I want sparks & I want them NOW! Update May 2003 - Marx Three is now up & running Do you like the idea of tesla coils and other high-voltage sparking stuff, but don't have the time, money or patience to build something that elaborate? Here's a fun little project that can make big, fat, noisy sparks at least 2 inches long, and can be built very quickly and cheaply. The Marx generator consists of an array of resistors, capacitors and spark gaps arranged as follows: The capacitors, C, are charged up in parallel via the 1M (one megohm) resistors, so they each become charged to the input voltage. Rb has a ballasting effect. Although it is possible to make a Marx generator with just an array of resistors, capacitors and spark gaps, it can be hard to make it fire reliably, as it will depend on the breakdown voltage of the spark gaps, and there can be a fine line between not firing and firing before all the capacitors are fully charged. Component choice An input voltage of about 4-8KV is recommended. Power supply "Marx Two"
12 great free online courses Much ado has been made in recent years over the quickly rising cost of healthcare in the United States. But the cost of college tuition and fees has skyrocketed at nearly twice that rate. Going to college today will cost a student 559% more than it did in 1985, on average. In an exciting talk given at TEDGlobal 2012, Stanford professor Daphne Koller explains why she was inspired — alongside fellow professor Andrew Ng — to create Coursera, which brings great classes from top universities online for free. When she spoke at TED Global, Coursera offered classes from four top colleges — Princeton University, the University of Michigan, Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania — but in July, Coursera announced that they had increased to 16 participating colleges, including five of the schools considered the top 10 in the country by the U.S. Inspired by Young, below, find 12 courses you could take for a completely free TED degree in Big Ideas. Photo: ShutterStock
The Bitterroot Footage My name is Chad. I'm a student at a university in New York. I just moved to a studio apartment and needed some furniture. An old wooden box caught my attention. The film was pretty damaged so I just kept it on my bookshelf as decoration, but I couldn't get the images of the pictures out of my head. With help from Dario, we got an old 8mm projector in good working condition on Ebay. I asked my friend to help me make this website so I can share my findings. Wooden Box and photos Open Box with film can and photos One of the photos The projector we're using with plastic reels. Footage online The Photos are online as I promised. Main Page 9 Fitness Tips to Help You Build Muscle, Lose Fat and Become a Better Athlete If you are in the fitness and bodybuilding world for some time, you’ve probably seen there is a ton of information about training, nutrition and supplements on the internet, magazines, television… Some of it is very useful, but unfortunately, most of it is very misleading. Often, when people find themselves overflown with information, they can pick bad advice, or even fail to act, mainly because they get confused and don’t know what is good and what is bad for them. So if you are just starting – here are a few fitness advices to take you the right way. For the experienced ones – this info will serve as a reminder and to help you stay on track.1. Isolation exercise have their own benefits, but compound movements are the foundation of every weightlifting program and absolutely vital for your success. 2. A workout can work perfectly, but won’t work forever. 3. This may look confusing, but think about it, why you should train your legs? 4. 5. 6. Cardio can be very beneficial for you. 7.
Are Humans Inadvertently Helping Make Animals Smarter? October 10, 2013 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. Well, chalk one up for homo-sapiens, sort of. In a recent study, University of Minnesota biologist Emilie C. Dr. An increase in brain size was also detected in two species of shrews and bats, both found in rural Minnesota, which at first seems to conflict with Dr. Similarly, researchers at the Uppsala University in Sweden conducted experiments in which they bred guppies for larger brain sizes, and essentially proved that animals with bigger brains tend to learn tests quicker, meaning they generally learn better. Jason Munshi-South, an evolutionary biologist at Fordham University calls the results "exciting and deserving of much follow-up work." So, at least there is one upside to humans' impact on the environment.
What is causing the waves in California to glow? It looks like something from the movie "Avatar": ocean waters that light up like neon glow sticks when they splash. Beaches across southern California have recently been alight with eerie, glowing waves. What could be causing such an otherworldly phenomenon? A recent report by Discovery News has provided an answer. According to marine biologist Jorge Ribas, the glowing is caused by a massive red tide, or algae bloom, of bioluminescent phytoplankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum. The microorganisms emit light in response to stress, such as when a wave crashes into the shore, a surfboard slashes through the surf, or a kayaker's paddle splashes the water. The phenomenon has been observed on a semi-regular basis since at least 1901 along the beaches around San Diego, Calif. For surfers who don't mind catching a wave in water teeming with a sludge of microorganisms, the glowing ocean offers the chance of a lifetime.
CF "Ice Breaker" Questions Great questions designed to help people in small groups get to know one another. If you could live in any sitcom, which one would it be? What was in your high school locker? Best dessert you have ever had? Something interesting you might not know about me is . . . What was the most embarrassing thing you have done while on a date? Editor, October 2008: I have disabled the Submit Question feature. Editor, January 2016: This list has been available since 1998! How Common Core is Slowly Changing My Child | mrsmomblog A Letter to Commissioner King and the New York State Education Department: I have played your game for the past two years. As an educator, I have created my teaching portfolio with enough evidence so I can prove that I am doing my job over the course of the school year. Today, things got really personal. That’s right, NYS, I call bull. “Boughten is an archaic participial inflection of the verb to buy. So, when my son is faced with answering questions on outdated language, on topics such as a ‘sorrel mare’ and the reading passages take place in foreign war-torn lands, when these children haven’t even mastered the basics of their own country yet, what do expect him to feel like? No, sir, I’ll tell you what it does. I understand that we want to compete globally in the area of education. Creating modules that are a scripted nightmare for both the teacher and student is not the answer. This mom is angry. Sincerely, Mrs. Advocating for your child too?
The Grandmaster Experiment The world's first female grandmaster was ready to deliver her regular Thursday-night lecture. Susan Polgar was perfumed, coiffed, made-up and dressed in a sleek black pantsuit, an elegant contrast to the boys and young men hunched over their boards in her Queens, New York, chess club. "I have a special treat," Susan, 36, announced in her gentle Hungarian accent. "Tonight, everyone will get to play me." Blitz chess it was—each opponent received five minutes on his clock to Susan's one. When Susan was the age of many of her students, she dominated the New York Open chess competition. In 1991, when Susan was 21, she became the first woman ever to earn the designation Grandmaster, the World Chess Federation's title for top-ranked players. Judit, who is now the top-ranked woman and eighth overall player in the world, would go on to win a match in 2002 against reigning champion Garry Kasparov, who has said that "women by nature are not exceptional chess players."