Science Cheerleader

 Nolan from Colorado State University wants you to know about CoCoRaHS, a fun and simple citizen science activity for the weather enthusiast. Volunteers send in backyard rain, hail and snow observations to scientists who measure and track the data. The National Weather Service, other meteorologists, hydrologists, emergency managers, city utilities (water supply, water conservation, storm water), insurance adjusters, USDA, engineers, mosquito control, ranchers and farmers, outdoor & recreation interests, teachers, students, and neighbors in the community use the data.

Nolan tells me that by “late 2009, CoCoRaHS will be in the single largest source for U.S.  daily precipitation data, thanks to the power of volunteers.” 

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Topics: Weather

Location: Close to home; Outdoors.

Level of Difficulty: More complicated than I expected but once you’ve purchased (and assembled) the equipment and had a chat with the regional coordinator, the easy (and fun) parts begin.

Fee: Costs about $25 to buy the necessary equipment. (The organizers do all they can to ensure accurate data collection and proper equipment plays a big role there.)

Gear: Special measurer (see above). Computer.

Duration: Once you have the equipment, it’ll take about an hour to build it out. Then, just wait for some rain, hail or snow! Record precipitations 7am, daily for as long as you’d like to participate.

 NASA’s Radio Jove program “helps amateur scientists and students observe and analyze natural radio emissions of Jupiter, the Sun, and our galaxy.”

Build and use your own Decametric Radio Telescope.  Follow Live Observations Online. 

Why study radio waves from Pluto? “Radio waves are generated because the planet has a magnetic field. This magnetic field originates deep in the interior of the planet, and the overall strength of the magnetic field directly affects the type of radio emission emitted by the planet. This helps us with the theory of how the magnetic field is created in the interior, and in determining the composition of the various interior layers.”

Everything you’ll need to get started, make and record observations and draw upon your data can be found on the comprehensive NASA website. There’s even a  Jupiter Radio Emission Prediction Table to help you plan key days and times to capture radio signals. For example, folks like me who live on the East Coast, can use a radio telescope to detect signals from Pluto between February and September several times a month on specific dates, winnowed down to nearest minute. 

One way your data will be used is to see how well the predictions of radio storm probability match the actual occurrence of radio storms. The more observations recorded and shared, the better.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

 Topics:Cosmology, Geology, Space Science,

 Location: At or close to home; indoors.

Level of Difficulty: Pretty technical

Fee: anywhere from $50 to $250 for Radio Telescope kits and parts

Gear: Needs a computer, software and Radio Telescope

Duration: a couple of  hours to assemble Radio Telescope; observations last 5-15 minutes a pop.

Suitable for students with adult supervision. Site includes an extensive lesson plan.

Finally, you can add that very special member to your online social network—your houseplant.

Why would a plant want to join your network? To let you know when it’s thirsty, of course. Also to regularly report on its moisture level and to periodically thank you for watering it.

The network we’re talking about is Twitter, a group-oriented “microblogging” tool. This Web service keeps networks of friends, colleagues, businesses, and total strangers in contact through barrages of short messages known as “tweets.” And everybody from Barack Obama to the New York Times to my niece seems to be Twittering these days.

So why not Phil, the wilting philodendron that lives in your bedroom?

All you need is a clever do-it-yourself kit from a company called Botanicalls (cost: $89.95). With it you can build an electronic moisture-sensing system that enables one lucky houseplant to join your Twitter group. (Have a look at one houseplant’s tweets.)

This is a fairly geeky project, involving circuit boards, capacitors, ethernet cables, and a soldering iron, among other special equipment. But the kit’s instructions look clear, deliberate, and user-friendly. For a preview, see the company’s getting started and assembly page.

FYI, Botanicalls started out several years ago with a kit that enabled your plant to contact you by telephone, which they now call the Classic kit. If you need a break while you’re building the Twitter kit, I recommend you periodically watch the hilarious video that explained the Classic. It’s at the end of this post.

And, check out this scifi short story inspired by this Science Cheerleader blog post!

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

> Topics: Biology, plants, computers, electronics.
> Location: At home, or anywhere you have a plant.
> Duration: About 20 steps to assembly, then installation and testing. Maybe one long session or several separate sessions of a few hours each.
> Cost: $89.95 for the kit, which includes the required electronic components.
> Gear: Basic tools for assembling electronics such as needle-nose pliers, soldering iron, wire snips, etc. A computer with Internet access is also needed.
> Level of difficulty: Pretty technical.

Botanicalls “Classic Kit” Video (a hoot)

The latest issue of Make magazine (number 15) is devoted to build-them-yourself, high-tech musical instruments. And the coolest of the bunch is this laser harp, at right, being played by its inventor, tech musician Stephen Hobley.

You coax out the computer-generated sounds by waving your hands to break the light beams and change their lengths.

To build a laser harp, you’ll need to be familiar with and fearless about such things as MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology, circuit boards, photo cells, voltage regulators, and computers. If you’re not a serious music technology geek who’s been tinkering for years in the garage, you’ll need to buy or scare up a significant amount of hardware and software.

Stephen’s article in Make does include a simpler project—a single-beam “laser theremin,” as opposed to the six-beam laser harp. But even that’s still a pretty complex gizmo.

Whether or not you dive into this project, we’re sure you’ll appreciate the sights and sounds of the harp in action. Check out Stephen’s video demo, below.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

> Topics: Computers, electronics, music, light, sound.
> Location: At home, or in your secret laboratory.
> Cost: $19 for the plans and schematics; order from Stephen Hobley’s Web site. Significant additional cost for parts and equipment.
> Gear: Computer, MIDI utility software, software synthesizer, USB-MIDI interface, soldering equipment, insulated wire, wire cutters and strippers, multimeter, alligator leads, saw, drill, vise and clamps.
> Level of difficulty: Pretty technical.