You can’t currently listen to the news without hearing hearing at least once the word vaccine. This past week has been about the Johnson and Johnson single dose vaccine to fight COVID-19. We have been hearing about shipments, doses, and levels of efficacy. But, this isn’t the first time vaccines have been in the news,Continue reading “Vaccines – A bit of history”
Author Archives: sophicpursuits
Breaking News – Perseverance Landing – Feb. 18. 2021
If you are looking for information about the Landing of Perseverance on Mars, NASA has provided a toolkit for the public. The toolkit can be found here https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/ . The toolkit provides information to allow you to watch the landing live online, has ways you can participate, and resources such as posters and fact sheets.Continue reading “Breaking News – Perseverance Landing – Feb. 18. 2021”
From the Archives – Heat
Heat is not temperature. Temperature is a measurement. And, it is the way that we describe the warmness or coldness of a substance. The measure of temperature is a scale, generally Celsius (C) or Fahrenheit (F), that has been defined using various reference points, the freezing of water (32 degrees F or 0 degrees C)Continue reading “From the Archives – Heat”
The Thermometer – Origin of the Scale
From the Archives – An excerpt from a previous column, published in the Ponca City News Midweek in June 2017. Our ability to measure temperature comes from the Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics: if object A is in thermal equilibrium with object B and object B is in thermal equilibrium with object C, then A andContinue reading “The Thermometer – Origin of the Scale”
What is Cold?
The Nation is in the grips of a weather event that has been described as frigid, cold, artic, etc. Essentially, most individuals would agree is the weather is cold. But does cold have a scientific meaning? Not, really, cold is a relative term. Similarly, hot is a relative term. People tend to think of hotContinue reading “What is Cold?”
Citizen Science and Earthquakes
Traditionally, you wouldn’t think about earthquakes in Oklahoma. But, since 2009, earthquakes have been part of life in the state. (https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/oklahoma-has-had-a-surge-earthquakes-2009-are-they-due-fracking?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products) This has raised a lot of questions. Are these earthquakes due to human activities or is there something else. Some of the quakes are definitely related to human activities, but not necessarily to whatContinue reading “Citizen Science and Earthquakes”
The State of Carbon
On January 27, 2021, a paper in the journal Nature a new paper announced that the structure of diamond holds even at pressures of 2 trillion pascals. These are pressures that are more than five times the pressure in the Earth’s core. This makes looking at the material structure of carbon, whether it is aContinue reading “The State of Carbon”
Heart Health Month – February – A look at the human heart.
This is an updated version of a column that was first published in February 2019. Have you ever noticed that when organizations are trying to raise awareness about something, try to tie it to an event or celebration that relates? February is all about Valentines and Love, so of course, if you want to raiseContinue reading “Heart Health Month – February – A look at the human heart.”
January Birthstone – Garnet
From the Archives – First Published January 7, 2015 in The Ponca City News Midweek Ever wonder about birthstones? What they are and why they came to be associated with certain properties? According to the American Gem Society, the history associated with wearing birthstones goes back to the Breastplate worn by Aaron representing the 12Continue reading “January Birthstone – Garnet”
From here to there – interesting things are everywhere
When I sit down to write about science, I usually think about what is happening in the world. It is January and February is right around the corner. But, then again the calendar is just an abstraction, as January in the northern hemisphere is winter, but in the southern one it is summer, and ifContinue reading “From here to there – interesting things are everywhere”
All About Science 