Notebook
- Humans
Flight Notes
Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first powered, sustained, and controlled flight in a heavier-than-air flying machine on Dec. 17, 1903. Now, the Library of Congress has prepared a display of items from its extensive collection of the Wright Brothers’ papers. The online exhibit includes photographs, a timeline, numerous documents, and much more. Go to: […]
- Humans
From the September 23, 1933, issue
LEAFY SUCCULENTS SOLVE PROBLEM SET BY DESERT Desert plants have a particularly hard problem to solve, set by that old Sphinx, the desert itself, and if they fail to solve it, the penalty is the same as that exacted in the old Greek myth–they must die. They must spread a sufficient chlorophyll surface to the […]
- Planetary Science
Earthly Field Trip to Mars
Interested in seeing Martian landscapes and features up close on Earth? This Web site offers kids a “field trip” to formations in the state of Washington that resemble those found on the Red Planet. Take a look at floodplains, volcanoes, basalt columns, lakebeds, canyons, sand dunes, and more. Go to: http://www.kidscosmos.org/field-trip-to-mars.html
- Humans
From the September 16, 1933, issue
HERDS OF WILD ASSES STILL ROAM MONGOLIAN PLAINS Wild asses, which still roam the vast plains of Mongolia in great herds, are marvels of speed and endurance, according to Roy Chapman Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History, who has hunted and photographed them in the course of his many years of scientific exploration […]
- Planetary Science
More Mars—Better than Ever
On Aug. 27, Mars and Earth were closer to each other than at any other time in the last 50,000 years. Even as Earth and Mars slowly draw apart, the Red Planet remains a dazzling sight in the night sky. There’s still time to take in the view. Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/08sep_goaway.htm?list110076
- Earth
Product Health and Safety
What’s under your kitchen sink, in your garage, in your bathroom, and on the shelves in your laundry room? Do these household products pose a potential health risk to you and your family? The National Library of Medicine’s new Household Products Database offers users information on the potential health effects of about 2,000 ingredients contained […]
- Humans
From the September 9, 1933, issue
FLEET AS MERCURY The laboratory has yielded a photograph of striking beauty showing Dr. Joseph Slepian and Leon R. Ludwig, Westinghouse engineers, examining a product of their research. They have developed a new method of controlling mercury arc devices which is said to be more positive and many times faster in action than methods now […]
- Humans
From the September 2, 1933, issue
URN PATTERNS EXISTED LONG BEFORE URNS WERE MADE Urns, whether for flowers or for funeral ashes, have always had much the same pattern; so much so, that the shape immediately and automatically evokes the name. But that shape existed on the earth long before the earliest neolithic potter smoothed out the walls of the first […]
- Earth
Live from the Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California offers Webcam views of its kelp forest, penguins, and sea otters, along with underwater glimpses of its open ocean exhibit and images of the ocean waters along Cannery Row, just off the aquarium’s decks. The cameras are on from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., PST, so they capture the […]
- Humans
Remembering Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling won the 1962 Nobel prize in chemistry for his research into the nature of chemical bonding and later won the Nobel peace prize and promoted the health benefits of vitamin C. This National Library of Medicine Web site highlights Pauling’s achievements and offers access to parts of a large collection of his personal […]
- Humans
From the August 26, 1933, issue
AN APE FOR A BABY SISTER If it is not possible or desirable to bring up the young human removed from human surroundings–why not test the effects of civilization in the reverse matter? Why not bring up an ape infant in a human home–place him in a human babys bed, dress him in infants clothes, […]
- Humans
From the August 19, 1933, issue
CONSTRUCTION BEGUN ON 80-INCH TEXAS TELESCOPE The giant 80-inch reflecting telescope that will spy upon the stars from McDonald Observatory, to be erected on a peak of Davis Mountains, Texas, is now under construction. A contract for the telescope has been approved by the University of Texas board of regents, and Warner and Swasey Company […]
