Cool Science
Check out these local careers that use science to get the job done.
Interested in the science behind these featured careers?
From local business and farming,to advanced technology and research. A career in science can happen for you!
Science of Floristy
Science of Potato Production
Science of Wind Farming
More careers and the science behind them:
Hairdresser
Tattoo Artist
Lasik Eye Surgeon
Sour Gas plant operator
Play "Did you know?" in the Science Happens Here insert in the Taber Times on January 13th. Then come back here and check your answers.
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WATCH FOR THESE FUN POSTERS AROUND TOWN.
CLICK ON THE POSTERS TO FIND THE ANSWERS TO LOCAL MYTHS
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SCIENCE BEHIND THE MYTH
It gets hot enough for popcorn to pop in the field.
Producing white, fluffy popcorn from compact, bright yellow kernel corn depends on 4 factors:
• Moisture inside the kernel
• Internal temperature of the kernel
• Starch content inside the kernel
• Hard shell surrounding the kernel
When enough heat energy is added the moisture inside the kernel expands increasing the pressure inside. Imagine how tough the outer shell of the kernel needs to be. A car tire will blow if the air pressure inside is 90 psi. A kernel of corn won’t burst until the pressure is 135 psi and the internal temperature is 232 ˚C! When the temperature is this high the starch inside the kernel turns into a gelatin-like substance and that’s the last straw – POP! The gelatinized starch is the white fluffy stuff we love to eat.
Myth busted: there is too much moisture and not enough heat to pop corn in the field.
You can grow a salt & vinegar potato.
Potatoes destined to become chips begin the process by being cleaned, sliced and fried at the manufacturing plant. Frying removes the moisture and then seasoning is added. Although soil is a natural buffer, adding large amounts of salt to a potato crop could change the salinity of the soil affecting how the potatoes would grow. Adding large amounts of vinegar (a weak acid) could change the pH of the soil and affect growth as well.
Myth busted: you cannot grow salt and vinegar potatoes.
The local swim team cannot race for 30 minutes after eating.
After a meal your digestive system draws blood from around the body to help with the digestive processes. Temporarily the muscles have less oxygen and nutrients supplied to them, increasing the changes of the muscles not functioning properly. Cramping is often the result of the muscles receiving less oxygen than they require.
Myth busted: although you should be careful about strenuous exercise immediately following a meal, a little splish splashing shouldn’t cause too much grief to a healthy body.
A 1 mWH turbine can power 320,000 electric cars every year.
A wind turbine captures wind energy, converts it to mechanical energy that turns a generator which in turn supplies energy to our power grid system. Pretend that we have a wind turbine with a maximum capacity of 1 megawatt (1 MW) of power per hour. Unfortunately no system is 100% efficient and our turbine converts some energy to sound and heat, leaving about 25% that is actually transferred to the power grid. So let’s do the math … a 1 mega watt / hour turbine would produce: 1.0 MW x 365 days x 24 hours/day x 25% efficiency = 2190 MW of power in 1 year. An electric car using lithium ion batteries would require approximately 0.004784 MW in a year.
Myth confirmed: a 1 mega watt per hour wind turbine could power approximately 457,776 electric cars for an entire year with weekly recharges (you just couldn’t plug right into the turbine!)
The High Level Bridge can support 10,000 elephants and their train.
The High Level Bridge was completed in 1909 to span the Bell River near Lethbridge. The completed bridge was 1.6 km in length and at its highest was 96 m above the river bed. The bridge was designed to meet the 1905 CPR standards which specified a maximum load of 4000 lbs per linear foot (or 6050 kg/m). The largest land animal, the African elephant, weighs approximately 11,793 kg and is approximately 6 m in length. So an elephant weighs about 1966 kg/m and would easily be supported by the strength capacity of the bridge, as long as we didn’t stack more than 3 elephants on top of each other!
Myth confirmed: but we may need a long train to distribute the weight!
Fresh Flowers 101: Cut stems on an angle.
Water molecules are polar which means they are more negatively charged on one side and more positively charged on the other side. As a result water molecules adhere or cling to each other and to the tubes or tissue inside the stem called xylem. Water moves up the stem from root to shoot. By cutting the stem on an angle, more surface area of the xylem is exposed allowing more water to flow into and up the stem. A sharp knife should be used because scissors pinch the stem and reduce the surface area for water intake.
Myth confirmed: there are biological reasons for cutting the stem at an angle.