Fashion... The Newest and Best Shark Repellent?!

While shark attacks are a relatively rare risk compared to the dangers of driving your car to work, for those that share the waters with these predators it can be a real danger. A growing market has emerged in the area of shark repellent devices that use electronic signals or foul tasting chemicals, but it seems a possible alternative could just be the color and patterns of a wet suit.

In this TED Talk, Hamish Jolly: A shark-deterrent wetsuit (and it's not what you think), Mr. Jolly talks about research they discover how and what a shark sees. They focused on the eyes of the three most dangerous sharks the Bull, Tiger, and Great White Sharks. Research had discovered that these predatory sharks see in greyscale, and their continued research explored the way sharks see and the patterns they respond to.

The research explored patterns for suits used on the surface of the water in activities like swimming and surfing, as well as those used in SCUBA diving below the surface. These two types of suits are designed using different ideas.

The first suit is designed for surface divers. This one utilizes bold stripes that mimic the warning stripes of fish that are left alone by sharks because they either taste bad to them or are in a symbiotic relationship with them. Since most shark attacks are attributed to sharks mistaking humans for their prey, the hope is that by making humans look like things a shark would normally not eat or avoid would prevent an attack. When they placed this type of pattern on a wet suit covering a bait container the sharks left it alone. The same container covered with a traditional black wet suit was attacked.

The second suit is designed for divers beneath the waves, and its goal is not to use bold patterns to warn the sharks away, but instead allow them to blend into the water so that they become invisible to the sharks. The patterns on this suit are designed to make the diver hard to see from the side, as well as from below, which is a favored ambush position for some sharks.

Both of these designs mimic the strategies that many ocean creatures already use to protect themselves from sharks. Humans can benefit from this by saving money on more expensive repellent ideas, as well as by being safer in the water. This is also good for sharks... the less they harm people, the more likely they are to be left alone when they drift to close to where people live.

Here is the TED Video:

Stripe Suit Pic
http://www.surfersvillage.com/sites/default/files/field/image/1807-sharksuit_4.jpg

Water Camo Pic
http://images.watoday.com.au/2013/07/18/4580593/9-620x414.jpg

3 Suits
http://cdn.novafm.com.au/sites/default/files/No-More-Shark-Attacks-article2.jpg

Google Cultural Institute... An Amazing Classroom Resource

The Google Cultural Institute is an amazing tool for exploring art, history, and the world around us. Google has partnered with museums and galleries around the world to create an immense library of ultra high resolution images of famous art work and photographs that can be examined in an amazing amount of detail. The Institute is made up of three powerful tool... The Art Project, Historic Moments, and World Wonders.

Many works of art can be zoomed in on so far you can see the dirt that has accumulated in the ridges of brush  strokes. You can also visit the museums themselves to see the work and where it is located using Google Street-view links that are embedded in it!

One amazing work that is available for exploration is called Sun That Does Not Set by HoyAyer. It is a collection of photographs taken in one of the southern most points of South America. One was taken each hour and when combines you end up with this beautiful collage. It is also an awesome science resource to show how the sun does not set in certain places and certain times.

You also have the ability to explore an amazing collection of historic photographs and video clips for almost every historic moment in the modern age... basically anytime since cameras were invented... You can zoom in on photos to explore details and watch videos of interviews with people the actual events. All of these images are reliable and easily attributed since they have been shared by museums. This is not your average Google Images Search!

The contributors and Google have been collaborating to make Exhibits from the library of materials and have made a number of really good ones so far. One of the most powerful I looked at was called Tragic Love at Auschwitz , and it was about two young Jews in Poland that found love when they met in Auschwitz. They later went on to escape, although they were later recaptured and executed. The story is told in pictures, authentic documents, and written transcripts from the people that knew them in the camp. It is amazing how the story comes to life when these separate historic resources are displayed in this context.

More exhibits are bieng added all of the time, including this one on the history of computing: Revolution: The First 100 Years of Computing.

You can also explore many of the world's wonders through photographs, video clips, and Google Street View. One amazing example of this is on the Great Barrier Reef. You can travel here through the street view links and explore the beauty of this underwater wonder. You can then take a look at some of the amazing images that have been captured here as well. When you are finished, you can jump to another amazing place on this planet and explore that as well.

