An Eclipsing Binary Star Simulator

 This looks like a pretty interesting binary star system simulator, with the added twist that it shows the eclipsing consequences of the radiation flux we observe from earth. 

If we see a system more from a side view of the plane the star's orbits are on, at certain times one of the stars blocks or partially blocks the other, resulting in dips in the light intensity we detect. This is a great way to measure the orbital periods, which are also needed to determine the masses of the stars. Pretty cool! 

                                                             From Tychos.info

                                                     

Analysis of an Asteroid - life's building blocks found!!

 https://www.facebook.com/reel/961516545536542 

Check this out! Ingredients for life found in samples brought back from an asteroid!!

South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly being watched

 The Earth's magnetic field is quite complex. The first thing to note is all magnetism we know of comes from moving electric charges and electric currents. For something like a planet, the question then becomes where are the currents? 

The Earth has a solid inner core, but then a molten iron outer core - that is the key. As my students are well aware, metals are special because they have free electrons moving throughout (the 'electron sea'). Normally these free electrons are moving randomly through the metal. But then, we need to remember that the earth rotates. The rotation causes the molten iron to flow in one direction, and suddenly we have a circular current of electrons, and this contributes to the magnetic field. 

Fluid dynamics is complex and very challenging mathematically. Turbulence happens, and because Earth is spherical, that geometry introduces different rotational velocities in different regions of the molten iron. The complexities of flow and the electric currents that result causes the Earth's magnetic field to be dynamic - it is constantly changing, and on occasion when turbulent regions develop, and sometimes the flow locally can be opposite the main flow, irregularities exist within the global magnetic field. This is likely what is happening in the outer core to cause the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly. It has grown over the past few decades, and is a region where the magnetic field has already 'flipped' polarity. At some point, perhaps in the coming centuries, the global field may undergo another reversal, where our compass needles will point opposite where it points today. We'll see how this plays out! 

The Top 50 and Top 10 Finalists for the Global Teacher Prize, 2025

 This program, run by the Varkey Foundation in the United Kingdom, has become known as the 'Nobel Prize for Teaching.' Any teacher on the planet can apply or be nominated, and ultimately one teacher wins a $1 million award! Each year, thousands of teachers apply, and the Top 50 teachers in the world for that year are determined and named Top 50 Finalists. Someone from that group will win the prize, but all 50 will be part of the Global Teacher Prize Ambassador Program. 

The Top 50 Finalists cohorts can be found here for each year it has been run. Note that from the Top 50, a group of Top 10 Finalists is selected, and one of them will be the winner. Go here to find 2025's Top 10 Finalists. Yours truly is in the first group of finalists from 2015. The photo below is the group of American teachers from our summit and conference in Dubai, from 2018; it was about one month after the Parkland shootings that we had this meeting, to talk about school safety. 

Climate change - 2024 hottest year on record, and first to be 1.5-degrees C above preindustrial period

 Well, the goal of the Paris Climate Accords (signed in 2016) was to prevent global temperatures from going above 1.5-degrees Celcius, but in 2024 the world has exceeded that level for the first time. If you are into climate science and the data behind all this, check out the 2024 Climate Summary published by Copernicus Climate Change Service. 

The last 10 years have been the 10 hottest years on record, which goes back some 150 years or so. Another telling set of measurements has been surface temperatures of our oceans, which have been rising annually, as well (note the attached graph, and how the last two years really stand out). Ocean temps are important because the hotter the water gets, the more evaporation occurs, and this fuels storms such as hurricanes/cyclones around the world. This is why storms are more powerful, on average, than in the past. 

I personally worry about losing another 4 years of any progress regarding climate change, as the new administration's energy policy goes back to an old, archaic and dangerous chant of "Drill, drill, drill." Without US leadership, it is more unlikely the rest of the world will be able to do much. But let's keep reminding the world climate change is real, it is already causing major problems in every region of the world and costing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage and human life (as I write this, the Los Angeles area is burning, with loss of life and tens of billions of dollars in losses, for example)

A Great Headline - Let's see how it plays out in the next 8 or so years: Commercial Fusion Power

 A claim has now been made that the world's first commercial fusion reactor (that can plug into the power grid) will be online in "the early 2030s", in Richmond, Virginia. 

THIS WILL BE A BIG DEAL if successful! But for decades, scientists have made claims fusion would be available in ten years, and it is not clear if these power companies and startups will be ready in a few years, but let's certainly hope they or someone else will be successful soon. Should be interesting! 

New quasiparticles found in all magnetic materials

 Going into the 2nd semester, the seniors will be changing focus from electricity to magnetism. This is a new discovery about the very nature of magnetism, and is still trying to be fully understood and explored. It is a quasiparticle found roaming in magnetic materials of all kinds, and at all temperatures. 

In the coming years, we will almost certainly hear a LOT more about this, and how new applications and understandings of magnetism develop, in industries such as computer engineering and how memory and other aspects of computers work. 

High School students find new trigonometric proofs for Pythagorean theorem, using trig

 Check out this paper by two high school students, who found trig-based proofs of the Pythagorean theorem, once thought to not be possible! Very cool!! 

See the Science News article about this here. 

Summary of all 2024 Nobel Prizes

 This is the summary page for all 2024 Nobel Prizes. Enjoy! 

Nobel in Economics - why are some countries wealthy, ,others poor?

 This is a summary paper about the Nobel winners in economics (2 from MIT, 1 from U. of Chicago), who contribute to our understanding of how and why some countries such as the USA have accumulated massive wealth, while many other countries have not and whose citizens are sometimes desperately poor. 

Generally, it largely depends on the types of institutions developed in a country - the more inclusive the institutions, such as in countries leaning towards or practicing democracy, the more wealth is generated and the higher the GDP per capita. If institutions are extractive, such as in oligarchies and authoritarian countries, the less wealth per citizen, and whatever wealth there is tends to be concentrated with the few in power.