Pictures of the Space Center's New Odyssey II Under Construction. What Humans Might Look Like in 100,000 Years. New Gravity Trailer. World's Narrowest Home. Huge Imaginarium.

From the London Room
Farpoint Station

Hello Troops,
     I enjoyed the epic thunderstorm that rumbled through Utah County this afternoon.  I was working at my desk in the London Room at Renaissance Academy when I noticed my room grow suddenly dark. I'd planned on putting in a few catch up hours, but staying until night was seriously going above and beyond the call of duty. I looked out my second floor window.  What I saw rolling across the valley took me back a step.  It looked like the apocalypse was upon us. A boiling mass of black clouds had the school in its sights.
     The clouds seemed to be racing ahead of a solid wall of water.  The wind rattled my window. The clouds swirled above.  A rare Utah tornado suddenly dropping from that angry storm cell wouldn't have surprised me.   Had it happened, I would have faced a tough decision.  Stay in the school or seek shelter in my Lincoln Battlestar parked in the parking lot.  I believe the Battlestar would have won out in the end.  Luckily, it was a choice I didn't have to make.

Mr. W.

The New Odyssey II is Taking Shape at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center in Pleasant Grove 

The Odyssey II is well on its way to becoming the newest simulator in the fleet of ships using my method of totally immersive simulation.  Currently the fleet consists of the Phoenix, Magellan, Galileo (all at the CMSEC), Endeavor, Challenger, Atlantis, and Columbia (all at the Discovery Space Center).  The Starship Leo is under construction at Lake View Charter School.  The Odyssey II is under construction at the CMSEC and Farpoint's Voyager II will be built at Renaissance Academy (my new space center).  

The Odyssey Bridge.  The circle platform is the Captain's Station.  This is looking back
from the front of the bridge.

A shot taken from the Odyssey's Control Room right across from the Phoenix's
entrance.  The floor area marked by red tape is the hallway from the classroom's
front door to the Phoenix and Odyssey's entrances.  

The back of the Odyssey II with the wheelchair ramp visible

Looking toward the front of the Odyssey II from the back right stations which
sit agains the Control Room wall.

Standing at the front of the ship looking back.

  
Space and Science News

(From Quarks to Quasars)
Today, I want to talk about what it would be like to spend a day on Venus. As one of Earth’s closest neighbors, it seems only polite that we stop by for a friendly visit every now and then. However, Venus seems to be the black sheep of the solar system. Everyone goes on and on about the glory of Saturn’s rings, the amazing chill of Pluto’s icy craters, and the eminent need to establish a colony on the dusty surface of Mars. But where are the voices lauding the beauty of the Venusian volcanoes, extolling the wonder of the atmospheric lightning bursts, and crying out for the colonization of the Evening Star? Where are the champions of Earth’s twin?  Read More

How the Human Face Might Look in 100,000 Years

From  Forbes
     We’ve come along way looks-wise from our homo sapien ancestors. Between 800,000 and 200,000 years ago, for instance, rapid changes in Earth climate coincided with a tripling in the size of the human brain and skull, leading to a flattening of the face. But how might the physiological features of human beings change in the future, especially as new, wearable technology like Google Glass change the way we use our bodies and faces? Artist and researcher Nickolay Lamm has partnered with a computational geneticist to research and illustrate what we might look like 20,000 years in the future, as well as 60,000 years and 100,000 years out.  Read More

New Movie Trailer for Gravity

This is the movie that James Cameron called “the best space film ever done." 

Thinnest Dwelling

The world's thinnest dwelling Keret House by Jakub Szczesny, designed between two existing buildings measuring 92 centimeters in its narrowest point and 152 centimeters in its widest point, prototype located in Warsaw, Poland.

Keret House is a home of an author, a creator who will use the space revived by the architect. Etgar Keret will live in the House, invite guests to his study. All of these will give new meanings to the space. The no-place will be restored for the city and for the citizens.

Via: designboom.com

The Imaginarium
Making the ordinary, Extraordinary

How grateful we should be for the blessing of living in this land

Real imagination at work here!

I've suffered from this for years.  There, I've finally admitted it.

To my students, "Don't even try it."

Very touching

This kid's got it right

Why you stay in school

They said to buy a lock.  Hummmm.  Epic Fail

An imaginative way to fix a fence

Portable razor. Creativity: A

Imagination: Fail

Lego Star War's Characters

Beautiful living room

Putting on your own sprinkles

Our want ad for Farpoint Station here at Renaissance

A Student's Logic. Miss Divine at Story Corps. The Typewriter for Orchestra. New Galaxy Gear Phone. The Imaginarium

