Dan Dixon
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Jabber/GTalk: sandbox
Posts by Dan Dixon
Our World is Warming
Mar 17th
Scientific insight from the group (NASA) that uses science to successfully launch rockets shows that our world is warming.
This past year, 2009, and 2005 were the warmest years recorded since humanity started keeping track. This past decade, 2000-2009, was the warmest decade on record.
NASAs new website, A Warming World, is a wonderful collection of “articles, videos, data visualizations, space-based imagery and interactive visuals that provide unique NASA perspectives on this topic of global importance.”
http://climate.nasa.gov/warmingworld/
Despite the fact that it snows, our world is warming. The evidence is overwhelming.
Learning How To Make Software
Mar 4th
My first experiences in computer programming were in QBasic, a simple DOS based version of BASIC. Qbasic has evolved into VB.NET and it’s sister C# and the development software Visual Studio. While an amazing tool set it just isn’t as simple as it once was. It would likely have overwhelmed me as a 7th grader.
Check out Microsoft’s Small Basic. It makes learning to program simple again, it has a built in turtle (for those that remember LOGO), and it’s free.
Earth’s Day Just Got Shorter
Mar 3rd
The major Chile earthquake a few days ago appears to have shortened the length of Earth’s day by 1.26 microseconds (1.26 × 10-6 or 0.00000126 seconds) and moved its axis by about 8 cm (3 in).
How could this happen?
Have you ever spun around in a chair and noticed that moving your arms in or out changed your speed? When you put your arms out you rotate slower and pulling them in makes you spin faster. It would seem that the earthquake caused a notable chunk of Earth’s mass to move closer to the center which caused the spinning Earth to speed up.
Predicting the Future
Mar 1st
Something made better in Universe Sandbox 2.
Universe Sandbox is software that simulates gravity, one of the four fundamental forces in the universe. Simulate a rouge star crashing through our solar system or two massive galaxies colliding. More Info
City on Caterpillar Tracks
Feb 28th
This has nothing to do with astronomy or Universe Sandbox, but as a LEGO fan, I’m incredibly inspired by this creation:
http://www.brothers-brick.com/2010/02/19/crawler-town-brings-the-city-to-you/
Which seems to be directly inspired by fictional Traction Cities from Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines Quartet series of books:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traction_City
I think the idea of massive, movable cities is fascinating to think about.
Source: Brother’s Brick, an excellent LEGO blog.
Sixty Symbols
Feb 18th
So I’ve run into these videos before, but never realized they were part of a masterful series. The University of Nottingham has created 60+ ~5 minute videos each devoted to a symbol used in physics and astronomy.
The Saturn and Jupiter videos were both great.
And a recent video all about Saturn’s most recently discovered (and very faint) ring. This is easily the best description I’ve heard of the ring and how it likely formed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgcPso9VHg
Check them out… they’re short, interesting, well made, and awesome.
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.
.
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