Since this tool is from Google, it is free and it is also linked to your Google Account. Just by being logged into Google you will be able to create collections and Galleries of your own. You can make a collection of images from World War 2, or even create your own Gallery of your favorite impressionist works. These galleries can be brought up anywhere you can access the internet and are easily shared via hyperlink.

These tools can be used to add amazing content to your lessons, but they can also be used by students as well. They can explore history to find their own answers and create collections for study or presentation.

Here is tutorial to get you started:  Google Cultural Institute Tutorial Playlist

Tired of Watery Ketchup?

Two Kansas City, MO teens were. Instead of just waiting for some other sucker to come along and use the ketchup before them and get the watery mess on their burger, they instead decided to come up with a solution.

Tyler Richards and Jonathan Thompson, both 18 years old, decided to make this the topic for a project for the Project Lead the Way course. The prompt for the project was "It bothers me when..." Both young men found watery ketchup as something that bothered them, and after finding that 85% of the people the surveyed agreed with them, the set off in search of a solution.

Their design is for squeeze bottles and changes the cap design so that the watery stuff that can ruin a burger is collected, and only perfect ketchup comes out. They call it SNAP, which is short for Syneresis Negation Apparatus. Apparently "syneresis" is the term used to describe when liquid comes out out solution in gelatinous substances as the material contracts.

Here is a video of the inventors demonstrating their product:

The two young men are currently in the process of seeking a patent got their invention. Now before any naysayers chime in with the idea that this invention could be replaced by doing something as simple as shaking the bottle before dispensing your ketchup... keep in mind that this is America. The only thing we like more than a cool new gadget, is a cool new gadget that saves us from doing work!

It is a great idea, and the two young men behind it will hopefully continue to recapture the spirit of innovation we used to be famous for. We need more programs like Project Lead the Way and projects like this one in our schools.

Teenager Turns Her YouTube Channel into a Career

I came across this story about 18 year old Bethany Mota, who has turned her fashion hobby into an extremely profitable career.
Bethany started he YouTube channel when she was 14 and posted videos containing her thoughts, beauty tips, and fashion advice. She has millions of followers and it is estimated that she earns about $40,000 a month from advertisements on her channel.



This savvy young fashion mogul also uses other social media like Instagram to share her ideas and videos. She currently has millions of followers, and actually has more followers than leading fashion institutions like Vogue, Elle, and Cosmo.

Here is a link to her social media outlets:

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Macbarbie07

Instagram: http://instagram.com/bethanynoelm

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BethanyMota

Recognizing her influence on young shoppers, Aeropostale hired her to pick things she like to be sold in their stores and was so successful at it, that they gave her the opportunity to design her own line of clothing to be sold in their stores!

It is a great story about a young lady that has overcome cyber-bullying as a teen and used social media to literally get her a dream career before she even finished high school. I think it is a great example for students to see what a fellow teenager has been able to accomplish with a responsible and productive use of the popular social media tools that are out there.

Changing the Way We Look at the World

TED Talk with Louie Schwartzberg - Mysteries of the Unseen World 

This is a preview of Mr. Schartberg's Imax 3D movie project now being shown in NYC at the Museum of Natural History and in other locations around the country. In this film, he is able to capture aspects of this world that are eyes cannot perceive. Using time lapse and slow motion film making techniques, things that are too fast or slow for our eyes to see are made visible, like the wings of a dragonfly in flight or the growth of a vine climbing up a tree. 

The film also delves into the microscopic world as it shows some of the tiny creatures invisible to us or the makeup of spider silk that can only be seen under powerful magnification. Data and computer modeling are also used to create amazing visualizations of the patterns of planes and ships as they travel the world, in addition to ocean and weather patterns that can also be displayed. The short clips displayed in this video are truly amazing and make one want to see the entire movie.



TED Talk with Louie Schwartzberg - Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. 

In Schwartberg's "Happiness Revealed" project, he explores the world through time lapse photography and shares the thoughts of a young girl and an old man on the subject of exploring and appreciating the world around them. The images of weather and the beauty of nature reinforce the message of the video that everyday is to be enjoyed and used to explore and learn about the world around us.





