Night Sky Watch: Mars helps Mommyo spot Uranus
Apparently, the moon is tired, because Mars will be our tour guide tonight. (Assuming cloud cover and light pollution in Chicago permit us to even find…
“How do storm glasses work?” Part Two: The Testing
Storm glasses are not very reliable weather predictors. According to a series of tests performed in Cecil Adam’s lab at the Straight Dope, storm glasses only correctly predict rain about half the time. Which got us wondering, if the storm glass isn’t reacting to changes in local weather conditions to make its predictions, what is it reacting to? How do storm glasses work, anyway?
Night Sky Watch: The moon helps Mommyo spot Saturn
The moon is really working over time to help me spot things in the night sky this month. Tonight and tomorrow, it’s pairing up with Saturn. The…
Night Sky Watch: The moon helps Mommyo spot Jupiter and Spica
Not content with merely helping us spot Regulus earlier this month, the moon continues its guided tour of the night sky with a stop near Jupiter and Spica,…
Night Sky Watch: The moon helps Mommyo find Regulus
Although I am fascinated by the stars, I’m not terribly good at identifying them. Tonight, though, the moon’s going to help me out. Andrew Fazekas, who…
What’s The Nine-Year-Old reading this week?
This week, The 9 year-old dives into Adrian Dingle’s The Complete Periodic Table and Dan Green’s Physics: Why Matter Matters. Both books are from the Basher Science Series.
Night Sky Watch: Comet passing by Earth again at Stupid O’Clock* tomorrow morning, also penumbral lunar eclipse tonight
Comet 45P/HMP passes by Earth at dawn tomorrow If you find yourself up at dawn tomorrow, go ahead and look up into the dawn sky. Who knows?…
(Not Even Sort of) Wordless Wednesday: Storm Glass Fun
Two days ago, I moved the storm glass into the master bathroom in preparation for the battery of tests we’re going to subject it to over the weekend. This morning I noticed that crystals had formed at the top of the glass. I’ve never seen that before. In theory, that means thunderstorms are headed our way. Guess we’ll see if the storm glass is right.
“How does a storm glass work?”: Part One, the Pondering
Several months ago, my daughter and I purchased a storm glass from a local science museum. It’s been sitting in the office making the same prediction ever since (cloudy skies and snow). To be fair, it’s winter in Chicago. But the monotony of its prediction got us wondering: How does a storm glass work, anyway?
“What is heavy water?”
Yesterday, The Nine-Year-Old came home from science class bearing wild tales of hydrogen atoms with extra neutrons in them. I had forgotten that this was possible.…
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