Category: Uncategorized

BBC gives children mini-computers in Make it Digital scheme | BBC

The BBC has launched its Make it Digital initiative with new hardware for schools and a raft of coding-based content.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31834927

Microbit prototype

This is a wonderful initiative – as I’ve written before, I grew up “next door to the UK” in The Netherlands, we received the BBC1 and BBC2 TV channels, and I managed to cajole my parents into buying be an Acorn BBC computer. It was a real enabler in terms of programming, understanding how computers work, interfacing with electronics, logic design, and much more. It’s awesome that good old BBC is launching something like that again. It shows vision and it’s very worthwhile.

It appears that some of the teaching material and content may be specific to the UK (as in, an Australian student may not connect with the references), but other than that I think it’d be awesome to basically adopt this for use here also. Even with such minor changes required, most of the work has already been done. Why not use it!

Beautiful model Airbus A310 flight

From a 2011 hobby/model show in Germany. Very smooth demo including take-off and landing. Clearly a very light build (see specs below) otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to have it fly so slowly (which makes it awesome).

Of course, I want to see these things autonomous rather than remote controlled 😉

Specs:

  • Type: Airbus A310-200
  • Scale: 1:22
  • Wingspan: 2000 mm
  • Number of Servos: 9
  • Battery: 2s/450mAh (LiPo)
  • Primary Functions: Rudder, Elevator, Flaps, Spoiler, Ailerons via Spoiler, Motors (differential control)
  • Secondary Functions: Retractable Landing Gear, Cabin lighting, Landing lights, Position lights and fin illumination (individually switchable)
  • Weight (RTF) with helium filling: 348g
  • Weight (RTF) with air filling: approx. 390g
  • Max. Speed: approx. 7m/s (equivalent to approx. 300kts scale speed)
  • Landing Speed: approx. 3m/s (equivalent to approx. 130kts scale speed)

 

OpenSTEM Licensing Update

Just a quick note that we’ve updated our site/content Creative Commons license from

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

to

Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Aside from being newer and more generic, we’ve removed the NC (non-commercial) restriction as it’s essentially superfluous given the ShareAlike conditions, and simply a hindrance in many other respects.

For full information on the licenses, please do click through to the Creative Commons license pages for its awesome documentation and very detailed hints on how to best and properly use CC licensed materials.

For more information on the NC modifier, I recommend Erik Möller’s “reasons not to use a Creative Commons -NC license”.

On Pi Day, How Scientists Use This Number | NASA JPL

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4508

The world celebrates the number pi on Pi Day: March 14, 2015 (3/14/15). Here’s how pi is used in science and engineering.

If you like numbers, you will love March 14, 2015. When written as a numerical date, it’s 3/14/15, corresponding to the first five digits of pi (3.1415) — a once-in-a-century coincidence! Pi Day, which would have been the 136th birthday of Albert Einstein, is a great excuse to eat pie, and to appreciate how important the number pi is to math and science.

Pi is the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle. Any time you want to find out the distance around a circle when you have the distance across it, you will need this formula.

Giving a Kid a Hand – Literally

Non-profit Limbitless Solutions, founded by student Albert Manero, has started a project #3DHope: changing lives through the design and distribution of 3D printed limbs.

Below is a lovely video of Iron Man Robert Downey Jr giving an arm to a young boy. An awesome example of what the “opening up” of 3D printing technology (initiated by the Adrian Bowyer, Vik Olliver and the others in the original RepRap project) can accomplish for people’s quality of life.