TED Talk with Louie Schwartzberg - The Hidden Beauty of Pollination 

In this TED Talk Mr. Schwartzberg talks about his over 20 years of experience using time lapse photography to capture images of the motion of flowers, but also of his fascination with the process of pollination which makes life possible on this planet. There are some truly amazing images of insects, hummingbirds, bats, and flowers as they interact in this life giving process.

All three of these talks contain information and imagery that can be used to help teach just about any subject.

Kayakers Film Sea Monsters!

Does anyone remember the strange creatures that beach goers had found washed up on beaches in California last year? Some stumbled across long, serpentine creatures that resembles sea serpents from legends and tales. (See the CNN story here.)

Well it turned out that these creatures were the extremely rare Oar Fist, that has seldom been seen alive. They remain a mystery due to the fact that they are usually found washed up on shore and almost never photographed or filmed in the wild. The only known live video was actually taken by an underwater submersible... that is until now. (Here is that video.)

Recently some people kayaking came across a pair of live Oar Fish as they seemed to be trying to beach themselves. The humans then helped them back in the water and were able to get some pretty amazing footage of them from both above and below the water.

Here is the article I originally read about the siting and found the link to the video. I embedded the video below.

Cleaner Water with Sticks... Xylem Water Filtration Experiment

Have you ever seen how expensive water filters are? Who would have thought that one of the best ones is available for free? It even grows on trees!

I came across this article about an MIT scientist that was experimenting with the xylem of plants to filter out impurities in water. Here in the United States, clean drinking water is something that is everywhere, but in many parts of the world it is in short supply. Impure water still causes disease in millions of people every year, and the options to filter water can be expensive and hard to get. 

The scientist peeled back the bark of a protion of pine tree and affixed the cross section to a tube and began pumping water that was contaminated with tiny imputities through it. According to the research the xylem filtered out 99% of the impurities and bacteria!

Now a person does not want to risk drinking water that is not 100% pure, but it is an available and affordable method of filtration that has the potential to lead to even better filtration methods. There is a link to the video of the experiment below.

http://video.mit.edu/watch/water-filtration-using-plant-xylem-27183/

TED Talk with Hugh Herr: The Bionics that Let Us Run, Climb, and Dance

This amazing TED Talk by Hugh Herr explores how far the design of artificial limbs and prosthetic devices has come, and where it is heading. Mr. Herr is an MIT professor as well as a double amputee who lost both of his legs in a mountain climbing accident. He had sustained extreme tissue damage due to frostbite, and his legs had to be amputated. He never let himself think of himself as being "broken" and instead focused on the belief that it was the available technology to help him get back to normal that was broken.

This drove him to seek out better prosthetic devices that would allow him to get back to climbing and living his life. He created his own devices that not only allowed him to get back to what he loved, they actually were better than his original legs at certain tasks! Specially designed feet allowed him to find purchase in crevices and on ice that a regular foot would be unable to.

His talk goes through the mathematics, science, and design principles behind the amazing prosthetic technology they are creating to help people. The amazing part is not just that they have been able to allow people to get on their feel and walk, they actually are able to walk almost as naturally as they did before their injuries.

One of the most powerful parts of the video was his closing. Adrianne Haslet-Davis was a ballroom dancer, who lost one of her legs in the Boston Marathon Bombings. In seconds she was robbed of her ability to dance and express herself through the art form that she loved. Mr. Herr took it upon himself to put his team to work on a prosthesis that would return her to the dance floor. In 200 days they had researched and designed her a new leg... this video ends with her first performance using it.

Here is a copy of the TED Video:

Evernote Tutorial

Evernote is a powerful tool that allows you to grab content form the internet and save it in the cloud. This content can then be accessed on any device you have installed Evernote on. Smartphones and tablets can access content that you clip from the browser on your computer and vise-versa.

You can also use Evernote on mobile devices to not only capture things from the internet, you can also capture audio you record using your device. These audio notes can be stored, organized, and shared like any other content. You can even access pictures you have on your device to be added to notes.

The content you gather in Evernote can be organized into notebooks that can be shared to individuals or via internet link. You can create a collection of content that can be shared with your students, almost like an online textbook that can be updated at any time.

Below is a tutorial playlist I have created to help anyone interested in learning how to get started using Evernote.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?action_edit=1&list=PLGI5tV-TCvIkiDLs_d8wseEg3NlSTZnqu