Posts By:

How to become a Science Hall of Famer

Posted on by
2

I was browsing through the latest issue of Science and poking around its website when I discovered a video about the Science Hall of Fame.  This hall of fame lists approximately 4,000 scientists whose names have appeared the most frequently in books over the centuries.

The top 10 on the list are:

According to John Bohannon, one of the creators of the Science Hall of Fame, the data used to compile the list provides a few unexpected career tips for individuals who wish to be famous among the popular masses.  One of these tips is to write a best-selling book.  Read Bohannon’s article for all the details.

Image from Meeg-el

Formula for constructing perfect sandcastles

Posted on by
Comment

Researchers from France, Iran, and the Netherlands have published a journal article on “How to construct the perfect sandcastle” in Nature Publishing Group’s Scientific Reports.  They present a mathematical formula for building stable sandcastles, which can be used on land or below water.

According to the authors, the study’s “results are of practical interest for civil engineering and soil mechanics… In addition, it explains the maximum height of, and provides us with a recipe to construct, the perfect sandcastle.”

In ScienceNordic, one of the authors also explains in layman’s terms how it can be applied to building sandcastles on the beach.

Image from Sandyfeet

Science at the movies

Posted on by
Comment

Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man) is one of my favorite action superheroes.  It turns out that the “Decay Rate Algorithm” in the movie, The Amazing Spider-Man, is based on real science.  Jim Kakalios, the author of The Physics of Superheroes and a physics professor at the University of Minnesota, explains the science behind the most recent Spider-Man movie in this short video:

Summer fireworks

Posted on by
Comment

Since 1985, LaRonde has been hosting the Montreal International Fireworks Competition, also known as L’International des Feux Loto-Québec.  Tonight at 10pm is this year’s finale.  Every summer over the past few years, I have made the trip to go see them at least once.  My favorite spot to view the fireworks is just outside the Longueil metro station; a lesser-known, quiet spot that is right across the highway from LaRonde.  I had the opportunity to see the fireworks last Friday night and, as always, I was amazed by the spectacular light show.

I recently found this short video about the chemistry involved in making fireworks that features Professor Conkling, the author of the Chemistry of Pyrotechnics: Basic Principles and Theory.

A trip to an ASCE monument of the millennium

Posted on by
Comment

During a trip to Chicago last week, I had occasion to see one of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) monuments of the millennium, the Chicago Wastewater System.  By the end of the 19th century, Chicagoans had heavily polluted the Chicago River by dumping all of their garbage in the water, which flowed into Lake Michigan, the source of the city’s drinking supply.  This caused deadly diseases such as cholera and typhus.  To solve the problem, the flow of the Chicago River was reversed, sending it in the opposite direction from Lake Michigan.

Here’s a brief documentary on the reversal of the Chicago River:

Curiosity Rover to discover whether Mars was once habitable

Posted on by
1

NASA’s new mobile Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the Curiosity Rover, will be launched on August 5th to study the rocks, soil, and atmosphere on Mars’ Gale Crater for signs of historical and current habitable environments.  A habitable environment contains water, energy, and carbon to support life.  Past missions have discovered the limited presence of water and energy on Mars, but none, so far, have found carbon in a form that can sustain life.

Curiosity’s purpose is to determine how to conduct a search for carbon, as well as find carbon.  The former will assist planetary scientists in further research, since they are uncertain about how to probe rock strata for biosignatures, whether on Earth or on Mars.

This month’s issue of Scientific American provides an overview of Curiosity’s mission and a step-by-step description of its landing sequence.

Image from Christopher Lotito

A war hero in our midst: The story of George Irvine Baillie

Posted on by
2

Have you ever noticed any of the 7 portraits hanging on the inside walls of the Schulich Library?  Each portrait has captured a moment in that person’s life and invites us to find out the story behind the face.

The portrait of the young soldier on the library’s 4th floor recounts the story of George Irvine Baillie, a chemical engineering student from McGill University who enlisted in the First World War.  George started his studies at McGill in 1912 and served one year in McGill’s Officer Training Corps before applying to be a member of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in June 1915 at the age of 21.  A copy of his military attestation papers can still be viewed on the Library and Archives Canada website.  He was appointed Lieutenant of the 60th Battalion and died on August 8th, 1918, on the first day of the Battle of Amiens.

His father, John Baillie, who was managing director of the Dominion Oil Cloth Company (the first Canadian company to make oil cloths and linoleums), made a financial endowment to McGill University to open the Baillie Library of Chemistry in memory of his son.  At the library’s opening ceremony on Tuesday, December 11th, 1923, Professor Ruttan, who was the Director of McGill’s Department of Chemistry at the time, said that “the Baillie Library will stand as a constant reminder to future generations of Mr. John Baillie’s deep interest in the University, and of the heroism of his son, who gave his life in the great fight for humanity” (The Montreal Gazette, Dec. 12, 1923).

The library continues to receive support, to this day, from the “Lieutenant George Irvine Baillie Chemistry Collections Fund.”  A list of books purchased with this fund in recent years can be found at https://mcgill.worldcat.org/profiles/mcgill.library/lists/3573117

The Baillie Library of Chemistry is now part of the Schulich Library of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, & Engineering and George Baillie’s portrait serves to remind us of the courage of all those from the McGill community who valiantly fought in the first and second world wars.

 Photo of Baillie’s portrait in the Schulich Library

Social networking for everyone

Posted on by
Comment

Genevieve Bell is an Intel researcher who “found that women are the heaviest users of today’s most widespread and vital technologies: the Internet, mobile phones (voice and text), Skype, e-readers, other e-devices, GPS, and all social networking sites except LinkedIn” (Slate Magazine, 6/19/2012, Waldman).  However, I think that this news should not discourage men from using any type of current technology when needed.

There are social networking sites for both sexes in the physical sciences and engineering.  One example is ResearchGate.

I think of ResearchGate as a sort of Facebook account for professionals.  It allows you to connect with people that have similar research interests.  When you register for an account, you will be prompted to put in educational and professional information about yourself.  You can enter in as little or as much information as you like.  Based on the information you enter in your profile, ResearchGate will suggest conferences, papers, researchers, and jobs, etc. that you might be interested in.

Don’t hesitate to give it a try!  You may find pleasant surprises in the suggestions that ResearchGate brings to your attention.

Image from Microsoft Office Clipart

Google joins the tablet race

Posted on by
Comment

Shortly after Microsoft announced its plans for Surface, Google also unveiled its new 7-inch Nexus tablet at its annual developers’ conference last week.  Nexus will initially be sold on the Google Play online store for $199.00 USD.  Unlike its main competition, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, the Nexus has a front-facing camera and a 1280 x 800 resolution screen.

Related to the Kindle Fire, I want to remind you that you can borrow e-readers for 2 weeks at the library.

Let the tablet wars begin!

Image from Microsoft Office Clipart

Journal impact factors now available for 2011

Posted on by
Comment

Journal Citation Reports has just been updated.  It now contains the journal impact factors for 2011.

The following is a brief refresher on the journal impact factor.  The journal impact factor is published annually in a database called Journal Citation Reports and is calculated according to a formula.  It is the citations that a journal receives in a given year to articles published in the previous 2-year period (for example, citations that a journal receives in 2011 to articles it published in 2009-2010).  This number is then divided by the number of articles published in that previous 2-year period.

Some consider the journal impact factor to be a leading indicator in determining where to submit your manuscript for publication.

Image from Reeding Lessons