Discovery's First Overnight Camp. Space and Science News. Great Videos. The Imaginarium. Just for You :)

Me, entertaining the troops.

Hello Troops,
Yes, that's me welcoming campers to the Discovery Space Center's first public overnight camp.   So far my record is three for three.  I welcomed the campers to the first CMSEC overnight camp in November 1990.  I welcomed the campers to the first iWorlds overnight camp in Murray and I welcomed the campers to the first Discovery Space Center overnight Camp on April 1, 2013.

We met in the Galileo Room.  Many of the 38 campers were veteran campers from the CMSEC and remembered my welcome speech and rules better than me.  They listened to me pontificate about the exits, behavior, cameras, and vomit.  What's an overnight camp without Mr. Williamson's movingly descriptive Happy Bucket speech?

The best part of Discovery's first overnight camp was that I got to go home after my speech!  I'm not the director of the DSC.  I don't have to stay on duty through the long march across the Abyss of Time.    
I went home, had supper and watched a little TV before returning to chaperon.  Casey Voeks knew I was five minutes away if needed.

I returned to the DSC at 11:00 P.M. to chaperon.  We were wall to wall boys.  We filled the Galileo Room to overflowing, with the extra boys bedding down in the middle banquet room.   The boys were well behaved.  The night went without incident....... Except....... Stone Gate, home of the DSC, is heated by radiators.  Radiators require hot water.  Hot water must be pumped throughout the building through who knows how many miles of pipes.  I'd bet my Battlestar, and a Hart's Big Chill, that the main hot water pipe for the building's heating system ran directly over the place where I slept.  All night, the sound of water rushing at light speed through pipes, kept waking me up.  And each time I woke up I had to go to the bathroom;  strange that is......

Mr. W.

Questions to The Troubadour

David C Wrote:

Hello, I posted a question on ranking of the good old space center's campers who worked hard to earn their rank and if any would carry over to the new space center. I for one would be sad if it didn't because I was very close to achieving order of federation and I feel like it would be a place in my life that was never filled. 

David, thank you for the question.  Ranks carry over to the Discovery Space Center.  


Space and Science News 

The First Photograph of the Sun.  1845                           Compared to a Modern Photo.

On 2 April 1845, French physicist Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau and Léon Foucault took the first ever photograph of the Sun.

Fizeau began to research into the new science of photography in 1839, and with Foucault developed 'daguerreotype' photography for astronomical observations by taking the first detailed pictures of the Sun's surface in 1845. They also found, in 1847, that heat rays from the Sun undergo interference and that radiant heat therefore behaves as a wave motion.  Read More

How particle physics improves your life

From MRIs to shrink wrap, particle physics technology improves the world we live in.  Even if you live under a rock, you are probably aware of the global financial crisis looming over humanity today. All politics and political opinions aside, the budgets of governments around the world need to be trimmed so everyone can keep their heads above water. Scientific experimentation is often the target of such budget cuts. Let us take particle physics as an example, in the grand scheme of things, does knowing whether or not knowing about the Higgs boson existence affect everyday people? What does particle physics do for you, the average every-day person? Today, we’d like you to give you a list of the macroscopic changes that have come from the subatomic world of particle physics.   Read More

President Obama Unveils the BRAIN Initiative.

Today at the White House, President Barak Obama unveiled the "BRAIN" Initiative -- a bold new research effort to revolutionize our understanding of the human mind and uncover new ways to treat, prevent, and cure brain disorders like Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury.  Read More

Why Soda from McDonald's Tastes So Much Better

Have you ever had a half empty diet coke in your car, then grabbed lunch through a McDonald's drive through, and suddenly notice the HUGE difference between the soda you were just drinking and the one you just bought from McDonald's? For years I would swear to my friends that McDonald's sodas taste better, but I never bothered to research why.  Read More



Wonders of Imaginative Engineering.  It Takes Courage to Ride This Ride.




Suspended Coffees.  A Lesson in Kindness and Compassion.

"We enter a little coffeehouse with a friend of mine and give our order. While we’re approaching our table two people come in and they go to the counter:

‘Five coffees, please. Two of them for us and three suspended’ The...y pay for their order, take the two and leave.

I ask my friend: “What are those ‘suspended’ coffees?”
My friend: “Wait for it and you will see.”

Some more people enter. Two girls ask for one coffee each, pay and go. The next order was for seven coffees and it was made by three lawyers - three for them and four ‘suspended’. While I still wonder what’s the deal with those ‘suspended’ coffees I enjoy the sunny weather and the beautiful view towards the square in front of the café. Suddenly a man dressed in shabby clothes who looks like a beggar comes in through the door and kindly asks


‘Do you have a suspended coffee ?’

