Archive for January, 2010
Universe Sandbox to exhibit at the WA Science Teacher Conference
Jan 25th
We will be showing off Universe Sandbox 2 at the Washington State Science Teacher Conference on March 12-14, 2010.
I’m really excited about this opportunity.
This conference is organized by the WSTA (Washington Science Teacher Association).
The picture is of the AFSC booth at the WSTA 2007 conference.
This will be our first exhibition.
Caught the Reddit Wave
Jan 12th
I’m a fan of a site called Reddit. It’s basically a social news / social bookmarking site. In one of the many subgroups someone asked about personal projects that people have worked on. I shared my work about Universe Sandbox and within a few hours I was voted the top comment (when sorted by best, the default method, out of hundreds of comments submitted).
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/aocvm/hey_reddit_what_are_your_personal_projects/
I hope to be able to duplicated this flood once I release Universe Sandbox 2.
It’s going to be so much easier to use and learn.
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More info…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit
Universe Sandbox 2 is Coming
Jan 10th
I’m pleased to announce that the next version of Universe Sandbox will be released in early 2010.
There’s so many new features and improvements to share; I’m so excited. My primary goal with the new version is to make it easier to use and learn while exposing many of the buried features (like chart mode) in the original version.
As we approach the launch date I’ll be posting here about the new features and improvements. Be sure to subscribe.
Here’s two work-in-progress screenshots from the new version. There’s still more to do and some of this will change before it’s released.
You can read more about the next version in the forums:
http://universesandbox.com/forum/index.php/topic,635.0.html
Newton’s Birthday
Jan 4th
Today’s Issac Newton’s birthday, the man who discovered the simple equations that predict the forces of gravity.
This simple equation is at the heart of Universe Sandbox. It’s what makes it all work.
And while his beautiful equation doesn’t work when you get really small or really big, it’s “adequate over an enormous range of masses of objects from about 10−23 to 1030 kg.” source
It’s amazing how something so simple can explain so much.
Happy Birthday Issac.
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For comparison: Earth’s mass about 6 × 1024 and the Sun’s mass is about 2 ×1030 .
More about Newton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton
More about Gravity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton’s_law_of_universal_gravitation
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