Author: Arjen

CONFIRMED: The Last Great Prediction Of The Big Bang! | Medium

Seventy years ago, we had taken fascinating steps forward in our conception of the Universe. Rather than living in a Universe governed by absolute space and absolute time, we lived in one where space and time were relative, depending on the observer. We no longer lived in a Newtonian Universe, but rather one governed by general relativity, where matter and energy cause the fabric of spacetime itself to curve.

[…]

[Now] A leftover glow unlike any other — of neutrinos — has finally been seen.

Read the full article.

“Two degrees above absolute zero was never so hot.”

NASA releases 3D-printable models to the public | gizmag.com

http://www.gizmag.com/nasa-3d-printable-models/33116/

As part of its continuing program of education and outreach, NASA has released 22 printable models of NASA and European space probes, asteroids, and planetary landscapes for the hobbyist and space enthusiast.

The 3D models are available from the NASA website for free and are printable on any desktop 3D printer using plastic filaments. It’s the latest in a long tradition of NASA science, technology artwork made available to the public going back to its founding in 1958.

State of Electronics – Getting Started

My friend Jon Oxer (Freetronics) contributed to a short film by Karl Moller (State of Electronics) about how different people (including well knowns such as Dick Smith) first became interested in electronics. Beautifully done, it’s a worthwhile watch.

Jon also writes about his first electronics experience:

When I was in primary school, we all went on a visit to a local community radio station somewhere around Northcote. They let each of us speak on the radio for a moment, which was very exciting for a little kid!

However, the really significant thing was that one of the staff found out I was interested in electronics so he drew the circuit diagram of a crystal receiver on a scrap of paper for me to take home with me. I later scrounged up the various parts required to assemble it, and spent hours listening to stations such as 3RPH.

It blew my mind that something as simple as a crystal set could receive radio signals without even needing a battery, so it would just sit there playing the sound 24/7 and never go flat. It was like having magical powers to cast a spell on an inanimate object and make it do something interesting.

Caterpillar Gets Operation and Goes on Tour

Our robotic caterpillar mascot needed a little operation today: its middle horizontal servo had been acting up in recent weeks, so I replaced it. I’m happy to report it’s made a full recovery!

Robotic caterpillar gets spinal operational
OpenSTEM’s robotic caterpillar gets a spinal operation

Mirobot v2Later today we’re visiting Chermside library (during their renovation they’re currently located at North Regional Business Centre, 960 Gympie Road, opposite the Westfield Chermside Shopping Centre).

We’ll also be demonstrating the Mirobot drawing turtles from our popular Robotics Program.

Song Lyrics Flow Chart

I’m not a great fan of flow-charts when it comes to programming, but I reckon this one with the lyrics of the classic Beatles song Hey Jude is pretty cool: (click on the image to see it at full size)

heyjude-flowchart

If you like that kind of geeky fun… a few years ago there was a Twitter trend #songsincode (links to the archive) in which thousands of people captured the title of a song using a bit of (pseudo-)code (of whatever programming language), of course also bound by Twitter’s 140 character message limit.

It saw crafty things like

substring("the tiger",6,1)

(by @antallan),

baabaa=new sheep{color:black};echo(baabaa.hasWool?string.format("{0}!\n{0}, {1} bags full","Yes Sir",baa.bags.count):"No");

(by @web_bod) and many many more.

OpenSTEM at Open Source Developers’ Conference 2015

OSDC koala logoHorays! Arjen and Claire are both selected to speak at the Open Source Developers’ Conference 2015, scheduled for 27-29 October in beautiful Hobart, Tasmania:

OSDC is a great conference, low cost (about $300 including lunches and the conference dinner!) with a friendly, knowledgeable and engaging group of people and sessions. Always enjoyable and highly educational.

We hear that OSDC registration has been opened, the draft schedule is up and limited earlybird tickets are available.

caterpillar-logo-banner-1260x240

Of course we’ll bring along caterpillar (he hasn’t travelled outside QLD yet), and assorted other goodies and gadgets for everybody to see and explore.