comes to science learning.”

Africa has been exploited throughout its history, and the current generation still bears the brunt of history.  There are children, especially young girls, who are not properly prepared for careers to take them to the next level. According to Ideas Lab:

"Just as personal computers and the Internet empowered individuals and organizations to create new types of information technology-driven jobs, so will 3D fabrication technologies change the way African entrepreneurs do business by allowing anyone to make (almost) anything. Africa’s economies are not industrial-based, but rely instead on the exploitation and export of the continent’s abundant natural resources. For example, the trade relationship between Africa and China, under which Africa exports raw minerals and imports manufactured goods, is estimated at about $166 billion. 3D printing technologies will help African citizens generate income independent of these kinds of relationships."

From the Indiegogo site, your donation will go towards the following:

• Equipment costs (3D printers, scanners, classroom projectors)
• Software, design tools & art supplies
• Transportation subsidies for students and teachers 
• Digital cameras
• Key personnel costs  
• Family/outreach days

Donate today!

Science Videos Cure the Football Hangover

Never fails.

The Superbowl was awesome! One of the best that I've seen in years! Even though I wanted the Seahawks to win, it was a great game all the way up until the final seconds.

1) Woodpeckers and footballs

Ainissa Ramirez wrote an awesome article titled "Using Football Science to Tackle STEM education. My favorite part is the video below that talks about how woodpeckers avoid concussions - it's all in the small brain that "fits snugly inside their skulls"!

2) Bill Nye being awesome

Bill Nye takes on the air pressure inside of footballs - and climate change -  on this Funny or Die vid.

Too bad his "Go Seahawks" line didn't prove to be true :(

Bill Nye The Science Guy Tackles DeflateGate from Funny Or Die

3) Weird Science 2

Also, can't leave without one of my favorites from Funny or Die ... Weird Science 2

Weird Science 2 with Alessandra Ambrosio from Funny Or Die

Gaming For A Cause #BlackLivesMatter #Spawn4Good

Watch live video from ReefJackson on www.twitch.tv

Editor's note: Our site is partnering with The Spawn Point Blog to have a gaming marathon this weekend, Jan 17 - 18.  

Donate to the family of Eric Garner: tinyurl.com/Spawn4Good

My Game Streams: Twitch.tv/ReefJackson

Saturday Jan 17th Schedule (all times in CST)

• 12pm - 4pm CST: 8 bit games
  • Nintendo: Blades of Steel, Super Dodge Mall, Mario Bros, , Double Dragon 2, River City Ransom, etc
• 4pm - 8pm CST:: 16 bit games
  • Super Nintendo: Street Fighter 2, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Axelay
  • Sega Genesis: Sonic, Gunstar Heroes, Streets of Rage, etc
  • TurboGrafx 16: Blazing Lazers, Bonk's Adventure, etc
• 8pm - 12am CST: 32 - 64 bit games
  • Neo Geo: Fatal Fury, Art Of Fighting, Samurai Showdown, etc
  • N64: Cruisin USA, Super Mario 64, F-Zero X, Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, Wave Race 64, etc

Sunday Jan 17th Schedule (all times CST)

• 12pm - 4pm: Wii
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2, Guitar Hero 3, Punch Out Wii, Metroid Prime Trilogy
• 4pm - 8pm: Wii U
  • Captain Toad, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, Hyrule Warriors, NES Remix, Shovel Knight, Tengami, Chariot
• 8pm - 12am: PS4 / PC
  • Flower, Resogun, Trials Fusion, NBA 2K15,  PS4 / PC + Flower, Resogun, Trials Fusion, NBA 2K15, Foul Play, Goat Simulator, Mount Your Friends

Other Game Streams: Twitch.tv/SpawnOnMe, Twitch.tv/SpawnOnMe2

Please see the note below from editor and chief of the Spawn Point Blog, Kahlief Adams.

We at the SpawnPointBlog & Spawn On Me Podcast have been inspired by what we’ve seen in the activism spaces with #icantbreathe and #BlackLivesMatter. We’ve discussed these topics on our show and we want to continue to amplify the messages these communities have been sharing. Whenever we can, we want to put a spotlight on injustices and give people a space through gaming to have their voices heard.

On Jan 17-18, 2015, we ask you to join with us and stream on Twitch. This happening will provide a deliberate space for you to have fun with the community, and to reflect on the unequal way people of color, and specifically African-American people, are treated by law enforcement. We will support the families of those that were lost by donating to the Erica Garner Fund, and The New York Lawyers Guild that continues to organize protests and bail funds for those imprisoned for exercising their 1st Amendment rights on this matter.

All funds donated will be deposited to our CrowdRise fundraiser and then equally distributed to the organizations and families listed above. If you have information about or suggestions for additional organizations involved in work regarding police brutality, or scholarship funds that are collecting donations around this issue, please share those notes in the comments or tweet us @spawnpointblog and @spawnonme

We will be streaming from our respective channels on Twitch (SOM) & (SOM2) We’ll also be hosting other streams as well. Please share this event at anyone you think would be interested, affected or has a platform to signal boost.