It’s simple - people pay in advance for a coffee meant for someone who can not afford a warm beverage. The tradition with the suspended coffees started in Naples, but it has spread all over the world and in some places you can order not only a suspended coffee, but also a sandwich or a whole meal.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such cafés or even grocery stores in every town where the less fortunate will find hope and support ? If you own a business why don’t you offer it to your clients… I am sure many of them will like it."

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/25/italian-tradition-of-suspended-coffee-takes-hold-elsewhere-in-tough-economic-times/


The Go Pro Array.
Imagination in Video




The Imaginarium
Where Imagination is King.  Make the ordinary, extraordinary.

Mint Chocolate Chip is the best.

There is no room for argument;  therefore, keep your opinion on this matter to yourself.

I'm someone who has strong feelings regarding ice cream.

Imagination: A

I think this works better than just a "Beware of Dog" sign.

Outstanding Products.  Their Inventors Will Be Rich.

Irony

 

Then, with Now Imbedded.
Imagination in Photography

The Creepiest Nightlight Ever Created.

So, this is how they do it.

You stand on the man hole cover and, using the design elements, tap out a code for activation. 

Brilliant!

North Korean Generals Defeated by Large Magnet.

Can you Spot What's Wrong?

We Are Judged by Our Appearance.

Dress and Groom the Way You Want to be Judged.

 

 Kim Jong Piggy on German Television

Would YOU make this journey alone?

Creativity in Foods

Universal Law #1435

Universal Law #1436

Universal Law  #1437

I Agree, Give this Awesomely Creative Student the Bonus Points.

Good Guy Teacher.

SOON
A Theater of Paranoia

Virgin has a Sense of Humor

Sad, but True

A Gallery of Food Art

 For People Who Aren't Too Picky

Why Didn't I think of This 23 Years Ago?

April's Fool

Yikes....

From the Handbook of Bad Parenting

The Farpoint Academy's Information Meeting. News from our Sister Center in Pennsylvania. The Danger of Artificial Intelligence.

 

 

Hello Troops,

As you may already know, I've decided to retire from the Alpine District after 30 years of teaching and running the Space Center at Central School.   I'm taking a new teaching job at Renaissance Academy, a K-9 charter school across from Micron Lehi/Highland.  I'll also be directing the new Farpoint Institute. 

 

It was a fantastic three decades, but all good things must come to an end.   A new Space Center director will be appointed and the program will continue.  I'm glad for that.  I'll miss Central School and the wonderful people I worked with in Pleasant Grove.  I'll especially miss the students.       

 

There will be an information meeting for everyone interested in Farpoint Institute's after school programs offered at Renaissance;  merit badge classes, simlabs, computer programming, computer animation, and Long Duration Missions.  The LDM's are episodic missions stretching over several months.  We will be using the simulators at Discovery until new ships are built at Renaissance.  Sadly, we were unable to get permission from the school district to use the simulators at Central School.  

 

Students form their own LDM teams and earn points for how well their teams perform in the missions.  This is what I did with my 6th grade class in the 1980's at Central School, before the Space Center was built.  Farpoint Institute Cadets will also be eligible to volunteer at the new Discovery Space Center in Pleasant Grove. 

  

The meeting will be held at Renaissance Academy on April 17th at 7:00 P.M.   Mark your calendars.

I hope to see you there.

 

Mr. Williamson

 

 

 News from the IKS Titan and Dream Flight Adventures.

A Real-Life Magic School Bus Prepares Today's Students for Tomorrow

Imagine what it would be like to take adventures back in time, through space, or under the sea—in sixth grade? This might seem pretty inconceivable for some of us, at least outside the pages of a good book, but it is now a regular classroom reality for students at Shaler Area Elementary School in Glenshaw, just outside of Pittsburgh. Thanks to an $80,000 grant from The Grable Foundation, Shaler educators were able to partner with Dream Flight Adventures, a creative education technology firm, to design a new interactive learning environment called the IKS Titan.

Read More

How Much Longer Before our First A.I. Catastrophe?

It’s difficult to know exactly how, when, or where the first true AI catastrophe will occur, but we’re still several decades off. Our infrastructure is still not integrated or robust enough to allow for something really terrible to happen. But by the 2040s (if not sooner), our highly digital and increasingly interconnected world will be susceptible to these sorts of problems.  Read More