We’ve been delighted to welcome more puppets to the Connect network this term, with workshops running in several schools. Our pace of delivery is picking up now, with our colleagues at the Life Science Centre slotting loads of sessions in for the new year. If your school (or library, community centre, or other venue) is interested in hosting a series of workshops, please do get in touch: email us at jonathan.sanderson@northumbria.ac.uk. Also watch this space, we’ll post details as soon as we have them.
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Mountain_Goat_Mount_Massive.jpg21122816Joe Shimwellhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJoe Shimwell2015-06-25 11:30:022017-05-18 15:15:00Goat on a Boat
Well, did your turbine work? Did you manage to get the mass up to the table, or were you left with a knotted bundle of string? Did your turbine purr like a renewable energy generating masterpiece, or did all the blades fall off?
It doesn’t matter either way as long as you didn’t give up: figure out what went wrong and keep trying to fix the problem. As a wise old person once said, “An effective wind turbine was never created by someone who gave up at the first sign of difficulty, like for example the axle being bent.” Isn’t amazing how there’s a wise old saying for almost every eventuality!
Check out more about wind turbines (including a a virtual tour of an offshore wind farm which is awesome) and about careers in the renewable energy sector on our wind turbines activity page.
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMAG0418.jpg42242368James Brownhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJames Brown2016-03-15 12:58:282016-03-15 13:04:2215th March – Wind Turbine Engineering
Today we explored the whole scope of Physics, from atoms to astrophysics. For more information check out our workshop page here, and make sure you have a go with this scale of the universe tool. I could spend all day playing around with it.
We talked about protons, neutrons and electrons today, but we didn’t mention the even smaller particles that they are made of. Have an explore. Did you spot the transistor gate that’s about the size of a virus? These are what give your phone its processing power. Current transistors are as small as 7nm – that’s 0.000007mm. The smaller they are, the more we can pack onto a microchip and the more processing power we can get. However, it looks like we might struggle to make them any smaller. As we get smaller we enter the realms of “quantum tunneling” which can cause all sorts of problems. To prevent this, we may have to start making our chips out of something other than silicon. (I like mine made out of potato! ba-dum-tish!)
One option might be a new material invented in Manchester called Graphene. It is only a single atom thick and could be used to make even smaller transistors. It’s super light and super strong and is changing the way we design and construct new products. If you want to get a glimpse of the material of the future, look here.
We also looked at the International Space Station, which you can watch, live, here. If you want to see the ISS fly overhead, use the tracker website here. You can give Tim a wave, and if you tweet him first (@astro_timpeake), he might just wave back!
This article is about Dr Richard Morton who works at Northumbria University. He is studying the sun and its effects on Space weather, which could be used toto help keep astronauts safe whilst in space.
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/The_Sun_by_the_Atmospheric_Imaging_Assembly_of_NASAs_Solar_Dynamics_Observatory-1650.jpg15751650James Brownhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJames Brown2016-03-10 15:12:152016-03-10 15:13:48March 10th – Atoms to Astrophysics
Hello Excelsior! Wow, what a day we’ve just had. I don’t know about you, but it’s made me ready for the summer. I love a good festival: the music, the lights, the food. I’m a bit less keen on the massive expenditure of energy and resources that often goes along with a large music festival. This is why I’m particularly impressed with the Shambala festival which focuses on renewable energy and sustainable resources. They are now powered by 100% renewable energy and have reduced their Carbon footprint dramatically over the last six years. (Find out more information at the bottom of the page.
This music video by Imogen Heap was created using entirely renewable forms of energy. They used a combination of solar hybrid generators and PedGens (fancy exercise bikes – keeps you fit whilst you watch the music!) and were able to power all the music, the stage and the video production equipment. Check out those wired gloves she uses to interact with the music. A perfect example of Science and Art working in perfect harmony.
The activity that we did today is very similar to the sort of research that goes on in the development of wind turbines. You’ve probably seen the large wind turbines either off the coast or up on the hills, but the new breed of wind turbines are designed to work in an urban landscape. Engineers are developing turbines that produce less noise and less vibrations so that we can install them on the tops of buildings and in highly populated areas. Novel designs and structures allow the turbines to be efficient in different wind conditions and produce a consistent level of energy. Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) are able to be placed closer to the ground and can operate in less windy areas than traditional wind turbines. You’ll probably see them mostly in urban areas. Next time you’re out in town, take a look up to see if you can see any.
For more information about a regional company who are developing wind turbines check out our Siemens employer case study.
A vertical axis wind turbine at Northumbria University.
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.png00James Brownhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJames Brown2016-02-12 07:35:542016-02-12 07:35:5412th Feb – A greener festival
What a great way to start the year; exploring the universe from the incredibly tiny to the unbelievably large. You can find out more about very tiny or very large things using this The Scale of the Universe animation. I could spend all day zooming in and out. We talked about protons, neutrons and electrons today, but we didn’t mention the even smaller particles that they are made of. Have an explore. Did you spot the transistor gate that’s about the size of a virus? These are what give your phone its processing power. Current transistors are as small as 7nm – that’s 0.000007mm. The smaller they are, the more we can pack onto a microchip and the more processing power we can get. However, it looks like we might struggle to make them any smaller. As we get smaller we enter the realms of “quantum tunneling” which can cause all sorts of problems. To prevent this, we may have to start making our chips out of something other than silicon. (I like mine made out of potato! ba-dum-tish!)
