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The Next Good Idea

The Rock That Ate CO2

Scientists have been working overtime to find safe ways of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. What if the solution has been under our feet the whole time?
Read the article here.
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Bowl Of Noses

Touchable Holography

The Future is now.

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Bowl Of Noses

Toy Fair 2009: Alternative Energy Science Kit

If Bowl Of Noses had a summer camp, one of the electives would be Mad Science 101.  Definitely, we’d have lots of stuff that explodes and makes stinky smells, but hey, it’d be educational too (we’ve got another 20 fun things to do on the list too, so best sign up for the whole fantasy summer!).

Dave at The Paris Bar tipped us to the Cool Hunter tip on these neato kits.  If our dreams were real, we’d more than enough for everyone to play with each twice.  Here’s what Cool Hunter had to say:

Although the Rhode Island-based Thames & Kosmos has only been around since 2001, the science kit manufacturer has a roster of more than 57 award-winning kits. This prolific output has been possible, no doubt, through partnership with the respected German publisher Kosmos, which has been producing experimental sets since 1922. (Its chemistry set won a gold medal at the 1937 World’s Fair.)

Thames & Kosmos has been publishing eco-driven science kits since its inception. In fact, the first product to be introduced to the States under the label was the Fuel Cell kit. At last week’s NYC Toy Fair, the company introduced four new kits in its Alternative Energy and Environmental Science line-up, one of which was a revised and sportier (see above) version of the Fuel Cell Car and Experiment kit. Available this fall for $169, we’re guessing this kit might be a popular holiday gift for automotive executives.

Another revised edition is the new Power House Green Essentials Edition. A follow-up to the best selling Power House Kit, the new edition is geared towards kids ten and up, and features 30 experiments over ten energy-related models: the power house itself, a greenhouse, a solar cell array, a passive solar collector, a solar oven, an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a hydrometer, a lemon battery and a wind power generator.

Entirely new for 2009, the Hydropower kit is geared towards kids ages eight and up. It focuses on teaching the power of water through twelve experiments and building projects. Kids learn age-old hydropower schemes through building a water wheel, sawmill and hammer mill, while gaining insight into water pressure through a water tower, communicating vessels and a fountain. And for those budding ecopreneurs out there, the kit elaborates on how electricity can be generated by harnessing the power of ocean waves, tidal flows and rivers. Hydropower will be available this summer and sell for $50.

Lastly, and just in time to prepare today’s youth for tomorrow’s raging climate crisis, is the Global Warming kit. This one features experiments that teach about the Earth’s delicate climate system and the role we humans play in shaping it through experiments that model the atmosphere, wind and ocean currents. Global warming scenarios are developed with experiments involving carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect. Although this kit is geared primarily for children ages 10 and up, we can’t help but think it might be a helpful learning device for the lingering group of global warming naysayers out there. Available this summer, the kit will sell for $35.

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Bowl Of Noses

Magnetic Fields: The Beauty Of Science

In “Magnetic Movie” the filmmakers use actual scientists’ discussions about the nature of magnetic fields but then illustrate it with sound and animation to give you a better idea as to what they look like.  It’s freaky in the most beautiful of ways: it makes us think of all the things we can’t see but that do shape the world around us.


Magnetic Movie from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

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Bowl Of Noses

Chemical Experiment #1

Do you know what Mercury Thiocyanide looks like when you burn it?  How would you describe this?  I am afraid that some language may be inappropriate…

Of course you can’t do this at home unless you get your Parent’s permission… and a big chunk of mercury thiocyanide!

Thanks Charles!

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Bowl Of Noses

Science Rocks

Schoolhouse Rock will always be one of the great inventions of the TV era.  It taught so many grammar, math, and civics.  But as far as I know, it never ventured into science.  

Thankfully we now live in an age where everyone can create and distribute (at least for now — ask your parents about “Net Neutrality” and how that may be taken away from us), and some good science minded folk have come up with a great rap about the search for anti-matter and dimensions beyond the three we currently recognize.  You may not understand it all, but it’s got a good beat you can dance to, and lots of awesome machines to see, like Particle Accelerators.

The Large Hadron Collider just went into action this week.

9/21 Update: They’ve just down the Hadron Collider for two months.  BBC has more video footage though…