Hello Troops,
     There are days I feel I've been magically transported in the Way Back Machine to the fall of 1983.  It's hot outside.  The halloween colors are blooming in the mountain trees and I'm feeling very much like a new 6th grade teacher doing his best with a new school and foreign curriculum.   I survived this baptism of fire as a new teacher in 1983 and will do it again as a 30 year classroom veteran in 2013.  I've got a good group of students. I've got two outstanding co-workers who are there ready and willing to answer any question, no matter how stupid.  I'm using parts of my brain that haven't been properly exercised since I stopped teaching a full day 6th grade in 1990.  I'm enjoying the challenge and appreciated the opportunity.
     Kids make you laugh.  Yesterday one of the 5th grade students at Shelley Elementary engaged me in a conversation about his Lego competition masterpiece.
     "This looks interesting.  What is it?" I asked the boy.  We stood at table where he and other members of his group were building set pieces for  the school's competitive Lego team.  I volunteered to with Mr. Engles as an assistant coach.
     The boy was eager to impress.  "Well, we're doing disasters, so I'm thinking that if a tsunami hit this sign would automatically pop up to tell people where to go.  See the arrow?"  The Lego sign with reflective yellow arrow laid flat on a Lego carriage.  A directional warning sign for an incoming tsunami would lay flat to the ground and out of sight until needed.  His description made sense.
     "How do you get the sign to pop up?" I asked.  I assumed he would say that someone somewhere would push a button to deploy the sign.  He didn't.  His answer was one hundred times more entertaining.
     "Easy," he replied.  "The tsunami would come pouring in across the road and hit this paddle.  See this part?  That's the paddle.  The water would push on the paddle making the sign pop up and warn people."  He beamed with pride at his fine American Fork engineering.
     "I see a bit of a problem.."  I didn't want to be overly critical of a young 10 year old's work, but I felt If I didn't say something, a judge would later in the year at the district competition.  "Won't it be too late for the sign to warn anyone if the water pressue from the tsunami makes it pop up?  By then, the people would have all drowned."  The boy looked confused.  "Also, the water might be so high the sign might be buried and no one would see it."
     "Oh," was his reply.  "We better think about it so more."
      Things like that make teaching fun.  I'm looking forward to many more moments like that as the year moves along.

Mr. W.

Story Corps, A Way of Capturing Memories and Store Them Forever  

From the cool website StoryCorps, where people can present brief videos about their lives.

The story of Miss Divine at Story Corps

The Typewriter for Orchestra

(From Maggies Farm)

"Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. As with all his other compositions, Leroy Anderson wrote The Typewriter for orchestra, completing the work on October 9, 1950.

This particular orchestration was performed in a June 12, 2011 concert by members of the National Orchestra and Chorus of Spain in Madrid. The (typewriter) soloist is Alfredo Anaya. Watch his expressions and actions throughout the video...wonderful!

Many of the younger crowd who may see this video won't remember the old typewriter. But we geezers remember it well. That was a long time ago."

Samsung's Galaxy Gear SmartWatch

The Imaginarium
Hello Extraordinary.  Goodbye Ordinary

Cool Video of a Airbus A380 Landing. Space and Science News. The Imaginarium

Hello Troops,
I found this very cool video showing the pilot's view of a Lufthansa (German) Airbus A380 landing at San Francisco Airport.  The pilot's speak German to each other and English to air traffic control.  I'm amazed at the jet's automation.  The pilot's look like they fly the plane by pushing buttons.  I believe there is a joy stick in there somewhere.  Enjoy.

Mr. W.  

f

Space and Science News

A photo of an Earth rise from the Moon's North Pole.

Japan's SELENE - a Mission You've Likely Never Heard of:

In 2007, a lunar orbiter built by Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) - called the SELENE (short for the Selenological and Engineering Explorer) - went into orbit around the moon. Despite the significance of its mission - the spacecraft remains relatively unknown. So no need to thank us for bringing these incredible images to your attention.

Over the course of its two year mission (it was detonated as a lunar bomb in 2009) - the sophisticated on-board camera took several images. Many of them recreated several of the iconic images taken by Apollo crew members. The essence of the spirituality of the manned missions was still there - the only thing missing is the crappy, 70's-based technology that gave us low resolution images. 

From Quarks to Quasars

NASA Moon Probe Launches Friday Night

This is an artist's depiction of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) observatory in space with the moon in the distance. Image released July 23, 2013. Credit: NASA Ames/Dana Berry

NASA's next mission to the moon is set to blast off from Virginia's Eastern Shore on Friday (Sept. 6), but if you can't see the launch in person, don't fret. You can watch the rocket soar moonward live online.

The nighttime launch of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft is currently scheduled for Friday at 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 Sept. 7 GMT). The mission will lift off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., and you can watch its flight thanks to smartphone apps, viewing maps and several agency-sponsored special events. Read More

A new American rocket will make a very high-profile debut Friday (Sept. 6) when it blasts a NASA probe toward the moon.http://oak.ctx.ly/r/bb4e

A Minotaur V rocket, built by Virginia-based aerospace firm Orbital Sciences, will carry NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer spacecraft (LADEE) on its maiden launch, which is slated to take place Friday at 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT).

Comet ISON Will be Seen First by the Mar's Rovers and 

Orbiters.

Earthlings might be treated to a dazzling celestial display this fall as Comet ISON makes a suicidal plunge toward the sun. But NASA's rovers and orbiters at Mars will get a glimpse of the icy wanderer first. http://oak.ctx.ly/r/basp

"On Oct 1st, the comet will pass within 0.07 AU from Mars, about six times closer than it will ever come to Earth," astronomer Carey Lisse of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, said in a statement.

The Imaginarium

Make the Ordinary, Extraordinary

One way to discourage skateboarders

I think I took the wrong turn on Rainbow Road