Alessandro Cozzani: Lights, cameras, action for satellite testing

Mars arrival orbits

This animation shows the relative orbital paths of ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), the Schiaparelli Entry, descent and landing 

Instant Freeze Water

A great water experiment recorded by The Sprangler Effect

Boiling in a syringe

Decreasing the pressure can make water boiling.
Video from Flinn Scientific

Nobel Prize in Physics 2016

The laureates this year with the Nobel Prize in Physics are:

• David J. Thouless, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
• F. Duncan M. Haldane, Princeton University, NJ, USA
• J. Michael Kosterlitz, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

”for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”

This year’s Laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states. They have used advanced mathematical methods to study unusual phases, or states, of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids or thin magnetic films. Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter. Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics.

in https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2016/press.html

Papers: 

• https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2016/popular-physicsprize2016.pdf
• https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2016/advanced-physicsprize2016.pdf

Rosetta's Grand Finalle

Rosetta is going to finish its mission by crashing into comet 67P.
Read more here: http://esea.ea.gr/blog/follow-rosettas-grand-finale

And learn more about this mission here: http://bbc.in/29oDVpP

Inside Gaia's camera

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=9lgeRsaQcIk

Zooming in on Star Cluster Terzan 5

Published on Sep 18, 2016

Credit: Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)/DSS/Hubble/NASA
Music: Johan B. Monell

Details: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160921.html

Can We Really Touch Anything?

 

"some of you will wonder: “If electron repulsion prevents us from ever truly touching anything, why do we perceive touch as a real thing?” The answer boils down to how our brains interpret the physical world." 

read the complete article here: http://futurism.com/apotd-curiosity-from-mro/

Solar prominence

Image credit: NASA

Do you want to know what is a solar prominence?
Check this video from NASA.

Engage your students in this new school year

If you want to engage your students in Physics and Astronomy (thinking in space careers), you can use this two videos to do so.

This one is a little portion of the movie Superman: Man of Steel. Jor-El is presented to the Krypton's council to talk about how Krypton's resources is ended and the planet is going to die. He is appealing to reach to the stars again, like the ancients did it before.

This second video is a promotion of the ESA Rosetta mission. We started a new space adventure...



Happy school year.

Eratosthenes Experiment - September 2016

Following last March’s  great success with more than 1000  schools from around the world involved in the activity, ESEA is happy to announce the Eratosthenes Experiment September 2016, which will take place on the 22nd  of September, 2016! Do not miss the opportunity to participate in this fascinating international event!
More info here: http://esea.ea.gr/blog/eratosthenes-experiment-september-2016

Our solar system in cm

In this new school year we can start to push students heads in how to calculate the distance of each planet to our Sun and the respective size.

Well, my fellow colleagues I prepared a spreadsheet.


You can download the spreadsheet from here: http://goo.gl/c6f6WM

Philae found

Image credit: ESA

"Less than a month before the end of the mission, Rosetta’s high-resolution camera has revealed the Philae lander wedged into a dark crack on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko." (font: ESA)

Music and Engineering

A great combination of music and engineering by Martin Molin.

10 Amazing Science Tricks Using Liquid!

International Dark Sky Week

Light Pollution Wastes Energy (Infographic)

International Dark Sky Week (April, 4 to 10) draws attention to the widespread environmental impacts of light pollution and promotes simple solutions to solve it. Learn more about International Dark Sky Week.

In order to help you spread the word about light pollution, the International Dark-Sky Association put together some resources for you. Check back regularly this link for new stuff.

Virtual Visit to CMS at CERN (2016)

On February 24, 2016, at 15 hours, 55 students and 5 teachers in Escola Secundária Dr. Júlio Martins (Portuguese high school), made a virtual visit to CMS at CERN.

The activity was promoted by the European Project Inspiring Science Education (ISE), and it was made, for the second time, with a total of five portuguese schools: Escola Secundária Dr. Júlio Martins (Chaves); Escola Secundária Paços de Ferreira (Paços de Ferreira); Escola Secundária de Loulé (Faro), Agrupamento de Escolas Dra. Laura Ayres (Quarteira); Escola Secundária Adolfo Portela (Águeda).

The students saw the control room, the cavern of CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment, installed in LHC (Large Hadron Collider) and asked some questions to the scientists.

The students made a contact with Portuguese scientists, Pedro da Silva, André David Mendes and José Carlos da Silva, with technical support of Angelos Alexopoulos, Noemi Beni e Zoltan Zsillasi. They drove our students through CMS control room, and explained all the graphics in their computers, to the CMS cavern, 100 meters deep, and they explained all the objects observed, how it works and characteristics.

On the web:
- CMS virtual visit https://indico.cern.ch/event/502813/overview
- Miguel Neta website http://www.miguelneta.pt/pt/atividades/93-cms-virtual-visit-2016
- EUFISICA blog http://blog.eufisica.com/2016/02/visita-virtual-ao-cms-no-cern-2016.html