One option might be a new material invented in Manchester called Graphene. It is only a single atom thick and could be used to make even smaller transistors. It’s super light and super strong and is changing the way we design and construct new products. If you want to get a glimpse of the material of the future, look here.
We also looked at the International Space Station, which you can watch, live, here. If you want to see the ISS fly overhead, use the tracker website here. You can give Tim a wave, and if you tweet him first (@astro_timpeake), he might just wave back!
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/The_Sun_by_the_Atmospheric_Imaging_Assembly_of_NASAs_Solar_Dynamics_Observatory-1650.jpg15751650James Brownhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJames Brown2016-01-15 11:33:262016-01-15 11:33:4712th January: Atoms to Astrophysics
Happy New Year, Kenton! What a great way to start the year; exploring the universe from the incredibly tiny to the unbelievably large. You can find out more about very tiny or very large things using this The Scale of the Universe animation. I could spend all day zooming in and out. We talked about protons, neutrons and electrons today, but we didn’t mention the even smaller particles that they are made of. Have an explore. Did you spot the transistor gate that’s about the size of a virus? These are what give your phone its processing power. Current transistors are as small as 7nm – that’s 0.000007mm. The smaller they are, the more we can pack onto a microchip and the more processing power we can get. However, it looks like we might struggle to make them any smaller. As we get smaller we enter the realms of “quantum tunneling” which can cause all sorts of problems. To prevent this, we may have to start making our chips out of something other than silicon. (I like mine made out of potato! ba-dum-tish!)
One option might be a new material invented in Manchester called Graphene. It is only a single atom thick and could be used to make even smaller transistors. It’s super light and super strong and is changing the way we design and construct new products. If you want to get a glimpse of the material of the future, look here.
We also looked at the International Space Station, which you can watch, live, here. If you want to see the ISS fly overhead, use the tracker website here. You can give Tim a wave, and if you tweet him first (@astro_timpeake), he might just wave back!
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/The_Sun_by_the_Atmospheric_Imaging_Assembly_of_NASAs_Solar_Dynamics_Observatory-1650.jpg15751650James Brownhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJames Brown2016-01-06 15:40:462016-01-06 15:46:386th January: Explore your Universe
This afternoon I visited St Mary’s to take part in their after school science club. We explored the whole scope of Physics, from atoms to astrophysics. For more information check out our workshop page here, and make sure you have a go with this scale of the universe tool. I could spend all day playing around with it.
A slightly older version can be seen below. Don’t be frightened by the outdated fashions and wonderful 1970s music (by Elmer Bernstein, no less!); this video is a beautiful journey through our universe. Just don’t forget, our understanding has moved on since Charles and Ray Eames made this video in 1977.
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Trapezium_cluster_optical_and_infrared_comparison.jpg395791James Brownhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJames Brown2015-12-09 19:13:252015-12-09 19:16:169th December: Atoms to Astrophysics
This morning, I was back at Kenton for some more K’nex rollercoaster building. There’s a lot that goes into building a rollercoaster, and we only just scratched the surface. For more details, head over to our workshop notes page where you’ll find videos, games, and more information than you can shake a (K’nex) stick at. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have six rollercoasters to dismantle and put back into the correct boxes. Sigh.
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Rollercoaster-2.jpg12381650James Brownhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJames Brown2015-12-09 14:13:512015-12-09 14:13:519th December: More Rollercoasters
How many people does it take to build a rollercoaster? It’s no joke; today we looked at the range of specialists needed to design and construct a rollercoaster, all so that you can get your fix of adrenalin at the local theme park.
I’ve written up some more information on our roller coasters activity page, with a few videos that are worth watching and links to some design-your-own games.
Today, Carol and James were back at Heworth Grange for more Space Maths. We looked at the size and scale of our solar system (using sprinkles, no less), and got up close and personal with some meteorites.
Find some more information on our space maths workshop page and make sure you check out the link to the “tediously accurate scale model of the solar system”. Seriously, you won’t regret it.
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/01.-Solar_eclipse_1999_4_NR1.jpg10081024James Brownhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngJames Brown2015-11-19 16:53:002015-11-19 16:55:4119th November: Space Maths
Today, Carol and James visited Heworth Grange to run two workshops.
We did Space Maths – for more on that, check out our page of extra activities. Trust us, you really want to follow the link to the ‘Tediously accurate scale model of the solar system.” No, really.
We also did light and photography: we’ve another page of extra material around light painting, including some jaw-dropping videos. Here are the light painting photos you took in the workshop:
Great to meet you all today. We enjoyed working with you, and hope we’ll be back soon!
https://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Heworth-Grange-Light-Painting_1010543.jpg15443912Carolhttps://nustem.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logo-banner.pngCarol2015-11-16 16:05:462015-11-16 16:10:23Space Maths and Light Painting
We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
Essential Website Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
Google Analytics Cookies
These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.
If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:
Other external services
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
Other cookies
The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:
Privacy Policy
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
Well, did your turbine work? Did you manage to get the mass up to the table, or were you left with a knotted bundle of string? Did your turbine purr like a renewable energy generating masterpiece, or did all the blades fall off?
