Brad's Blog for Summer work shop 2008
From MariachiWiki
Monday July 7, 2008
Today we are getting off to a quick start with an intro duction to some of the technology we will be using, including the HP tablet PC's. The new tablets allow users to write on the screen using the accompanying electronic pen. The software can recognize my chicken scratch and quickly convert it to text. Very Cool!!! This is an extremly valuable tool for integrating the process of taking notes in class, at a conference or in the filed, with computer technology. It seems especially helpful in drawing sketches and integrating pictures and videos into your notes. I am excited to use it during a practical applicatino.
This afternoon Helio gave a brief lecturs on some background information pertaining to the origin and history of cosmic rays. It offered the students and many of the teachers an opportunity to ask some questions and gain a basic understanding of cosmic rays. We were also introduced to some of the technology involving the use of radar to detect cosimic ray showers. This was completly new to me and i learned a lot. Great intro day
Tuesday July 8, 2008
We began today with an intro to microsoft excel and then quickly broke into small groups and traveled from workshop station to workshop center conducting small scale experiments that orientated us with the lab equipment and tools available to us.
Our first station was with Kevin from the radar group. He gave us an introduction to basic radar techniques and explained the passive form or radar that Mariachi is working with. The idea is that tv and radio stations broadcasting their signals from far away locations will not reach us here on Long Island. They have tuned in to channel 4 broadcast out of Pittsburgh for the sample station. The Pittsbuurgh signal will not be detected by tv antennas here on long Island because it operates on a "lione of sight" principle. Due to the curvature of the earth, the signal from Pittsburgh can not take a straight path to our antennas here on Long Island. However, if teh signal were to bounce off an object in the sky, then the reflected signal could be detected here on LI. It turns out that cosmic rays ionize the atmosphere and form a sort of Plasma in their wake. It is this plasma that serves as the reflective surface on which the tv signal from Pittsburgh COULD bounce off. Using some of the basic principles behind radar navigation and location, an array of antennas trained on the Pittsburgh signal here on LI could identify the existance and possiblly the location of a cosmic ray shower. The technology is not yet up to the task, however, hopes are high.
In Kevin's workshop, we used an oscilliscope and some practice data to locate a hypothetical csmic ray shower using algerabiac methods. The students did all of the work and if not for the lack of a graphing calculator (their crutch), they would have succeeded on the first attempt. It was a great hands-on exercise that allowed students the opportunity to work with some of teh lab equipment here in the NSL lab.
Our next work station involved using an antenna to calculate the standing wave ration of a signal generated by the experimenter. I need to spend some additional time with this experiment in order to fully understand some of the complex functions that it is capable of measuring.
Fololowing Lunch, Rich Lefferts gave a fun, entertaining and educational talk on "science" in general using liquid nitrogen to explain and demonstrate many the of scientific concepts. He used the nitrogen to freeze and then shatter many objects including a carnation. My favorite demo was the baloon and the exploding film conatiner. Cool stu
After the presentation by Rich, we went to work with Dima on measuring the speed of cosmic rays using an apparatus on the wall which allowed us to change the distance between detectors. This was one of the more beneficial workshops for teh students because the concept was tangible and easily understandable.
Wednesday July 9, 2008
Thursday July 10, 2008
