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I came across the idea for this while searching for the website of Tom Noddy. Tom is the original bubble man (and in my opinion, still the best.) He planted the seed for my decision to go into business for myself. I met him while I was working at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum. He was doing a weekend of shows at the museum and got to see me doing an electricity show. He told me that I should take the show on the road. That was back in 1987. It has been a long and wonderful road so far, and hopefully it is far from over.
One of the most common questions that I get is where do I get the ideas for these experiments. Some are old classics that I try to give a new angle. Others are the result of questions sent to me by subscribers. Some of the ones that I like the best are the ones that just pop up, seemingly out of nowhere. This is one of those. It also comes with its own story, which makes it even better.
The story is one of Aesop's fables. If you have never read any of these, go read some. It is well worth the time.
This experiment comes from a question that I got from a subscriber. As I researched the question, it was even more interesting than I expected. It also seemed like a good excuse to eat lots of ice cream.
My photography has always tended towards patterns, so it should be no surprise that a lot of my beach photos lean that way. These are a few of the photos that I have taken on our recent beach walks.
It has been pretty windy lately, which always sculpts the dunes into marvelous shapes.
The waves make very similar patterns in the hard packed sand.
Yesterday Nancy and I took a nice, long walk on the beach. That is nothing unusual. We usually take a walk on the beach in the afternoon, but no matter how often we do it, there is always something new or special to see. On this particular walk, we spotted some Black Skimmers. They are truly amazing birds, with a very specialized way of catching fish.
After the Blue Heron drive, I headed towards Merritt Island, planning to take the Black Point Drive. When I got there, they were paving the road, so I went to the BioLab road instead. Heading north on Hwy 3, you will see a sign for the BioLab. Take that road and watch on the right for BioLab road. It is a narrow, gravel road that winds along the water's edge, giving you brackish water on one side, and fresh water marsh on the other.
The day started out wonderfully. I presented my Energy program at a summer camp for homeless students in South Florida. They were a marvelous group, and I had a blast. On my way home, I took some time out for some nature photography. There were scattered showers along the way, which gave me some nice lightning to watch, as well as a beautiful rainbow.
Because I post so many science photos, I get quite a few questions about photography. Some want to know what camera I use (Nikon D7000) or what editing software I use (Photoshop and Lightroom), but probably the most common questions is, "How do you manage to find so many things to photograph?"
“I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.”
Confucius, Chinese philosopher
Many of the things that students struggle with in the process of doing a science fair project are the result of not fully understanding unfamiliar tasks. If they have never written an abstract, or even read one, the challenge of composing one for their project can be truly daunting. The same is true for selecting a good topic for their project, properly stating their hypothesis, controlling variables, etc.
