Science: February 2008 Archive Page

Bennett Gordon, Science and Technology blog (Utne Reader):

Every diorama in the Home School Science Fair, which took place inside a shopping mall in Roseville, Minnesota, had a biblical quote attached to it. A young woman whose project involved teaching her dog how to run circles between her legs decorated the words: "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15) in pink lace fabric. This quote got to the crux of the science fair, in my opinion: parental commandment. These parents pulled their children out of school, away from their peers, and said, "Now prove that Darwin was wrong."

This blog entry gives the impression that one particular homeschool group's Creationist science fair is "the 2008 Home School Science Fair," perpetuating the meme that all home school families are the same.  I left a comment on the site that said, in part, "I understand and appreciate your desire to protect the name of science from those who misappropriate its terminology. I hope you'll also respect my desire to address misunderstandings about home schooling."  (My reasons for choosing home schooling are not religious; my wife and I simply don't want to entrust such an important task to strangers -- we want to be a part of it.)

Update: Gordon e-mailed me to thank me for the comment I posted on his site. He said he had thought that the word "Creationist" in the title of his blog entry was enough to contextualize this particular science fair, but noted that the comments his blog attracted have already made a pretty good case for correcting that. I suggested that he do a profile on a homeschool family that doesn't fit the stereotype.

A somewhat silly, but still amusing piece from Live Science:

Given that blondes generally have about 140,000 hairs on their heads, her hair should easily support the weight of many, many princes. However, there is more to this story.

If Rapunzel simply let down her hair and the prince started climbing immediately, her hair would not break, but it might rip out. Also, the rest of her body might not be able to support the weight. Thankfully, there are strategies that she can use to help reduce the strain on her head and body.

Nathan Harshman, Assistant Professor of Physics at American University in Washington, DC, suggests Rapunzel would be safer and more secure if she tied her hair around something before lowering it. "The whole idea is that you can use the friction of the hair against itself in the knot, and whatever it is tied around will support the weight of the prince." That is a much better idea than making Rapunzel's scalp the anchor point.

I'm bummed that the section on The Little Mermaid does not discuss the Hans Christian Andersen original, but rather the Dinsey version (which I admit is a delightful movie, it's just very Disneyfied.)