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THE HOT SPOT

A Princeton Newsletter
Week 3: July 17, 1998

Activity Log
Monday, July 13
1. Discussion about sources and
     effects of greenhouse gases
2. Atmospheric Aerosols - Lynn
     Russell
3. Project Work

Tuesday, July 14
1. Inter-institute meeting
2. Eric Weischaus talk
3. Small group work with Biology and
     Rutgers groups
4. Project Work
5. Steve Carson "Clouds and Blue
     Skies"

Wednesday, July 15
1. Project work
2. Aerosol Sampling and
Instrumentation - Lynn Russell
3. More project work

Thursday, July 16
1. All day work on inquiry
investigations
2. Open Space

Friday, July 17
1. Inquiry Investigations
2. CBLs and Digital Cameras
3. More Inquiry Investigations

Sunday, July 19
2:00 Bruce Alberts lecture
Get your book signed!!

Joke of the Week

Two atoms were sitting in a restaurant. When they left, the first one said, "Wait! I have to go back! I left an electron behind." "Are you sure?" asked the other. The first one answered, "Yes, I'm positive."
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Highlight of the week:
A surprise visit by Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and Cobra Event, thrilled the Woodrow Wilson participants. Preston regaled the audience with stories of his troubled high school career and devious journalism techniques. The "black vomit" passage was almost enough to make us want to skip another great lunch at Wu cafeteria. We anticipate Preston's next release with great relish.

********************************
Deb Teaches The Use of Graphing Calculators, Computer Based Labs, and Temperature Probes: Participants Contribute to Global Warming

Deb displays her teaching talent. Frances and Bernagle observe CBL's while Leah, Pam, and Eric graph data.

Gerald, Arlene, Bevon and Frances cook a Cheeto in order to determine quantity of energy stored in food.

WEB PAGE DESIGN
We've been working so hard on our inquiry projects that this area will remain blank. Have fun filling in the blanks yourself. Creative ideas can be sent to Arlene or Barb.

^{Nobel Prize Recipient Eric Wieschaus}

The Woodrow Wilson fellowship convened Tuesday morning to listen to the amazing work of the Nobel prize winning scientist in the area of Medicine and Physiology, the noted Princeton scientist, Dr. Eric Wieshaus.
Dr. Weischaus reflected upon two experiences that shaped his career path. He found fascination as a young student in looking "at bones, discovering muscle attachments, and figuring out how animals walked." Later, he had an extraordinary experience observing developing salamander embryos in college science class. "My great fortune," Wieschaus explained, "has been to find a match between a question and a set of skills." Intrigued with the science of embryological biology, Dr. Weischaus and colleagues began to study the development of fruit flies and their genetics. Pondering the question, "How do cells know to become different, and what genes control such activities in the early development of fruit fly eggs," Dr. Weischaus devoted 25 years of study separating out thousands of strains of fruit flies to isolate the genes that regulate the development of an egg upon fertilization. He discovered 139 genes that were ultimately responsible for controlling how cells specialize and the mechanisms at work. Weischaus' continued studies led him to the discoveries of various genes and proteins such as the "twist," and "armadillo." These same genes were found to exist and work as well in higher organisms. Dr. Eric Weischaus and two of his colleagues received the Nobel Prize in 1995 for isolating genes responsible for embryonic development and specialization.

TOP TEN REJECTED THEMES FOR WOODROW WILSON INSTITUTES
10."Advanced Abacus Training:
      Dealing With the Year 2000
      Computer Crash"
9. "The Coriolis Effect: Debunking the
      Toilet Myth"
8. "Teaching Taxidermy With An
       Inquiry Approach"
7.   "Air Conditioning: Creature
       Comfort or Modern
       Planet-Killing Evil?"
6.   "The Greenhouse Effect: Truth or
       Fact?"
5.   "Palm Trees in Boston, Beaches in
      Nebraska: The Upside to Global
      Warming"
4.   "Colon Slash Slash: Internet
       Training or Abdominal Surgery?"
3.   "High Albedo and Male Baldness:
       Is There A Connection?
2.   "Ozone, Shmozone: Benefits of
      CFC Technology"
1.   "Getting To Know Ebola Through
       Hands-On Research"

July ??? Happy Birthday to Deb Noteboom! (This week sometime...when?)

Environmental Woodies Party On The Patio
Wednesday, participants gathered on the back patio of Forbes to talk with Dave Ciotti from the Princeton Physics Plasma Lab while John Lord entertained the group with tales of his classroom antics. Joe generously shared his care package from Kansas, homemade chocolate-chip cookies.

Aerosols and Climate Change

Lynn Russell shared her expertise in the field of aerosols with us in two sessions this week. Aerosols are tiny particles of liquid or solid matter that are suspended in air. Atmospheric aerosols have many sources and are composed of many different materials including sea salt, soil, smoke, and sulfuric acid. Aerosols can reflect solar radiation or absorb and emit infrared radiation, and are often visible as haze or smog. Clouds are significantly impacted by the presence of aerosols. Every cloud droplet has at its center an aerosol, or cloud condensation nuclei, on which the water vapor collects to form the droplet. The increase in aerosols could cause the water in clouds to be distributed into more, but smaller, cloud droplets. Therefore, the clouds would reflect more solar radiation and have a cooling effect on the earth.
       After hearing the latest on Russell's research, we went up to the computer lab to examine various web sites containing data on aerosols.

Call For Volunteers To Test Hypothesis
Volunteers are needed to test a hypothesis for one of our projects. The hypothesis states that those who partake in a spicy diet will contribute more to global warming than those who injest bland food. The control group will be asked to consume toast and ginger ale, while the experimental group will eat baked beans thrice daily. Antacids will be provided for comfort and for one production of CO2 (when combined with stomach acid) which will be measured using various indicators. Methane production ??? fermentation will be measured, but we're not exactly sure how. Those interested in participating in the study should attend a brief organizational meeting at Big Daddy's Barbeque on Friday at 7:00 pm.

The Return of Steve Carson
Bringing his turntables, 2-liter bottles, flashlights, and matches along, Steve Carson returned to our midst to answer the question, "why is the sky blue and a sunset red?" He led the group in a series of demonstrations and hands-on activities which led to a better understanding of what clouds are made of, how they form, and why they are found high in the sky.
Carson also shared some of his original ideas. While trying to further his son's understanding of the greenhouse effect, Carson created a demonstration using various balls to show that as light is reflected off the surface of the earth some of it is trapped by the atmosphere, therefore the Earth receives a double hit. John L., Gerald, Margaret, Leslie, Ed and Eric served as volunteers to show how this would work. In order to answer the question, "Why is the sky blue?" Carson came up with an analogy involving long-legged orange people and short-legged blue people walking through a rocky field. The blue people stumbled and staggered over the rocks, therefore becoming more scattered while the orange people were able to travel a much straighter path. Very ingenious! All other activities were covered in a comprehensive handout.

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science

lpt@www.woodrow.org
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

webmaster@woodrow.org
CN 5281, Princeton NJ 08543-5281

Tel:(609)452-7007

Fax:(609)452-0066