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« Previous Entries

Category

Science!

• Competition, Internet, Science!, Simon

  Google Global (!) Youth Science Fair

  14.01.11 | Permalink | Comment?

  Google is running a Global Science Fair for teens. As it is global, anyone in the world can enter. Even a NZer. Especially a NZer, since we’re quite good at innovation and science. Entrants (i.e. everyone reading this I hope*) need to be between the ages of 13 and 18, and can work solo or in groups of up to three. You enter it online obviously! 

  *The prizes are beyond awesome. They are actually epic. Guys you need to win this.

  
  

• Most Wanted, Science!, Simon

  Most Borrowed for 2010

  13.01.11 | Permalink | 1 Comment

  Which items were borrowed the most from the library last year? By harnessing the power of computers, I can tell you what they were! Definite winners were Stephenie Meyer and Robert Muchamore, unsurprisingly (perhaps they should write a book together and it would be the most popular book ever written?); Glee, also unsurprisingly; and Old Dogs, surprisingly.

  The most borrowed item overall (out of everything!) was a magazine from the Young Adult collection; Simpsons Comics.

  (There’s no point in listing the most borrowed YA non-fiction, as they’re mostly all study guides (Year 13 Bio is #1); 100% Gleek and Sam Stern’s Eat Vegetarian are the top non-study guide non-fiction books popular with borrowers, who are predominately vegetarian Gleeks.)

  1o Most Borrowed YA Fiction
  1. Brigands M.C., by Robert Muchamore
  2. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
  3. Breaking dawn, by Stephenie Meyer
  4. Shadow wave, by Robert Muchamore
  5. Fallen, by Lauren Kate
  6. The general, by Robert Muchamore
  7. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer
  8. The hunger games, by Suzanne Collins
  9. Tomorrow, when the war began, by John Marsden
  10. The awakening, by L. J. Smith

  10 Most Borrowed YA Movies
  1. Alice in Wonderland
  2. How to train your dragon ; plus, Boneknapper dragon
  3. Percy Jackson & the lightning thief
  4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  5. Avatar
  6. Glee. Season 1, volume 2, Road to regionals
  7. Old dogs
  8. Letters to Juliet
  9. The last song
  10. G-Force
  
  10 Most Borrowed YA Comics
  1. Big bratty book of Bart Simpson.
  2. Simpsons comics : dollars to donuts
  3. Twilight : the graphic novel. Volume 1
  4. Ghostopolis
  5. Naruto. Vol. 40, The ultimate art
  6. Maximum Ride : the manga. Vol. 3
  7. Skeleton key
  8. The Simpsons : treehouse of horror : dead man’s jest.
  9. Naruto. Vol. 23, Predicament
  10. Big beastly book of Bart Simpson.

  10 Most Borrowed YA CDs
  1. Glee : the music. Volume 3, Showstoppers deluxe.
  2. Now that’s what I call music 33.
  3. Teenage dream, by Katy Perry
  4. Now that’s what I call music 34.
  5. From the inside out, by Stan Walker
  6. Glee : the music. Volume 1.
  7. Can’t be tamed, by Miley Cyrus
  8. Rokstarr, by Taio Criz
  9. Glee : the music. Volume 2.
  10. Glee : the music : the power of Madonna.

  
  

• Science!, Simon, Space: The Final Frontier

  Across the universe

  07.10.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  The Scale of the Universe - from the very largest (i.e the universe) to the very smallest (Quantum foam! for real!). Presented so that you get a sense of scale. We are so small. So very, very small.

  What isn’t depicted is the resulting existential void you may find yourself in. See you there!

  
  

• Internet, Science!, Simon

  Isn’t technology marvellous

  21.07.10 | Permalink | 1 Comment

  Two weeks ago we posted a weird, black and white square and asked that you figure it out. Only two people did! That’s no good. It was, in fact, a QR code, which you photograph with your cellphone. Your phone cleverly translates it into an URL and takes you to a webpage. It’s big in Japan you know. Here’s how you do it.

  1. Make sure your cellphone is able to even do it! Look at this list or even just google your phone’s brand and ‘QR code’. If your cellphone can’t do it, then, I guess that’s too bad.
  2. Find some compatible software to download to your cellphone. Not all software will work on all phones. Again, check sites like this one.
  3. Install the software. Hopefully your phone will know what to do. Mine did. <3
  4. Start the application, take a photo of a QR code*, and be amazed.

  Charges may apply. See your cellular phone provider for more details! (Usually it’s about $1 for 10MB.)

  *You might find them in books, or magazines, or who knows where. Billboards? You can make your own QR code.

  
  

• Adrienne, Competition, Science!

  ReelScience

  10.02.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  Are you curious about science? Or do you love filmmaking but aren’t too keen on science?

  Well!

  ReelScience is a competition for senior secondary school students (Yr 11 – Yr13) that starts on February 10th. To enter you’ll have to make a 2min short film on any aspect of science. There are cool prizes up for grabs like a Mac and film courses. This here clip tells you all about it (or check out their website).

  
  

• DVDs, Jack, Science!

  Documentary Madness

  24.09.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  Well, as long as five new DVDs is considered mad it’s madness. All kinds of bases are covered by this selection, and here they are…

  Best of Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr follows a reptile expert as he does all sorts of silly things in the name of science.  My favourite bit is when he wears a 200 pound kevlar suit covered in hippo dung to extract sweat from a hippo.

