Atom Cookies

As I enjoy baking I came across these wonderful cookies on Not So Humble Pie blog and thought they were great as well as creative (and semi-scientific). She makes some Delicious looking atom cookies you can see in her picture. Although they are not the perfect replica of an atom the do show some aspects of them. What is an atom you may ask?

Well an atom is the most basic form of matter which contains a dense center called the atomic nucleus which contains the positive protons and the neutral neutrons. Around this nucleus is a cloud of negatively charged electrons which are bound by electromagnetic force. Atoms are present in everything from your body to the chair you are sitting in. Atoms are even present in these yummy cookies which you can make by following the recipe on Not So Humble Pie.

2010 Winter Olympics

Friday was the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I have been avidly watching the events, seeing many different countries duke it out for a medal. From a science viewpoint the Winter Olympic events contain tons of information. From the aerodynamics of the ski jump to the physics of figure skating. I find it fascinating how much thinking goes into these events and how much science is involved with many aspects of them. NBC teamed up with the National Science Foundation and made videos dedicated to the science of the Olympics so check it out!
Science of the Olympics

Walking in a winter wonderland.....

Anyone who has been living in the North East this winter has heard the term "Snowmageddon" as uttered by President Obama. This winter Washington DC has set a winter record for total snowfall as it broke its previous record from 1898-1899 of 54.4 inches, by receiving a total of 54.9 inches and winter is not even over yet! Here in the metro NY area we received a bunch of snow on Wednesday which shut down much of the businesses here including schools. Why am I posting this you may ask yourself?

Well, weather is caused by science. If you where watching the news you may have heard the term "nor'easter" or "blizzard" uttered, but what exactly are they? Well a Nor'easter are named by their winds that blow from the northeast and drive the storm up along the Gulf stream. They occur any time between October and April when there is moisture and cold air a plenty. They are known for causing heavy amounts of rain and snow, producing hurricane-force winds, and creating high surf. As your reading this you are probably saying to yourself "what?" and "I don't get it?". Well they are caused by two components.

Component #1
A gulf stream low-pressure system which you can think of a big mass of air with winds moving counter-clockwise that causes it to move up the east cost.

Component #2
An Arctic high-pressure system which is another big mass of air with winds rotating clockwise. The northeasterly winds pull the storm up the east cost and then bang! it meets with the air blowing down from Canada. When these two collide they produce a mix of precipitation.
Here is a cool animation showing what nor'easter's are:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7052182/ns/weather

and now...

drum roll please....

Blizzards! Blizzards are a blinding snow storm with cold, high winds. Although I don't enjoy blizzards or nor'easter's they are great displays of science at work!

Here are some links you can visit to find out more about blizzards and nor'easter:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question595.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/blizzard-info.htm