dannyastro - Slashdot User

Tomorrow's Science Heroes? 799

Posted by kdawson on Monday July 13, 2009 @10:05PM from the mister-wizard-reincarnated dept.

An anonymous reader writes "As a kid I was (and still am) heavily influenced by Carl Sagan, and a little later by Stephen Hawking. Now as I have started a family with two kids, currently age 5 and 2, I am wondering who out there is popularizing science. Currently, my wife and I can get the kids excited about the world around them, but I'd like to find someone inspiring from outside the family as they get older. Sure, we'll always have 'Cosmos,' but are there any contemporaries who are trying to bring science into the public view in such a fun and intriguing way? Someone the kids can look up to and be inspired by? Where is the next Science Hero?"

Comment SightSpeed/Dell Video Chat (Score 1) 338

by dannyastro on Friday September 12, 2008 @01:27AM (#24974357) Attached to: Cross-Platform Video Chat For Linux?

The new Dell Mini running Unbuntu has Dell Video Chat powered by SightSpeed and can talk to other SightSpeed and Dell Video Chat clients running under Windows or Mac (and can also connect via a browser window). SightSpeed, however, hasn't released a stand-alone Linux download yet.

Submission + - World's First See-Through Pinball Machine (neptunebeachamusementmuseum.org)

Submitted by dannyastro on Wednesday October 03, 2007 @05:28AM

dannyastro writes: The world's first totally see-through pinball machine was announced today by its developer, Michael Schiess of the Neptune Beach Amusement Museum (NBAM). The "Visible Pinball" as it is called, is the centerpiece of a new "Pinball Science" museum exhibit that NBAM is developing. The game will be unveiled to the public for the first time at the Pacific Pinball Exposition that is being held at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, California on October 5 to 7. "The purpose of the Visible Pinball is to teach kids about electricity and physics in a really fun way", Michael said. "It's also a blast to play!" he added. The Visible Pinball is based on a 1976 "electro mechanical" pinball machine called "Surf Champ". All of the wooden parts of the game and its backglass have been replaced with clear Plexiglas so that the mechanisms that drive the machine are visible to the player. Pop bumpers, drop targets, roll-over switches and other pinball mechanisms can be viewed as they operate. Pinball games made prior to 1977 did not use electronic components or computers so all of the functions are based on mechanical and electro-mechanical parts.

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