  The Most Extreme is a series that follows all sorts of extreme behaviour in the animal kingdom. Fighters, Stinkers, Gluttons and many more are looked at in these fantastically shot episodes originally made for Animal Planet.

  Sticking with the extreme, Gravity Games H2O is a four disc box set filled with wakeboarding, tow-in surfing, motorcross, kite surfing and other assorted watery hijinks. Except for the motorcross, I can’t explain it’s inclusion unless they somehow ride on water. Now that’d be extreme.

  Ultimate Factories is a National Geographic series that goes to, well, ultimate factories. In this one they go see how Ferraris and M1 Tanks are produced. So if you’ve ever wondered how they put them together, now you can find out.

  Naked Science: Surviving nature’s fury is a three disc set in the excellent National Geographic Naked Science series. These episodes look at asteroids, the Bermuda Triangle, alien contact and other popular and controversial scientific topics.

  
  

• Internet, Science!, Simon, Top 10

  Top 10 : Top 10

  17.07.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  Here are ten Top 10 lists written by other websites (and not by us, although we’ve done a lot). They’re in no particular order, and if you want to add to the list go nuts and comment.

  1. Top 10 Harry Potter Moments - so far, anyway. Has clips! (See also; Top 10 Harry Potter supporting characters.)

  2. Top 10 Comic Book Cities – does Metropolis beat out Megacity One? No, it does not, and rightly so.

  3. Top 10 Most Ridiculous Movie Tech Moments – Nerdrage!

  4. Top 10 San Diego Comic Con Exclusives – probably of limited interest but there’s some cool stuff there. I had an original Soundwave once. Wish I still had it, it might be worth a mint.

  5. Top 10 Twilight Series Moments - Beware, as this list contains spoilers (for the 2.7% of the population who haven’t read Twilight). 

  6. Top 10 James Bond Books – as selected by Charlie Higson, author of the Young Bond series of books. He knows his Bond.

  7. Top 10 Things You Can Do to Protect Your Privacy - a bit more serious that the others in this list, but very important! Very!

  8. Top 20 Free PC Games - Twenty is better than ten, it must be said.

  9. Top 10 Rap Songs That Sample Michael Jackson Songs – very topical.

  10. Top 11 mashed Potato Recipes – a bit different, this list, but it allows me to a) mention the upcoming cooking event that’s planned (along with the competition!), b) point out that 2008 was the United Nations Year of the Potato and although it’s a bit late it’s interesting to learn, c) I can link to this, and d) mashed potatoes are yum. Don’t know why there are eleven though.

  
  

• Edna Welthorpe, Internet, Science!

  Fun with Google

  16.06.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  Well, by ‘fun’ I mean it’s more like educational fun. Edutainment? Funucation? I don’t know. Anyway, you can now convert measurements and units of weight by just typing it into Google. Say you want to know how many kilometres are in five miles; you can ask Google ‘how many km are in five miles?‘  And there it is. But! You might want to know what 80 knots is in kilometres per hour. I often do, so I can type in ‘how many km/h is in 80 knots?‘ Or ‘how many cubits in 3 hand?‘ ‘How many acres in 4000 square metres?‘

  Also, if you need to know the time somewhere, just type in ‘time [city name]‘ and it comes up. (For example, ‘time reykjavik’.) That’s not so much fun as it is a helpful hint. (It also works with ‘weather’ (e.g., ‘weather ohakune‘), and ’define’ and some other keywords.)

  Google Squared builds information tables out of data on the internet. It’s a bit hit or miss – a search for ‘Wellington City Library‘ is fairly useful, but ‘Twilight’ tells us that Bella is a guinea pig.

  
  

• Happenings, Library, Science!, Simon

  Welcome to the Astrodome

  28.05.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  From Tuesday the 9th to Saturday 13th June the YA area at Central Library will be transformed into a planetarium as it hosts the NightVisionz Cosmodome. Using a digital audio visual show to simulate the stars and a dome large enough to take 30 people inside at a time, visitors will be able to boldly journey through the night sky and learn about Matariki and other constellations with astronomer Ron Fisher.

  The Cosmodome is a great experience for children, teens, and adults alike and will be open to the public from 4-8pm from the Tuesday to Friday and 10am-4pm on the Saturday. Entry is by gold coin donation and sessions are on the half hour – people just need to turn up.

  Read more about it at our astronomy blog (I write some of the posts there!) The astrodome/planetarium/cosmodome looks like a large, inflatable, and blue igloo.

  
  

• Environment, Science!, Simon

  Free Lightbulbs

  26.03.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  This Saturday at 8.30pm is Earth Hour, which means that you should switch off your lights (presumably you can keep your computer/console/television on). I wrote about it last week, and embedded a rather neat Youtube channel.

  Currently we’re giving away Ecobulbs – lightbulbs that use up less power than your standard, usual lightbulb and are made from recycled materials - to anyone who asks for them, really. So if you want a free lightbulb come on in!

  The deal will last until tomorrow or at least until they run out (and we have a lot). See the awesome photo.

  
  

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Teen Blog

This is a blog for teens about reading, Wellington, and whatever else. Feel free to comment! We like it! We can be contacted at teenblog@wcl.govt.nz

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